Can't change avatar

[Lighter]

Title pretty much says it. Tried jpg and gif. Within size requirements. Tried both upload and connect from ftp site.

Here's the image. Maybe someone can spot the problem.

http://home.rochester.rr.com/tuckerfolio/3450711.gif

[Tobey]

Same here. I tried uploading several different avatars last night, and it just kept telling me, "Invalid File".

[Nazo]

Yeah, same here as well. I didn't even use FTP, I put the new avatar file on an HTTP server and still got invalid file. Just in case the size limitation really meant it must be LESS than 100x100, I shrunk the image so the maximum dimension was 90 instead of 100. Still invalid file. The files I've been trying most of this time were a 4.32KiB PNG and a 5KiB GIF of the same image. I wanted to keep transparency though, so I haven't tried bitmap or some other such format yet.

Considering that it keeps saying "Invalid File" I wonder if the problem isn't limitations like size or dimension being detected incorrectly, but, someone accidentally changed the filter on what filetypes are accepted and it's no longer accepting normal filetypes.

EDIT: I tried removing all transparency and the same thing. Including on a PNG where I didn't reduce the number of colors for palette based transparency (for IE compatibility.) I think it definitely can't be the files themselves at fault here.

[Cowon-phile]

*BUMP*

The problem persists. I can't change my avatar either by uploading it or linking to it. It is valid format (.JPG), dimension (80x80), and size (1.86 KB) but I keep getting "Invalid File" errors.

[kfrazier]

I too am having problems uploading an avatar... :(

[breakfastchef]

I have been unable to upload a jpeg to the forum for a week or so. Could be a related issue to changing an avatar.

[Nazo]

So, basically we can count on this never being fixed? It's been more than half a month now and still it is broken with no one even saying anything about whatever is wrong -- I don't mind so much about the fact that it's broken as much as the fact that they seem to just be ignoring it with no obvious intentions of ever fixing it. Perhaps the problem is only occuring for a few of us? Even so, it means something is wrong and if something wrong is ignored, it can grow from a small problem to a large one after long enough.

[doniago]

Firstly, there's nothing _I_ can do about it, as this exceeds the level of control over the boards that I possess. Hence my not having spoken up in-thread until now.

Secondly, if you feel the mods aren't seeing something you'd like them to see, ordinarily you could hit the 'Notify Mod' icon in the upper-right corner of a given post. Failing that (or in a case where you know off the bat that I, for instance, wouldn't be able to help you out), you can always PM the mods/admins. That is guaranteed to be more likely to get their attention than any thread, since the mods aren't compelled and don't generally have the time to read every thread posted.

Thirdly, based on my first two points, continuing to post in-thread saying the mods aren't responding to you is a bit silly since if they haven't seen the first posts there's no reason to believe they'll see subsequent ones.

So, my suggestion would be to contact AustinV via PM, as he's the primary website person.

[austinv]

ok, it should be fixed now.

sorry guys, but i just learned of the problem. if anything like this pops up in the future, make sure eXity (Martin P.) knows about it, and he can reach me directly.

for more extreme problems - like a software/server fault or widespread vandalism - i can be reached via Google Talk as dapreview(at)gmail.com

thanks,

Austin

[Nazo]

Thanks for the responses. First of all, I wasn't aware of who to pm (or for that matter that I should) and the notify option as far as I knew was (and is in all other forums) exclusively for reporting a particular post as spam, abuse, inappropriate, etc. As for why we posted in a topic we felt wasn't being seen, bumping it brings it to the front, which increases the liklihood of it being seen. Perhaps that wasn't the best way after all, but, it was all we really knew.

Anyway, I'm very grateful to see it all working again. Particularly it's nice to be able to use my new avatar here too. I've always liked how avatars give forums a little more "personality" so they feel less like words and more like people talking.

[doniago]

Not trying to sound defensive here, just giving recommendations in case this happens in the future.

If all else fails, there is a "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page. I'm not actually sure who messages sent via that link will go to, but one of the powers that be should see it at that point.

While the "Notify Mod" button is designed for warning about spam and other problems, it is, of course, also a good way to get our attention. (smile)

Anyway, sorry for the delay and for any inconvenience it may have caused. I had noticed the thread earlier, but I don't tend to speak up if I don't have anything helpful to say, and since I couldn't have done anything about the problem itself- well, there it is.

Glad to see things are working for you now!

[Lighter]

All is well that has ended well. Now we know how to get attention - so long as we remember some months down the road!