Avatars

[njx9]

*shrug* you're probably in the minority. further, sigs are not stored on the server, and are thus not really a relevant part of the discussion.

for the record, one of the web servers i trust the most tends toward per-client quotes, but all start with relatively small 73-80 gb drives. adding more adds a large additional cost if the user asks for the back-up service (which tends to be pretty much essential in a server environment). allowing users to add 100x100 images at whim (and especially when they use animated crap) will fill up a drive faster than you think, especially when you remember that people will sign up for the site, add an avatar, then never post here afterwards when they forget about it.

for instance, via networks prices additional storage as:

SATA HD 80 GB $50 setup / $40 monthly
SATA HD 160 GB $50 setup / $60 monthly
SATA HD 250 GB $50 setup / $90 monthly
SCSI HD 36 GB $50 setup / $60 monthly
SCSI HD 73 GB $50 setup / $100 monthly
SCSI HD 146 GB $50 setup / $130 monthly

those are not really negligible fees. moresp when you consider they don't cover the back-up fees:

weekly 40 GB backup $100 setup / $65 monthly
daily 100 GB backup $100 setup / $100 monthly
an extra 10 GB backup $15 monthly

further, the difference between an account that's limited to 40 GB per month in bandwidth and one that's unlimited (at Via, those are the two distinctions) was $130/mo. or $230/mo. if you were upping from the low end dedicated. if you consider this forum and scott's main site, 40GB is not a whopping amount of data transfer.

[elway777]

Now you all know how I feel.

[thule]

Avatars over Sig's is one of the more outrageous things i've heard today.

[SeanTaylorRIP]

Originally Posted by thule

Avatars over Sig's is one of the more outrageous things i've heard today.

Very true.

[P-L]

Seriously, is there anything in the world njx doesn't know?

[DHVF]

Originally Posted by Patriots-Lions

Seriously, is there anything in the world njx doesn't know?

The price of a pound of wild rice in Taiwan in pounds?

[Flyboy]

NFLDC doesn't deserve my Bree Olson goodness anyway. ;)

[njx9]

Originally Posted by Patriots-Lions

Seriously, is there anything in the world njx doesn't know?

toonster's true identity.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by diehardvikingsfan

The price of a pound of wild rice in Taiwan in pounds?

i'll get back to you in two weeks.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by njx9

*shrug* you're probably in the minority. further, sigs are not stored on the server, and are thus not really a relevant part of the discussion.

for the record, one of the web servers i trust the most tends toward per-client quotes, but all start with relatively small 73-80 gb drives. adding more adds a large additional cost if the user asks for the back-up service (which tends to be pretty much essential in a server environment). allowing users to add 100x100 images at whim (and especially when they use animated crap) will fill up a drive faster than you think, especially when you remember that people will sign up for the site, add an avatar, then never post here afterwards when they forget about it.

for instance, via networks prices additional storage as:

SATA HD 80 GB $50 setup / $40 monthly
SATA HD 160 GB $50 setup / $60 monthly
SATA HD 250 GB $50 setup / $90 monthly
SCSI HD 36 GB $50 setup / $60 monthly
SCSI HD 73 GB $50 setup / $100 monthly
SCSI HD 146 GB $50 setup / $130 monthly

those are not really negligible fees. moresp when you consider they don't cover the back-up fees:

weekly 40 GB backup $100 setup / $65 monthly
daily 100 GB backup $100 setup / $100 monthly
an extra 10 GB backup $15 monthly

further, the difference between an account that's limited to 40 GB per month in bandwidth and one that's unlimited (at Via, those are the two distinctions) was $130/mo. or $230/mo. if you were upping from the low end dedicated. if you consider this forum and scott's main site, 40GB is not a whopping amount of data transfer.

There is no way you would need a 40 GB hard drive to store the avatars for this website. Restrict the size of each avatar to 500 KB or so and you won't even come close to reaching 1 GB of space.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by Moses

There is no way you would need a 40 GB hard drive to store the avatars for this website. Restrict the size of each avatar to 500 KB or so and you won't even come close to reaching 1 GB of space.

you're forgetting that there's a website attached to the board that will require most of the drive space. the size is then dependant on how many archives scott keeps, layout changes, manual backups, etc. further, the size of the board will also adversely affect that number, as some seldom used boards have reached 3gb (granted some are still under 100mb).

even then, we're still talking about the transfer of those avatars, which will occur across every single page a user views at least once per day (depending on their personal data cache preferences).

regardless, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason so far for scott to spend more money so that users can have pretty little animated things next to their name that, currently, couldn't just go in their sig space.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by njx9

you're forgetting that there's a website attached to the board that will require most of the drive space. the size is then dependant on how many archives scott keeps, layout changes, manual backups, etc. further, the size of the board will also adversely affect that number, as some seldom used boards have reached 3gb (granted some are still under 100mb).

even then, we're still talking about the transfer of those avatars, which will occur across every single page a user views at least once per day (depending on their personal data cache preferences).

regardless, there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason so far for scott to spend more money so that users can have pretty little animated things next to their name that, currently, couldn't just go in their sig space.

