Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

My avatar has disappeared, what are some good websites for offsite avatars?

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hi naturegirl:

There are plenty of 'free' avatar websites out there.

The problem is, almost none of them allow hot-linking, since this uses up bandwidth from the host's website.

So you find a nice avatar, plug it in, and it works fine for a few days, or a few weeks, or even several months. Eventually, however, the webmaster will change all his URLs, and your avatar disappears.



Here's a fairly simple, long-term solution: (reposted from the General Forum)



Greetings fellow Teflers

This past week I've noticed quite a few red x's in place of wiggling, spinning avatars, and found myself in the same boat for a couple days. One of the 'free' avatar websites I've used for years finally decided that they were losing too much bandwidth through 'hot linking' - and so they changed their URLs and killed my avatar in the process.



What to do?



If you're suffering from the disappearing avatar syndrome, here's a simple 3-step solution that works well & costs nothing:



Step 1: Go to www.photobucket.com/ and open a free account. All you need to do is register - no strings attached.

This website offers not only free image hosting, but 'hot linking' as well, and that's the key to making your avatar work. They allow you 1500 MB of free bandwidth per month through hot linking, and that's a lot, since avatars are generally smaller files that take up only a few KB.



Step 2: Find whatever avatar(s) you like on the web and then 'right click' on it and 'save as'. This will download the image onto your computer's hard drive. You can even do this on a public computer at an internet cafe, btw.



Step 3: Now go back to your new Photobucket.com account, log in, and upload the image.

-------> Here's how:

3a) At the top of the Photobucket page, you'll see a white box and the words Add Pictures. Click on the 'browse' icon - which will locate the avatar you just downloaded onto your computer. Click once on the image you want, and then click on 'open'.

3b) Now click on the 'submit' icon - which will upload the image to Photobucket. Voila! That avatar (or photo) is now saved - and the new URL is ready for you to enter into the Profile section here @ Dave's.




It sounds a little confusing but it's not. I'm basically a computer idiot and still managed to figure it out in an hour or so.

By going through this little procedure, you become your own image host, rather than depending on somebody else's website to host images for you. Plus, you can now surf around on the web and save as many avatars as you like. I currently have 60+ avatars and a dozen CV photos saved on Photobucket, and tons of free space left over.

By using Photobucket as a repository for your CV photos, you can link directly from your CV to your Photobucket page, rather than messing around with large attachments. HR Managers & DOS's will love you for it.

[dmb]

Kent to the rescue again. I have this image of Kent as a cyber superman. Whenever anyone has a techie or url problem kent turns up wearing a superman outfit with a big K on the front (his links have saved me god knows how many times in the classroom)

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Merhaba dmb:



Now get thee to Photobucket and open an account;

I miss your bucktoothed, rubber-necking geek of an avatar!

[yaramaz]

The amazing thing is it looks just like him too!

[dmb]

I just found this thread. Yaramaz he looks nothing like me. Next you'll be saying I am an idiot.

[grahamb]

Rangers fans aren't exactly famous for their intellectual prowess!

[dmb]

Who cares. We won the league

[JonnytheMann]

Why does Photobucket require my Social Security Number???

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

^ Hi

To the best of my knowledge they do not require a social security number

unless the sign-up requirements are different for Americans?

When I signed up with Photobucket (country = Thailand) they

required only a valid e-mail address and the usual stuff.



I trust these guys completely - and have

just recently upgraded to a Premium Account.

They are one of the few online companies I've dealt with over the years

that actually takes time to answer personal e-mail enquiries with a personal answer.

[Gordon]

Kent, flickr.com wouldn't work would it? You don't get a separate url for each photo that you upload.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Hi Gordon

I'm not sure about flickr.com - I've never used it.

You can try it and see what happens.

In my limited & modest www experience,

I've found very few web-hosting services that actually

allow totally free hot-linking; hence my stated preference for Photobucket.

Having said that, I know there are people using a variety of other services.

Here's a useful little tip:

If you right-click properties on any photo or avatar,

you can see what web service they are using, and then you

can be sure that if it works for them, it will work for you too.