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Avatars

Avatars are the pictures you see under members' usernames, to the left of their posts.

[*] Only Home and Away related Avatars are permitted for use on the Forum.

[*] They must be of 100x100px and no more than around 25kb in file size.

[*] Pleas do not use flashing images in your avatars. we have had instances of seizures for severe headaches etc being induced by members viewing flashing avatars. If you post any flashing images in the creativity forum you can notify other members in the topic title and they can avoid them , they cant do this in relation to your avatars and normal posts. we want every one to be able to conrbute and participate t so flashing images in avatars are a no go.

[*] There should be no spoilers in Avatars. By spoilers we mean something that gives a future storyline away. It is impossible to allow no spoilers for every country in the world so we tend to go from UK pace. So if it's a storyline from Australia, it will not have been seen in Britain and is therefore not a spoiler.

Characters that have been seen in Australia but not the UK are fine as long as they don't give any storylines away so (using a very old example) say Australia knew that Scott was really the father of Hayley's baby but UK viewers still thought the baby was Kim's. A picture of Scott with Hayley and the baby would be okay as Scott and Hayley are friends, why wouldn't they be seen together? But wording underneath saying 'Happy family' or something gives a whole different slant to it and potentially ruins a storyline.


If you are unsure as to what is or isn't a spoiler please post in this thread and ask a moderator or specified member.

[*] Please do not use flashing or moving images as your avatar, in respect of members who suffer from epilepsy. For example: http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/raz...ersincrime4.gif

[*] Please try only use an avatar if it is clear, who it is of. The middle of someone's body is fine if it is obvious who the body belongs to. If it isn't then please don't use it because for all we know it isn't home and away related.

Noticeable avatar:


Not Noticeable:



So that said, how do I get an avatar?

There are several ways you can do this. You can either pick one from our board collection by following these steps:

Go to this page. (You must be logged in.)

Select one of the categories from the drop-down box and click 'Go!'. You'll be presented with a list of all the images in that category. Once you've found one you like, check the box below to it and click 'Use Selected Avatar'

or

You can select an avatar from one of the many threads in the 'Artwork and Creations' forum, where members post avatars they have made or you can use a picture from your own collection. If you do use a creation of somebody else's please ask the person who made the avatar if you can use it BEFORE you use it and please credit them in your signature.

To use this avatar you must upload it to your own webspace, some photo hosting sites include:

Photobucket
Flickr
Imageshack

To begin using an Avatar, go into your Control Panel




Click "edit avatar settings"



copy the URL (the http:// style link) into the box


Go! and you're done.



Whatever you do please do not hotlink.

What is hotlinking?
Bandwidth theft or "hotlinking" is direct linking to a web site's files (images, video, etc.).
An example would be a member right-clicking on an avatar they like, copying the image link, then pasting it into their avatar control settings.

How is it done?











How do you know if an avatar is being hotlinked?

The easiest way to see if a member is hotlinking is to right-click on their avatar and see where it's being hosted. If the avatar is being stored in another creater's photobucket/flickr account, then it's being hotlinked.

How do I stop Hotlinking from happening?
If you see a member hotlinking one of your avatars or somebody else's, then send a friendly PM to the hotlinker and ask them to please upload it to their own Photobucket/Flickr account.
If the member does not do this, then please contact the Moderators and we will remove the avatar.