There is no way this website uses even close to 40 GB of hard drive space. I guarantee Scott has a ton of extra hard drive space sitting there unused.

Obviously bandwidth usage would increase but this server can obviously handle the load. The cost would be negligible.

Signatures are intrusive and take longer to load than avatars. Plus, they don't serve the purpose of quick identification of who is posting as well as avatars do. I've rarely seen a forum on the internet that doesn't have avatars so I just can't understand the logic here.

[njx9]

i've already shown the bandwidth cost isn't really negiligible, and that was on a completely random host i wouldn't typically use. i'm quite sure rackspace's fees are much higher (they used to be, though that may have changed).

if you'd rather have an avatar than a signature, replace one with the other. realistically, that's no different than hosting the avatars off-site to begin with and will take the exact same amount of time to load (meanwhile hosting avatars off-site and letting users have both would take longer to load). i'm also not entirely sure how vbulletin caches old avatars (as far as i can tell, the images are NOT deleted, which then requires scott to log into the web server and manually delete old ones. this is based strictly off reading the manual and not actual experience, so again, there may be hidden settings to limit this).

[Moses]

Originally Posted by njx9

i've already shown the bandwidth cost isn't really negiligible, and that was on a completely random host i wouldn't typically use. i'm quite sure rackspace's fees are much higher (they used to be, though that may have changed).

if you'd rather have an avatar than a signature, replace one with the other. realistically, that's no different than hosting the avatars off-site to begin with and will take the exact same amount of time to load (meanwhile hosting avatars off-site and letting users have both would take longer to load). i'm also not entirely sure how vbulletin caches old avatars (as far as i can tell, the images are NOT deleted, which then requires scott to log into the web server and manually delete old ones. this is based strictly off reading the manual and not actual experience, so again, there may be hidden settings to limit this).

I would have no problem with adding off-site avatars and getting rid of signatures. Signatures serve no real purpose. Avatars make it easy to identify who is posting.

[njx9]

then i would suggest petitioning the users to remove their sig and stick in an avatar instead. i'm not sure it will gain much traction.

as far as i can tell, there are no board mods for vbulletin 3.6 that will allow users to have off-site avatars. the only one i saw was for the 3.2 version and won't work with this board.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by njx9

then i would suggest petitioning the users to remove their sig and stick in an avatar instead. i'm not sure it will gain much traction.

as far as i can tell, there are no board mods for vbulletin 3.6 that will allow users to have off-site avatars. the only one i saw was for the 3.2 version and won't work with this board.

I haven't done much research into that but I'd imagine there would be a hack out there which would work. Too bad NFLDC isn't running phpBB anymore, especially since phpBB 3 is out now.

[njx9]

meh, i haven't really seen phpbb3's feature list, but the previous releases were hideously buggy imho. *shrug*

if you find a mod that will work with this version i'd love to hear about it. clearly i couldn't care less either way with avatars or sigs, but i definitely understand the frustration. either way, i'd clearly not expect much on any front until post draft, as none of the admins can run scripts or add board-hacks.

[TacticaLion]

***pulls thread back up...***

I see quite a few members with avatars... but can't add my own? Am I lost?

I want an avatar...

[Xiomera]

Originally Posted by TacticaLion

***pulls thread back up...***

I see quite a few members with avatars... but can't add my own? Am I lost?

I want an avatar...

Only mods and special people get them.

[Ravens1991]

I think HOF members got Avatars now.

this just in, njx sucks and i hate him

[TacticaLion]

Originally Posted by Xiomera

Only mods and special people get them.

Is All-Pro the first "status" that you rate an avatar?

[Chaucer]

Originally Posted by Patriots-Lions

Seriously, is there anything in the world njx doesn't know?

Under his logic no. His argument for half of his knowledge is "Trust me I'm asian. I know" no matter how many sources you quote and how creditable they are him or his friends, probably made up, are more knowledgeable on the subject

[DChess]

Originally Posted by Nerv

this just in, njx sucks and i hate him

this just came in too, nervs a *****, and wished people noticed him

[JF4]

Originally Posted by TacticaLion

Is All-Pro the first "status" that you rate an avatar?

That has to do with Post Count.