Photobucket - Please Read

[Interested Bob]

It's possible that the hotlinking problem has become worse recently, as the resolution of modern photographs has got higher and higher over the years, resulting in image files that are now much bigger than they ever used to be. Bigger files mean more bandwidth use when they are downloaded, and they are downloaded from the image host, at the expense of their bandwidth, not that of the forums, which only supply the image links.

I don't think this will end with Photobucket being the only site to block hotlinking.

There are now so many forums with images hosted on free image hosting sites that when disgruntled Photobucket users flock to another free site, that site will suddenly find its bandwidth being gobbled up, which will cost them money, and when that happens, no doubt they will have no option but to block hotlinking, just as Photobucket has done.

My own view is that unless you post only relatively few, small images, the only real answer is to host your images on web hosting space that you pay to rent, so if the images you post use a lot of bandwidth when they are being downloaded, you will be the one paying for it, which seems only fair.

[Lainey2712]

With a lot of people it is not that Photobucket changed their TOU, it was the sly underhanded way in which they did it, and the exorbitant jump in prices.
Many users who want to post on forums/blogs etc. use a small amount of storage, on my free account I was using 1.3gb, and on my paid one 2.2 Gb.
Why would I want 500Gb of storage???
They should have at least had a sliding scale which allowed for 3rd party hosting for users so they would only have to pay for what they wanted.
You don't buy a sack of potatoes to make a few chips/french fries.
Anyway the damage is done for them now and people moving elsewhere.
I posted earlier in this discussion about Fotki and have to say they are brilliant and their customer service is excellent and so friendly. They ask is there anything else they can do to make their site better, I have mentioned a couple of things to them and they are looking into this.

During the years with Proboards (and I had been with them since 2004) I never had service like that, usually the automated response telling me to clear my cache etc. which I had already done then when I got back to them it was days before anything was sorted.

I am happy to pay $24 for the service I am getting now and still recommend them highly.

[Scott]

Jul 13, 2017 15:14:11 GMT -8 Tanya said:

Guys and Gals... Wow. Thank you for the suggestions but those are not necessary anymore. ALL Photobucket accounts are empty now and all will be deleted. There is a 2-day gap in deletion time for whatever reason. Now I just need to find all my image breaks everywhere. I'm pretty sure my own forum has very few but I do have members who used Photobucket so when those breaks or get that ugly image that so many have all over the place, I'll deal with it then. I'm more concerned with my own images all over the forums I'm part of. Clean up is time-consuming and I feel for those who have much more than I do. Oh and FYIW, I was only teasing about the Reds looking over my forum for me. I only wrote that bit in because of something I read and Scott more or less said the same thing. I didn't want to give them more work so I didn't bring it to their attention.(I dealt with it on my own - took forever lol) I understand how upset people are over this but please learn the difference between a joke/teasing and expectation. I expect nothing from anyone. I do read and am well aware of how busy the Reds are and most of all of you as well. It's a crazy time on the box as well as off it. Try and have a good day everyone. I won't be posting in this thread anymore. I have nothing more to add. xx

No worries on this. While I suspected this was a joke as you stated, I still needed to address it as others may not have realized as such we could be flooded with requests.

[Scott]

Jul 14, 2017 5:15:08 GMT -8 Lainey2712 said:

With a lot of people it is not that Photobucket changed their TOU, it was the sly underhanded way in which they did it, and the exorbitant jump in prices.
Many users who want to post on forums/blogs etc. use a small amount of storage, on my free account I was using 1.3gb, and on my paid one 2.2 Gb.
Why would I want 500Gb of storage???
They should have at least had a sliding scale which allowed for 3rd party hosting for users so they would only have to pay for what they wanted.
You don't buy a sack of potatoes to make a few chips/french fries.
Anyway the damage is done for them now and people moving elsewhere.
I posted earlier in this discussion about Fotki and have to say they are brilliant and their customer service is excellent and so friendly. They ask is there anything else they can do to make their site better, I have mentioned a couple of things to them and they are looking into this.

During the years with Proboards (and I had been with them since 2004) I never had service like that, usually the automated response telling me to clear my cache etc. which I had already done then when I got back to them it was days before anything was sorted.

I am happy to pay $24 for the service I am getting now and still recommend them highly.

Sorry to hear you're not a fan of our support service?  Personally I like to think I go out of my way to provide the best support I can.  Working on this side of the help profession, I'm keenly aware of the service I receive when reaching out to customer service of entities I deal with.  I can spot a canned answer a mile away and will often call them on it.

That said, I've been dealing with computers since... well for a long time, and without physically being at your computer or seeing what you see at the time of an issue, we have to start at the beginning and go through the checklist.  Since clearing the browser's cache will solve a lot of issues we ask that.  Even at the office here if we experience a problem, we'll be asked if we've cleared our cache.  So see, we're not immune to it.

