Proboards Affiliation with Image Hosting Sites

[Voracity]

Forum URL: fallenblades.proboards.com/

Not 100% if this is where this should go, but I had a question regarding third party hosting of images. I was under the impression that ImgBB (among other hosting sites) were affiliated with proboards and that images hosted from them on proboards would not cause issues. However a staff member recently had their account deleted for such hotlinking. I thought maybe it was due to usage elsewhere, but they're positive it was only used on proboards. Am I misunderstanding the affiliation between Proboards and these various hosting sites, did the terms of the affiliation change or was this just a screw up on ImgBB's part that they're just refusing to admit? And if I was misunderstanding the affiliation with those sites or the affiliation terms have changed, is there an updated list of hosting sites that proboards has any sort of affiliation with? Apologies again if this is not the proper place, just was concerned as I didn't want all the images on the forum breaking.

[Retread]

Dec 24, 2018 3:22:41 GMT -8 Voracity said:

Forum URL: fallenblades.proboards.com/

Not 100% if this is where this should go, but I had a question regarding third party hosting of images. I was under the impression that ImgBB (among other hosting sites) were affiliated with proboards and that images hosted from them on proboards would not cause issues. However a staff member recently had their account deleted for such hotlinking. I thought maybe it was due to usage elsewhere, but they're positive it was only used on proboards. Am I misunderstanding the affiliation between Proboards and these various hosting sites, did the terms of the affiliation change or was this just a screw up on ImgBB's part that they're just refusing to admit? And if I was misunderstanding the affiliation with those sites or the affiliation terms have changed, is there an updated list of hosting sites that proboards has any sort of affiliation with? Apologies again if this is not the proper place, just was concerned as I didn't want all the images on the forum breaking.

1 - This seems like a proper place for this question to me.

2 - It's my understanding that ProBoards has no affiliation with any external image hosting site. Inclusion in the partial list of image hosts in the External Resources article of the Help Guide merely indicates those organizations have been "forum-friendly" at the time that list was written.

Many image hosts change their Terms of Service over time, so user beware. However I will say that hotlink usage that results in high bandwidth is far more likely to cause problems, where images hotlinked for forum posts are less likely to cause problems.

I suggest hosting forum images (Banner Logos, Background Images, Icons, Avatars, etc) directly on the forum whenever possible.

[Scott]

Voracity, just to confirm what Retread stated above... ProBoards is not affiliated with any image hosing service (nor has it been).

ALL listings in the Help Guide article External Resources are for member convenience only.

It is the responsibility of members to read and follow the Terms of Service of any service they use.

[Voracity]

Appreciate the quick replies. Seems I'll have to look around for a new hosting site just to be on the safe side.

[Scott]

Voracity, I have just removed imgbb from our External Resources list as their terms now clearly state:

"Also, don't use Imgbb to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network."

I don't recall that being the case when I created the list 2 years ago. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention so I was able to update that Help Guide article