Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26316686-20150501115613/@comment-452-20150501131000

In addition to everyone who wants this using Special:Contact to voice their opinion, here's how to achieve a transparent background on wikis where you are an admin using CSS only:

img[src*="/common/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."] { background-image: url(/*direct url to your transparent avatar*/); background-image: url(http://images.wikia.com/452test/images/9/97/452_avatar_transparent.png); } /* the basics to override the avatar */ img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."]{ display: inline-block; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-size:100%; border:none; overflow:hidden; } img[src*="/common/avatars/"], .avatar { border: 1px solid transparent !important; } /* set the padding for each avatar use-case */ .masthead-avatar img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."] { width: 140px; padding-top:140px; } .ChatWindow img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."]{ padding-top:28px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="20"]{ padding-top:20px !important; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="24"]{ padding-top:28px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="28"]{ padding-top:28px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="30"]{ padding-top:30px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="32"]{ padding-top:32px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="36"]{ padding-top:36px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="41"]{ padding-top:41px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="48"]{ padding-top:48px; } img[src*="/avatars/"][src*="/3403151."][height="50"]{ padding-top:50px !important; } /* fix a couple of peculiar cases */ .WikiaRail .ForumActivityModule .avatar, .WikiaRail .ForumParticipationModule .avatar { top: 11px; }
 * 1) Find out your user ID, which is the filename used by your current avatar. In your case, Helveg, the filename shows it is "26316686", in my case, I'm 3403151, and I'll be using that for this example.
 * 2) Upload a transparent avatar as a normal file, and get the direct url to the image.
 * 3) Edit the wiki's CSS:
 * 1) WallHistory tr .avatar, #WallThreadHistory tr .avatar { padding:0; }

I've been using this for years, and it works in all cases I've tested it.

A javascript solution would be shorter, but would result in the non-transparent avatar being visible while the page was loading.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous that avatars are forced to be round in the global nav and notifications, but cannot be round elsewhere due to lack of transparency.