HowTo: Display images in your posts

[Dickie]

Please avoid attaching images to your posts and save our attachment space for other file types. Attachments chew into our webspace and on the forum we have a low limit for this, let's keep it for the things we need.

If you want to show an image then use the Img tags, there are BB code buttons for these. If the image is on your computer or cannot be reached then upload it to a photobucket or flikr or whatever repository and then reference it using the Img tags.

Video from OneBad


And a verbal explanation if you still don't get it.

1. Upload the image to your Flickr.com / Photobucket.com account
2. Get the direct link to the image using copy
3. In your forum post paste the link and encapsulate it with img tags

For example

Code: Select all

[img]http://cdn.overclock.net/5/52/900x1800px-LL-52d15ebd_CPUGPUtoMolex2.png[/img]

Which looks like this when you submit your post


Thanks

[Pitti]

This also concerns me since a while. I think we should deactivate the attachment feature. Otherwise we will run into problems (more costs) sooner or later.

[Bunny]

Is there a plugin for the forum that will allow people to upload via the forum to a dropbox type affair?

[Dickie]

People want to display images, the problem is that they are using attachments to do this rather than img tags.

I had a look in the admin section and disabled image file types from the possible attachment file types for all forums however it buggers up all of the image attachments already posted so I reset it back. Perhaps we should have a grace period where people fix their posts with links to the image uploaded to an image repository??? The trouble is, this problem goes back a long way. I guess it would be simpler to just disallow attachments from now on in the permissions, but that means nothing can ever be attached.

What to do......??

[MarLeo]

What else but images are being attached anyway? If there's a file people want to share, there are options like Mediafire or Dropbox too. Just disable attachments and it's ok.

[Mauf]

I would say disable uploads for images. If you keep it available, people will continue using it. Make a mail announcement that you need people to replace current images with e.g. imgur uploads, give it a 2 weeks timelimit, then it goes off.

General block of uploads? Maybe, currently I would say no. I can imagine for example mission files, skinpacks or whatnot being proper uploads that have a proper place on our website/forum that you might not want on external providers.

[Bunny]

I've had a quick look for a plugin for phpBB that would allow us to have one Dropbox/mediafire account that attachments were uploaded to via the forum interface, so as far as users are concerned it was visually seamless, and used a common Dropbox/mediafire account.

Some users won't want to navigate another website interface/ftp software in order to post a quick image, but to keep the forum posting fluid and well-oiled, it would be good to keep things such as posting attachments as fluid as possible. I had no luck though, but then not being well-versed on forum software, I'm not really the best person to look. Is anyone else aware of something similar?

As far as proper uploads, I've already volunteered space on my mediafire account, and some people are using it. I'm still happy to have more stuff on there

[Thaine]

Mauf's suggestion sounds reasonable. I support that one.

[MarLeo]

I would say disable uploads for images. If you keep it available, people will continue using it. Make a mail announcement that you need people to replace current images with e.g. imgur uploads, give it a 2 weeks timelimit, then it goes off.

I don't support this.
As Osprey said, all attached images would be gone then. Who would take the immense amount of time to recheck every post he ever made to see if there's an attached picture in it? I certainly wouldn't do it and I can imagine that most people wouldn't do it either. Thus, many pictures and a big part of the forum culture would be lost. Not to speak of hundreds if not thousands of empty posts. As our webspace isn't anywhere bursting yet - otherwise this would have come much earlier I imagine - it would surely suffice just to disable attachments. I can't think of any file, which isn't essential to the website, that has to be attached onto our webspace anyhow. Our skins for example are already on a Dropbox account.

[Casca]

I agree with MarLeo! This is our culture, it shouldn't be changed. Isn't there another way to add more storage?