Photobucket - Please Read

[bluegranite]

Jul 7, 2017 6:42:31 GMT -8 Jaguar said:

That image shows up when there was an image there hosted by PhotoBucket previously. So what image was there, was it from a plugin ?

Jaguar, are you referring to the popup box I showed an image of on my screenshot? 

I just hovered my cursor over that, and it seems it isnt' a popup box, but a replacement of something, and the caption I get when I hover my cursor over it is "Thread Title Effects."  So yes it does seem to be coming from that Plugin.  Does that mean that this Plugin uses Photobucket?  If so, what will the creator of the plugin do? Is this for them to address? IF not I suppose I would have to delete this plugin, in order to remove this annoying image associated with it.  

[Gibby]

I don't use photobucket so my images are fine however we have the chess plugin and it seems the crater of that used photobucket for the chess pieces , what is happening about that please VS Admin ?

[bluegranite]

I just went to manage my plugins...I had two thread title plugins. One was "images in thread titles", so I disabled that one, but that didn't change anything,  and the other one, "Custom thread titles" I set so that it is only enabled for one user group who is no longer active.  So that got rid of this Photobucket image.  Thank you!! Really glad to get that out of there.  

[Jaguar]

Jul 7, 2017 7:32:28 GMT -8 bluegranite said:

Jul 7, 2017 6:42:31 GMT -8 Jaguar said:

That image shows up when there was an image there hosted by PhotoBucket previously. So what image was there, was it from a plugin ?

Jaguar, are you referring to the popup box I showed an image of on my screenshot? 

I just hovered my cursor over that, and it seems it isnt' a popup box, but a replacement of something, and the caption I get when I hover my cursor over it is "Thread Title Effects."  So yes it does seem to be coming from that Plugin.  Does that mean that this Plugin uses Photobucket?  If so, what will the creator of the plugin do? Is this for them to address? IF not I suppose I would have to delete this plugin, in order to remove this annoying image associated with it.  

Go to that plugin support page and post your issues, that plugin creator only has to rehost their images on another site other than Photobucket.

[Jaguar]

Jul 7, 2017 7:38:55 GMT -8 bluegranite said:

I just went to manage my plugins...I had two thread title plugins. One was "images in thread titles", so I disabled that one, but that didn't change anything,  and the other one, "Custom thread titles" I set so that it is only enabled for one user group who is no longer active.  So that got rid of this Photobucket image.  Thank you!! Really glad to get that out of there.  

Both of those plugins are from Wormopolis, and he got hit last night by this Photobucket debacle. I've sent him a pm  and tagged him here so he knows.

[Jaguar]

Jul 7, 2017 7:32:37 GMT -8 Gibby said:

I don't use photobucket so my images are fine however we have the chess plugin and it seems the crater of that used photobucket for the chess pieces , what is happening about that please VS Admin ?

That plugin is also by Wormopolis, and his Photobucket account got hit yesterday. Just disable the plugin until Wormo can rehost his images elsewhere.

Or else post in the Chess Support thread.

[Scott]

Jul 7, 2017 7:32:37 GMT -8 Gibby said:

I don't use photobucket so my images are fine however we have the chess plugin and it seems the crater of that used photobucket for the chess pieces , what is happening about that please VS Admin ?

I don't understand the need to tag Patrick about a plugin created by another user and it's a bit inappropriate.  Just go to the support thread for the plugin and make a post. It's not like we as staff are going to force an author to update their plugin.  They either will or they won't.  If they don't, then don't use it.  If the plugin becomes unusable we will then remove it from the library.

Since this photobucket debacle is still rather new I'm sure authors of plugins that are affected by this are weighing their options as is everyone else affected by this.  As the affected plugins are "fixed" with new image URLs and submitted to the library we will work to expedite the approval so that the updated versions become available as soon as possible.

[Gibby]

Jul 7, 2017 7:58:10 GMT -8 Scott said:

Jul 7, 2017 7:32:37 GMT -8 Gibby said:

I don't use photobucket so my images are fine however we have the chess plugin and it seems the crater of that used photobucket for the chess pieces , what is happening about that please VS Admin ?

