this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Voyager

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Overview

I would like to propose adding an interactive user profile image feature to Voyager for Lemmy, enhancing the user experience when viewing other users' profiles.

Detailed Functionality

  1. Tappable Profile Image Section

    • When users tap on a username and navigate to the profile page, add a dedicated section for the profile image.
    • This section should be prominently displayed and easily accessible.
  2. Expandable Image View

    • Implement a feature allowing users to click/tap on the profile image to expand it to a larger view.
    • The expanded view should occupy a significant portion of the screen for better visibility.
  3. Mobile Zoom Functionality

    • On mobile devices, enable pinch-to-zoom functionality for the expanded profile image.
    • This allows users to examine profile pictures in greater detail.
  4. Desktop Zoom Controls

    • For desktop users, add a dedicated zoom control bar.
    • Include buttons or a slider for zooming in and out of the profile image.

User Experience Benefits

  • Improved user engagement with profile content
  • Enhanced ability to view and appreciate user avatars and profile pictures
  • Consistent functionality across mobile and desktop platforms

Implementation Considerations

  • Ensure smooth transitions when expanding/collapsing images
  • Optimize image loading to maintain performance
  • Consider privacy settings that might affect image visibility

I personally believe that this feature would significantly enhance user interaction and personalization within the Voyager for Lemmy platform.

Perhaps something like this:

(Source: Summit for Lemny)

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

I always assumed this was just copied from Apollo and that Apollo had it this way because there was no Reddit API call to get user avatars or something (but I ever only dabbled in creating bots so I wasn’t very interested in those features). I found out now that it could be done so that means it’s likely that it was a conscious design choice not to include it. I enjoyed Apollo in a compact and text heavy way and I have Voyager set up that way as well. What I’m trying to say is that I like it the way it is but don’t mind introducing avatars in some subtle way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

Yeah, this pretty much.

I consider features like user profile/bio to be consider "user clout" or "influencer" features.

That is, on Twitter/Mastodon, who you are (and how many followers you have) constitutes how much your opinion matters. On reddit/lemmy that's much less true (no followers). In voyager it's practically none, since your user profile is essentially equivalent to the content you post and there is no profile pics/bio.

There's nothing really wrong with these 'user clout' features if you like them, but it is against Voyager/Apollo default UX. That being said, it will probably be a configurable option in the future just off by default.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Perhaps offer it as a setting, that users could potentially turn on/off?

It's just that, IMHO, there's no point in having Profile Images, if you're not allowed to zoom in /out, and see them up close.