./images/avatars directory not writable even though...

[kh99]

Hmm...does the user have a record in the customavatar table (where userid = their id)?

[Snowhog]

I'm just now in the AdminCP and looking at one of our members who has a custom avatar. Under Image Options his avatar is showing. In fact, it looks as if the custom avatars and profile pictures are known to our forum, as they can be seen when looking at their User information in the AdminCP.

Does that suggest anything to you regarding this issue?

[kh99]

Maybe try this experiment, if it's not too much trouble: edit the postbit_legacy template, and find this line:

			<vb:if condition="$show['avatar']">

and change it to

			<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo[userid] == 1816 OR $show['avatar']">

That should force it to show avatars for everyone, but only for you (it looks like your userid is 1816). See if that makes the avatars look right.

[Snowhog]

The change won't save.

<!-- NEXT LINE COMMENTED BY SNOWHOG 2012-11-18 -->
	<!-- <vb:if condition="$show['avatar']"> -->

<!-- NEXT LINE ADDED BY SNOWHOG 2012-11-18 -->
<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo[userid] == 1816 OR $show['avatar']">

I get:

The following error occurred when attempting to evaluate this template:
Unclosed Tag
This is likely caused by a malformed conditional statement. It is highly recommended that you fix this error before continuing, but you may continue as-is if you wish.

[kh99]

Since the template tags aren't really html, the html comments don't work to comment them out. There is a vb:comment tag you could use:

<vb:comment> NEXT LINE COMMENTED BY SNOWHOG 2012-11-18 
	<vb:if condition="$show['avatar']"> 
</vb:comment>

<!-- NEXT LINE ADDED BY SNOWHOG 2012-11-18 -->
<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo[userid] == 1816 OR $show['avatar']">

Also, I only added "$bbuserinfo[userid] == 1816 OR" so all you have to do is remove that when you're done.

[Snowhog]

Hmm. Well, now with this:

<!-- BEGIN MODIFICATION -->

<vb:comment>
<vb:if condition="$show['avatar']">
</vb:comment>

<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo[userid] == 1816 OR $show['avatar']">

<!-- END MODIFICATION -->

Trying to save I get:

The following error occurred when attempting to evaluate this template:
Invalid Tag Nesting
This is likely caused by a malformed conditional statement. It is highly recommended that you fix this error before continuing, but you may continue as-is if you wish.

I've used the <!-- --> tags in the templates before.

[kh99]

Yeah, the vb:comment tags aren't working like I thought the should - I don't know why. But the problem is the first vb:if tag you're trying to comment out isn't getting commented out, and there's no corresponding </vb:if>. I guess if you really want to keep it in there you'll need a closing tag, like:

	<vb:if condition="$show['avatar']"></vb:if>

Yes, you can use html comments in a template, but they just get passed through to the browser. They don't affect the template compiler, so they don't work to comment out the special template tags.

[Snowhog]

I had a thought (it almost hurt).

All the affected members belong to the Established Users usergroup, which is an Additional Usergroup. They have all the permissions necessary. But, they belong to the Registered Users usergroup which doesn't have the permissions to use avatars or profile pictures.

I was making changes to the Registered Users usergroup 'today', but of course, the issue we are having began a day or so ago.

Question: Do the more restrictive permissions of the Registered Users usergroup override those of the Additional Usergroup? I don't believe that is how vBulletin works, but I have to ask.

[kh99]

Originally Posted by Snowhog

Question: Do the more restrictive permissions of the Registered Users usergroup override those of the Additional Usergroup? I don't believe that is how vBulletin works, but I have to ask.

I'm pretty sure it's the opposite - a user has the most permissions of any of the usergroups he belongs to, so Yes overrides No and higher numbers override lower numbers, except where a 0 means "no limit" or something like that.

The experiment I wanted to try above was made to check if the problem was that $show[avatar] was false but everything else was OK. But if that's the case, then the only thing I can see that would cause that is the "Can Upload Custom Avatars" permission.

[Snowhog]

Okay, made the template change correctly and it saved. Cleared the system cache and logged out of my forum (clears cache and cookies) and came back in. Still no member avatars or profile pictures.

Not to complicate the issue here, but these members are also not able to PM anyone or access the change options within Settings:

I click on Settings in the top right corner, if I click on "Edit Profile", "Edit Avatar", or "General Settings" I receive an access denied error, much like the one I posted earlier, but here it is again:

As for the PMs, I notice I have a Notification and I select to view it. Once there, I find no way to reply to you. The only option I have is to "Delete this Message". I also have no option to send you a message by clicking on your name (only options: View Profile, View Forum Posts, View Blog Entries, and View Articles). When I try to click "Send New Message" I get another access denied message (same as above).