question Is it against the rules to hide your "collections" on user lookup (hiding avatars included)

[Larias]

Hi, I'd like to hide the "collections" section on my user lookup as i am not into collecting stamps or cards. I also would like the amount of avatars hidden too as i don't have a big amount and feel judged by not having 100+ avatars (i post on boards etc). I am just really not interested in collecting avatars so don't have many as a result.
Am i allowed to do this?

Thank you in advance for any answers, i have been googling and haven't been able to find exact answers on my question so thought i'd try posting here :)

[emily_speck_15]

I can't say for certain if that is against the rules, but I know for certain if you try to deceive (ie put an avatar count that is higher than you have. it is. 

So for shields, I have one on my userlookup that is a winter-y shield, which is fine, but having one that says 10 years would be against the rules.  

[Trea]

I don't know why anyone would judge you.  I, personally, rarely use the user lookup.  I have only a vague idea of what my lookups say and I have been playing forever.

[Larias]

Thank you emily! :)

Trea- Iv'e heard they use how many avatars to assume how sketchy or trustworthy you are

[Scoobert_Doo]

This is a good question. Here is what I found:

The Neopian Times, Issue: 613, 20th day of Gathering, Y15, Editorial Question #9:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=613

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Hi! Well, I was wondering about User Lookup requirements. I know stats and trophies and stuff are required on lookups, but also showing our 'pets is required as well. I was told by another user that my lookup was against the rules, even though I was showing all of my pets.... just with pictures and links. I was looking for clarification on how exactly we must have our 'pets shown on our lookups. Like, do we need to have their level / gender / name shown, or can we just link to all of the 'pets with one of the "preview" icons? ~dusseldorf_
The text about the Neopet doesn't need to be there on your User Lookup, but it cannot be hidden or misrepresented on the Pet Lookup. Also, all links must work, so the Neopet images must link to their respective Pet Lookups. Also, Neopets may not be misrepresented with art or customisation that is not their own. If you want to put up an image of your "dream customisation" for them, you can put it in their description, but you may not cover their image with it either on your UL or Pet Lookup. To put it simply, players must be able to verify all your public account and Neopets' information without anything being misrepresented or hidden.

The Neopian Times, Issue: 563, 21th day of Gathering, Y14, Editorial Question #1:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=563

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There is a very popular site with pre-made User Lookups. Several of those lookups hide all of the user's stats until various buttons on the top menu are clicked. I thought this style of lookup was not allowed (they have been cleared in the past). Have the guidelines about this changed? ~recklesse
Lookups like that will often work in one browser but not another, resulting in effectively hiding your info, which isn't allowed. User Lookups that hide portions of the UL behind buttons are subject to being cleared.

The Neopian Times, Issue: 444, 21th day of Hunting, Y12, Editorial Question #7:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=444

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Alright, this has been a debatable topic for quite some time now. First and foremost, I shall hand you the traditional plate of cookies. *hands plate of cookies* Now, on to the question: are you allowed to COVER UP stats on your User Lookup? I know it is not allowed to CHANGE the stats (such as the amount of trophies, Neopet levels, etc.), but are you allowed to simply not have them on your lookup at all? An example would be my User Lookup (where I was given a hard time because only my user stats were showing), along with countless other users' lookups, where they have done the same thing. Thanks so much for answering, and you rawk! 8D ~pwned_by_da_lab
All stats must be visible. This includes trophies, Neopets, shop / gallery, etc. We delete these types of User Lookups when we find them, but unfortunately there are a lot out there, which just leads to confusion like yours as to whether it's okay or not.

The Neopian Times, Issue: 390, 1st day of Hunting, Y11, Editorial Question #4:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=390

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Dear TNT, I REALLY hope you answer this question because a lot of User Lookup makers out there (including me) are waiting for an answer. Can we remove our Neohome and Shop / Gallery modules or not? On User Lookup winner #214, they did remove their Neohome module, but replaced it with a text link. People still argue on the boards that we can't do this because you guys haven't clarified that it's okay. You also have a statement above the "About me" box saying that we can't remove or replace stats. I'm begging you, can you PLEASE clear this up? When we first sign up you have that "Checklist," and part of it is to make a Neohome. It doesn't go away until you make a Neohome, and now when I want to make a User Lookup I can't demolish my Neohome because of your rules! Please also clarify whether we can replace Shop, Neohome, and Gallery links with text and image links. Thank you for reading this. ~roflmeow
To clarify, your stat areas must remain intact. Your Shop / Gallery and Neohome modules may be replaced with text links or image links, as long as they don't misrepresent information. Everything else, though, needs to stay more or less intact. Before you ask next week what we mean by misrepresenting information, it would be something like having a size 15 shop with a text link that says, "Visit my size 600 shop!" or having an image of a super-luxurious Neohome while, in reality, you haven't customised your Neohome at all.

