As far as I know, images in the signature lines are still verboten. The same deal with images in a post.

The FAQ listed above is a general one -- not specifically from Leerburg. You will likely find that same page on all the boards that use the UBB software.

One problem with photos in signature lines and avatars is download time. Many of the people outside the US are on dialup access. I'm guessing a substantial number of people using this board in the US are in rural areas where the only access is dialup. Basically, they pay for their internet service by the byte. And, it can get quite expensive.

Having to download the images for each message can really slug your connection -- even on broadband. Many people will ignore the recommendation that the image be less than 35K. They either don't know how to resize the image or don't care what it imposes on everyone else. I've even seen 300K images used as animated avitars. The avitars are only about 60 pixels high ... that should be an image of less than 2K.

An prime example was a new member who stuck a 600K file in his signature line. For the poor bloke on a dialup line that took about 30 seconds to download if he wanted to to view that message thread. To compound the problem, the poster didn't own any rights to use that image and it was hot-linked from someone else's website.

The only avitars allowed on the site are the standard ones. They are small and are typically stored in your computer's internet cache the first time they are downloaded. Realistically, they really don't add much to a post since multiple people can use the same avitar.

If you wish to post photos of yourself and your dogs, the Members section was created just for that purpose.

 Quote: Yuko Blum

Amber I love that pic of Carbon! He's growing so handsomely, you must be a proud mother
It might be a little big height-wise for a signature image, but as long as everyone else doesn't start using tall images it shouldn't be much of a problem, lol.

Personally I love that people are using signature images. Adds a lot of visual interest to the board, especially with the fun pics like the one Dennis is using!

I think it might be too high too, I should find a more horizontal pic. Thanks for the compliment...I love the hell out of that damn dog.

I've noticed that when you post an image as a signature it makes it easier to recognize posters than just from a name alone, but then again, I'm a very visual person. I hope more people do it.

Charlie, I asked Ed (as in Ed Frawley, owner of the website and board) and he said it was ok.
That's as Leerburg-specific as you can get

If some people have issues with dial-up connections and don't want to deal with images, it's a very simple thing to control. Go to your toolbar and click "Tools", "Internet options", "Advanced" and you have a whole list of options where you can check what you want your internet to do. There's an option that allows you to not load any images on a website.

Problem solved, without having to control what everyone else is doing. How hard is that?

It seems selfish for one person to go around telling everyone else that they can't post images (following the rules of the board) because that person happens to have a slow connection.

If someone posts an overly large signature image, we can kindly point out the rule (guideline, whatever) to them and have them shrink the picture.

There must be some kind of compromise that we can work out on this topic.

I, like Amber, very much enjoy seeing signature images. It makes the posts more personal for visual individuals and it's always fun to be able to associate a dog or face with a name

Ok ok Connie, I see your point. I'm sorry

When you say "there was a time when...", when exactly are you referring to? Just curious; maybe it was before I was around, it sounds so strange and foreign to me

The image-related restrictions on this board seem to provide an excellent and fair compromise. People can't go around posting images in posts (except for the bio section) and signature images are restricted to 35k or less (pretty unintimidating, even to the slowest connections).

I doubt that there are many connections nowadays that can't handle that. The once popular 800x600 screen resolutions are now slowly getting obsolete and even the 1024x768 are starting to get outnumbered by the higher resolutions.

I remember a time long ago, back when I was a child (hee hee), when it was considered unthinkable to design a website that would not accomodate the 800x600 people.

How things change...

EDIT: um, Connie, your post (the one I was replying to) seems to have disappeared.
Lol great, now it just looks like I'm talking to myself!

I deleted it soon after I posted it.

I changed my mind about getting into the thread, but now I apologize, because I didn't realize anyone had already read it.

Sorry.

I was talking about the 1990s, when there was nothing but dial-up in many areas of the U.S.

There are still places where dial-up is all there is. I know that because a publisher on the East Coast for whom I do copyediting cannot get anything but dial-up.

That's okay Yuko, you're not losing your mind! I saw her post disappear too!

Edited to say: But as soon as I posted that, Connie came in and cleared up the mystery. Sheesh. You gotta be quick around here.

 Quote: Amber Morgan

Sheesh. You gotta be quick around here.

Very amusing, both of you!

Ok as long as everything makes sense then...

Hey Amber, you shrunk your Carbon!
Ok now I regret saying anything about your pic being too tall earlier; that comment wasn't intended for you anyway, it's for people whose pics aren't as adorable as yours.
I loved seeing that big face of his staring at me. What a cutie

 Quote: yuko blum

Very amusing, both of you!

Ok as long as everything makes sense then...

Hey Amber, you shrunk your Carbon!
Ok now I regret saying anything about your pic being too tall earlier; that comment wasn't intended for you anyway, it's for people whose pics aren't as adorable as yours.
I loved seeing that big face of his staring at me. What a cutie

Yeah, I did "tiny" him up a bit. I just want to make sure that the priviledge stays available to all, and I'd rather err on the side of caution. If Ed comes around and sees a zillion ginourmous photos he might put the kabash on it. Once I find a good horizontal pic, like yours, it'll be better.

Yuko, I really liked that picture of your pup swimming with a stick in his mouth. He looks like he is on a mission. Yes there are many poor souls in rural mid west USA with dial up because that is all that is offered.