I’ve been looking at some other cg forums lately, and i have found that most of them support avatars. 8)
i think thats a cool little gadget to have, and if Kib would incorporate that into the php code and database structure, it would really kick *ss!! 
Tom
PS: oh yea and in case you dont know, avatars are those little pictograms (generally about 100 by 100px) that appear under your screenname everytime you post. 
Hello blendermax!!!
Your idea is really good, but I think that I’ve read some kib’s recent post (correct me if I am wrong), which says that he allready has this on mind, among with some other ideas, for the next elysiun’s upgrade…
Anyway, I agree with you. Avatars are really cool…
skontar.
you know, if it were too much work for kib to include this little feature, i’d be willing to help him out a little, as long as someone could supply me with some php tuts (i only know asp and this forum system isnt run by it).
Tom
Kib_Tph was going to be adding avatars for the next upgrade. However, they will be of his design, and limited to like 100x100 or 80x80 resolution. You will not be able to make your own and use your own. Kib does not have the space to allow for this.
BgDM
as far as i know is the most recent version of phpBB messageboard fully compatible with avatars, i use it as an intranet bugtrack system, but it seams ppl take disadvantage of this feature.
there are 2 ways to use avatars with phpbb. either use an url redirection to the avatar pic, or store/upload it on the server. both ways have flaws imho. you cant control the sizes and measurements on redirected files, wich will f*** up the messageboard layout and for the server that is hosting this board must allow this feature to store/upload via php. there was(and i think there still is) a security hole in that php feature.
avatars would be nice, but kib will have to count on the goodwill of the community i guess.
hey,… this has been going trough my mind yes,… phpBB does support avatars and indeed in 2 ways.
both sides have got some advantages, and disadvantages over each other.
number 1 just poses a fairly large risk of 404’s on the forum, incompatible images, wrong sizes (possibly a big problem), big size (56k users?)
And number 2 has alot of advantages, besides 1 thing, bandwith a typical 80x80 or 100x100 avatar would probably be around 5k to 10k. But multiply this by the amount of posts which are viewed and the amount of different people viewing them they may pose quite a bandwith problem.
Currently I simply can’t afford the bandwith it would take.
Perhaps in the future there may be a way around this.
i dont think that’ll happen, it’ll just leave an unfound image sign(like an empty box in opera)
it might be a risk to take, but i think this blender community has a grown up audience and if the rules are stated clearly i think allot of ppl will hold themselves to a link to an image of 80*80 and 5k/10k in a popular format. that way the bandwidth is not yours to pay, and there is such a thing called browser cach wich will sure come in handy for regular visitors :o
i havent checked this out yet, but isnt there a tool in the phpbb admin area to check on useracounts, thus giving you the ability to kick/warn ppl about there impropper use of the avatar system.
it’s just an idea, it’s yours to decide. how about a trail period. 8)
i think avatars are a better solution then having to them in ones signature.
well they aren’t allowed in signatures either 
i think a url should be submitted;
and the code for the displayer generated around it would specify a fixed size. this would guarantee that no image would display really large. however, a big image would still take a long time to DL.
avatars hosted elsewhere are a no go, I will never support that.
However, avatars hosted by elYsiun may become true sometime, but unsure yet.
Currently I simply can’t afford the bandwith it would take.
how about the avatar in the Profile?
haunt_house
errr why am I a guest?
You aren’t. 
my forums allow avitars
But that is just because I have a big internet connection that I am not paying for directly. If I don’t use it, the bandwidth goes to waste. Kib is right, the bandwidth required would potentially be large.
HOWEVER: Most people have the browser caching active. This means that once and avitar is loaded, it dosn’t get loaded again unless they flush their cache. So it would create heavy load at first, then it should taper off to just a bit above normal.
Has Kib told anybody how much he uses? I think you would be surprised at just how much it is. I’m not going to say anything, that’s his place but avatars won’t be happening for a while.
and still I think, they wouldn’t hurt in the profile. The post count doesn’t either, now that it’s there.