Photobucket - Please Read

[Barkley]

Jul 1, 2017 10:23:56 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:17:42 GMT -8 Barkley said:

Kami, I asked Scott for clarification. 

Oh, yes, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I was putting forth a definitive staff answer! Sorry if it came across like that (:

It's cool.

I needed to clarify with Scott what I can or can't use, as my forum is very different to most others, in that I use a lot of custom pages, and Photobucket has caused me a lot of problems. My needs aren't that of simply storing random images, but images that form the skeleton of my website.

I feel that as my custom pages are part of my forum, their content should fall under the term 'reasonable and fair use', but I will clarify this with a staff member via pm. 

[Kami]

Jul 1, 2017 10:34:36 GMT -8 Barkley said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:23:56 GMT -8 Kami said:

Oh, yes, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I was putting forth a definitive staff answer! Sorry if it came across like that (:

It's cool.

I needed to clarify with Scott what I can or can't use, as my forum is very different to most others, in that I use a lot of custom pages, and Photobucket has caused me a lot of problems. My needs aren't that of simply storing random images, but images that form the skeleton of my website.

I feel that as my custom pages are part of my forum, their content should fall under the term 'reasonable and fair use', but I will clarify this with a staff member via pm. 

Then I think you and I have completely crossed wires -- if you're using the upload system in conjunction with ProBoards (as in, your ProBoards forum, including custom pages since they're a part of the forum service PB offers), then I agree with you!

However your post came across as a suggestion to use the upload / attachment service outside of this capacity as an outright replacement for imgur/ photobucket / any other dedicated image host, for content that would not be used in conjunction with the forum (theme, post content, custom page content, or otherwise).

[Scott]

Barkley, I am aware that your forum is very different from others that I've seen. (Kudos to that, too), however, like I stated a few posts back, if anyone has questions relating to use and their forum, it best to PM a support person.

[Barkley]

Jul 1, 2017 10:46:46 GMT -8 Scott said:

Barkley , I am aware that your forum is very different from others that I've seen. (Kudos to that, too), however, like I stated a few posts back, if anyone has questions relating to use and their forum, it best to PM a support person.

Done that matey. 

[Barkley]

Jul 1, 2017 10:42:55 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:34:36 GMT -8 Barkley said:

It's cool.

I needed to clarify with Scott what I can or can't use, as my forum is very different to most others, in that I use a lot of custom pages, and Photobucket has caused me a lot of problems. My needs aren't that of simply storing random images, but images that form the skeleton of my website.

I feel that as my custom pages are part of my forum, their content should fall under the term 'reasonable and fair use', but I will clarify this with a staff member via pm. 

Then I think you and I have completely crossed wires -- if you're using the upload system in conjunction with ProBoards (as in, your ProBoards forum, including custom pages since they're a part of the forum service PB offers), then I agree with you!

However your post came across as a suggestion to use the upload / attachment service outside of this capacity as an outright replacement for imgur/ photobucket / any other dedicated image host, for content that would not be used in conjunction with the forum (theme, post content, custom page content, or otherwise).

Nah, that was just an initial enquiry. Mostly my images are for navigation, or artwork, relating to the site itself.

loveevertonforum.com/page/site-map

[Kami]

Jul 1, 2017 10:50:15 GMT -8 Barkley said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:42:55 GMT -8 Kami said:

Then I think you and I have completely crossed wires -- if you're using the upload system in conjunction with ProBoards (as in, your ProBoards forum, including custom pages since they're a part of the forum service PB offers), then I agree with you!

However your post came across as a suggestion to use the upload / attachment service outside of this capacity as an outright replacement for imgur/ photobucket / any other dedicated image host, for content that would not be used in conjunction with the forum (theme, post content, custom page content, or otherwise).

Nah, that was just an initial enquiry. Mostly my images are for navigation, or artwork, relating to the site itself.

loveevertonforum.com/page/site-map

Gotcha. Then for clarification my post was not aimed at your usage, but rather the overall idea that PB should become in addition to a forum service, a dedicated image host, separate from but in conjunction with its function as a forum provider.

[Barkley]

Jul 1, 2017 10:56:42 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:50:15 GMT -8 Barkley said:

Nah, that was just an initial enquiry. Mostly my images are for navigation, or artwork, relating to the site itself.

loveevertonforum.com/page/site-map

Gotcha. Then for clarification my post was not aimed at your usage, but rather the overall idea that PB should become in addition to a forum service, a dedicated image host, separate from but in conjunction with its function as a forum provider.

Well that's something they 'could' consider in the future, but clearly isn't available in the instant, at least in the case of random storage.

My earlier point was that if we were going to go down that route, it might be a good idea to consider it asap, that way it could cancel out the issues we're having with hosting companies like Photobucket, but I'm only talking about admin hosting for the site, and not personal hosting for each member etc. Never would I expect something on the scale of a purpose built hosting company. If the admin is paying for it, it would be a good earner for the company too. The facility is already there in the admin panel after all. All it needs is to be tweaked, and that could be done for v6.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

Skidjit ~ Besides Tiny Pic being owned by Photobucket, they are known for deleting images or replacing images in a URL with another ~ so just another word of caution about using them. If you want short URS, nickpic.host/ has them and is really a nice clean, user friendly site.

[Kami]

Jul 1, 2017 11:06:26 GMT -8 Barkley said:

Jul 1, 2017 10:56:42 GMT -8 Kami said:

Gotcha. Then for clarification my post was not aimed at your usage, but rather the overall idea that PB should become in addition to a forum service, a dedicated image host, separate from but in conjunction with its function as a forum provider.

