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Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:56 pm
by White Exec
We have a pretty efficient "Upload Attachment" facility for our posts, which allows photos and illustrations to be pasted into posts. The photos can be sourced from any file or folder on the user's computer.

This arrangement has the distinct advantage that the attached photos, as well as the rest of the post, all end up on our Forum server, and will stay there as long as anyone wants. It means that valuable technical, self-help and archive posts will be there, complete, in perpetuity (hopefully).
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Another way to put photos into posts is to make a link to a photo-hosting site, eg Photobucket. Some web forums actually recommend this, and have made it their only way of posting photos.

You can read on FCF (and elsewhere) that Photobucket has now started to prevent "linking to third party sites" for users, unless they make an upgrade to their accounts, for which they are currently asking €399 a year. In a number of cases, where this payment is not made, the photos on the "third party sites" are blanked, and replaced with a PB message. As you can read, the site is in complete chaos at the moment, as many of its 100,000,000 users are 'rescuing' their photo libraries, and downloading them back to their own computers or elsewhere. It is leaving Forum sites across world in a mess.

It is quite possible that PB won't survive all this, and that other 'free' photo hosting sites might adopt similar tactics.

So, if your post to our Forum contains photos/illustrations/attachments that are valuable or essential to understanding the post, my recommendation has to be don't use a hosting site, use our direct Upload facility instead.

I'm sure others will have a take on this, plus wise guidance.

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 4:05 pm
by Dieselman
Yes. Photobucket are playing the typical lack of thought inexperienced in business game.

IMHO, no other hosting sites will charge, as they will just grab all PB's business.

Putting a dedicated NAS drive online is cheaper than using PB for hosting.

The problem with this site is that the photo hosting is unrelaible, so pictures fail to open.

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2017 4:16 pm
by White Exec
Dieselman wrote:The problem with this site is that the photo hosting is unreliable, so pictures fail to open.
Then maybe we should fix that.

One of our strengths is comprehensive and detailed model-specific information, and (IMHO) we daren't put that at risk.
Take a look at parts of the old XM forum to see what can happen when external image hosting is relied on.

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:36 pm
by citroenxm
Ah ham ok. I posted elsewhere about this asking what other hosting sites are supported.. with our image uploading though is there a way of them being "in the right place in description" or do they just get all put together at the end of an entry..?

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:47 pm
by White Exec
Putting the images in the right place in the text:

Upload Attachment
Choose File
Add the file
Position the cursor in the text where you want the photo to go
Hit Place inline
Hit Preview to check it looks ok.

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:04 pm
by citroenxm
Hi chris.m incedentally i have just achived this in my lastest update on my converison topic. As it works perfectly fine.. im happy. I shall now down load ALL my photobucket stuff and store home. I have a collection of 3.5inch ide drivers and an external usb cradle so i can store them all here. And use this upload feature now.

Happy days.

Re: Attaching photos to Posts

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:10 am
by White Exec
Does look as that is the safe way: photos on the Club server, with backup here at home.