OK, by popular demand were going to try custom avatars again.
Here are the rules.
1) Your image must be 32 x 32 pixels, do not use a larger picture and just re-size it, EDIT IT DOWN TO 32 by 32 BEFORE you use it!
2) Your Image MUST be hosted privately, do not link to any other commercial website or private website and use it as the source for your avatar without their written and express permission. If someone comes after us for this, we will point to this post, and then point to you. YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE.
3) Your Image Must be YOURS, do not use copyrighted material, this includes, but is not exclusive to, corporate logos, comic or cartoon charachters, exclusive art work, proprietary images, so on and so forth. Corporate Logos are a no-no... in other words, there are many sources for free art out there, or you can make, or have someone make your own, but don't plagarzie someone elses property. IF they come after us, we send them after you, as before, YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE.
4) We would like for you to keep your Avatars under 15K in size. We still have a lot of users that are on dial up connections, and having to download ten 100k avatars in a thread really slows them down.
5) This one is pretty common sense. Keep it clean, keep it tasteful, no porn, no un-cuth language, so on and so forth.
If you violate any of these rules, your avatar will be removed by an Administrator, since there are only Two, me and Phil, that means me. I will get grumpy if I have to remove to many, so please don't make me. When I remove an avatar, I will set it to 'no avatar' and send you a PM stating why it has been removed. You can correct the problem and put up a new or modified custom avatar that fits the rules.
IF you ignore my PM and just slap a custom avatar back up that I have removed, then I am going to ban you. Plain and simple, copyright infringement and other things that caused us to take down avatars in the past will simply not be tolerated. Don't worry, I will talk to people before something that drastic happens, it won't be a shot in the dark scenario.
Finally, since were going to have avatars, no more huge pictures in the signature files. I am going to get really strict on this over the coming weeks. Every time I see one, I will PM you, as the weeks pass, if you have not corrected the issue, I will go in and do it for you. (Which will of course, make me grumpy!
)
The end result being, there should be little or no pictures in your signature file from now on. I am not outright outlawing pictures in your signature, but I am saying that I want signatures to not be screen long scrolling affairs, they should be one or two quick simple lines, and a 32 x 32 image or less. Smileys are ok, but please, don't go overboard on them.
Remember, that some people are not gifted with broadband as many of us are, so in all things, bandwidth, and file size are an issue.
Remember that if 20 of you post in a topic with a picture in your sig, that pic has to be downloaded by some people (who don't have it cached allready) 20 times...
so, simplify the sigs, that goes for everyone, simplify your sigs for SURE if you want a custom avatar, that is not an option.
OK... Rules are boring and depressing, but they have to be done.
That all being said, go out and get your custom avatars, setem up (obey the rules.) We'll give y ou three weeks to get everything in order. At the end of that, maybe the first or second week in July, the mods will choose the top of our favorite avatars, and put them up for you all to vote on.
Have fun!
Here are the rules.
1) Your image must be 32 x 32 pixels, do not use a larger picture and just re-size it, EDIT IT DOWN TO 32 by 32 BEFORE you use it!
2) Your Image MUST be hosted privately, do not link to any other commercial website or private website and use it as the source for your avatar without their written and express permission. If someone comes after us for this, we will point to this post, and then point to you. YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE.
3) Your Image Must be YOURS, do not use copyrighted material, this includes, but is not exclusive to, corporate logos, comic or cartoon charachters, exclusive art work, proprietary images, so on and so forth. Corporate Logos are a no-no... in other words, there are many sources for free art out there, or you can make, or have someone make your own, but don't plagarzie someone elses property. IF they come after us, we send them after you, as before, YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE.
4) We would like for you to keep your Avatars under 15K in size. We still have a lot of users that are on dial up connections, and having to download ten 100k avatars in a thread really slows them down.
5) This one is pretty common sense. Keep it clean, keep it tasteful, no porn, no un-cuth language, so on and so forth.
If you violate any of these rules, your avatar will be removed by an Administrator, since there are only Two, me and Phil, that means me. I will get grumpy if I have to remove to many, so please don't make me. When I remove an avatar, I will set it to 'no avatar' and send you a PM stating why it has been removed. You can correct the problem and put up a new or modified custom avatar that fits the rules.
IF you ignore my PM and just slap a custom avatar back up that I have removed, then I am going to ban you. Plain and simple, copyright infringement and other things that caused us to take down avatars in the past will simply not be tolerated. Don't worry, I will talk to people before something that drastic happens, it won't be a shot in the dark scenario.
Finally, since were going to have avatars, no more huge pictures in the signature files. I am going to get really strict on this over the coming weeks. Every time I see one, I will PM you, as the weeks pass, if you have not corrected the issue, I will go in and do it for you. (Which will of course, make me grumpy!
The end result being, there should be little or no pictures in your signature file from now on. I am not outright outlawing pictures in your signature, but I am saying that I want signatures to not be screen long scrolling affairs, they should be one or two quick simple lines, and a 32 x 32 image or less. Smileys are ok, but please, don't go overboard on them.
Remember, that some people are not gifted with broadband as many of us are, so in all things, bandwidth, and file size are an issue.
Remember that if 20 of you post in a topic with a picture in your sig, that pic has to be downloaded by some people (who don't have it cached allready) 20 times...
so, simplify the sigs, that goes for everyone, simplify your sigs for SURE if you want a custom avatar, that is not an option.
OK... Rules are boring and depressing, but they have to be done.
That all being said, go out and get your custom avatars, setem up (obey the rules.) We'll give y ou three weeks to get everything in order. At the end of that, maybe the first or second week in July, the mods will choose the top of our favorite avatars, and put them up for you all to vote on.
Have fun!
