Avatars on the left or right of the message?

[Jason76]

Only phpBB seems to have themes where the avatar is on the right. Why is that? Anyway, I think having them on the right is sort of cool - but no themes outside of phpBB allow it.

 

[Gizmo]

I went on a forum today where the avatars are on the right side and it didn't feel normal. 😱 I love how some themes on software put the post bit at the top of the post meaning there's more room for the content inside each post.

 

[Katrina]

I think if the native language reads from left to right then it makes sense to have the Avatar on the left side because you see first off who is writing the post before you read it.

 

[Page]

Same with side widgets, most have them on the right but at times you can have them on the left

 

[Ravenfreak]

I think it looks strange when avatars are on the right honestly. 😛 Makes me wonder if Japanese people think it's strange for avatars to be on the left though, since they read from right to left rather than left to right.

 

[Cam]

I bought a premium phpBB style a few years ago, and I ended up having to figure out how to move the avatars/mini-profile to the left. The style had changed it to the right for some reason. I'm not sure why anyone would prefer that. 😛

 

[Jason76]

Seems like themes should have an option to move between left and right - but a "top" option might be too difficult to design.

 

[dojo]

Anything can be easily designed, I actually had avatars moved up few years ago on a custom forum design of mine, but the problem is that it makes the text too wide. There's a reason we use columns and also fixed width, since the line of text can get too wide otherwise, causing an usability issue: eyes cannot follow so many letters in a row without putting in an extra effort.

 

[Marie 1988 Forum]

I think if the native language reads from left to right then it makes sense to have the Avatar on the left side because you see first off who is writing the post before you read it.

Exactly. Avatars on the right, as @Aaron said, just don't look right. I prefer them on the left

 

[Jason76]

I actually think right is cool - but I don't mess with phpBB that much.

I saw these really cool premium phpBB themes - from Milk Themes, and I was disappointed they didn't have XenForo versions.

 

[Eussbig]

The avatars being on the left feels more comfortable.

 

[MeganChan]

I remember in early versions of phpBB they were on the left, when they moved to the right it took some getting used to, but now I'm used to it. I'm for wither option honestly.

 

[Pinky]

I prefer them on the left...maybe just because it's what I'm used to.

 

[Thomasss]

I've been on communities that had avatars on the right side, and some of them had the option to select a different theme that had the avatars to the left. I'm so used to avatars on the left I don't think I could ever get used to seeing it on the right!