Member Photos vs Avatars - long term?
How Do I?
I hope someone can offer some clarification:
We’ve been using EE for years with many members, always relying on photos (not avatars) for profile images. After upgrading our site to EE 7 and revising the old site, I noticed the following:
The control panel now only supports uploading and managing avatars, not photos. Why avatars? Most platforms use a profile image instead?
In the Entries Tag documentation, there’s no mention of photo-related variables like {photo_filename}, yet it still works. Why is that?
Is one of these features being phased out? Should we now store member images as avatars, or continue using photos?
My take is there’s only nomenclature differences at play here. Avatars ARE (or, can be) photos and vice versa. An Avatar is merely another way of saying “profile image”, as an avatar IS an image and a photo is an image. Images for everyone, I guess…
Interesting topic! I’ve always wondered about the difference myself — member photos definitely feel more personal, but avatars keep things simple and consistent across the forum. run3
I share your concerns and hope someone can provide clarification on this. It’s puzzling why the control panel in EE 7 focuses golf hit solely on avatars for profile images when most platforms utilize photos instead.
By limiting uploads to avatars, platforms can ensure consistency in how user profiles appear. In some cases, limiting uploads to avatars could also be a way to avoid privacy concerns or issues with inappropriate Drift Boss content.