New User Profile Picture

[fdk]

I can definitely see that for somebody who might not be a regular forum'er as such, seeing several members with the "same" profile pic/avatar might be confusing and might lead some to think that they are duplicate accounts. This is actually a really good insight from somebody "outside the bubble" of these types of forums in general, so thank you.

It might be nice if we could have a few different "default" avatars, and have one randomly "allocated" to each member when they sign up. I'm sure this would require a custom plugin if something doesn't exist already, but I have a feeling it'd be a very small development and heck could be something someone here on the community might be able to whip up for us.

 

[Bryn]

Actually, to be fair, I always think that all accounts without an avatar are all @Cedric (as he had this as his avatar one time)

Anyway, I see some other forums make use of Gravatar so that they have a unique avatar generated for them (like the one on my forum for instance). Wonder if this place can benefit from that too?

 

[Al]

Gravatar is used, but it requires the user to have a gravatar account. Not everyone does.

 

[Cpvr]

Hello everyone,
When a new user signs up and sees that everyone has the same profile picture, it can give the impression that the forum is using fake accounts.

I came across another forum where users were required to upload a profile picture to complete their registration. This helped make the community feel more personal and authentic.

Would it be a good idea to implement something similar here?

The idea that a forum is using fake accounts just because default avatars are the same doesn’t really hold up. New users always have the option to upload their own avatar in their account settings, which is usually one of the first things they explore when joining a forum. Customizing your profile picture is a personal choice, not a requirement.