User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:54:14 +0100

If you are having trouble with your user picture, you're in the right place! How do I upload my user picture? Go to My NaNoWriMo => Edit User Settings Scroll down to the "Picture" section, and click "Choose file" Browse to your image on your computer Click "Open/Save/Whatever your dialog window's button" is. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click "Save" Note: Make sure both password boxes are blank; changing your password will log you out. My picture won't show up, or I can't delete the old one and add a new one. THe old picture keeps showing up after I save the changes! Our site has a cache, and your newly uploaded picture should appear! Give it a few hours (up to 24) for it to appear. Don't upload another or delete it, as multiple uploads reset the "timer" and make extend the amount of time it takes for it to show up. If after waiting 24 hours, your picture has not appeared in your profile, then please post here with the following information: 1) When/what time you uploaded your user picture 2) What it SHOULD be - Describe the picture so we can compare it to the one we see. Often, we'll be able to see your new picture before you can 3) What YOU see. Describe it so we can compare it to the one we see. By following these steps, we can determine if there's something else at play here. Thus far, no bugs with this process have been identified that time has not fixed. Please don't post if you haven't waited 24 hours for your image to appear; we will ask you to wait. My picture keeps getting warped, or it's blurry and I swear it's under the limit and doesn't look like that before I upload! Now, if you're having problems with a small picture being resized (blurry or warped) then you will need to resize your image to EXACTLY 100 x 100 pixels. Images less than this are being resized UP to meet the limit, rather than posted directly. I've tried to upload my user picture, but the site says it's too large! If you are having trouble uploading a LARGE picture, then you will need to resize your image to be exactly 100 x 100 pixels, and LESS THAN 30 kb in size. Images larger than 30 kb cannot be uploaded. If you're having trouble getting the file size down, then you can try a tool like http://www.shrinkpictures.com/create-avatar/ to resize your image to our specifications.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

harriet.y — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:12:12 +0100

umm, how does one go about uploading a picture? I've finally settled on one and I don't know how to go about it.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

harriet.y — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:39:10 +0100

never mind, I figured it out :P

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

enchantedsleeper — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:07:57 +0100

[quote=Dragonchilde]My picture keeps getting warped, or it's blurry and I swear it's under the limit and doesn't look like that before I upload! Now, if you're having problems with a small picture being resized (blurry or warped) then you will need to resize your image to EXACTLY 100 x 100 pixels. Images less than this are being resized UP to meet the limit, rather than posted directly.[/quote] My picture is definitely exactly 100x100 pixels, and yet the site seems to be enlarging it as it uploads and making it look blurry as well as cutting bits off the edges D:

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

writerfool — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:37:16 +0100

Harriet.y.... help me..! I am having the same problem.. I cant upload my pic..... how did you do it.. rediculous..i have been here for, well since 2009 , and i cant figure it out this year. {;*( please help... thank you.....

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:25:45 +0100

I've added instructions for updating your user picture in the first post.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Bovver — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:43:06 +0100

Okay, so it hasn't been a full 24 hours YET, but it's been almost 10 hours and I'm sitting here with an avatar with a spelling mistake in it. It's awful. I can't look at it. I accidentally uploaded the first avatar I made, where I incorrectly spelled "WOLRD". It is supposed to say "WORLD". I tried and tried to upload the corrected version of my avatar, but instead it it would flip in between the incorrectly spelled avatar, and the picture that I uploaded several weeks ago that I replaced. So far, no sign of the corrected avatar. Is there any way to push this process along a little faster? Please!

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

enchantedsleeper — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:05:40 +0100

Mine seems to be fine now! It just must've taken a while to update. :3

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:39:36 +0100

[quote=Bovver] Okay, so it hasn't been a full 24 hours YET, but it's been almost 10 hours and I'm sitting here with an avatar with a spelling mistake in it. It's awful. I can't look at it. I accidentally uploaded the first avatar I made, where I incorrectly spelled "WOLRD". It is supposed to say "WORLD". I tried and tried to upload the corrected version of my avatar, but instead it it would flip in between the incorrectly spelled avatar, and the picture that I uploaded several weeks ago that I replaced. So far, no sign of the corrected avatar. Is there any way to push this process along a little faster? Please! [/quote] No, there's really not. We do need you to wait the full 24 hours... because I'm looking right now, and your image is showing properly spelled. The more you upload, the longer it will take to update.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

mithrilly — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:03:20 +0100

I'm using an IPad, which I suspect is the problem. The Choose File button is not activated. Any suggestions?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:47:54 +0100

[quote=mithrilly] I'm using an IPad, which I suspect is the problem. The Choose File button is not activated. Any suggestions? [/quote] Unfortunately, I don't believe user pictures can be uploaded with an iPad. I tested this on my iPod Touch. I believe the fault is Apple's, in this case; it's the way they designed their file system, you can't browse for a saved image.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Bovver — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:42:05 +0100

