Down side (?) of using avatar as thread icons?

Andy Huang

Well-known member
Before XenForo, when I was on forums, I use avatars to keep track of who's who. If I see a blue blur that I don't like in the postbit (legacy or otherwise), I skip over the post or skim it only lightly. However, this is was nothing compared to what I do now in XenForo... I've noticed myself not reading threads if the icon was not from some of the regulars, or if the title doesn't look appealing enough. I'm also finding it hard to justify a change in avatar because I'm under the impression -- false as it may be -- that my avatar is how people identifies me.

What are your thoughts? Are you noticing you're becoming more and more reliant on the avatar than before?
 
I still concentrate on the thread title. The icon helps me deduce the sort of content I may be reading in that first post.
 
If you're going to ignore a thread based on the user, no setup will make you change that. I hardly ever look at avatars for anything else but knowing who it is posting.
 
I concentrate on the thread title first. I just check the avatar to see who wrote it. Thirdly if they don't have their avatar i check their username.
 
Same with me - thread title, followed by a glance at the avatar to see who wrote it. If I don't recognise the avatar I check the username. It's very rare that who wrote a thread will put me off reading it (I might be inclined to automatically disagree with the content though hehehe)
 
I have not noticed, but I can easily see this as a problem.

2 Solutions I can think of:

1) Set customized default avatars for male/female in AdminCP (random avatar from chosen set, if one was not chosen)
2) Option in AdminCP to disable displaying of avatars in thread listings.
 
I see a list of unread content, from there I see avatars from friends, those are the ones I read first.
 
That already happens as far as I am aware.
There are 3 types - male, female, no gender selected.
That discriminates against my transexual users!

Really though, I find myself paying more attention to the avatar to prioritize reading, at least here. On my own forums, I will read and attempt to respond to everything (Unless I have no clue, or little clue on what they're going on about, in which case I'll stay free from it).

I much prefer this over then the common way.
 
I dont like this idea of using avatars as thread icons at all.
  • its distracting.
  • What if the avatars are large/rectangular not small squares like here
  • if there are only few posters and too many threads from a particular person then it will look very odd
  • if people havent selected a avatar then it looks even worse
 
I dont like this idea of using avatars as thread icons at all.
  • its distracting.
  • What if the avatars are large/rectangular not small squares like here
  • if there are only few posters and too many threads from a particular person then it will look very odd
  • if people havent selected a avatar then it looks even worse
Avatars are resized and made into squares as far as I have seen.

I thought it was weird at first, but I quickly got used to it and feel it's much more personal now.
 
Avatars are resized and made into squares as far as I have seen.

I thought it was weird at first, but I quickly got used to it and feel it's much more personal now.

Ok ..What about those who want to use large rectangles as avatars. Such as on my forum.
 
I'm also finding it hard to justify a change in avatar because I'm under the impression -- false as it may be -- that my avatar is how people identifies me.
It's true!

I scan the page for titles posted by staff (for news, etc) first - I do this by searching for their avatars (blotch of color). If I don't find anything then I read the titles.

Believe it or not the avatar allows us to work less.

Do a test...
scan titles vs scan avatars

Which one is faster?
 
It's this sort of thinking that makes me most interested in xF. It's totally out of the box, something I've never thought of before and something I've never seen anywhere else, but it just works.

A social addition like this is something that my members will really appreciate and for the few who won't use it, it's not in the way, overpowering or problematic at all.
 
Fixed that now.

I did some testing of the privacy options a while ago and forgot to revert the changes I made.
 
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