MODS____Image Posting Policy

[John_Kunkel]

The board blocks posting an image with a title that was previously used. What's the reasoning? Is one expected to hunt down the thread the image was previously used in and link to it. Changing the name allows the same image to be posted multiple times so what's gained?

[Troy]

Well, I had that turned off for a while and the site would rename every image that was uploaded. Unfortunately, some people couldn't be bothered with figuring out how to set up a signature so they were uploading the exact same image with every post. I noticed it because our disc space usage jumped dramatically. They continued even after I asked them to stop. Once I switched it back and it became a pain to upload the same image the problem went away. Stupid I know - because now it's a pain for everyone else - but that was the simplest solution. Now that we have so many uploaded attachments it's getting hard to choose a unique name so I'm going to have to do something.

Troy

[John_Kunkel]

I know being a MOD is a thankless job but punishing the majority for the acts of a few is...........

Put the offenders in the penalty box, they'll learn.

[Troy]

But that requires finding the offenders - which either means spending a lot of time patrolling or waiting until it's too late (ie the usage spikes) and then backtracking to see where the problem came from. The other option is to pay even more to make sure we have the server capabilities to handle the abusers. That's pretty much where we are now. I ran into a minor issue trying to do a separate upgrade so, once I get that sorted, I'll see what can be done.

Troy

[xpbprox]

Perhaps you could encourage people to use photobucket or one of those image uploading sites. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a substantial number of people on here who didn't even know how to use it. Maybe make a sticky on how to use image uploading sites.

[Troy]

Perhaps you could encourage people to use photobucket or one of those image uploading sites. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a substantial number of people on here who didn't even know how to use it. Maybe make a sticky on how to use image uploading sites.

I'd rather have the pictures here.
1. People delete pictures from their hosted accounts because there's a limit on the number of files they can have.
2. Accounts get closed due to inactivity.

It's really important in the tech sections where the picture was used to illustrate something that may not be easy to explain. After all, "a picture is worth a thousand words". If the picture goes away the thread becomes much less helpful (not to mention frustrating!).

We have plenty of server space and bandwidth. As long as everyone is respectful of others there isn't a problem. It's only an issue when the same picture exists on the server 100 times with 100 unique names. Do that a few thousand times and we have an issue. We currently have nearly 30 GB of attachments and I think that's around 250,000 individual files.

Troy

[Musicman]

Is there a highlighted post somewhere explaining the preferred methods of posting images... or are folks just guessing?

[Troy]

It's kind of self-explanatory if you use the "Post Reply" screen. However, the limits aren't listed there so people often upload a picture that's too big. The bigger issue - the one discussed here - is that the server requires a unique name and it's not possible to look at a list of every attachment ever made to see if yours is unique. This causes an error (which the forum doesn't exactly handle well) and a lot of frustration. There are threads in the Help section explaining ways to make it work on the first try but hardly anyone ever reads.

There are ways that I can minimize both problems - it's just a matter of making some changes to the forum.

Troy

[Musicman]

That's sort'a what I was gett'n around too... Can folks use the same image in multiple posts, without having to rename the same image multiples times, thereby wasting server space putting the same image on the server multiple times under multiple different names?

[Troy]

Ah, yes.

See the 3 "Sticky" topics at the top of the list...

Troy

[Brock Samson]

 As regards Hosting sites, damn near every photobucket image is "Unavailable" I never understand why folks go that route...
and Yes Troy, Posting Photos here on DC.com is extremly frustrating...
Being as there's three separate ways to go wrong  - Size, Too Large. Name, already a file with, and then having to reload the entire post and losing the text.