[MODPOST] Flairs & Avatars

On RPolitics, users can set up their own custom flairs so that other members of the forums can easily identify who is who.

An example of a user flair can be seen on this Admin account, on the left hand side of the page.

My username is "Admin". Obviously, once one begins to become more familiar with who other users are, they will easily be able to identify you on your username alone. However, to make things simpler and more accessible, it is HIGHLY recommended that you create your own custom flair. This may become mandatory in the future.

Keeping with the Admin account example we can see three things.

First, we can see the title of the country which this user is playing as. The admin account doesn't actually participate in the game, so the Admin has set their country name as "Adminland" (or at least, it was at the time of writing this post).

Second, we can see the title of the character this person is roleplaying as. In other words, what is their position or role in this country. Admin has this set to "Sir Admin". Most of the time this should be "[your character's name], President/Prime Minister/King/etc. of [your country". Ex: Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America.

Lastly, through the Avatar image (AKA profile pic) of Admin, we can see the flag of "Adminland".

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We will now begin the tutorial on how to set this up on your own account.

Step 1.

Click on the Profile tab on the navigator.



Step 2.

This is what it should look like when you click on the Profile tab. There are only two buttons we are concerned with here. Both have been highlighted for you to see.



Step 3.

We will set up our Avatar first. Click on the Avatar button. You can find where to press this button in the image shown in Step 2. The Avatar button is the one highlighted in red.

This is what the Avatar page looks like.



In the RED square we can see our Avatar image. Sometimes this doesn't update right away, it may take a few minutes. If you can't see your image, try refreshing after waiting a minute or two.

The default image for all new members to the forum should be a generic, boring grey torso and head.

There are several ways we can upload an Avatar image. The recommended methods are:

• Uploading straight from your computer (ORANGE)
  
  
• Linking to an offsite Avatar (PURPLE)
  
  
• Or selecting a flag from our website gallery (Light Blue)
  
  

Uploading straight from your computer

Uploading straight from your computer is pretty straight forward. You would upload just as you would for any other image hosting website like Imgur. The only difference is that we have tight bandwidth limits for images. The maximum size of an image that you are uploading is as follows:

A width of 150 pixels, and a height of 300 pixels. The size of the file cannot exceed 64kb.

Note: This size limit should be easy to adhere to, given the pixel limits.

Linking to an offsite Avatar

Linking to an offsite Avatar means that you are using any image that you aren't uploading onto this website, and that you aren't selecting from a gallery. Found a good image on Google or Imgur? This is the method you would use. Keep in mind that the pixel limit still applies for width. If your image is wider than 150 pixels it will simply be cut off. However, there is no restriction on file size, and the height shouldn't be an issue. If the lack of a limit on height is abused (like making a 150x8000 image or something stupid like that), punishments will be handed out.

If using this method, you MUST use the direct link to the image. The direct link is usually the address that ends in .png , .jpg, .bmp, or whatever your file extension is. Direct imgur image links look like this  ---> https://i.imgur.com/r9QfYHn.png


Selecting a flag from our website gallery

Our website has pre-made flags available for use. We have many existing country flags that you can use for your avatar, such as the flag of the United States or Canada. If you are roleplaying as a country which already exists in real life, check out our gallery first to see if we have your country's flag.

However, if you are roleplaying as a completely fictional country, obviously your flag will not be included here.

Step 4.

Once you are finished selecting an Avatar image, click the save button (circled in PINK). You have now set up your Avatar! It will appear in every post and comment you make.

Step 5

We will now set up your country flair. Click on the Country Sheet tab in your Profile. (Highlighted in ORANGE)



Step 6

If you haven't already made a Country Sheet, this is what the Country Sheet will look like when you click on the tab:



Click on the Generate button, as shown in the image.

Once you have 'Generated' a Country Sheet, you will never have to do so again. It is simply a behind-the-scenes activation function on the forum. If you wish to edit your Country Sheet in the future (for example, your leader changes after elections), simply skip to step 7.

Step 7

After a few seconds after activation, the page will change to look like this:



Circled in Red, you can see your website rank. If you have made no posts yet, it will appear as "Fresh Meat". This changes over time, depending on how many posts you have made or if you have been assigned a special rank. To learn more about Ranks, click here (insert link soon).


What we are concerned about is highlighted in orange and green.

Step 8

Enter your Country/Nation's name into the text box (highlighted in ORANGE)

For example, if a user claimed Canada as their country to play as, they would simply enter "Canada". Other nations have larger titles, the player who claims the DRC would enter "Democratic Republic of Congo" in their Country/Nation name.




Below this box (highlighted in GREEN), is the character information box. Players should only enter their character's name and what role they serve. For example, the player of the United States in 2015 would enter "Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America" or something along those lines. Keep it short and to the point.

Step 9

Click the save button in your Character Sheet page and you're done! Congratulations, you've now set up your flair and are ready to get playing the game!

If you haven't already, please read the other important website tutorials.