Years ago I bought a new monitor for work.  It would not turn on.  I check the plug connection, the power strip, everything. (Of course I know what I'm doing as I'm the one that would help the others in the office.) So I finally call their support line and they go through the checklist, is it plugged in, does the strip/socket have power, etc. Then next is, did you turn it on?  I'm thinking how dumb do you think I am, of course I did.  Well guess what, this monitor had a secondary power button on the back, not just the regular button on the front. Boy I felt stupid.

Lesson learned. Follow the checklist cuz you never know.

This is why we ask if you've cleared your cache.

PS> If you want you can pay me for personalized support service via PM. I charge reasonable rates. jk

[Lainey2712]

*Looks for the biggest rock to crawl under* Scott are you asking for trouble? LOL! We often shorten Photobucket to PB but then Proboards can be PB. so guess it was a senior moment.

I always get good advice and help here just that other PB site that makes me tear my hair out. It was them that sends those silly emails.
In fact a couple of years ago I posted this poem here for you


I have to thank support staff
They really are the best,
Though often many problems,
Can put them to the test.

They always are so cheerful,
Polite to those in need,
Most answers to our problems,
Come at lightning speed.

Each day they are here,
With answers for you,
We don't always appreciate,
All the things that they do.

So please don't berate them,
When your forum runs slow,
Or they are still sleeping,
They do sleep you know........

Just thank them for helping...


*Makes note* one Proboards staff member makes fun of poor old demented seniors

[Scott]

Jul 14, 2017 5:15:08 GMT -8 Lainey2712 said:

I posted earlier in this discussion about Fotki and have to say they are brilliant and their customer service is excellent and so friendly. They ask is there anything else they can do to make their site better, I have mentioned a couple of things to them and they are looking into this.

During the years with Proboards (and I had been with them since 2004) I never had service like that, usually the automated response telling me to clear my cache etc. which I had already done then when I got back to them it was days before anything was sorted.

Your post above flowed as Fotki's "customer service is excellent" and "During the years with Proboards (and I had been with them since 2004) I never had service like that..."   So hopefully you can see how I read it the way I did.  

And where does the PB come as I didn't see this abbreviation in the post? But yes we will often use PB as ProBoards.  I mean that is us, so why not? 

Jul 14, 2017 8:56:52 GMT -8 Lainey2712 said:

*Makes note* one Proboards staff member makes fun of poor old demented seniors

Naw, I equally make fun of everyone, myself included. 

[Maude Fealy]

Am I the only one who now gets a "Page Not Found" error message when trying to access Photobucket's FB page? Or maybe they just got tired of reading all the love messages, LOL!

[Lainey2712]

During the years with Proboards should have been Photobucket as if you didn't know what I meant Well I sure hope you knew what I meant LOL!

[Kami]

Its still accessible for me, Maude!

[Scott]

Jul 14, 2017 9:59:20 GMT -8 Lainey2712 said:

During the years with Proboards should have been Photobucket as if you didn't know what I meant Well I sure hope you knew what I meant LOL!

Seriously, I really didn't.  

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

Jul 14, 2017 9:55:07 GMT -8 Maude Fealy said:

Am I the only one who now gets a "Page Not Found" error message when trying to access Photobucket's FB page? Or maybe they just got tired of reading all the love messages, LOL!

Accessible here, Maude Fealy , with P'Bucket actually putting up another "canned" response an hour ago, with disgruntled members already jumping in with replies!

[m2marsh]

Jul 14, 2017 10:02:48 GMT -8 Scott said:

Jul 14, 2017 9:59:20 GMT -8 Lainey2712 said:

During the years with Proboards should have been Photobucket as if you didn't know what I meant Well I sure hope you knew what I meant LOL!

Seriously, I really didn't.  

I read it the same way you did, Scott!  Sorry Lainey!  

[Former Member]

I got stung with this this morning, aaaaaaaall or most of my imgs on my site had changed to a 250px x 250px photobucket img telling me i need to upgrade, i got them all on imgur now which i'f never had a problem with for some reason.


I can totally understand tho, i never ever ever ever go on there site just using it for storage isn't right really so i ain't bothered about their new policies.

[Jaguar]

Imgur isn't good either @joecool111, you need to check their ToS cause last year they done something.

IMGUR - support.proboards.com/thread/573055/use-imgur-image-hosting-read

Here find a image host on here - support.proboards.com/thread/594665/external-resources

[Former Member]

Jul 15, 2017 6:42:12 GMT -8 Jaguar said:

Imgur isn't good either @joecool111 , you need to check their ToS cause last year they done something.

IMGUR - support.proboards.com/thread/573055/use-imgur-image-hosting-read

Here find a image host on here - support.proboards.com/thread/594665/external-resources

i know buddy, that's what i'm saying i'v had no problem with it for some weird reason, maybe imgur was just a threat.