Firstly, what is an avatar? Well, it' the small picture, about twice the size of a stamp, that you see on users posts on the forum or on peoples profiles.
Avatars either show a picture of the person who has posted, or a picture they like. It can be of anything you choose, though genital pictures aren't allowed as avatars on FreeSwinging. Boobs and bums are fine, cocks and pussies, not.
To place an avatar on your profile, which will then subsequently show on any forum posts you make, is easy to do. You need a picture that is 120pixels by 120 pixels or under. It also has to be under 45kb in size. If you aren't sure if the picture you wish to use is suitable, the simplest way of testing it is to try and upload it. If it is too big (either pixels or kb) it will tell you so. If it works, then job done. If not, try out this handy little tool: Avatar resizer follow the very simple procedure there and you'll have an avatar sized pic in under 30 seconds.
To upload your avatar - go to the User Control Panel (once you've logged in of course!) and from there click on the "profile" tab. You'll then see an option to "Edit Avatar". You can upload the picture you want, then click on submit. It will then tell you if you've been successful. If not, it will say why and you may need to further edit your picture to fit the avatar limits.
There is also an avatar gallery, where you can choose from stock pictures grouped into categories. In your UCP / Profile / edit avatar - you will see an option to "Display Gallery". Once selected you will be able to choose various categories from a drop down box. This is simply a case of choosing the picture you like then selecting it, and pressing submit. All avatars in the gallery are already correctly sized.
If you are really struggling to get an avatar loaded, don't panic. Just drop a Moderator a quick message (with a copy of the pic you wish to use) and explain you're having difficulty. It might not be an immediate response, but your avatar can be uploaded by one of the Mod team, once they have some time.
If there is something else we haven't covered and you wish to ask about avatars then please do. It might end up in here helping out someone else.
If you are a photographer and wish to see your work in the avatar gallery then please contact Admin. We do ask that the pictures you wish to submit are already sized correctly 120px by 120px or 100x100px. They must conform to our rules, in that they're consensual, which includes not showing faces of people who aren't members here. The work MUST be your own and not copied from the internet. We do reserve the right to crop, edit or use only selected pics. We'll give credit where due, if you wish, though this can't be on the actual avatar. Once submitted to the gallery, they cannot be removed on demand unless agreed by you and Admin as if you end your membership, it'd be unfair to delete avatars other members may be using. Copyright remains yours.