# request: bring back animated avatars!



## fenixpollo

Yes, yes, I know what you're going to say... bandwith, blah, blah, blah, refresh rate, rah, rah, rah, ease of navigation, etc., etc., etc.... but I have this cool smoking chicken (you know the one) that's an animated .gif file, and I just discovered that I am now prohibited from using it. Arrrghh!

_Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please bring back animations!_


----------



## cuchuflete

They never left.  You must have forgotten to bribe the vB crew with chickenfeed.


----------



## fenixpollo

I'm not talking about posting images. I'm talking about uploading an animated avatar. When I tried with various avatars -- all .gif files, all smaller than the allowed dimensions and filesize -- the vB software gave me this message: 





> You may not upload animated images.


----------



## cuchuflete

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I'm not talking about posting images. I'm talking about uploading an animated avatar. When I tried with various avatars -- all .gif files, all smaller than the allowed dimensions and filesize -- the vB software gave me this message:



"Hmmmmm...." he said, totally clueless.

I've never tried a gyrating avatar.


----------



## Kelly B

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> I've never tried a gyrating avatar.


 Well thank goodness for that. Fenixpollo, you are a delightful fellow and I hate to offend... so I hope you will forgive me for voting
AGAINST them.
Please?


----------



## Eugens

I've seen some animated avatars on wordreference, like a little snake or fish, so they are permitted. I guess your avatar has to be little and make simple movements to be allowed.


----------



## fenixpollo

They USED to be allowed, Eugens.  My complaint is that they are no longer allowed.  

Kelly, I think you're delightful, too!  Why should they not be allowed?


----------



## Laia

Yeah... actually, I have also Homer Simpson dressed as devil, and dancing with his "maracas"  
But I had the same problem as fenixpollo when I tried to put it as an avatar, and finally I had to put Homer quiet... and believe me... dancing Homer was soooo funny


----------



## Kelly B

If they're subtle, like a certain winking snake I used to see, they're fun, but if they're all fidgety and flashy like those attached images there in cuchu's post, they drive me screaming up the wall. Well, that's a little strong. Drive me to distraction, then. And I'd hate to have to turn off avatars entirely, as they are very helpful for finding what(who) I want on a long page of posts.

When they are occasional attached images, I can scroll up or down so they're hidden "offscreen," away from the screen area I'm looking at, but if you have multiple posts on the page, I cannot avoid them unless I skip your posts entirely. I really don't think I could manage to read an entire paragraph on Pyrrhonist ataraxia with a demonic Homer Simpson shaking madly for my attention in the background. 
'course then I'd be off the hook, I suppose.


----------



## cuchuflete

I'm siding with Kelly, though Pollo is charming, debonair, witty and all things a paragon of chickendom ought to be...

With the "upgrade" came all sorts of unexpected, and often unwelcome, surprises. I don't mind anything that reduces visual clutter, so I can pay undistracted attention to the ideas in the posts.

 Pyrrhonist ataraxia sounds like something one hears about during a root canal 'event'.


----------



## fenixpollo

Laia said:
			
		

> finally I had to put Homer quiet... and believe me... dancing Homer was soooo funny


How did you do that?


----------



## Laia

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> How did you do that?


 
Well, I opened the file with "Paint" and I saved it as a "quiet" picture.


----------



## Kelly B

Perhaps, but it would seem that anxiety over such an event may be alleviated through the achievement of the desired state of unperturbedness.

I shall almost certainly regret this, but Fenixpollo, it appears that animations are not entirely forbidden, as I saw a sheep jumping rope in the French forum today.


----------



## fenixpollo

I suspect it's a grandfather clause, Kelly.  If I had just stuck with the smokin' chicken when summer was over, then I would have been OK.  I can't stand that little change, though.

Thanks, Laia.  I re-saved the .gif as a .jpg and it worked.  It's very anticlimactic and rather disappointing to see that dead avatar lying motionless next to my name.  :sigh:

I'll hold out hope that I can ride my chicken in on the coattails of that dancing sheep you saw, Kelly.  Maybe by next summer, when I'm roasting here again in the desert, I'll be able to upload the moving version....


----------



## VenusEnvy

Kelly B said:
			
		

> as I saw a sheep jumping rope in the French forum today.


Oh, yes!

