Sonic Aftermath

Welcome to the Avatar and Signature guide~

Here, you'll find information on how to upload your avatar as well as tips and tricks on creating a signature.

First off though, you'll have to access your User Control Panel. You can find the link on the top left side of the navigation bar just below the Sonic Aftermath banner and your log-in name. Click on there and you will be taken to your options.




On the small navigation on the left, you'll see a bunch of different features. Depending on which you want to adjust, click either on "Change Avatar" or "Change Signature".

Uploading Your Avatar

There's only really two things to remember when uploading your avatar. One is to make sure that it's at max only 150x150 pixels in dimension. If you aren't sure how big it is, right click the image you want to use and click "Properties". You will find the information there.

The other is to make sure that you are allowed to use the image. Any art that has been posted on artsites in particular (like DeviantArt, for instance) that is not yours should not be used without permission from the artist. This is so we don't have any hairy situations with an upset artist who feels that you are using their art wrongfully.

Once your image is the proper size and you are sure you can use it, you have two options.

Option #1:




You can directly upload your image to the forum. Just hit the "Browse" button (1). Then, select your image (2). If that's the correct image, hit "Open" (3) and then click "Change Avatar" (4). Your avatar should show up.

If this doesn't work.

Option #2:

Create an account on either Photobucket or Imageshack. It's free to sign up and you can use it to link your images to any site you want. If you really don't want to make an account at either of these sites, then use Tiny Pic. You can upload images there without one. I use photobucket, so I'll use it to demonstrate.




Simply upload your image like you would if you were going to directly upload it. Then, mouse over your uploaded image. All those options should appear. Copy the URL from the "Direct Link" option. Go back to your avatar control panel and post it in the box below the upload option where it's labeled "Avatar URL" and click "Change Avatar".

You're done!

Changing Your Signature

Signatures can be a little more customized than avatar since you have more space to play with. However, there is a limit of a 255 word count. This is to keep them from becoming too image ridden and slowing down the loading time of the forums for our modest 56k'ers.




There are many different options to consider when making a signature despite the actual message written itself. Some use it to note their contact information. Some revolve it around the character the account belongs to. What you choose to put in it is free game, really. Our only request is for people to post who else they play as, but it is not a requirement. Anyway, surely, some people like to make it interesting and different from the standard. This can be achieved with a little bit of BBS know-how.

BBS is the standard code for message boards. Most of it can be accessed just by clicking the icon options right above the text box. You can make your fonts bold, italic, or underlined. You can realign your text. You can also change the font size and font color. Playing with these options is part of the fun. Just make sure to keep in mind and respect other members. Really large fonts or unreadable, brightly colored text are a couple of examples of things to avoid. Remember also that coding is included in the word count. Too much and you won't be able to type in the message you might have wanted.

Once you have customized your text, click the "Change Signature" button. Mine now looks like this.




It's sort of cool. Okay. It's very bland. Like it's missing something. Why not add an image?

But how do you add an image to your signature? It's actually very simple. If you have a Photobucket account, now is the time to reference back to it. If you don't have one, sign up for one. It's free and really useful. If you really aren't a fan, try using Tiny Pic. It will allow you to upload images without creating an account. I'll again use my Photobucket account as a reference.




There, you can see my uploaded signature banner. Signature banners should be roughly around 100x400 pixels wide although we are generally pretty lenient. Anyway, just like with the avatar, after uploading the file, mouse over the image. This time though, copy "IMG code" instead.




Now, return to your control panel and paste the information wherever you want it to show up. Hit "Change Signature".




If you did it right, your image should come up. If not, try refreshing your page. Sometimes upload servers are slow and it takes a moment for them to register your change. If it still doesn't show though, it might be a coding error. In that case, make sure that the URL for your image is surrounded by [ IMG ] and [ /IMG ] (without the spaces). Otherwise, it won't load right.

If it comes up, congrats! You've successfully added an image to your signature!