Images in posts - upload only

[Paul]

Hi, we've made a change to the way that images can be added to posts, in that they can now only be uploaded and not just by copying the image url from another site. 

There are two reasons for this, firstly it keeps all the images hosted and stored on our servers, available through https, thumbnailed properly and with better load speeds and performance, which is especially important on mobiles.

Secondly, it removes the issue which sometimes occurs in that an image is updated remotely but because the url doesn't change, some people's browsers will have cached old versions. Or vice versa when an image remotely linked in a post updates shortly afterwards and is out of context with the wording of the post.

You can upload images very simply, either click the 'choose files' at the bottom of the editor, from there you can choose the images to upload. You can also drag and drop the images on your pc to the editor and it will upload them. 

There's a longer guide to uploading images here

 

[Johnp]

Seems a shame, the linking from meteociel (when done properly) to here worked superbly and was a big plus of this site.

[Paul]

The problem with it, is that many of the image urls stay the same, when it updates, so it causes issues with people's browser caching them etc. By uploading them, that issue is removed. 

[Methuselah]

Is the 'copy image' thingy still okay?

[Paul]

No, you need to save to your pc, then upload Pete  

[matt111]

Was about to ask that as I sometimes paste screenshots. 

[Mapantz]

I'm glad that you have changed it, Paul. It's just as easy to save pictures to a PC/Phone/Tablet.. If I have multiple pictures to upload, I just drag them straight to the browser. The same goes for a mobile device - easy to upload a whole bunch in one hit.

It was getting frustrating catching up on posts and seeing images either broken, or the wrong chart.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

4 hours ago, Ed Stone said:

Is the 'copy image' thingy still okay?

comes up as clickable link copy image address,

[Paul]

It won't embed the image though.

[feb1991blizzard]

Cant save to my PC so that's my posting of charts over, surely you can still post links though if anyone asks you which sites you go to to get certain models?

[Summer Sun]

2 minutes ago, feb1991blizzard said:

Cant save to my PC so that's my posting of charts over, surely you can still post links though if anyone asks you which sites you go to to get certain models?

Can't you just right click the image save it upload here and delete locally?

[Paul]

You can post links but why can't you save to your PC?

[feb1991blizzard]

Just now, Paul said:

You can post links but why can't you save to your PC?

Just makes everything slower.

[feb1991blizzard]

BTW though im not moaning, if that's a sacrifice to make the site faster, that will greatly help me as everything just freezes lately so its a sacrifice worth making.

[Paul]

Why don't you make a temporary folder to download stuff into and empty it daily if you're worried about that?

Although that said, modern PC's can cope just fine with some files in a folder.

[Methuselah]

Can't be bothered with that rigmarole...I save it, and then spend an eternity trying to negotiate a maze of apps...And still nothing happens!

[Paul]

You've lost me Pete! The majority of people already use the uploader in any case, it's very simple. When you save, save it to your desktop, then you'll know where the file is.

[matt111]

If you’re on a phone or tablet it usually just saves to your photo library doesn’t it? At least on all the phones I’ve used it does. 

If I’m on a pc then I either save it to the desktop as @Paul suggested, or just save to the main documents folder I normally use for so I know exactly where it is.

[matt111]

And a simple solution to my earlier post about screenshots on windows at least, use the shipping tool instead which allows you to save it as an image.

[feb1991blizzard]

35 minutes ago, Paul said:

You've lost me Pete! The majority of people already use the uploader in any case, it's very simple. When you save, save it to your desktop, then you'll know where the file is.

I don't know exactly what the method is called but the way i have always done it is thus - right click mouse while pointer over chart - select copy, reply to thread - go to insert other media - there used to be a second option , select that, paste in the box and submit - this year it changed - sometimes it didn't work, but all you had to do is even simpler - right click mouse having copied it in the actual post without having to click insert other media - and just paste it like it was text - very very easy.

[Mapantz]

16 minutes ago, feb1991blizzard said:

I don't know exactly what the method is called but the way i have always done it is thus - right click mouse while pointer over chart - select copy, reply to thread - go to insert other media - there used to be a second option , select that, paste in the box and submit - this year it changed - sometimes it didn't work, but all you had to do is even simpler - right click mouse having copied it in the actual post without having to click insert other media - and just paste it like it was text - very very easy.

That's all done away with. The problem is, 99% of chart images are dynamic images which change when a new run comes out. That means that within 6 hours, the chart won't correspond to any information you've written, or the image may not exist any more. Physically uploading the image to the board means it will get stored in a (SQL?) database, and it will always exist as long as the forum exists.

The process of saving a single image should take 5 seconds, and the same time to add a single or multiple images to the uploader. Times will vary on uploading them, of course.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Mapantz

[feb1991blizzard]

2 minutes ago, Mapantz said:

That's all done away with. The problem is, 99% of chart images are dynamic images which change when a new run comes out. That means that within 6 hours, the chart won't correspond to any information you've written, or the image may not exist any more. Physically uploading the image to the board means it will get stored in a (SQL?) database, and it will always exist as long as the forum exists.

The process of saving a single image should take 5 seconds, and the same time to add a single or multiple images to the uploader. Times will vary on uploading them, of course.

 

 

But i use the other 1% - meteociel save!!!    anyway like you say its gone now so pointless crying over spilt milk.

[Johnp]

10 hours ago, feb1991blizzard said:

But i use the other 1% - meteociel save!!!    anyway like you say its gone now so pointless crying over spilt milk.

Exactly this - Meteociel which the majority use, generates unique urls for the images which prevented this problem.

[feb1991blizzard]

5 minutes ago, Johnp said:

Exactly this - Meteociel which the majority use, generates unique urls for the images which prevented this problem.

Yes - exactly, but like i say though, a price worth paying for a faster website.

[Paul]

But places like NOAA and other sites don't. So, posts containing those will change/break. This way, all posts stay the same, load more quickly on mobile, etc.

Also, meteociel and other sites with unique URLs don't necessarily keep the images forever, so old discussions can end up with missing images. This way they won't.

There are many advantages to the change, the majority of people already use the uploader in any case, so hopefully those who don't won't take too much time to get used to it.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Paul