Image Uploading & Posting

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TheBatteries

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I noticed there are many different ways people have been uploading images to the forum recently. Some people are using the image uploader we built, others are uploading them as attachments, then there's a large list of random 3rd party image hosting sites people are using and embedding into the posts.

Going forward, we would strongly appreciate if you could upload images using the "dropzone" image uploader tool that is located directly below the textbox where you type your message in the new thread, new reply, and edit post pages. We are not making this a requirement to avoid creating extra work, but we ask that you consider using it for the reasons below. Images uploaded that don't use the built-in service will most likely be reuploaded manually by a moderator or automatically by a script.

Reasons:
* Image Retention -All services have their own retention time and many image uploading websites don't last long. There's nothing more annoying than browsing a forum and looking at posts months or years old and all the images are gone or showing a "404" error. Additionally, some sites like photobucket have bandwidth restrictions before it starts blocking images, and other sites like imgur specifically prohibit using their service as a CDN to host content for your website.
* Encryption -Our forum is served over https and this requires all embedded resources to also support https. If images are embededfrom a 3rd party host not using https, some browsers may show a warning in the address bar, or completely block the content from showing.
* Performance -The members who read the forum are spread out around the globe. The 5MB image you uploaded might load quickly for you, but someone on the other side of the world might have to wait several minutes. All images uploaded are compressed in a way to reduce bandwidth consumption and optimize delivery.
* Additional Features - Images uploaded using the forum uploader will appear in the Image Gallery. We are we are working on some additional gallery and sharing features as well.

Updates:
* The uploader is nowrotating images properly when a rotation flag has been set by the camera. Prior to this update, some images were being uploaded sideways depending on how the camera was held when the pictures was taken.
* The uploader will no longer automatically insert pictures into the message you are typing. When you upload images, they will remain in the white uploader box as thumbnails. When you're ready to insert the image into your post, please your cursor where you want the image to go and click the thumbnail. The BBCode for the image will be inserted to the editor and the thumbnail removed from the uploads box.

Please report any issues you may find to the Feedback & Suggestions forum. We would also appreciate any suggestions you may have for new image-related functionality.

Thanks,
Second Life Storage
 
I forgot to send you a test picture Mike, sorry.


image_lxkcfv.jpg


If this isn't inverted you've fixed the issue.
 
Sean said:
I forgot to send you a test picture Mike, sorry.

Yep, my dog helped out :p

Mike: for the images that a user (me, for example) uploads, can we have quick access to the ones we uploaded? That way we don't upload multiple copies of the same file. I know that the script probably matches files based on content, but what if we changed a file slightly (unknowingly or re-saved a file/snippet and changed it's contents) and it's basically the same as an existing file.
I hope I worded that right.
 
Hi Mike,
I uploaded some images in this post, but a couple of them appeared rotated.

I read somewhere about sending you the originals in a zip file to help resolve the reason, but couldn't find that post, so hope it's ok attaching themhere.
 

Attachments

  • images.zip
    4.8 MB · Views: 366
watts-on said:
Hi Mike,
I uploaded some images in this post, but a couple of them appeared rotated.

I read somewhere about sending you the originals in a zip file to help resolve the reason, but couldn't find that post, so hope it's ok attaching themhere.

I checked these pictures and it appears the rotation flag was set incorrectly by the camera. The pictures are correct when the rotation flag is ignored or opened in a program that does not use the flag. This is why the also appear wrong when opened in the default Windows photo viewer, as shown below. The flag set on them is "rotate image -90 degrees".


image_jgvwzw.jpg
 
Hmm, that's weird then. If I view that image in the Windows 7 Viewer it appears correctly ( without resorting tothe rotation controls in the viewer):


image_otkmou.jpg


My process was:
  • Take picture with iPhone 6
  • Copy imageto Win 7PC
  • Open image in Paintshop Pro 8
  • Crop / rotate as desired.
  • Save then upload to forum.

Sorry to be giving you this hassle :blush:
What would you recommend I do different to ensure correct images.
 
watts-on said:
  • Take picture with iPhone 6

What would you recommend I do different to ensure correct images.

Change to a different device :p
 
@anusinga: Your responses go "outside" the quote block. Makes reading the reply very hard, especially on longer posts.
 
