Picture Uploads

[Alex Forbin]

I've done a search for any recent info regarding picture uploads here and haven't seen anything. They worked for a few days and now they are gone again. I know that Bram said it was an issue with the old forum but was just wondering what the status is currently.
Before anyone blurts out, Photobucket! or the like, I'm not asking is there ANY way to display an image I'm just interested in how close the function is to getting fixed.

Alex Forbin

 

[James Chant]

Best option is to upload them to flickr / photobucket / imageshack / tinypic.

Then hotlink / embed them in the forum, click insert image button and paste web address.

Saves server space and page loading times, and reduces our server traffic, meaning it keeps the hosting bills down.

Don't forget this site is run by volunteers, and the servers are paid for by donations from members.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I don't think we are going to activate image uploading again. Disc space is always limited and we rather reserve that for our upcoming mods/downloads database and for setup files etc rather than images

 

[boomer541]

Perhaps a limit on the size and format of images such as 800x600 .jpgs would be better than the current system which takes forever to download from the websites listed in the above post.
Perhaps an annual fee to members to allow those that pay the fee would be able to post the aforementioned .jpg images or the images be uploaded to a location on your servers that has a limited lifetime. Delete the images after 30 days for example.

 

[Alex Forbin]

Best option is to upload them to flickr / photobucket / imageshack / tinypic.

Then hotlink / embed them in the forum, click insert image button and paste web address.

Saves server space and page loading times, and reduces our server traffic, meaning it keeps the hosting bills down.

Don't forget this site is run by volunteers, and the servers are paid for by donations from members.

sigh. To quote myself...
"Before anyone blurts out, Photobucket! or the like, I'm not asking is there ANY way to display an image I'm just interested in how close the function is to getting fixed."

Alex Forbin

 

[Alex Forbin]

I don't think we are going to activate image uploading again. Disc space is always limited and we rather reserve that for our upcoming mods/downloads database and for setup files etc rather than images

That's a shame, it really makes the forum less useful since a lot of what we do is graphically related.
I agree with Boomer, limiting the size and or format would be fine. When trying to explain a problem the old saying still holds true "a picture is worth a thousand words."

I've never been a big fan of the picture/video threads with their million pictures of the same thing anyway. I would think that just banning locally hosted picture threads would be enough to make the difference.
What do you think?

Thanks
Alex Forbin

 

[UMC 22]

Apologies, but there are so many photo hosts out there which are not difficult to use, do not limit what can be uploaded, and do not result in slow image loading. You don't HAVE to use the uber popular ones with 100 million members. As has already been stated, hosting images here wastes a lot of storage, potentially increases server costs, and slows the forums down for everyone due to extra bandwidth usage. There is no need for any of that when there are other perfectly viable solutions that everyone can access.

Personally, I use my Picasa account for hosting my images. 1GB of free storage, and images load instantly when posted on forums.

 

[Alex Forbin]

I don't get where the huge expense is when it comes to hosting space and bandwidth. This is one example that I've used before with good results.
http://www.startlogic.com/startlogic/hosting.bml
Maybe I'm extremely well off, but $5.95 per mo. for unlimited storage and bandwidth seems pretty cheap.

In the end it's Brams sandbox and he can do as he sees fit, just some ideas.

Alex Forbin

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Thats not a package with a dedicated server with a disc with a certain amount of storage. As we will have our database for mods online soon again it means that we should use image storage in an economical way.

maybe an image gallery would be an option but hosting pictures for offtopic and picture threads that people view one time is a bit nonsense

 

[Alex Forbin]

Thats not a package with a dedicated server with a disc with a certain amount of storage. As we will have our database for mods online soon again it means that we should use image storage in an economical way.

but hosting pictures for offtopic and picture threads that people view one time is a bit nonsense

I agree 100%, all I need is something to be able to communicate with. I became concerned about this very problem when I started seeing the "post your pictures/videos" threads, they are a real waste of bandwidth.

Alex Forbin