YAY - it fixed itself! Thanks for your time, Dragonchilde :)

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

ruwth — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:53:40 +0100

What do I do now? Well, I didn't find this forum post until it was too late. I upload the picture that I wanted to use. Since I thought that 100X100 meant maximum size, I made sure that my picture was smaller than that. My picture had my name in it: ruwth. When it displayed, only the uwt was visible. So I thought that my pic was too large. So I deleted it . . . made it smaller . . . reloaded it . . . saw the same thing again . . . deleted it made it even smaller . . . reloaded it and saw the same thing again. I did this multiple times. Then I thought that maybe it centers the picture . . . mine was not square so I made it square . . . and uploaded in various sizes . . . and kept seeing uwt . . . I kept deleting and resizing. At one point, I started maing the image exactly 100x100 . . . I shrunk my name and added a border so that my name was only a small thing in the middle of the 100x100. Then I got to thinking that maybe . . . just maybe . . . what I was seeing was still the first picture . . . so then I created and uploarded an entirely different image . . . with the same results . . . then I tried and tried and tried to figure out how to delete my first picture . . . with no success. Someone on writing.com told me that there was a technical forum and to look for it . . . and I searched . . . I finally stumbled in here. So . . . what does this mean for me? (Other than a lot of time spent on trying to get a profile picture up when I could have been writing . . . gulp!) If I wait for twenty-four hours from now will everything that I have uploaded be deleted? Or is this just a hopeless matter now and I can never have a profile picture? Help! Oh and while I am here . . . I have notifications set to notify me about replies . . . but get no notification . . . at least none that I can see anywhere . . . so even if you answer this . . . do I just have to try and stumble back here and hope to find the answer??? *sigh* this is hard on an old lady! ~ ~ ~ ruwth ~ ~ ~ or should I just change my name to uwt?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:17:19 +0100

[quote=ruwth] So . . . what does this mean for me? (Other than a lot of time spent on trying to get a profile picture up when I could have been writing . . . gulp!) If I wait for twenty-four hours from now will everything that I have uploaded be deleted? Or is this just a hopeless matter now and I can never have a profile picture?[/quote] Right now, I see nothing associated with your account. You need to upload ONCE, and let the site wait for 24 hours to catch up. Nothing will change or be deleted unless you delete or change it yourself. Upload the image, and no matter what it shows after you do... leave it alone. Each time you upload, you're delaying the cache, and may be adding time before you see the real thing. [quote]Oh and while I am here . . . I have notifications set to notify me about replies . . . but get no notification . . . at least none that I can see anywhere . . . so even if you answer this . . . do I just have to try and stumble back here and hope to find the answer??? [/quote] This thread is only for asking questions about user pictures. As noted in the Known Issues thread, notifications by email have not yet been enabled.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Inoru no Hoshi — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:22:02 +0100

I'm not sure if this goes here or elsewhere, so, eep. /o\ Okay, so I normally browse with images off as a way to speed things along (yay, dialup :P), and generally when I want to look at an image I just right-click-show-image. I used to be able to do this on the NaNo forums re: userpics, and now I can't without going to someone's profile. I'm not sure if this is a bug or an intended effect, but it's definitely an accessibility issue, in my opinion.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

ruwth — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:53:34 +0100

Thank you for your answer . . . and sorry about asking about the notifications here. I did read the Known Issues thread . . . well, I scanned through it looking for the problems that I was having . . . I did not see it so I am glad that you let me know. Someone on Writing.Com had told me that notifications weren't working yet. Maybe they saw it there. I also discovered on my own that by checking My Forum Comments, I was able to find your reply. Now because of the confusion for me yesterday, I am going to have to decide which image I want to use! LOL Thank you, again! ~ ~ ~ ruwth ~ ~ ~ BTW -- I only meant for the "What do I do now?" to be bolded . . . I am not sure what went wrong with that!

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

quilled — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:38:03 +0100

Each time I go to upload a new photo and leave the confirm password area blank, it won't let me continue because it doesn't "match," and then when I do enter it it logs me out as you said. I know you said to wait for 24 hours (and I will) but I'm not entirely sure if it even went through due to the messages I keep receiving! Thank you! :)

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:58:28 +0100

[quote=quilled] Each time I go to upload a new photo and leave the confirm password area blank, it won't let me continue because it doesn't "match," and then when I do enter it it logs me out as you said. I know you said to wait for 24 hours (and I will) but I'm not entirely sure if it even went through due to the messages I keep receiving! Thank you! :) [/quote] As noted in the first post: Note: Make sure the password box is blank; changing your password will log you out. Make sure that BOTH password boxes are blank, otherwise it thinks you're trying to change your password. If you're using a browser "remember this password" tool, it may be automatically filling in the first box for you, and you may need to delete it.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

quilled — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:14:03 +0100

OH! Yes. That's exactly what Chrome is doing! Thank you so much!

