Subscribers Can Now Turn Off Avatars

[Jason Dunn]

We had a request from a subscriber for a certain feature, and it turns out it was quite easy to add, so our master coder Fabrizio did it in a few minutes. Subscribers now have the ability to turn off Avatars within the forums. This will result in a faster, cleaner, and more sanitized browsing experience for those of you reading these forums from work. Here's what the feature looks like in the control panel:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/avatar-turn-off.gif" /><br /><br />If you're a paying <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/subscribe.php">subscriber</a>, click on the CUSTOMIZE link in the upper right-hand corner of the home page, then look under the FORUMS section. Enjoy!

[dean_shan]

Personaly I like Avatars. I think it give more character and helps you identify who wrote the post quicker.

[AndrewLubinus89]

Personaly I like Avatars. I think it give more character and helps you identify who wrote the post quicker. Yeah I know...Oh, you are dean_shan? I never noticed :D I just identified you by your avater. But actually it is handy because at some less moderated forums people have pornographic avatars and it is handy to be able to turn them off although I wouldn't use it here.

[gorkon280]

I'd be happy if turning off ads actually worked!

[Jason Dunn]

Personaly I like Avatars. I think it give more character and helps you identify who wrote the post quicker.

Same here, but someone requested this so we implemented it. I imagine only a very small % of people will use it.

[Ryan Joseph]

But actually it is handy because at some less moderated forums people have pornographic avatars and it is handy to be able to turn them off although I wouldn't use it here.

That brings up a question I've had for a while. I've long assumed this to be the case, but I'll ask anyway.

Are the Avatars on PPCT checked? I've never seen any kind of possibly offensive picture anywhere on this site, so I'm guessing they are.

Good job, too! That's one of my favorite things about this site. I can't tell you how many sites I've left because of offensive Avatars. :roll:

[Jason Dunn]

I'd be happy if turning off ads actually worked!

Could you be more specific? I just turned ads off, and I'm not seeing any banners on the home page, not even the Featured Product. I'm also not seeing any ads in the forums either. When you turn off ads, you still see them? That's definitely not normal... :?

[Jason Dunn]

Are the Avatars on PPCT checked? I've never seen any kind of possibly offensive picture anywhere on this site, so I'm guessing they are.

Yeah, the moderators and team members are always on the lookout for avatars that might cause problems, but so far almost everyone has been great about using avatars that are friendly. :-)

[Kowalski]

Yeah, the moderators and team members are always on the lookout for avatars that might cause problems, but so far almost everyone has been great about using avatars that are friendly

i am one of those who had to change the avatar :oops:
BTW i see only a couple of people are using their own pictures as avatar.

[Jason Dunn]

&lt;description of turning off ads using browser settings>

But if people do that then none of the ads will load and I won't be able to earn the income I need to pay for the server, bandwidth, and time that goes into this site, in which case I'll shut it down. That wouldn't be a good thing, right? ;-) Please don't give instructions to people on how to turn block ads on this site - I find it quite hurtful. :(

[gorkon280]

I'd be happy if turning off ads actually worked!

Could you be more specific? I just turned ads off, and I'm not seeing any banners on the home page, not even the Featured Product. I'm also not seeing any ads in the forums either. When you turn off ads, you still see them? That's definitely not normal... :?

I turned the ads off and they go off...on the page where you turn them off. Do a refresh or click to go back to the front page and this doesn't work. The ads come back. This happens in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

[Kati Compton]

I turned the ads off and they go off...on the page where you turn them off. Do a refresh or click to go back to the front page and this doesn't work. The ads come back. This happens in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.
Interesting... They're definitely off for me... And I use Firefox. I don't mean to sound stupid, but are you sure you're logged in on all those browsers when the ads are showing?

[gorkon280]

I turned the ads off and they go off...on the page where you turn them off. Do a refresh or click to go back to the front page and this doesn't work. The ads come back. This happens in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.
Interesting... They're definitely off for me... And I use Firefox. I don't mean to sound stupid, but are you sure you're logged in on all those browsers when the ads are showing?

Yes I am logged in.

[Jason Dunn]

Yes I am logged in.

It might be a cookie problem. Can you shut down your browser and go and manually delete the pocketpcthoughts cookie, then restart the browser and go back to the page, then log in again and make the change?

[Kowalski]

sorry jason. edited the post and deleted the firefox part.

[Kati Compton]

Personaly I like Avatars. I think it give more character and helps you identify who wrote the post quicker. Yeah I know...Oh, you are dean_shan? I never noticed :D I just identified you by your avater. But actually it is handy because at some less moderated forums people have pornographic avatars and it is handy to be able to turn them off although I wouldn't use it here.
If you ever notice an inappropriate avatar, whether pornographic or not, please email admin at pocketpcthoughts and we'll take care of it as quickly as possible.

[Kati Compton]

Are the Avatars on PPCT checked? I've never seen any kind of possibly offensive picture anywhere on this site, so I'm guessing they are.

Good job, too! That's one of my favorite things about this site. I can't tell you how many sites I've left because of offensive Avatars. :roll:
They are not pre-screened, but when we see one that is inappropriate, we remove it and PM a notification to the poster explaining the situation (so that they don't wonder why their avatar suddenly disappeared).

[Kati Compton]

Yeah, the moderators and team members are always on the lookout for avatars that might cause problems, but so far almost everyone has been great about using avatars that are friendly

i am one of those who had to change the avatar :oops:
BTW i see only a couple of people are using their own pictures as avatar.
I don't remember if you had to change it a while ago, but the recent change wasn't for inappropriateness, nor was it required. The avatar you had was fine - I only was explaining why someone might have thought, with a picture of a woman as your avatar, that you were female.

[Kacey Green]

&lt;description of turning off ads using browser settings>

But if people do that then none of the ads will load and I won't be able to earn the income I need to pay for the server, bandwidth, and time that goes into this site, in which case I'll shut it down. That wouldn't be a good thing, right? ;-) Please don't give instructions to people on how to turn block ads on this site - I find it quite hurtful. :(

Yeah!
If you see an ad that catches your interest/curiosity you'd be doing the site a favor, especially if you did it by clicking on the banner.

Jason, keep up the good work we don't want popups like *cough* brighthand *cough* :D