80% of my smileys stopped working at once...

[divebitch]

A lot of them were from sherv.net. So I just went over there and confirmed that these smileys are still there. The code or url is exactly the same. I even replaced one that I'm 100% sure is valid with the same one already in there (the first one, baby seal), and no luck. So now I know I won't get anywhere. It's on your end. What happened?!?

FWIW, I belong to another proboards forum, and the same thing happened there. Oh, this was probably a couple months ago. Thanks for any help.

My forum is here.... bigcheesy.proboards.com/

[Lynx]

Is sherv.net HTTP or HTTPS? If it's HTTP, that could explain why they stopped working, as PB forums are all HTTPS.

[divebitch]

May 23, 2020 8:08:04 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Is sherv.net HTTP or HTTPS? If it's HTTP, that could explain why they stopped working, as PB forums are all HTTPS.

They're all HTTP except for the very last one #149, which works. So how then would you explain the 40 that are working correctly? (my bad, 70% don't work) There's no better place to get them than the sites I used. 

Edit: If you wanna take a look bigcheesy.proboards.com/admin/plugins/settings/22#settings-ui-page-0-tab

[Kami]

No one can see your admin panel except you (and possibly your staff).

Can you post the direct URL for a smiley that works and one that doesn't work?

[divebitch]

First 2, neither works:

www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/sea-animals/baby-seal-smiley-emoticon.gif

smileys.smilchat.net/smiley/argue/cachechaise.gif

www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/images/smilies/rules.gif

Now I'm noticing all the ones from this site do work:

www.myemoticons.com/images/super-smileys/everyday/bow-down.gif

This works too: 1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZINRRcHUz5A/UW7lXUmFpOI/AAAAAAAAJFY/ipqE0bFezZQ/s1600/wow.gif

Anyway, seems most of my smileys are from Sherv.net, and quite a few from Smilchat, neither of which work. But as I said before, it all happened at once on this site, so I highly doubt 2 other separate websites did something to cause this. It would take a mod or admin perhaps to tell me what happened, and if there is a fix. I'm very active on 2 PBs and it happened with both a couple months ago, not a coincidence. No way it didn't happen to all your PBs, someone must remember bunches of people with this a couple months ago. Thanks for the help.

[Lynx]

Given those, I'm led to believe that it's possible that the sites that no longer work may have changed their policy regarding hotlinking - including if the link is in a plugin. You may want to check out the list of External Resources that might prove to be more forum-friendly for image hosting.

The only way to know for sure if it's any of the image-hosting sites you currently use (as in, did they make a policy change regarding linking), is to ask them.

[Kami]

You should not hotlink your images from other websites. You should save & upload to your theme.

As far as to why these aren't working: the fact that some of them are http and not https are impacting at least a little -- mixed content issues can in some cases prevent images from displaying.

Aside from this, the assertion that it must be on PB's end is probably not correct (if it's not the https issue) -- these images aren't hosted by PB, so any trouble displaying them barring the mixed content issue would be with the host, as all PB does is embed the content.

[divebitch]

May 23, 2020 11:41:34 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Given those, I'm led to believe that it's possible that the sites that no longer work may have changed their policy regarding hotlinking - including if the link is in a plugin. You may want to check out the list of External Resources that might prove to be more forum-friendly for image hosting.

The only way to know for sure if it's any of the image-hosting sites you currently use (as in, did they make a policy change regarding linking), is to ask them.

May 23, 2020 11:51:45 GMT -8 Kami said:

You should not hotlink your images from other websites. You should save & upload to your theme.

As far as to why these aren't working: the fact that some of them are http and not https are impacting at least a little -- mixed content issues can in some cases prevent images from displaying.

Aside from this, the assertion that it must be on PB's end is probably not correct (if it's not the https issue) -- these images aren't hosted by PB, so any trouble displaying them barring the mixed content issue would be with the host, as all PB does is embed the content.

Thanks, very much appreciate the help and input. However, no one's addressed how 2 diff sites smileys (sherv & smilchat) disappeared at once. "Changed their policy" same day? And 2 forums I'm in, same deal? You can't tell me I'm the only one. How many PBs are out there? hehe  Anyway, what is 'mixed content'? And no, it's obviously not a http vs. https' issue, there are no 'ifs' about it.

Anyway, I never thought about not hotlinking. If I save it as a file, then what? Don't think I can upload to the plug-in from my C drive, can I?

[?adwoman?]

try this postimages.org/web
just copy the link since they allow upload by url
you should sign up for an account there since you will need to organize the smilies

[Lynx]

May 23, 2020 13:29:24 GMT -8 divebitch said:

Anyway, I never thought about not hotlinking. If I save it as a file, then what? Don't think I can upload to the plug-in from my C drive, can I?