But, I just tried to upload an animated image, too and this appeared:


> You may not upload animated images.


Have we been bad foreros?.....   


EDIT: Oh, yes... Because this other forero had his/her loaded before the new "rule", it stuck....?


----------



## Laia

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> Thanks, Laia. I re-saved the .gif as a .jpg and it worked. It's very anticlimactic and rather disappointing to see that dead avatar lying motionless next to my name. :sigh:


 
You're welcome. 
I know exactly how are you feeling!


----------



## Whodunit

You should wait for Sev (as he an animated avatar). I bet he knows how to fix that problem.


----------



## VenusEnvy

Whodunit said:
			
		

> I bet she knows how to fix that problem.


But then, Sev has had that avatar for as long as I can remember! Perhaps those who had it before the software change could remain with them...


----------



## anangelaway

Sev is a ''she'' stands for Séverine... I love her animated avatar.

How about La Grive beautiful's tiny birds flying around?! 

To me, it's just all cute, I like them as long as there are not offending.

If I may, I will vote _YES_ for ''bring back animated avatars!'' 

(then I can change mine too)


----------



## geve

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I have this cool smoking chicken (you know the one) that's an animated .gif file, and I just discovered that I am now prohibited from using it. Arrrghh!


 
well, maybe you're just not allowed to smoke in the WR forums, Fenixpollo.  
Or maybe there's a special dispensation for forer@s of the French-English Forum, for fear of the big tantrum we could throw otherwise  

I have to agree with Kelly, too much movement could distract us from the serious job we're trying to do here. 
BUT I have nothing against discreet, pretty animated avatars such as Welshie's, La Grive's or Sev's (sadly I have never been introduced to the smoking chicken  )
The problem is, how to draw the line ? Can we count on the members' good behaviour ? I tend to be ingenuously optimistic about human beings in general, and WR members in particular... and also, quite confident that 2 Ko wouldn't allow fidgety and flashy gifs... or would they ?  (Cuchu's samples seem to be larger than that)


----------



## amikama

Kelly B said:
			
		

> When they are occasional attached images, I can scroll up or down so they're hidden "offscreen," away from the screen area I'm looking at, but if you have multiple posts on the page, I cannot avoid them unless I skip your posts entirely. I really don't think I could manage to read an entire paragraph on Pyrrhonist ataraxia with a demonic Homer Simpson shaking madly for my attention in the background.
> 'course then I'd be off the hook, I suppose.


I simply press the ESC button - and all the animated images stop moving.


----------



## fenixpollo

Amikama -- *you rock!* 


			
				geve said:
			
		

> well, maybe you're just not allowed to smoke in the WR forums, Fenixpollo.
> It's a good thing I gave up smoking, then.
> 
> Or maybe there's a special dispensation for forer@s of the French-English Forum, for fear of the big tantrum we could throw otherwise.
> Favoritism!
> 
> I have to agree with Kelly, too much movement could distract us from the serious job we're trying to do here.
> We're doing a serious job here?
> 
> BUT I have nothing against discreet, pretty animated avatars such as Welshie's, La Grive's or Sev's
> You just named everyone that had an animated avatar before the prohibition!
> 
> The problem is, how to draw the line ? Can we count on the members' good behaviour ?


 Before the software upgrade prohibited them, I would estimate that less than 5 active foreros had an animated avatar. It never was a big deal before, and if it is really distracting to you, then just do as amikama says -- escape.


----------



## Kelly B

amikama said:
			
		

> I simply press the ESC button - and all the animated images stop moving.


 Well, knock me over with a feather. I'll be trying that in my favorite-other-hobby-forum, too. Thanks!


----------



## fenixpollo

There are other hobbies?


----------



## geve

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> It's a good thing I gave up smoking, then.


oh shucks, I really hoped to see that smoking chicken one day  

Has anyone told the 3 lucky owners of animated avatars, that they should never, ever try to change or refresh it, because there is no turning back ?


----------



## mkellogg

Yes, sorry Fenipollo, but I'm with Kelly B on this issue.  Moving images only distract from the conversation, in my opinion.

You might still be able to upload it as a profile pic though. 

Mike


----------



## fenixpollo

mkellogg said:
			
		

> You might still be able to upload it as a profile pic though.


 *Denied*......


> You may not upload animated images.


----------

