Continual Improvement - Image hosting changes

[pcsb23]

Hi folks. In our quest to continually improve the experience for the community on SimplyDiscus we have changed the way we handle image files hosted on SimplyDiscus. The two key changes are:

Images are now shown full size in the post, i.e. no more thumbnails to click on
We have increased the file size limits currently up to 2Mb but will be reviewing this going forwards


What now happens when you upload an image to the forum is that the forum software will if need resize the image file before displaying it. When you upload an image you have the choice of displaying it "inline" or at the end of the post.

Showing an image inline allows you to put text before and after the image and can be very useful if explaining something or just adding extra information about it. The following image is shown inline
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There is also two images at the end of the post to show the differences.

To show an image inline is relatively straight forward. When you upload an image from your computer using the manage attachments, make sure the image you want to insert inline is checked as shown in the left lower circled area below, and then click the "insert inline" button highlighter lower right below.
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That is how the above two images were uploaded.

These two images were uploaded without inserting inline, you will not be able to place text after these images.

[pcsb23]

There are one or two other changes that need to be addressed too. The images will scale with whichever browser you are using up to a maximum size currently set at 1280 x 800 pixels. You do not need to resize your images, but you may still do so. If you choose to resize, may I suggest that you do so to 1280 x 800 pixels.

Because the new way of hosting images will re-size where necessary we have reduced the number of images you can upload in one go from 5 to 2. This is to ensure that we do not overload the server. We have however increased the number of images that can be show in a post from 5 to 10.

Please post any questions regarding his in this thread and we will do our best to answer them.

[DonMD]

Sounds good, Paul, thanks for the clear instructions. I assume this doesn't change anything when we use a off-site photo hosting service such as photobucket and such? -Don

[pcsb23]

Hi Don, no offsite hosting works just as it did before :)

[brewmaster15]

Thanks for the Intro Paul and fine tuning the upload software. Well Done!

Some words on the off site hosting.... One of the reasons we were so keen to make these changes is because Photos hosted off site are not permanent. Meaning if you move them from one album to another with your host, any links you made to them here are lost. If your hosting service goes down, if you use a paid subscription and it lapses.. all these can adversely impact a thread here that you intended to post photos in. Another reason is we have noticed that some free offsite hosting services may have ads that can be exploited to maliciously infect your computer.

One of the draws for using offsite hosting was the better file size and intuitive resizing capabilities they offered. We've seriously improved ours now. My personal hopes are that you will try and use the forum's image upload system. This helps us protect a threads informational content for members today and future Discus keepers tomorrow.

We plan on making modifications as we go along here and constantly trying to improve things.. At this time we have no intention to remove the ability to post your photos from an offsite hosting services in general, but there is at least one section slated that will require using our forum software to upload pics as its critical to the plan for that section that the records stay intact.

As a team here the mods and admins have discussed these options and tried to come up with the best solutions for our forum. We really want to encourage everyone to try out the newly improved image software here for their image uploads. Of course, please let us know of any problems you encounter.

Thanks and hope you enjoy the upgrades we have undertaken. I think its pretty cool!,
Al

[DISCUS STU]

Bravo! Bravo! This is good for those of us that don't use the offline services.

[Solid]

This is great! Thanks!

[Keith Perkins]

Sounds pretty awesome, hopefully I can try it out this weekend.

[jmf3460]

I tried it on the test thread. I like this way much better!!!

[limige]

very cool, I was geeked to find my old photos from around 2003 still online here at simply.

I must say the simply discus team has done a fantastic job at saving the information shared through this site over the years. bravo to you guys for that, I am grateful.

[Kingdom Come Discus]

Great job guys. I am going to give it a whirl. Thanks for your time Paul.

[DiscusDirect]

Hello All,
I will have to agree with a lot of other member comments that the change is a great move forward. Images look a lot better at a decent resolution. Nice to see the change.

Gill

[pcsb23]

Bravo! Bravo! This is good for those of us that don't use the offline services.Thanks Stu :)


This is great! Thanks!Thanks and you are welcome :)


Sounds pretty awesome, hopefully I can try it out this weekend.It IS pretty awesome - and it is the weekend :evilgrin:


I tried it on the test thread. I like this way much better!!!Glad to hear it :)


very cool, I was geeked to find my old photos from around 2003 still online here at simply.

I must say the simply discus team has done a fantastic job at saving the information shared through this site over the years. bravo to you guys for that, I am grateful.We do our best not to lose anything, having such a rich and deep content makes this one of the best, if not the best, discus resources on the web :)


Great job guys. I am going to give it a whirl. Thanks for your time Paul.You're most welcome :)


Hello All,
I will have to agree with a lot of other member comments that the change is a great move forward. Images look a lot better at a decent resolution. Nice to see the change.

GillGlad you like it :) And I agree images do look better this way :)

[brewmaster15]

Glad its working well for you all and you like the improvements...Its great when things work as planned.

Best always,
Al

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
I was recently asked how to best handle the images That are hosted offsite at places like Photobucket that the member may want to use for Simply's Strain Catalog and other sections where the intent is to take a picture that you have hosted offsite and upload it to Simply's server . One option is to copy them from photobucket back to your computer and upload them with the forum software while keeping a copy for yourselves. I highly suggest that you always maintain a copy or two for yourself..

Other options are as follows.. ( 2 mb file max per image, larger images won't upload)

Option 1 :Procedure for upload from photobucket to the forum....

1.Go to photobucket and open the image you are interested in.

2.Right click on the image,select copy image location,

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or Copy the direct link (on right)

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(Both methods work , however see note at the bottom of the page on Direct link limitation and folder name format..)

3. Go to SD and start a post or thread. Click "Go Advanced" , Scroll down and see " Manage Attachments" and click "add files"...gives option to upload from your computer or from or a "website" select "website". Paste image location into the address bar for the url of the file.

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4. Click upload

5. Then select "insert inline" ( For more info on basic photo uploading on SimplyDiscus see...http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...osting-changes )


The above procedure will allow you upload the image from offsite host to the attachment manager here same as if you were uploading from your desktop computer.


Option 2: ***** See Note*****


1) Open photobucket select picture
2) Copy the direct link (on right)

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3) Start new thread on SD or post on SD
4) Select the insert image icon

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5)Check the from url tab

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6) Make sure the Retrieve remote file and reference locally tab is selected

7) Select ok



***********Direct link limitations, Please note ************** This method only works if your images on photobucket are in folders with one word names. If you have folders with spaces in the names you will get an "error invalid file" message when you try this. For example , you can upload from a photobucket folder name "discus".. You can not do so with this method if your folder is named "Discus in the BUFF". You would be best to use option 1 if you store your images in multiword folders. You can however upload fine if the words use old styleunder scores for folder format...such as Discus_in_the_Buff.

Special thanks to Rick aka nc0gnet0 for helping me work out the details to this second option and fine tuning the first.

hth,
al