[Osbes]

Frequently Asked Questions

Question
My Icon (mostly the paperclip) looks like http://dl.dropbox.com/u/246391/Robin_result.png (it is stretched and vertical lines are added), what can i do?

Answer
I assume you use a GD Libary older than 2.0.36.

GD had a problem handling grayscale images with alpha channel correctly, which was fixed with GD 2.0.36 in the year 2007.

The solution is to update the GD-Libary to 2.0.36 (or later) or replace every file which uses "gray+alpha" with an version using "color RGBA".
I would advise to update the GD-Libary, cause there is also a serious security problem, that was fixed by Debian in the year 2009.

For the embed Version of GD within PHP, this issue is fixed since PHP 5.3.0.

Question
Does this addon works with CDNs?

Answer
Yes. This addon has one side support for CDNs. One side meaning we can't write the sprite on your external server (and never can). But it doesn't has any problems reading the icons out of your CDN and writing it to a local filepath where your CDN sync function can distribute it to your CDN.

Question
How to add custom icons into the sprite?

Answer
The addon has the option to include custom icons. Be warned it's meant for advanced users (and style designers). An explanation can be found here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showp...&postcount=177

Question
I am using an Add-On for changing the forum icons (like www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=244351). When using CSS Sprites, my forum icons are reverted to the original state.

Answer
The feature to use forums custom icons is builtin in vBulletin 4. You can add to every forum an own imageprefix, so it will use forums custom icons. If you use the vBulletin imageprefix for your your forums, these icons will instantly added to the sprite.

An explanaition to this can be found in the vBulletin Manual (under Prefix for Forum Status Images):
https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/...orum_add_forum

Question
Google pagespeed still tells me that i should combine icons into sprites.

Answer
Despite covering hundreds of icons our addon can't cover everything. Especially gradients can't be automatically replaced since they differ a lot in custom styles. But, we do offer a hook so you can add your own icons into the sprite, based on the needs your board has.
A longer answer why we can't include gradients and all custom icons can be found here
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showp...2&postcount=49

To add the missing Icons yourself, please read: How to add custom icons into the sprite?

Question
Double background issue/ search icon dissapears

Answer
Some custom styles do include their own background, for example behind the search icon.
Since sprites replace the icons with the sprite background this gets in the way.
Solution: Modify your search icon to include both background and icon and refresh the sprite.