Suggestion: Ban animated GIFs

[#1]

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@Townman wrote:

PS: This space now has a "THANK YOU" button to save you having to type the words!

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stop touting for thanks, tart  

[#2]

@Townman wrote:

There are lots of things that many people do not know, but that does not make those things universally useless!  Now that you know, it might help you to judge the value of the advice?

Don't get me wrong - I've got no issue with recognition of contribution (whether it is known or not); it is very much the animation aspect of graphics that I have issue with.

(Incidentally, it wouldn't help me judge the value of advice received. I'd judge at face value as if I didn't how would I take advice from non-bright sparks?!)

[#3 · Accepted solution]

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@dvorak wrote:

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@Townman wrote:

PS: This space now has a "THANK YOU" button to save you having to type the words!

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stop touting for thanks, tart  

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How else does one educate without spelling it out? back at you!

[#4]

Why has this thread been marked as 'fixed'?

[#5]

Someone must be having a bit of a joke, but anyway, Bob will look at the problem seriously.

[#6]

Guys,

Why are you all suddenly on the warpath against animated avatars?

I've had them for years (hosted remotely and randomised) and nobody complained about that.

Now we have a new forum you suddenly declare it an issue and want the rules changed.

We had a topic about this on the old forum in the new community forum and it was agreed then that the existing policy would not change.

Suddenly somebody comes up with an unrealistic "they might use a 500mb avatar" and it's now become a threat. Why? Can anyone here actually point out when this has happened? Does anyone know of a hosting service that would permit it?

So what is the real issue? You put up with animations all over the Internet, why is it now a problem on this site?

My old single core pc had no issue displaying heavy pages so with all these multi core machines most of us have as phones I fail to see your problem.

[#7]

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@Apprentice wrote:

I agree they are a pain once the novelty has warn off, which in my case is after 3 seconds.

How are they a pain? Do you have to reconfigure your pc? How do you put up with them on the rest of the Internet? If they're that much of a menace then you'd better give up your online life because you're not the Internet police and even if you were there are no rules saying people can't use animations online. 

[#8]

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@MJN wrote:

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@Townman wrote:

In the old place, Bright Spark indicated very experienced contributors recognised by the mods and Plusnet staff as making a valued contribution to helping other customers.

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Thanks Townman. I didn't know that - do others? If not, it probably isn't worth having. 

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Would it matter if anyone else didn't know? You accepted it on the old forum so it really isn't an issue is it, you're just being picky. 

As for it not being worth having, I don't think you're in a position to say that really as you're not the boss around here and your opinion is biased as you just want it gone. Like I said, you never had a problem with it previously. 

[#9]

+1

[#10]

Small avatars have a limited impact (for distraction), though some (carefully chosen to demonstrate the fact I guess) are rather 'worse' than others, large animations across the signature area may be taking thing a little too far though in my opinion.

[#11]

Good Lord how do you cope with cars driving past? 

[#12]

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@MJN wrote:

Could we ban animated GIFs on the forum please?

We've taken the hint, could you 'turn yours down' please - it's a bit too loud for my eyes? 

[#13]

i'm all for disabling animated gifs, be that in avatars and generally within the forum.

primarily because they simply offer no benefit to the forum as a whole, and also i know 7up likes them and it would annoy him by having them disabled.

[#14]

The more animations, the better.

[#15]

Hi 7up,

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@7up wrote:
Guys,

Why are you all suddenly on the warpath against animated avatars?

It's not a warpath and apologies if it has come across in that way. I was merely making a suggestion to disable them as my personal opinion is that at best they are a minor nuisance but, having looked at how they are implemented (hotlinking specifically), believe that they could be more of an issue for some users.

Now we have a new forum you suddenly declare it an issue and want the rules changed.

The new forum was indeed a trigger, but this was simply because I was in the frame of mind of asking myself what I thought of it. First impressions must have been good given all I had to comment about was the animated avatars of a couple of users. I am just but one voice though - if enough people feel so impassioned about keeping them I'm sure they'll remain!

We had a topic about this on the old forum in the new community forum and it was agreed then that the existing policy would not change.

Apologies for opening up an old wound but I was not party to that discussion. Staff may well disregard this suggestion if I am bringing nothing new to the debate.

Suddenly somebody comes up with an unrealistic "they might use a 500mb avatar" and it's now become a threat. Why? Can anyone here actually point out when this has happened? Does anyone know of a hosting service that would permit it?

Whether it has happened or not is immaterial. It is either a risk or it isn't. If it helps I can set my avatar to be as big a animated GIF as I can find just to tick the 'its happened' box but this seems rather a reckless way to prove my point. I've got a 16MB one already in the referenced URL but there must be some bigger ones out there.

So what is the real issue? You put up with animations all over the Internet, why is it now a problem on this site?

The Internet is fully of annoyances. I was just taking advantage of the inclusive nature of this forum to make a suggestion as to how, in my mind, things could be improved. You are free to put forward a counter argument and I would welcome hearing that (it would ideally be more than just 'this is how its always been' though).

My old single core pc had no issue displaying heavy pages so with all these multi core machines most of us have as phones I fail to see your problem.

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That's okay; my suggestion was more aimed at Plusnet staff. They may share the same view that there really is no problem and that is fine - all I can do is air my opinion and point out if I think there might be a potential vulnerability in how a particular capability is supported.

I am sure though that you can understand that downloading a multi-MB graphic file when reading any thread I am involved in is potential cause for concern if you are on a capped mobile connection? Of course, this could happen as a result of a hotlinked image in a forum post but my point is that it is unncessary to allow such hotlinking in avatars given that there is a mitigation available to stop it happening with no real downside in my view.

Mathew