Well that's something they 'could' consider in the future, but clearly isn't available in the instant, at least in the case of random storage.

My earlier point was that if we were going to go down that route, it might be a good idea to consider it asap, that way it could cancel out the issues we're having with hosting companies like Photobucket, but I'm only talking about admin hosting for the site, and not personal hosting for each member etc. Never would I expect something on the scale of a purpose built hosting company. If the admin is paying for it, it would be a good earner for the company too. The facility is already there in the admin panel after all. All it needs is to be tweaked, and that could be done for v6.

Yes, I agree it is something they could consider, but even if it is only for the admin of the forum that still requires resources, including manpower and time, as well as additional equipment to make it available for every one of their 700,000+ forum admins and counting (regardless of whether or not the admin in question makes use of it, it still needs to be able to be capable of handling such usage).

I don't, however, think there is any particular reason why v6 needs to take a back seat to this. It is literally in the middle of production, which goodness knows how many manhours have already been sunk into the process. Obviously, I am not privy to the inner workings of ProBoards, but from a general development point of view it is my experience that halting a project to discuss and implement a new one usually results in a massive time loss, if not financial loss, even if the first project were to proceed at a later date.

Just because what we see on the front end exists doesn't mean that a "tweak" is all that's needed to bring the functionality you're suggesting to the feature. I mean, it could! Don't get me wrong. But it could also very well not, since the intent of the feature was never to become a host beyond the capacity of the forum's functions, even if only for the forum owner. 

Obviously this is all just generalities.

Honestly though, I guess I just fail to see the need for ProBoards to become an image host in any capacity beyond what is required for themes / forum appearance. Yeah, Photobucket just bit the dust like imgur did a year before it, but there are still (as evidenced in the first thread) several viable alternatives at the moment. I don't, personally, think that ProBoards needs to, is obligated to, or would really benefit from offering additional image hosting (regardless of limitations put to it) when other people and companies will fill that niche. Perhaps not as robust at the moment as Photobucket was, but the unreliability of such services is -- as I mentioned -- because the revenue they take in is not enough to offset the costs, so even PB could wind up in this situation.

(Please note that the last paragraph is not intended to create an argument, or say that anyone is wrong, just that I personally don't think that PB's services are lacking in this regard)

[Former Member]

Image storage is quite a complex subject.

People expect a free service, yet the costs to run such a service are quite extraordinary.

[queenfoxy]

Jul 1, 2017 7:54:48 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

For anyone interested, imageupload.co.uk seems to be fine
Knowing me I am missing the terms saying it's forbidden ??

This would be great for someone with minimal storage needs, because their max storage limit is 8 MB.

[leif]

This is frustrating. A lot of my earliest work on ProBoards from 10+ years ago is on PhotoBucket.

ImgBox said they're going to shutdown (and reversed it, but good chance they'll shut down). TinyPic is also owned by PhotoBucket and may face something similar soon.

I'm glad I made my own and left all of these hosts.

[adminabp]

Jul 1, 2017 13:53:03 GMT -8 leif said:

This is frustrating. A lot of my earliest work on ProBoards from 10+ years ago is on PhotoBucket.

ImgBox said they're going to shutdown (and reversed it, but good chance they'll shut down). TinyPic is also owned by PhotoBucket and may face something similar soon.

I'm glad I made my own and left all of these hosts.

From imgbox site:

imgbox.com/

imgbox is a free service with more than 7 years of history, empowering people to upload, share and enjoy images online.

Hosting millions of files requires massive resources and it simply became too big for our previous hosting platform to handle.

We are pleased to announce we have partnered with a new team that have extensive experience in large-scale hosting, our new gen hardware enables us to continue to provide the high standard of service that you are used to, while preparing us for many billions of files into the future.

Sincerely,
The Team

Sounds like the opposite of shutting down.

[♥ ℒʊ√ ♥]

Jul 1, 2017 13:37:49 GMT -8 queenfoxy said:

Jul 1, 2017 7:54:48 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

For anyone interested, imageupload.co.uk seems to be fine
Knowing me I am missing the terms saying it's forbidden ??

This would be great for someone with minimal storage needs, because their max storage limit is 8 MB.

That's really such a small amount of storage.

It may suit an immediate need, but one should always keep the unknown future in mind.

There are far better alternatives that have been mentioned here and they're free and have far greater storage capacity.

Why would one deliberately limit themselves, even if it suits a present need?

[Skidjit]

Jul 1, 2017 11:19:02 GMT -8 ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥ said:

Skidjit ~ Besides Tiny Pic being owned by Photobucket, they are known for deleting images or replacing images in a URL with another ~ so just another word of caution about using them. If you want short URS, nickpic.host/ has them and is really a nice clean, user friendly site.

Thanks. I'm Just about to make an announcement to the members of my site. One of my members is not really tech savvy. He runs on the side (his family) website selling antiques. I do believe he's only aquainted with photobucket. I need to get all of this info to him before all of this comes as a shock.

Then there are some members that might be using photobucket (I'm not sure) to for their blog. Just need to let them know.

I think I've pretty much backed up most of my own images to a thumb drive. I need to find it and see what's not on it and add to it. Still, that's not to say I need to deal with what I have running all of my sites. I've never heard of nickpic. I'll definitely check them out. Thanks bunches ♥ ℒʊ√ ♥ you're a life saver.