Here are a couple of display issues that some of you may have run into with the new board software.
1. Broken Signatures. For security reasons, phpBB3 (the new software) no longer allows the display of embedded HTML code/tags in posts and signatures. If you have used HTML <> tags in your signature to represent links or images, these links no longer work, and instead are now displayed as raw HTML.
The solution is to replace your HTML tags with BBCode tags - the same [url] and [img] tags used for posting - and your signature will return to its former linkalicious glory.
2. Vanishing Avatars. Some people have experienced the problem of their avatars disappearing (and sometimes reappearing) seemingly at random. It’s happened to me, too. The symptom is the words “User avatar” appearing in place of the graphic in forum posts and profiles. The reason for the apparent problem isn’t clear, but the fix in some cases may involve re-uploading your avatar to the board.
So if you have a favorite, beloved avatar, be sure that you have a saved, local copy of your avatar graphic, just in case.
To save your avatar from the board, just right-click it in your browser, and follow your menu options to “Save Image As” or “Save Picture As”, etc.
I got an email from the hosting company asking us to…well, let’s just say there appears to be a compatibility problem between phpBB3 and a particular way of handling avatar files. We made an adjustment last night which we’re hoping will take care of the problem.
Just a clarification: If you run into the disappearing avatar problem, there’s no need to re-upload your avatar immediately. Just wait a while, and chances are good that it will reappear.
