Mark,
First, lets all thank the cats the created Mootools so that allows me in turn to say your welcome on creating Moolets.
First #2)
The code I use to try to force avatar uploads on fire board is all custom. So there is no plugin or any easy way to do it. I did not even finish that. As there seems to be about 10 places where the create thread or reply icons show up I found about 4, hacked in the code and ran out of time, so many users still seem to post without it.
I can give you the data_base_ query I created that checks for the avatar and decides wether to show the image or the warning _link_ if it is of value. I will not have the time to go see where I pasted that in. You would need to do that yourself.
Second)
This one more helpful. The user profile _link_ comes from a guy named Mike, forgot the last name but you can download that here:
http://mike.simbunch.com/It is a community builder plugin.
brian