I don't understand the need to tag Patrick about a plugin created by another user and it's a bit inappropriate.  Just go to the support thread for the plugin and make a post. It's not like we as staff are going to force an author to update their plugin.  They either will or they won't.  If they don't, then don't use it.  If the plugin becomes unusable we will then remove it from the library.

Since this photobucket debacle is still rather new I'm sure authors of plugins that are affected by this are weighing their options as is everyone else affected by this.  As the affected plugins are "fixed" with new image URLs and submitted to the library we will work to expedite the approval so that the updated versions become available as soon as possible.

I didn't know who to tag as it seems the creator doesn't post here much any more ?

[Scott]

Jul 7, 2017 6:39:53 GMT -8 bluegranite said:

I read in previous comments that some forum creators lost images hosted by Photobucket...I'm looking over my forum and dont' see any lost images, neither the images posted as attachments, nor those posted as URL links to another website.  So far so good, all is okay.  

Sooo....why this nasty popup box every time I go to post a new thread?  Is that going to always appear?  Is ProBoards allowing this for a short period of time just to notify those who have a PhotoBUcket account? I want to get rid of that.  ANy way I can get it out? 

I'm reading about "image hosting" and realizing it's being described as places to store images online and get them changed to URLs.  Is that all Photobucket is? LIke TinyPic? I have used TinyPic for many images on my site.  But, when I used TinyPic, I used it without ever creating an account.  Which I see the great advantage to, now that I'm reading about PhotoBucket's apparent move to hold users hostage by suddenly asking for a large fee to be paid for a formerly free service.  If you are able to store images on a site without ever creating an account, then that site cannot very easily turn around and ask you to pay a fee to continue to store images on their site  --- because a fee would have to be linked to an account, and if you store the images without an account then it's pretty impossible for them to now hold those hostage over a fee request.  

Just a note that TinyPic is owned by Photobucket so there's no guarantee you'll be "safe" using that service.  Additionally, not having an account may not necessarily be a good thing.  If the photobucket/tinypic service detects a high linking/embedding usage for an image/images and there is no account to contact the 'owner' of the images, they could then very well just delete the images, in which case if you do not have a backup or such, they'd be lost.

It's always been my experience that trying to finagle your way around a policy or situation my seem like a win at the immediate, but comes back to bite you in the arse later on.

[Scott]

Jul 7, 2017 7:59:56 GMT -8 Gibby said:

Jul 7, 2017 7:58:10 GMT -8 Scott said:

I don't understand the need to tag Patrick about a plugin created by another user and it's a bit inappropriate.  Just go to the support thread for the plugin and make a post. It's not like we as staff are going to force an author to update their plugin.  They either will or they won't.  If they don't, then don't use it.  If the plugin becomes unusable we will then remove it from the library.

Since this photobucket debacle is still rather new I'm sure authors of plugins that are affected by this are weighing their options as is everyone else affected by this.  As the affected plugins are "fixed" with new image URLs and submitted to the library we will work to expedite the approval so that the updated versions become available as soon as possible.

I didn't know who to tag as it seems the creator doesn't post here much any more ?

I can understand, but usually best to start in the plugin support thread or make a thread on the support board asking for help. Generally speaking, it's protocol to follow a chain of command flow rather than just immediately jumping to the head/CEO of a company. Besides the fact they'll usually delegate it downward anyway, following protocol is also a sign of respect.

[bluegranite]

Jul 7, 2017 8:09:44 GMT -8 Scott said:

Jul 7, 2017 6:39:53 GMT -8 bluegranite said:

I read in previous comments that some forum creators lost images hosted by Photobucket...I'm looking over my forum and dont' see any lost images, neither the images posted as attachments, nor those posted as URL links to another website.  So far so good, all is okay.  

Sooo....why this nasty popup box every time I go to post a new thread?  Is that going to always appear?  Is ProBoards allowing this for a short period of time just to notify those who have a PhotoBUcket account? I want to get rid of that.  ANy way I can get it out? 

