Originally posted by Irulan
First you will need a place on the web to host a photo if you do not have persoanl web space.
You need a hosting site to post photos, but you don't have to host the photo for an avatar. You can load your avatar right form your computer.
  • Go to User Control Panel (User CP) from the menu above
  • Select "Edit Options"
  • Scroll down to the bottom to "Other Options"
  • Click on "Change Avatar"
  • In "Custom Avatar" select "yes"
  • At "You can upload an avatar from your computer" browse your hard drive for the image you want to use.
  • Submit modifications
As Irulan says, there is a limit to the size of your avatar, so you may have to crop or resize to make it small enough.