Multiple avatars

Started by Arantor, July 18, 2022, 05:10:18 AM

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Arantor

I reckon we should give people the ability to have multiple avatars.

Like, multiple pictures and either set them on rotation or let people pick an avatar per post, e.g. mood related.

d3vcho

Rather than that, I would actually prefer to have my previous avatars saved so I can easily switch to any them without having to re-upload it.
"Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals"

Arantor

Avatar history is an interesting twist - though I don't think I'd want to keep all the history as such.

Though the basic use case can be facilitated with having multiple avatars, just perhaps not as elegantly.

d3vcho

As always I'm using other platforms for reference. My suggestion comes from Telegram, and you have the choice to remove any of your previous avatars. Though for forums I'd say it's better to keep your avatar history as private instead of public.

I just don't think multiple avatars that allows you to pick an avatar per post is a solid use case. I wouldn't myself use it too much.
"Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals"

Arantor

It's actually a super solid use case for certain types of forums. I'm just not sure if that's more broadly interesting though - not all forum types are created equally.

I'm also mindful that this in particular is mildly icky as a core feature and vastly *vastly* more gruesome to support in a mod later on.

Sesquipedalian

I don't fully understand the need that this is meant to fulfill. Why would multiple avatars be necessary?

(This isn't a no, to be clear. It's a request for more information before making any decisions.)
I promise you nothing.

Sesqu... Sesqui... what?
Sesquipedalian, the best word in the English language.

Arantor

In the use cases I had in mind, it actually ties in somewhat with the personas.

Specifically in the places I come from where this was requested, different avatars selected for different posts were for mood reasons, to indicate mood of the persona while posting.

In any event, forums in their classical form are sufficiently niche and being replaced away, such that almost any feature that is a differentiator is important.

Especially if SMF has views on retaining the hobbyist market, where IPB is increasingly withdrawing (especially their latest feature announcement, only available to those paying over $500 a month in cloud plans), and possibly XF too. Anything that gives users choice and flexibility to express themselves is important, especially now.

Sesquipedalian

Quote from: Arantor on July 18, 2022, 12:59:06 PMdifferent avatars selected for different posts

That would be a significant structural change. There would need to be a way to store information associating an avatar ID with a post, queries to look it up, etc., as well as a more complex system for managing avatars.

At this point, I don't think it makes sense to build this into SMF as a core feature. However, the avatars system does need some refactoring, in my opinion, and I would be entirely open to adding more integration hooks in order to allow a mod to provide this sort of functionality with minimal hassle.
I promise you nothing.

Sesqu... Sesqui... what?
Sesquipedalian, the best word in the English language.

Arantor

I know it would be a significant structural change, just as giving each persona (that isn't really an account) its own avatar and signature... but things I have already done in the past, so am well aware of the ramifications.

Honestly, more hooks doesn't make this easier. In fact, more hooks rarely makes a lot of this stuff 'easier', and I was there before the hooks were anything like they are now.

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