I'm reading about "image hosting" and realizing it's being described as places to store images online and get them changed to URLs.  Is that all Photobucket is? LIke TinyPic? I have used TinyPic for many images on my site.  But, when I used TinyPic, I used it without ever creating an account.  Which I see the great advantage to, now that I'm reading about PhotoBucket's apparent move to hold users hostage by suddenly asking for a large fee to be paid for a formerly free service.  If you are able to store images on a site without ever creating an account, then that site cannot very easily turn around and ask you to pay a fee to continue to store images on their site  --- because a fee would have to be linked to an account, and if you store the images without an account then it's pretty impossible for them to now hold those hostage over a fee request.  

Just a note that TinyPic is owned by Photobucket so there's no guarantee you'll be "safe" using that service.  Additionally, not having an account may not necessarily be a good thing.  If the photobucket/tinypic service detects a high linking/embedding usage for an image/images and there is no account to contact the 'owner' of the images, they could then very well just delete the images, in which case if you do not have a backup or such, they'd be lost.

It's always been my experience that trying to finagle your way around a policy or situation my seem like a win at the immediate, but comes back to bite you in the arse later on.

I didn't realize that TinyPic was owned by Photobucket. 

That's annoying -- I may end up losing many images. Fortunately, more recently, within the last year or so, I've stopped using TinyPic for 2 reasons:  (1) I always found it so cumbersome to use, because you would have to navigate the many ads and popups on their site, and also, you had to watch video ads and enter the codes from those, in order to upload images.  That was so time consuming and annoying.  I had the TinyPic site crash on me many times while trying to upload images. (2) I never did like their disclaimer that any images I uploaded on their site, they were free to use.  

So what I do now, which I recommend to other ProBoards users, is 2 things:

(1) I have a couple free Wordpress websites,. and I'm able to upload my own images to those sites, which then get a URL that then allow any of my images to be embedded on my Proboards forum using the HTML code to add web image links to posts.  Free Wordpress sites only allow a certain limited GB storage for images, so there is that limitation.  

(2) FaceBook allows images to be posted without charge and apparently without limit.  So if you have a FB account, you can post images to a private (or public) area on your own page, or private (or public) group, and then this will give you a URL for those images so that you can link them to your forum.  

[Jaguar]

bluegranite, they and you can try this site - village.photos/

[Scott]

Jul 7, 2017 8:29:08 GMT -8 bluegranite said:

So what I do now, which I recommend to other ProBoards users, is 2 things:

(1) I have a couple free Wordpress websites,. and I'm able to upload my own images to those sites, which then get a URL that then allow any of my images to be embedded on my Proboards forum using the HTML code to add web image links to posts.  Free Wordpress sites only allow a certain limited GB storage for images, so there is that limitation.  

(2) FaceBook allows images to be posted without charge and apparently without limit.  So if you have a FB account, you can post images to a private (or public) area on your own page, or private (or public) group, and then this will give you a URL for those images so that you can link them to your forum.  

I strongly urge you not to make the recommendations you listed above or to do this yourself. Wordpress and Facebook are not image hosting sites and they can monitor the usage of the image links from their site that are used in the manner you described and could very likely shut your accounts down for not using them as intended.  If we discovered a member using PB this way, hosting images used on another site/service, you'd be out of here faster than you can say quidditch!

You need to use a true image hosting service.  Here is our External Resources list.  It includes image hosting services.  I suggest you check them out and find the one that best meets your needs.

[leif]

I agree. Use an image host to host images. Do not abuse the Terms of Service or the benefit offered by services that also implements image hosting (for use on their own site) like Facebook, WordPress.Com, Discord, Twitter, or any other social media website.

I highly recommend doing what Scott said and go to the External Resources.

My biggest piece of advice, for your THEME IMAGES, ALWAYS DIRECT HOST USING THE THEME EDITOR HOST! For character images, post images, etc, use any Image Host as listed in the official ProBoards External Resources link!

[Gibby]

Jul 7, 2017 8:17:14 GMT -8 Scott said:

Jul 7, 2017 7:59:56 GMT -8 Gibby said:

I didn't know who to tag as it seems the creator doesn't post here much any more ?

I can understand, but usually best to start in the plugin support thread or make a thread on the support board asking for help. Generally speaking, it's protocol to follow a chain of command flow rather than just immediately jumping to the head/CEO of a company. Besides the fact they'll usually delegate it downward anyway, following protocol is also a sign of respect.

oh i see , well i tend to talk with the organ grinder rather than the monkeys     ( joke)