h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have to concur with sentiments here.

Every day, in every way, the Mods are helping me get better and betterer...

You guys...

I think it's something that is a bit of a shock to the system, the mods, and indeed all the teams are members of the community. They / we have an invested interest in a site that runs well with happy, friendly people because it's our site, the site we use. To paraphrase, the Mods R Us. Although not me personally.

But having moderators who are users like us, people that spend their free time chatting in the forums, means that we have moderators who can take things one context, who can understand where we're coming from, what we're saying and why. And can tell us when we're out if order. The same as a good friend would do.

We've realy not had the site that long, we're still getting used to things, but I personally think we're all doing a great job. Not just the volunteers, but everyone else too. There's a bit of a learning curve for all of us, and I think everyone's being brilliant. As a good song once said, "Keep talking" And I think that's the secret

fkf

And because you asked for instructions for making smileys, I'll just say this (and I'm not trying to be flippant): essentially, it's like the famous pianist who was asked how he does it, and he said "I put my hands here and here, move them like this, and Chopin comes out!".

It boils down to: get good at using a computer graphics package, and learn to use it to make clear images of the right size and antialiased to the correct background. Join the Community Artists, and when a call for smileys goes out, upload yours to Peer Review. Act on the critique until you are satisfied with the smiley and so are the artists, then wait for it to appear. We can't do any kind of paint-by-numbers instructions.

okay could you recommend any computer graphics programs?
which one do you use?

really, i havent a clue

the last graphics program i owned and used and loved
was micrografx picture publisher
it was compact and efficient
and easy to use

no icon section in it tho
it was a while ago

There is no "icon section" in Adobe Photoshop, which I use. Some people prefer to construct their smileys pixel by pixel, others make larger drawings and shrink them down. There is no high road to smileys, I'm afraid.

I use GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) which does a lot of the stuff big commercial programs can do but is free.

I also use Photoshop... for me the most difficult part is that it can only be 16 pixels high. I tried a few things which were then almost invisible in that size.

FKF, if you wanted to get started, you could start off by making illustrations for guide entries. That would let you get started without the specific technical issues smilies bring with them, and there's a much more pressing need for them, to be honest.

If you're just learning the ropes of a graphics program, I wouldn't really recommend smilies as a great place to start.

There are also plenty of old Entries still waiting for pictures...

"asked for instructions for making smileys" I'd hate to think what I'd come up with

We don't have a smiley yet, do we?

there's a big'un in the post area of my threads you can borrow

Yeah, but that's bigger than 16 pixels.

Okay, fans, it's up.

no! no way can I post what I want to

O M G

that's incredible!!

Now a lot of 2legs's posts will become even more surreal

well, i don't know about the rest of you
but i for one am hic
very grateful!!

have you noticed, the bottle is on it's side and nothing is pouring outit's even before the cork pulled