Chicagoist commenters now have avatars! If you have a profile (and if you don't yet, why not register?), just go to "Edit Profile" and upload a 100 x 100 pixel image. Then try commenting (on this post!), and bask in the glory of our ever-improving commenting system.
For now, the default icon for registered users across the Gothamist network is a panda, which is a nod to Executive Editor and Gothamist Co-Founder Jen Chung's well-documented love of pandas. There's still a bug or two in the system, but, hell, avatars! They are quite literally little bundles of joy.
This is another step in the process of moving away from a free-for-all commenting system to a registration-only one. By the end of the month, we'll have no more "guests." It's a contentious issue, to be sure, about which there's been quite a lot of vitriol, but we can't wait to make the switch, and we really, really hope you decide to take part by taking five seconds and registering a profile.
Photo from the Oregon Zoo.



This is what a comment looks like now!
Love the reference to everyone's favorite Canadian...
I hate pandas. Those vacant eyes. Those clumsy paws.
I keep getting an error when I try to change my avatar. Fucking conspiracy of pandas.
I do like that Panda. But seeing your smiling faces is much better.
Hate to nitpick (oh, who am I kidding), but why-oh-why was it decided to move away from the tried and true formula of putting avatars/user info on the *left*? It's really jarring to my pea brain to have my eye pulled to the right.
I rather like the default avatar. It's less boring than the cliche silhouette.
Pantagrapher -- Use Firefox. Chicagoist hates Safari.
Or don't change your avatar, and register 'pandagrapher' instead.
pantagrapher,
I got errors at first too. I think it doesn't like having large images uploaded. If you haven't already, try scaling your image to 100x100 on your own, and then upload that small file.
-- James
"Pandagrapher..."
Bwahahaha
ok, on a random note, after I post a comment on chicagoist, I have the bad habit of pressing "control + tab" in firefox to move to the next tab, and 99.9% of the time, firefox freezes when I do this...
being the kickass browser that it is, I can end the process and restart, at which point my comment will be posted and I can restore my previous session. still, it's kind of annoying.
Thanks, James. Self-scaling worked.
One less panda photo in the world.
Avatars are annoying and useless. Blog comments don't need to be so pretty.
Just FYI, the commenter "editor at large" is not actually a Chicagoist staffer. "Pandagrapher" is pretty great, though.
I've been braking for pandas for many years.
http://flickr.com/photos/jenchung/43660157/
I'm a big fan of my new avatar.
Is it working? Is it working? Oh I hope its working...
I'm a big fan of my new avatar.
I have replaced the panda!
down w/ the panda
Does it work?
fuck registration
really