Perhaps the best way would be to find a plugin that allows users to rotate their own images.

Also on a related topic - is it possible to add a feature to cancel an upload?
 
Geek said:
Perhaps the best way would be to find a plugin that allows users to rotate their own images.

You can use any basic photo editing program for that rather than asking us to build out an image editing suite within the forum.


Geek said:
Also on a related topic - is it possible to add a feature to cancel an upload?

Yes. If you upload an image and decide you don't want it, just don't click the thumbnail to insert it to the post. Orphaned images not linked to a post are deleted on a routine basis.
 
mike said:
Geek said:
Also on a related topic - is it possible to add a feature to cancel an upload?

Yes. If you upload an image and decide you don't want it, just don't click the thumbnail to insert it to the post. Orphaned images not linked to a post are deleted on a routine basis.

The only reason I ask about that, is my upload speed is abysmal. So when I accidentally upload the wrong image I have to wait for it to finish. Not a really big deal, as I can just copy my text and reload the page.
 
Insert image requires an URL.
Is there a way to attach images from local storage ?
-LE-
Apparently adding them still works, even if the side-bar says it's not.
 
Yes, you either drag them, or click the area below the Text editor where it says "Drag files here to upload"
 
I don't really like how the forum displays images that are attached to this site.

Images appear small, forcing users to open each image up separately. It blows. Is it possible to fix that?

I also crosspost to 4x other forums, so I like to continue using one external host.
 
Dala said:
I don't really like how the forum displays images that are attached to this site.

Images appear small, forcing users to open each image up separately. It blows. Is it possible to fix that?

I also crosspost to 4x other forums, so I like to continue using one external host.

Thanks for your question Dala. I'd like to jump in and give some answers ... from my perspective (like or rate, or post a reply!).

Images here are very important. For many reasons, least of all the viewers pleasure. In order, as I use images:

1/ to see usefull posts I browse the image gallery.

2/ we like seeing stuff.

3/ by posting it locally, we dont end up like one of those idiot dead end boards which have broken images. post it local, and it survives ... always. by referring to a remote URI/URL you are asking for trouble.

4/ this forum is like no other. they respect your ownership of contributions, so i humbly suggest you accept their way of doing things here.

I don't mean this to be 'heavy', but there is a reason why images are done the way they are. If I have missed your point, please restate it. I Hope This Helps.

also... this forum is viewed on multiple platforms and uploads the same. just sayin'
 
If mike still has it implemented, if you post an external link, it'll download the images locally anyways. I don't know if he had this setup for the initial switch over, or is permanent.

As DCkiwi mentions, it's so that the links "don't" get broken, or the user runs out of available data transfers. I've gone to plenty of sites where you click the image and get "We're sorry, but the user has exceeded their daily limit. Please try again tomorrow". That is irritating.
The server that runs this forum is physically owned by mike (from my understanding) and therefore doesn't have those limits.
 
Dala said:
I don't really like how the forum displays images that are attached to this site.

Images appear small, forcing users to open each image up separately. It blows. Is it possible to fix that?

I also crosspost to 4x other forums, so I like to continue using one external host.

Images are hosted locally for two major reasons
1) Any time you browse another forum and look at posts that are a year or two old, half of the images no longer exist due to 3rd party hosts deleting them, going offline, etc. It's extremely annoying if you've ever tried to reference anything for your project.
2) The images are small thumbnails that you click because embedding full-size images in posts is not good for readability. When you open a thread that 10 people have posted in, each with multiple full-size images, you have to keep scrolling pages and pages and pages, not to mention the amount of bandwidth used to load those images. Unlike other forums where users are concentrated primarily in one or two countries, our members are scattered around the world. Many have slower internet connections, or even dialup. It's not practical to load that much data on one page load if it's not needed/wanted.

You're always welcome to continue posting with your external host. We are not asking you to stop doing that. We have a script in place that will rehost the image for you so you don't need to do anything additional.

We are also open to suggestions on how we can improve the image system. What specifically "blows" about it? Are the thumbnails too small? Or you just don't like that it has thumbnails at all? Anything you think we can change or add a UserCP option for?
 
I understand. Seems like this is a matter of preference. Keep it up guys! :)
 
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