Now Bigger Avatar Sizes - and link to an image!
We've bumped up the size a bit, now to 20KB and 160x120 in size - the below instructs you on how to create an image, without needing special software.

New and Improved - you can now provide a link to an image, and the forum will automatically squish it down to fit within the constraints. Simple, easy!

Linking Instructions
Click on User Control Panel, below the VRG banner; then, click on "Profile" and then "Edit Avatar"
In the "Link off-site" field, insert a link to an image you would like to use as an avatar. Such as, shown below:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7752177826_9c05fc128e_o.jpg

This image below is 1000 x 667 pixels, but the forum re-sizes down to 160x120, as you can see in my avatar:



Resizing Instructions

The is an online photo editor that allows you to upload and edit a photo, and then save to your computer.

Pixlr Photo Editor:
http://pixlr.com/editor/

• When you arrive at the site, select "Open image from computer" - and then navigate to the photo you wish to use.
• You can also choose "Open image from URL" and then provide a link to a photo. (flickr, imgur, photobucket, etc.)

That will open the image in the online editor.

• From there, click on "Image --> Image Size" at the top of the browser.
• Change the dimensions to 160 and 120, or smaller; you will need to un-check Constrain Proportions if you want to make it a square image.
• Click "OK" and congrats! A smaller image.
  
• Next, click "File --> Save", leave it set to the "My Computer" tab, and give it a name. It tells you here what the size of the image is, so, if it's larger than 6K, you'll need to shrink it down more or turn the quality down a bit which will reduce size.
  
• Once it's good to go, click OK. Remember where you save it, and then when editing your profile, choose that image to upload.