What Kami is suggesting is that you upload them to your theme that they'll be used on: Admin > Themes > Theme Manager. Mouse over the theme and some buttons will appear. Click on the Images button to be taken to the page where you can upload images. Do note the following:

- Each theme is has a hard-coded limit of 10MB of space for that theme.
- Images uploaded are per theme, so you would have to follow the same steps for each theme you want to add images to.

[Todge]

The images will not render in the visual side of the editor when you author a post, so the issue is with the host site.

Seems Kami is right. Both sites appear to have blocked hotlinking.

[divebitch]

May 23, 2020 14:42:29 GMT -8 ?adwoman? said:

try this postimages.org/web
just copy the link since they allow upload by url
you should sign up for an account there since you will need to organize the smilies

Wow, very interesting, I will try it, thanks so much. A little overwhelming right now.

May 23, 2020 15:54:58 GMT -8 Lynx said:

May 23, 2020 13:29:24 GMT -8 divebitch said:

Anyway, I never thought about not hotlinking. If I save it as a file, then what? Don't think I can upload to the plug-in from my C drive, can I?

What Kami is suggesting is that you upload them to your theme that they'll be used on: Admin > Themes > Theme Manager. Mouse over the theme and some buttons will appear. Click on the Images button to be taken to the page where you can upload images. Do note the following:

- Each theme is has a hard-coded limit of 10MB of space for that theme.
- Images uploaded are per theme, so you would have to follow the same steps for each theme you want to add images to.

Themes Mgr, that sounds a bit complicated. I mean really, for just smileys? But thanks, we will have to live without them. lol

May 23, 2020 16:38:41 GMT -8 Todge said:

The images will not render in the visual side of the editor when you author a post, so the issue is with the host site.

Seems Kami is right. Both sites appear to have blocked hotlinking.

Thanks. But it's just hard to believe both sites did it on the same day. So no one here will say they did something? It is not an inquisition. But I'm in 2 PB forums, same thing happened with both. I'll try the fixes adwoman & msg suggested. But it doesn't look like an easy road. Thanks all!

[Kami]

No one here will say they did anything because no one did anything. You can't block users from hotlinking images except if you are the one hosting the image. That's just how the internet works. (Mixed content -- which is http on an https page -- may not show images, but this is not a block and rather an overall function of the internet.)

You keep returning to it being too suspicious for your liking that two hosts blocked hotlinking simultaneously, but site administrators can see through analytics where their hits and requests are coming from, you know, so it is entirely within the realm of possibility that both sites saw too many requests from the same external sources and simply removed the option to hotlink.

Hotlinking without permission can cost a website an enormous amount of money--so much money, in fact, that previously free hosts now charge money to host with them, or remain free under the condition you won't use their service to host web graphics for your forum. In extreme cases, free hosts have even completely shut down (for example, tinypic.com).

You can, of course, continue to be skeptical. I don't think there'd be anything we could do to change your mind, if you won't take three people citing the same reasoning.

[divebitch]

May 23, 2020 19:50:54 GMT -8 Kami said:

No one here will say they did anything because no one did anything. You can't block users from hotlinking images except if you are the one hosting the image. That's just how the internet works. (Mixed content -- which is http on an https page -- may not show images, but this is not a block and rather an overall function of the internet.)

You keep returning to it being too suspicious for your liking that two hosts blocked hotlinking simultaneously, but site administrators can see through analytics where their hits and requests are coming from, you know, so it is entirely within the realm of possibility that both sites saw too many requests from the same external sources and simply removed the option to hotlink.

Hotlinking without permission can cost a website an enormous amount of money--so much money, in fact, that previously free hosts now charge money to host with them, or remain free under the condition you won't use their service to host web graphics for your forum. In extreme cases, free hosts have even completely shut down (for example, tinypic.com).

You can, of course, continue to be skeptical. I don't think there'd be anything we could do to change your mind, if you won't take three people citing the same reasoning.

I believe you. And didn't mean to sound paranoid or victim of a conspiracy or anything. lol Was just trying to troubleshoot, just looking for an answer that I could make sense of. I had no idea how hotlinking costs a website like sherv.net tons of money. Pardon my ignorance, but I mean, what else are they even there for, why do they exist? And the simplest way to use them is to hotlink, no? I've never seen any instructions or requests on their sites to not hotlink, and upload instead. Anyway, IDK that that could work. Not as PC savvy as I could be perhaps. We've already ruled out the mixed content being the issue. Maybe stick to the sites that still work. Smilies will be more limited. So be it. 

Anyway, thank y'all again. Maybe look into this themes thing. Never gone there before.

[divebitch]

May 23, 2020 14:42:29 GMT -8 ?adwoman? said:

try this postimages.org/web
just copy the link since they allow upload by url
you should sign up for an account there since you will need to organize the smilies

Thanks much. Looks like a lot of work, but perhaps the perfect solution. Maybe goes a bit quicker once you get started. I'll give it a shot. Manana. hehe