Overview
The Avatar Overlay feature allows you to display a visual effect or badge over a user's avatar in the Directory, based on their User Group. This can be used to highlight certain members, apply animated effects, or even fully replace avatars in special cases (e.g., suspended users).
🔧 How to Set Up Avatar Overlays
- Enter Admin
- Navigate to Settings > Configuration > User Groups & Memberships
- Locate the Avatar Overlay column
- Upload your desired image or animated GIF
⚠️ Important Guidelines
- Use Transparent Backgrounds:
- To create an overlay effect (where the user's original avatar is still visible behind the new image), make sure your uploaded file has a transparent background (e.g., PNG or transparent GIF).
- Avoid Solid Backgrounds (unless intentional):
- If you upload an image with a solid background, it will fully replace the user's avatar. This can be useful for specific scenarios like indicating a Suspended status, but it is not recommended for general overlay use.
- The Avatar Overlay should be square.
- It is overlayed on top of the circular Avatar, so it can extend beyond it around the corners:
- Only one Avatar Overlay can be applied at a time.
- If the Profile in question has multiple User Groups with an Avatar Overlay set, the one from the last User Group in the list is used.
- Coming soon: we are working on a way for Admins to be able to re-order User Groups to specify their priority for this.
🎉 Pro Tips
- Animated Overlays:
- You can use animated GIFs to add dynamic visual flair! For example, we created a “Demo Cat” User Group with an oversized animated overlay. While it’s intentionally large for demonstration, you can apply the same technique more subtly to add sparkle, glow, or movement around avatars.
- Preview in the Directory:
- Once applied, head to the Directory to see the overlays in action.
✅ Best Practice Summary
Highlight group members – PNG or GIF – Transparent – Overlay on top of avatar
Indicate suspension/override – PNG or JPG – Solid – Replaces avatar entirely
Add animation or flair – Animated GIF – Transparent – Animated effect over avatar
If you have any questions or need help designing overlays, feel free to reach out – we're here to help!