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

philperetti — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:07:57 +0100

I have literally just spent over six hours total trying to reduce any kind of photo to under the 30K requirement on the suggested www.shrinkpictures.com website. It is &^%#& IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!! How can it be done?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

philperetti — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:29:44 +0100

No, really! Please help. The smallest I can get a jpg file down to using www.shrinkpictures.com is a little over 40k. Everyone else seems to have their picture up. What am I doing wrong?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:42:02 +0100

[quote=philperetti] I have literally just spent over six hours total trying to reduce any kind of photo to under the 30K requirement on the suggested www.shrinkpictures.com website. It is &^%#& IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!! How can it be done? [/quote] I don't know how that particular site works, however, usually reducing the quality of the image will reduce the file size.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

philperetti — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:16:36 +0100

That's my point. I reduced the quality as much as I could and still couldn't get it below 40K. Do you or anyone else know of another method or another web site I could try?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:19:50 +0100

[quote=philperetti] That's my point. I reduced the quality as much as I could and still couldn't get it below 40K. Do you or anyone else know of another method or another web site I could try? [/quote] I've used GIMP in the past; it's a free, if complicated, version of photoshop available for any operating system. You also might have more luck with Paint or another desktop program.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

philperetti — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 18:45:49 +0100

First of all, thank you for responding. I know you don't set the policy for this site and I appreciate your efforts. Gimp seems to be a good program and one I will probably get a lot of good use for in the future, so thank you again. In order to get a 3MB photo (the lowest setting on my camera) down to 30k (29.8 to be exact) I had to reduce the quality to 5%. The result, as you can see, is pretty bad. I don't know what else to do and I need to stop wasting time on my profile pic and get started on my novel. I don't know why the administrators of the site set the limit so low, but I wish they would change it in the future. Another 11K would have made a HUGE difference and saved me a lot of grief.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Cydnorg — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:06:14 +0100

Ohhai Dragonchilde :) Just a question; do you see a person as my avatar or a cup of coffee / tea? :p

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:48:00 +0100

[quote=Cydnorg] Ohhai Dragonchilde :) Just a question; do you see a person as my avatar or a cup of coffee / tea? :p [/quote] A cup of coffee!

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:50:49 +0100

[quote=philperetti] First of all, thank you for responding. I know you don't set the policy for this site and I appreciate your efforts. Gimp seems to be a good program and one I will probably get a lot of good use for in the future, so thank you again. In order to get a 3MB photo (the lowest setting on my camera) down to 30k (29.8 to be exact) I had to reduce the quality to 5%. The result, as you can see, is pretty bad. I don't know what else to do and I need to stop wasting time on my profile pic and get started on my novel. I don't know why the administrators of the site set the limit so low, but I wish they would change it in the future. Another 11K would have made a HUGE difference and saved me a lot of grief. [/quote] There's other ways to do it.:) I made my avatar using google's picasa editing tools, without trouble. My camera is a 12 MP, so what usually works is to crop out the part you want, and create a new image with it, then resize that.It takes some getting used to. :) We would like to have a higher limit, but with over 200,000 users alone last year (and more expected this year) as you can imagine, that means we don't have a whole lot of space to devote to user pictures.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Cydnorg — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:57:43 +0100

Thank you! It's almost been a day but just checking ^.^

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:07:27 +0100

[quote=Cydnorg] Thank you! It's almost been a day but just checking ^.^ [/quote] We really do ask that you wait at least 24 hours before checking... it can take at least that long.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

d0ida — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:01:38 +0100

Is the ability to add a picture down now? I tried to change mine and the button is greyed out.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:13:52 +0100

[quote=d0ida] Is the ability to add a picture down now? I tried to change mine and the button is greyed out. [/quote] No, it should be functioning. What are you using to access the site?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

d0ida — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:57:31 +0100

Apparently it was the browser on the HP Touchpad I was using. I was able to place a new photo with Firefox on a desktop computer. Thank you for checking with me.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

WritingSchizo101 — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:04:22 +0100

I am trying to add a novel cover and don't know how. I went to Edit Novel Info and there is no option to add a picture. The last thing on the page is the synopsis and then there's the Save button. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:58:35 +0100

[quote=WritingSchizo101] I am trying to add a novel cover and don't know how. I went to Edit Novel Info and there is no option to add a picture. The last thing on the page is the synopsis and then there's the Save button. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? [/quote] As noted in the Known issues thread, novel covers have not been implemented yet. This thread is for troubleshooting user picture problems.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Artimisia — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:13:55 +0100

Dang, my picture must be the wrong proportions ... looks very weird with the edges cropped off. How can I get the whole 20.7 KB thing to show up? Yep, I wasted too much writing time getting the picture file small enough to post, but the cellphone worked beautifully for creating an image small enough to use! Just crawl around in the user settings and re-set the resolution. And now back to writing ...

