Sorry Richard, I don't think their is any way on the user side to switch avatars off, but I'll look into the issue, perhaps it can be controlled through
styles?
However I thought the little red cat looked
hilarious and even made a comment in that direction.
Sure it first came a little as a shock, but I'd rather have a waving cat than
trolls messing around with people's time and effort. If this means that the forum is less professional or even childish, what can I say?
To catch attention as an admin, I use a pin up, I really think it works too!
From a community point of view you could always start a poll, any significant return will certainly be influential on the format chosen.
Personally I am itching to start on a new set of web pages.