$vars['links'] is generated by theme_links(). Look at template_preprocess_node() in includes/theme.inc: <a href="http://drupalcode.org/viewvc/drupal/drupal/includes/theme.inc?revision=1.415.2.27&view=markup&pathrev=DRUPAL-6-18-SECURITY#l1955">http://drupalcode.org/viewvc/drupal/drupal/includes/theme.inc?revision=1.415.2.27&view=markup&pathrev=DRUPAL-6-18-SECURITY#l1955</a><br>
<br>
$variables['links'] = !empty($node->links) ? theme('links', $node->links, array('class' => 'links inline')) : '';<br>
<br>
Unless you absolutely consider the icons to be content and not styling, CSS is the way to go instead of <img> tags. Different CSS classes may be applied via theme_links() to indicate whether comments exist. CSS also allows for the use of sprites.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Salvatore De Paolis <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:iwkse@gmx.com">iwkse@gmx.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 10:57:26 -0800 (PST)<br>
nan wich <<a href="mailto:nan_wich@bellsouth.net">nan_wich@bellsouth.net</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
Hi,<br>
<div class="im"><br>
> You can do it in the CSS. Something like:<br>
> .infoAndActions ul li.comment_add,<br>
> .infoAndActions li.comment_comments {<br>
> background:<br>
> url(/sites/all/themes/forresterblogs/images/infoAndActions_commentCount.gif)<br>
> no-repeat left 8px;<br>
> padding-left: 29px;<br>
> margin-left: .3em;<br>
> }<br>
><br>
><br>
> <br>
> Nancy<br>
<br>
</div>Yes thanks I could do this way, but I need more control over it.<br>
For example when no comments, I'd only like to show the icon and<br>
the text in the tooltip.<br>
</blockquote></div><br>