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Everything you need to know about smilies v3.x

Description: This article explains what they are, how to add them and order them.

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[url=https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.3/kb/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-smilies-v3x/]Knowledge Base - Everything you need to know about smilies v3.x[/url]

Smilies/Emoticons

What is a smiley or emoticon?
Very simple really :D It's a little smiley face designed to add a bit of emotion, character or attitude to what you're writing ;)

There are hundreds to choose from on the web but basically any gif, jpg or png file will do.

How do I add new ones to my forum?
Firstly, you need to be able to upload/FTP the new images to the forum folder. If you're on a free forum host you will not be able to do this.

Assuming you can, they need to go into the forumfolder/images/smiles folder.

Now go to the Administration Control Panel > Posting tab > Smilies section.

You will now see all of the smilies you currently have installed and have the ability to delete, edit and reorder them.

There are 4 icons to the right of the screen.
The up and down arrows allow you to change the order of the smilies on the posting page and any subsequent 'view more smilies' pages.
The green cog icon allows you to edit an individual smilie. On that page you can change the smilie code, the emotion, the dimensions, whether it is displayed on the posting page and where it is on the list.
The red cross icon allows you to delete that smilie.

All of those editing options (except the ordering) are also available on the edit smilies button at the bottom of the page allowing you to edit multiple smilies at once.


How can I add a new smiley?

There are two ways to do this. You can either import a smilie package or install individual smilies.

Installing Smilie Packages
Some sets of smilies come in a package or .pak where all of the names have already been added in to a single file for importing.

Note that phpBB2 pak files will not work. A phpBB3 pak file is just a text file and will have the following format.

'thumbsup3d.gif', '15', '15', '1', 'Thumbs Up', ':yes:',

filename, width, height, display on posting page (1 for yes, 0 for no), emotion, smilie code

At the top of the smilie page, click on 'Install smilies package'
If you have a .pak file in your smilies folder on the server, it will appear on a drop list for you to choose from. Remember to upload the smilie images to the correct location before you start.
You will then also have the option to keep all of your original smilies and add in the new ones from the .pak file, replace any that have the same name or delete all of the existing ones and replace them with the new ones.

Installing Individual Smilies
The most common way to add smilies is to do it individually.

At the bottom of the smilies page click the 'add multiple smilies' button.


Image

The top part of this screen shows smilie images that are in the folder on the server but which have not been installed yet.
The lower part shows smilies already installed but it allows you to install them multiple times but with different entry codes or sizes.

You then need to fill in the boxes across the screen.

Enter a smilie code (the bit you type to get it to display)
Enter the Emotion (what the smilie means)
Width and height if they are not already set
Choose whether it will be displayed on the posting page (to the right of the screen you write in)
Choose the smilie order (where it appears in the order of the smilies you have)
Tick the add box This is the bit most people miss!
Submit

If you cannot see the right side of the screen completely then you probably have a large smilie. You can fix this by clicking the triangle at the top left of the screen to close the admin menu and give you more width to play with.

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Can you change how many smilies are on the 'view more' page?

Yes.
Administration Control Panel > General tab > Post settings
Smilies per page:
The default is 50.