After your avatar is uploaded on a hosting site of your choice, the first task is identifying the exact address of your avatar on the Internet (also called a “URL”). All hosting services provide a way for you to identify that address, either by:
showing that URL in a text box, usually just under or to the right of your thumbnailed avatar.
showing a text link or thumbnailed miniature avatar, which when clicked, will open a new page to display your avatar. In this case, the URL is showing in the address bar at the top of your browser.
Before copying the URL or adding it to your bookmarks, make sure it is the URL of your avatar (".jpg" or “.jpeg” file), and not that of a web page (".htm" or “.html”) !
Note that you do not need to be a registered user of a chat site to be able to use an avatar. There may be however some (rare) rooms which completely block all pictures.
Now, go to your favorite chat site, Chatropolis for example. Select a chat room where avatars can be displayed, and locate the "Screen name" box where you usually type your chat name. That same box can also be used to display your avatar, using some simple HTML code demonstrated below.
Suppose for example that:
My chat name is "HelenUK"
My avatar's URL is "http://www.oocities.org/helen_everything_2004/av_demo.jpg".
To use this name and avatar in a chat room I would type the following line in the "screen name" box:
HelenUK<center><img src="http://www.oocities.org/helen_everything_2004/av_demo.jpg">
When used in a chat room, this code would display as:
HelenUK
All you have to do now is use the line above as a model, and replace my name and URL with yours. You must make sure to check you did not change any other character however, as all characters count! Copy and paste that modified line to the “Screen name” box, then press the Enter key or the "Let me in" button (on Chatropolis). Congratulations you are now using an avatar in a chat room!
Chatropolis also offers a HTML Generator. This is a page which will automatically generate more complex HTML code, in case you wish to use special font effects to display your name. But again, remember to stay simple and not overdo things. As with clothes, the art is in wearing the right accessory, not all of them!
At this point, now that you understand how to display a picture in HTML, you may think that using a picture from an existing web site would also work. After all there are tons of pictures available from the Internet, and few commercial sites block hotlinks. You should be aware however that it really looks tacky to enter a chat room using a non personalised picture, and especially without your name on it. This sort of thing will also say something about you ;-)
Introduction , Step 1: Find a picture , Step 2: Create your avatar , Step 3: Host your avatar , Step 4: Display your avatar.