Avatar Image Size?

[X.]

The new Google + layout is messing up old avatar images (fits them into a circle, with no concern for aspect ratio preservation).

What is the size of an avatar image which will minimize this problem?

[LiliMcDonald]

Please choose an image that is at least 150 pixels wide and 150 pixels long.

Thanks,

[X.]

What is going to happen? The circle will be enclosed in the 150 x 150 pixels or will it encompass the 150 x 150 pixels?

[LiliMcDonald]

The image will be enclosed in a circle. You can see the preview by going through the "upload avatar" process under My Settings > Avatars.

[GerdW]

Hi Lili,

I just tried to "fix" my avatar image 3 times - each time atleast the "main avatar" image shown on my profile page didn't respect my crop settings! Instead of the crop selection I choose when I "save and continue" the image your website takes the center of the image… Edit: in the uploading process there was now preview visible when cropping the image!

Additionally: I also set a new "small" avatar image, visible with my forum messages. But now the image shown in the hovering window (visible whenever moving the mouse over my small avatar image) is distorted. Why do I choose a square selection from my image when your website expects rectangular (something like 16:9 proportions) in this location?

So we have now three different avatar image sizes and proportions: main avatar (round, big), small avatar (round, small), hovering window (distorted rectangular, taken from small avatar). In the old version we only had one size (maybe two, but I only used one), but the website respected exactly the image I uploaded…

An UX question on this topic: why do you present a square crop frame (as shown in your image above) in the avatar uploading process when the website uses circle shaped / round selections?

[GerdW]

Hi,

Note to message above: when reading the forum with my mobile the avatar images are square without circular cropping...

[LiliMcDonald]

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GerdW wrote: I just tried to "fix" my avatar image 3 times - each time atleast the "main avatar" image shown on my profile page didn't respect my crop settings! Instead of the crop selection I choose when I "save and continue" the image your website takes the center of the image… Edit: in the uploading process there was now preview visible when cropping the image!

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I was just able to reproduce this issue. The "main avatar" (used on the user profile page) is defaulting to the center of the image you're uploading, rather than displaying the same as the preview you see when cropping the image. I will report this bug to Lithium.

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GerdW wrote:

Additionally: I also set a new "small" avatar image, visible with my forum messages. But now the image shown in the hovering window (visible whenever moving the mouse over my small avatar image) is distorted. Why do I choose a square selection from my image when your website expects rectangular (something like 16:9 proportions) in this location?

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Yes, this is something we need to investigate. Ideally it would display the same as the "message thumbnail" you choose in the avatar upload process.

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An UX question on this topic: why do you present a square crop frame (as shown in your image above) in the avatar uploading process when the website uses circle shaped / round selections?

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I can't answer that question (it's an out of the box Lithium component) but the preview does show the circular view of the avatar.

GerdW wrote: Note to message above: when reading the forum with my mobile the avatar images are square without circular cropping...

I am not seeing this on a Galaxy S5 (Android v6x) using Chrome. Can you please provide more details of the device you are using and web browser?

[GerdW]

Hi Lili,

I'm using an old HTC Wildfire with Android2.3 and it's standard (but also old) Chrome browser…

(I will compare UX of the old mobile optimized website with current state in a different post.)

On the main avatar: I don't see any preview when creating the main avatar image. The preview is only visible for the small avatar image…

[X.]

I am glad I did not rush into changing my avatar, as it seems that most of the aspect ratio issues have been fixed. The gray user name on blue background when hovering over a user's avatar remains an issue though:

[LiliMcDonald · Accepted solution]

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X. wrote: I am glad I did not rush into changing my avatar, as it seems that most of the aspect ratio issues have been fixed. The gray user name on blue background when hovering over a user's avatar remains an issue though:

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We're aware of this issue. The plan is to remove the blue background completely.