# Emoticons

## Introduction

Emoticons or "emotes" are the little smiley icons displayed in text. Certain keystrokes will be converted into the image, such as `:)` becomes a smile icon and the associated image (:slight\_smile:) is displayed instead of the plain text characters.

With emoticons activated, standard smiley text strings will be replaced by their respective emoticon images throughout the content in your site.

## Emote activation

To enable emotes on your site navigate to *Admin Area > Settings > Emoticons* and check the "Activate emoticons?" box in the "**Emote activation**" tab. \
\
Then click the update button. 

## Installed packs

In the next tab along, "**Installed Packs"**, you will see a list of the emote packs which are installed. This will display the default emote pack issued with a new e107 system, plus those you have installed.

* **Name** - the name of the emote pack
* **Emotes** - sample images that will display
* **Status** - shows which pack is active, if any.
* **Options** for the system administrator.
  * [**Configure**](/administration/settings/emoticons.md#configure)
  * [**Generate XML**](/administration/settings/emoticons.md#generate-xml)

### Configure

This page displays all emoticons that display when a specific text is entered - the so-called *emote code.* 

* Image - the image file that is displayed. 
* Name - the filename of the image that is displayed. 
* Emote codes - the text someone can enter to display the emote.

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** It is possible to associate multiple emote codes with one emoticon. To do so, simply separate them by spaces. For example: `:D :oD :-D`
{% endhint %}

You can **Save Configuration** or **Cancel** the changes using the appropriate buttons.

### Generate XML

If you've manually created or modified the definitions, you can create an XML file for import elsewhere.

{% hint style="warning" %}
To automatically generate the XML, please make sure that the directory `e107_images/emotes/default/`is writeable. 
{% endhint %}


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