Skycust is a combination of userside code (mostly Javascript) and image servers used to serve and display custom avatars on the Skyrates forum. Originally proposed by Skyrates user Jack O'Neill, the system was developed and implemented mostly by Skyrates user Sluor as open source software under the Gnu Public License v2. It currently comes in two variants:
One is for use with any browser that supports JSON and userscripts with certain extended features - which is currently at least Mozilla Firefox 3.1 and above with Greasemonkey 0.8.2009 and above. The latest, possibly broken and unstable, version can be found at github, and the latest stable version can be found (archived) at archive.is.
One for the Google Chrome web browser, which should work on a recent version of it. It can be found at the Chrome Extension Repository.
Operation Overview[]
When a forum page is rendered, the script pulls the names of all the users who have posted on the thread. It then compares these names against a list of names and matching URLs found on available "provider" pages, most often online Google Spreadsheet documents. If the user's name exists on one of these lists, the matching image URL is rendered in place of the stock Skyrates forum avatar. As the script can access multiple providers at once, the user can assign weight or priority to his or her preferred providers, so if two providers have different alternate avatars listed for the same forum user, the script will use the avatar from the provider with the higher priority. The user can also choose to override a particular user's avatar, either forcing the script to use a user-defined image or to revert to the stock forum avatar.
Providers[]
The following is a list of providers and a brief description of the type of images they provide.
| Name | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| tSotW Skyrates Style Portraits | txW-R89lun35ZOhZGM8N50g | Avatars deemed to fit with Skyrates' artistic style. Managed by tSotW. |
| tSotW Alternate Style Portraits | tSOPONq3I1v4-Amk0INakgg | Avatars that do not quite match Skyrates' artistic style. Managed by tSotW. |
| tSotW Exotic Avatars | t2ca48dp0y2Q9W9t6IM_hgQ | Animated .gif images and/or humorous/bizarre avatars. Managed by tSotW. |
| tSotW RL Avatars | tj6OiSlcjzavZq3-8-L1rYw | Avatars created from real-life photos. Managed by tSotW. |
| Unmoderated Avatars | t4RN96-5hLgXnQWznnMV6bA | Publically accessible and modifiable provider list. |
It should be noted that the Skycust script comes with Skyrates Style Portraits and Alternate Style Portraits preloaded in its user preferences only. The other providers must be added manually, if the user desires. To get one's avatar on any of the tSotW-managed provider lists, it must be approved and manually added by a tSotW moderator.