Forum Change?

Zarathustra

Zarathustra

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Just because I am curious...


I just noticed that something changed with the forum software. The layout changed a bit, and my avatar went missing.

Did I miss some sort of announcement?
 
Grimlakin said:
I think they did some updates to be more accommodating to the flood of new AnandTech refugees.
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Cool.

The more the merrier.

It seems silly to prefer a forum based on minor forum layout differences rather than based on the expertise and content, but if it attracts more people here that can only be a positive thing. I'm all for a bigger FPS Review community!
 
Zarathustra said:
Just because I am curious...


I just noticed that something changed with the forum software. The layout changed a bit, and my avatar went missing.

Did I miss some sort of announcement?
Click to expand...

The only UI change that has been made to the forums so far has been the addition of avatars. Hiding them and the ability to upload them was one of the first things I did when I set them up 6+ years ago because I wasn't a fan of them. The AT Refugees seem to like them, so I tossed 'em a carrot.

I suppose the AT Refugee flair is also new.
 
Since we're talking avatars, I'm curious why some folks don't like them? No issue, I'm just genuinely curious. I personally don't care one way or the other; until now I never had one at AT. When they were enabled here I decided I'd try it out and added it to each site.
 
Skillz said:
I'm sure there is a way to allow individuals to disable showing them for those who dislike it.
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The way to disable was a simple display:none css adjustment to the avatar class. Might be quick to fork the theme and add it as an option, however, that adds one more theme to keep up to date with Xenforo updates - there's usually changes in the templates that have to get manually merged.
MotoStu said:
Since we're talking avatars, I'm curious why some folks don't like them? No issue, I'm just genuinely curious. I personally don't care one way or the other; until now I never had one at AT. When they were enabled here I decided I'd try it out and added it to each site.
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On one hand, there is the moderation aspect of it bringing a bit of grey area to the enforcement as it can turn into judgement on what to allow vs not via interpretation of rules...

For me, I'm a text driven person more than anything - I'm not the type that enjoys flipping through picture carousels or watching YouTube videos. I'd rather read text.
 
I'm not too familiar with XenForo, but they seem to have a sort of "plugin" system that you can use to disable things like this without having to edit the actual template files.

xenforo.com

Allow User to Hide Avatars

If you have accessibility concerns the large avatars showing up on the thread lists can be distracting and take up space for people using screen readers and assistive technology (AT) devices. This addon gives users the ability to turn them off in...
xenforo.com xenforo.com

Here is one such plugin that seems to do what is needed here. Not sure which version you are running as this was last updated in August of 2024.
 
Skillz said:
I'm not too familiar with XenForo, but they seem to have a sort of "plugin" system that you can use to disable things like this without having to edit the actual template files.

xenforo.com

Allow User to Hide Avatars

If you have accessibility concerns the large avatars showing up on the thread lists can be distracting and take up space for people using screen readers and assistive technology (AT) devices. This addon gives users the ability to turn them off in...
xenforo.com xenforo.com

Here is one such plugin that seems to do what is needed here. Not sure which version you are running as this was last updated in August of 2024.
Click to expand...
Good find. Most plugins are pay to play, this one was a freebie and is under the MIT license, code looked safe enough, so bam, it's now installed (they wanted a significant amount of personal information to check out... sigh...).

Seems it only impacts the post/thread view, still leaves them on the forums - @Dan_D you can set it here - https://forums.thefpsreview.com/account/preferences
 
David_Schroth said:
Seems it only impacts the post/thread view, still leaves them on the forums
Click to expand...

I was reading the thread on this before I posted it and seen where someone else requested this feature to also hide the avatars on other parts of the forums. I thought he said he implemented it, but I guess he didn't.

Should be easy enough to implement though. Maybe.
 
There is some serious get off my lawn energy happening. :LOL: I for one, appreciate the avatars. 🍺 They usually say something about the member. Only thing more boring than all text, is themed avatars like OCUK uses. 4 people posting one after the other, all with the same avatar.
 
Dan_D said:
I liked their absence on the HardForum and here.
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Skillz said:
I'm sure there is a way to allow individuals to disable showing them for those who dislike it.
Click to expand...

I - too - remember seeing XenForo options regarding whether or not to display the likes of avatars and signatures, but I can't seem to find them here.

Personally I don't mind them (they just kind of jumped out at me when they changed) but I can see how some might find them annoying, and having the option to disable them from being displayed would be nice for those who dislike them.

Edit: Never mind, they are there. It was just worded differently than I expected and my eyes scanned right past them.
 
David_Schroth said:
The only UI change that has been made to the forums so far has been the addition of avatars. Hiding them and the ability to upload them was one of the first things I did when I set them up 6+ years ago because I wasn't a fan of them. The AT Refugees seem to like them, so I tossed 'em a carrot.

I suppose the AT Refugee flair is also new.
Click to expand...
Is there a way to make the showing of avatars optional? I think they make the forum look like a cluttered mess. It's OK inside threads, but they are really bothering me on the main forum page and threads lists.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Is there a way to make the showing of avatars optional? I think they make the forum look like a cluttered mess. It's OK inside threads, but they are really bothering me on the main forum page and threads lists.
Click to expand...
Heh. The option I installed a few posts ago set an option to disable them in threads, but not on the overall forum view (see prefs here - https://forums.thefpsreview.com/account/preferences)

I could probably fork the dark theme and apply the disappear CSS hack to it...
 
I'm glad there is now an option to hide the avatar pics (thanks @David_Schroth and @Skillz), so that I will no longer have to gaze upon the visage of Pennywise the clown. Let me tell you, that was very offputting. There are pleasant surprises to be found in these forums. That was not one of them.

Zarathustra said:
they just kind of jumped out at me when they changed
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Yeah it was pretty jarring. Happened so suddenly. Took a few seconds before I realized I actually was in the right place, haha!
 
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