FAQ - Userpics

Userpics are icons or avatars used to represent yourself, your moods or feelings, your interests, etc. They are displayed in many locations on LiveJournal, including your Profile page, your journal, your entries in communities, the Friends pages of people who list you as a friend, comments, support requests, and the comments pages of your entries. You have the ability to select a default userpic, and can sometimes select another userpic you'd like to use.

Upload a New Picture with your Edit Userpics page. If you are already at or above your maximum allowed number of userpics, the upload form will not display until you have deleted enough userpics to bring your total below your maximum.

The number of userpics you have depends on your account level:

• Early Adopter & Basic Account: 6 userpics
• Plus Account: 15 userpics
• Paid Account: 30 userpics (plus any Loyalty Userpics)
• Permanent Account: 208 userpics (includes maximum number of Loyalty Userpics)

To delete a userpic, log in to LiveJournal and go to the Edit Userpics page. Check the delete box next to the userpic(s) that you no longer want. Save your changes and the userpic(s) will be deleted. Alternatively, you can also delete your userpics via the File Manager.

Userpics are assigned to entries and comments according to their keywords. When a userpic is deleted, entries and comments that previously used the userpic you deleted will show your default userpic (or no userpic, if you have no default userpic) unless you upload a new userpic and give it the same keyword as the userpic you deleted. If you give a new userpic the keyword previously associated with a deleted userpic, all entries and comments using that keyword will now show the new userpic.

Before you can post with different userpics, you need to have more than one; you can find more and upload them to LiveJournal.

Userpics must meet certain size, file type and other requirements before you can upload them.

Your default userpic is viewable throughout the LiveJournal site, and unlike individual journal entries, it cannot be hidden or protected. It is potentially available to anyone on the Internet who randomly browses the site. Therefore, we require that your default userpic not contain anything too explicit. In particular, icons which contain nudity or graphic violence tend to be inappropriate for default userpics. Strong language on an otherwise appropriate userpic generally does not make the userpic unsuitable for a default userpic.

Non-default userpics can contain images which are more graphic in nature, and the Abuse Prevention Team generally will not intervene if a user is posting with a graphic non-default userpic. If you are receiving comments with a graphic non-default userpic, you may wish to delete the comments; similarly, if graphic non-default userpics are being used on community entries, you should speak to the community maintainer(s).

Note that anyone can see all of your userpics at http://www.livejournal.com/allpics.bml?user=exampleusername. If you have questions about the acceptability of your userpics or you would like to report an inappropriate default userpic, please contact the Abuse Prevention Team.

If the maximum number of userpics for your account changes and you have more userpics currently stored than the new maximum number, some of your userpics will be marked inactive. There are three reasons why this can happen:

• Your Paid Account expires: Your larger Paid Account add-on userpic space, if any, will also be deactivated and the amount of remaining time will be saved.


• Your add-on userpic space expires.


• You switch back to a Basic Account from a Plus Account.

Based on your new account type, LiveJournal selects your active userpics by choosing your default userpic, if any, and the userpics you used most in your journal entries over the last two months; this process is not affected by your userpic choices in comments or community entries. When you're logged in, all of your userpics (active or inactive) are shown on your User Pictures page and Edit Userpics page. Other users only see active userpics on your User Pictures page.

You can either create your own userpic or find one online. Once you find a userpic you would like to use, upload it to your account and add keywords. You may also wish to credit the creator of your userpic.

Each of your userpics can have two types of text: userpic comments and userpic keywords. Userpic comments are displayed beside the userpic and under any keywords on your User Pictures page. They are commonly used to give credit to the userpic maker or to otherwise describe or give context for the userpic.

You can enter any text you choose into the comment text box at the Edit Userpics page, up to 120 characters. Except for the lj user tag, HTML is not allowed in this field.