The Neopian Times, Issue: 382, 6th day of Running, Y11, Editorial Question #8:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=382

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I recently saw a Petpage that had a scroll box as tiny as you can make it at the top of the lookup of someone's Neopet that contained all the required stats. It was very difficult to read, but all the required content was, in fact, there. Everyone seemed to think that (because the stats were there) it was not violating any rule, but to me it seemed not only unnecessary to make it so small, but it made it hard to even find the stats (I didn't even realize that they were there at first, despite the note). Is it simply enough for the content to be there, or is there some other requirement that it must also be clearly visible and easy to read? Thanks! P.S.: please leave my name off. ~[username removed]
Oh dear, you're gonna make us get back up on that "spirit of the rules" soapbox again, aren't you? *sigh* Okay, here we go. *climbs up on box* We know it's tempting to try to squirm through loopholes in the rules and try to exploit things while attempting to stay just out of the bounds of what will get you warned and frozen, but please don't. Why? Bluntly, because it's annoying.

As an example, let's say your friend jabs you in the ribs with their finger and you tell them, "Oww! Stop poking me with your finger! It hurts." You've given them a rule that you expect them to respect. Well, what if you then feel a painful jab in your side again and, when you glare at your friend and remind them that you just told them to cut it out, how would you feel if they just smiled innocently and informed you that they used the eraser end of a pencil this time, and therefore they didn't technically break the rule that you made because you told them not to poke you with their finger.

Now, we can all imagine how this would make anyone want to repeatedly smack their forehead against a desk. So when we say "don't do blah blah" or "you need let people see your stats," we expect that, if you're old enough to be editing your User Lookup, you're old enough to understand these rules and not be that annoying friend who keeps trying to get around things. Okay?

The Neopian Times, Issue: 230, 9th day of Running, Y8, Editorial Question #7:

ref: http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=editorial&week=230

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Okay, so I asked this on the Help Board, but no one seemed to have an answer for me. So straight to the source I went! I know there are specific rules for what you can and can't cover up in a userlookup or guild, but what about shops? I recently came across a shop with a full page layout. TThe navigation (retyped) & items were there, but otherwise everything else (shopkeeper, report this shop link, etc) was covered. Is this against the rules? ~thedevilsarithmatic
Erm, yes. Covering the report shop link especially is not allowed. In short, any links on the page must always be there. To clarify, here's a list of the definitive rules on the subject.

User Lookup:

• You MUST have your real, official stats viewable. You cannot retype these yourself. They have to be the official, default stats that exist on every user lookup. (Your block of text info, your Neopets, your trophies, etc.) This is so that everyone visiting your lookup knows for sure that this is your true information.
• You can cover your shield! It's quite nice to cover it with something that matches the theme of your lookup. And your join date is available in your text stats, so covering the shield does not hide how long you've been on the site. However, you CANNOT cover this shield with a different, official Neopian shield. If your current shield says "2 Years," you can't cover it with the 5 year shield.
• You should have the standard yellow bar links so that they are clickable. They don't have to be on the bar itself, so you can retype them as text links or make your own navigation bar if you like. Whatever you wish as long as those links are on the page.

Pet Lookups:

• The correct stats of your Neopet(s) must be displayed. Again, you cannot retype them or cover them in any way.

Shop/Gallery:

• You can replace the side navigation and header as long as ALL standard navigation links are clickable somewhere else in your shop/gallery. If you do not have these links, your shop/gallery will be cleared.
• In general, all other information, such as prices, your account name, user lookup and report links, etc, must be clearly visible and clickable.
• For shops specifically, you CANNOT have your font color and background colour the same, or similar enough that it is difficult to read the prices of your items. Your shop will be cleared if a monitor sees this. A user must be able to clearly see what they are buying and how much it costs.

Guilds:

• The real guild navigation and welcome sections must be visible. You may cover everything else with graphics, but if you do, the yellow bar links MUST exist somewhere else on the page so that people can navigate away from your guild.

There may be some things we missed, but it should be quite clear from this list what is and isn't allowed. If you have all the real information from the specific page viewable, and the user can navigate all the links on the page that are normally found there, your code is probably good to go.

Ok. Not sure if you have made it this far, but if you have, it seems the answer is no. At least that is how I interpret it. My opinion only. "Collections" would appear to be part of your "stats". However, if you are still unsure, you could always send a question to the Neopian Times Editor. I think it would be a good one to ask. Unfortunately, I cannot post the link, as TDN gives me an error. But, you can find the link at the bottom of the Neopian Times Editorial page.

And, yes, some Neopians do use your stats, not just avatars, but all stats, to take into consideration for avatar item lending, unfortunately. But, not all do.

[Larias]

^Thank you, it still seems kind of like a grey area to me as nothing about avatar count in specific was mentioned but i guess its better to be on the safe side