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:54:01 +0100

[quote=Artimisia] Dang, my picture must be the wrong proportions ... looks very weird with the edges cropped off. How can I get the whole 20.7 KB thing to show up? Yep, I wasted too much writing time getting the picture file small enough to post, but the cellphone worked beautifully for creating an image small enough to use! Just crawl around in the user settings and re-set the resolution. And now back to writing ... [/quote] In order for your image to NOT be cropped, it has to be exactly 100 x 100 pixels... any other size will get warped strangely. :)

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Kendra P — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:03:38 +0100

From my own experience and other people's posts in this thread, it sounds like the preview needs to be improved. I think I just deleted everything at this point, but I tried multiple versions of my image (a drawing, not a photo), and it was showing just the center of the image, or maybe it kept showing me the first image which wasn't square. 24 hours between attempts is nuts. So, I had an image that's small enough, but not square (think the actual drawing is 59 pixels wide by 100 pixels high), and I replaced (or thought I replaced) that with a 100 x 100 version (just added blank space around it). When I tried doing it as a png (which is listed as a supported type), I just got a white square, and when I used a jpg, I only saw the middle of the picture (at an enlarged size). I tried adding a box around it, so it would be a white square with a small border and the picture in the middle so I could tell for sure nothing was getting cropped (since some sites seem to get rid of the white part of the picture), and I saw the same thing. I guess this is because it's only the first image showing up. I hadn't seen this site when I tried it. On the instructions page for putting up a picture, it just says to refresh but doesn't tell you it's going to take 24 hours. So, should I put a replacement picture or just wait 24 hours to do anything at all?

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:15:37 +0100

[quote=Kendra P] From my own experience and other people's posts in this thread, it sounds like the preview needs to be improved. I think I just deleted everything at this point, but I tried multiple versions of my image (a drawing, not a photo), and it was showing just the center of the image, or maybe it kept showing me the first image which wasn't square. 24 hours between attempts is nuts. So, I had an image that's small enough, but not square (think the actual drawing is 59 pixels wide by 100 pixels high), and I replaced (or thought I replaced) that with a 100 x 100 version (just added blank space around it). When I tried doing it as a png (which is listed as a supported type), I just got a white square, and when I used a jpg, I only saw the middle of the picture (at an enlarged size). I tried adding a box around it, so it would be a white square with a small border and the picture in the middle so I could tell for sure nothing was getting cropped (since some sites seem to get rid of the white part of the picture), and I saw the same thing. I guess this is because it's only the first image showing up. I hadn't seen this site when I tried it. On the instructions page for putting up a picture, it just says to refresh but doesn't tell you it's going to take 24 hours. So, should I put a replacement picture or just wait 24 hours to do anything at all? [/quote] Before we can troubleshoot the process, we need to to upload your image, and wait 24 hours; it uploads fine, it just take a while for our servers' caches to catch up and sync with each other. If you haven't seen your new image after 24 hours, come back and post. Each time you upload, the timer resets, and may actually cause things to take longer to catch up.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Kendra P — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:47:26 +0100

Ok, well, 24 hours from now, or 24 hours x the 10 or so times that I tried putting new pictures up before? I'm just seeing a white square, but it should have a little drawing of a cat with a witch hat and broom, and the picture I just added is exactly 100x100 (added white space to make it square).

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:29:12 +0100

[quote=Kendra P] Ok, well, 24 hours from now, or 24 hours x the 10 or so times that I tried putting new pictures up before? I'm just seeing a white square, but it should have a little drawing of a cat with a witch hat and broom, and the picture I just added is exactly 100x100 (added white space to make it square). [/quote] Just wait 24 hours from your last upload.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Kendra P — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:05:08 +0100

The picture actually showed up when I logged in 3 hours after updating it, so it is at least sometimes faster.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

Dragonchilde — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:49:38 +0100

[quote=Kendra P] The picture actually showed up when I logged in 3 hours after updating it, so it is at least sometimes faster. [/quote] Yes, it usually is, but asking people to wait 24 hours prevents them from posting here every hour or so wanting to know if it's changed. :)

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

sierramcconnell — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:00:11 +0100

I'm still seeing the old one of Fry from Futurama. It's supposed to be Ryan from the Office. Yes, I've cleared cookies and all history. Yes, I've logged out.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

sierramcconnell — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:00:37 +0100

Oh, and it's been at least a week by now since I updated it.

Re: User picture/Avatar problems

sierramcconnell — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:03:28 +0100

There we go, a couple more closes, a few more ctrl+F5, and it finally shows up....a week later. @_@