Time to Ban Imageshack/Photobucket?

Thargor

Imageshack and Photobucket are not fit for purpose anymore imo especially on a forum like boards where its not unusual for a topic to go quite for a month or two before starting up again especially in the less trafficked forums. Both of them were always useless but now they seem to be deleting pics that either go over some tiny bandwidth limit in a busy thread or havent been accessed for a month in a quiter thread.

This leads to threads like this all over the shop, that's just todays example and while someones cooking recipe isn't much of a great loss there are threads about the history of basically every major town in the country, all the historical pics threads in the Railway, Sailing, Arcade, Motoring forums etc, all the sports forums, Aviation, not to mention the entire Funny Vids and Links boards all riddled with dead links like that and its purely because people are using these crappy outdated image hosts instead of a quality one like Imgur.

Boards is nearly the main resource for when you google anything Ireland-specific, the top few results are always threads on Boards.ie and things like this are really hurting that. Unique threads like pictures of old Irish sporting events/buses/trains/ships/concerts/historical events just arent collected on other sites like they are in other countries...

IMO if you try to post something from Imageshack or Photobucket it should:

A: Stop you from posting it and point you to Imgur.

or

B: Ive seen on other forums that when you post an image from any source the forum software automatically rips the image and hosts it on the the website owners server and replaces the link with that image, this would be preferable or a tweaked version that uses Imgur instead.

hullaballoo

Should this not be user-driven? I prefer the idea that people are shunned for using crap image hosting sites above forcing the dev/admin team to go to great lengths abd expense developing a system to deal with the problem.

I do agree it's a problem, just not that it should be foisted onto boards.ie to solve it.

Dav

We're not going to force people into using one platform over another, if they're using a rubbish platform then tell them, but we're not going to force it.

Spear

That said, I do note in the N&F entry on adding images to avoid Tinypic as they recycle links. What that Tinypic image is today may be something very different in six months time.

Little CuChulainn

hullaballoo wrote: »

Should this not be user-driven? I prefer the idea that people are shunned for using crap image hosting sites above forcing the dev/admin team to go to great lengths abd expense developing a system to deal with the problem.

I do agree it's a problem, just not that it should be foisted onto boards.ie to solve it.

I think that's a little unfair. People might not know they are using a second class site. Sure if you post pics all the time or spend a lot of time on reddit you might have an idea what are the better hosting sites. Surely guidance instead of shunning is a better idea. Even a list of some recommended sites.

Rucking_Fetard

Amy image hoster could be in today and sh1t in a year, pointless picking one over another.

Ken.

I find wthax absolutely brilliant and set up by the boardsie CuLT I think. http://www.wthax.org/

El Weirdo

ken wrote: »

I find wthax absolutely brilliant and set up by the boardsie CuLT I think. http://www.wthax.org/

Use it every time.

An app would be nice.

quadrifoglio verde

With most of us now using a smartphone as our primary camera, would it make sense to improve the touch site to allow you upload more than one photo at a time.
Generally when I've a photo to upload, I can do it easily of my phone, it's where I've more than one photo to upload that it seems to get cranky and refuse to do so, making me start a new post, just to upload another photo.
Then neither photo is actually displayed in the post, just an attached link generated. The only way to have the photo displayed seems to be click on it, go to the full site and click on image.
A lot of rigmarole just to add a photo.
I hate using photobucket etc. but sometimes from an image posting point of view it's easier for me to upload to photobucket on my phone and then from photobucket to here.
Sorry for the longwinded nature of this post and if it's slightly off topic

Thargor

Rucking_Fetard wrote: »

Amy image hoster could be in today and sh1t in a year, pointless picking one over another.

Ummm no, Imgur is dominant because its Reddits choice, Reddit and Imgur arent going anywhere. Photobucket/Imageshack/Tinypic are all sh1t right now and will remain so.

Dan Jaman

I've been using freeimagehosting.net for years, but since it's been taken over by imgur, it's become less reliable.
Whatever - it's just a place to park transient images anyway, and if I were all that bothered about future-proofing access, I'd link to something better. So far, I haven't needed to.

Cabaal

Thargor wrote: »

, Reddit and Imgur arent going anywhere. .

When it came to hosting content... People thought the same about Geocities

Funny how things change,

Imgur could be **** in 6 months, silly to claim it won't be going anywhere

Ken.

Cabaal wrote: »

When it came to hosting content... People thought the same about Geocities

Funny how things change,

Imgur could be **** in 6 months, silly to claim it won't be going anywhere

Bebo Bebo, wherefore art thou Bebo.

Thargor

Cabaal wrote: »

When it came to hosting content... People thought the same about Geocities

Funny how things change,

Imgur could be **** in 6 months, silly to claim it won't be going anywhere

Costs are different now, back in Geocites day the thought of unlimited mailbox space would have seemed like science fiction, anyway Geocities was a completely obsolete design that Yahoo deliberately killed, Imgur is just a pure image host, image hosts will always be needed.

Poor example anyway to the points in my OP seeing as data can still be retrieved from the Geocities archives, photobucket and imageshack just delete stuff with no warning.

Thargor

ken wrote: »

I find wthax absolutely brilliant and set up by the boardsie CuLT I think. http://www.wthax.org/

El Weirdo wrote: »

Use it every time.

An app would be nice.

See now this is exactly what I was talking about, that site was popular for a while and now its dead, just reditrecting to Imgur, all the images uploaded to it are now lost. Imageshack have obviously recently decided to save a few pennies by deleting vast amounts of their archives aswell because Im seeing their new error message all over the place these days aswell.

I really think something needs to be done about this, Boards is fairly unique in Ireland compared to other countries.

Dav

And what is it we're supposed to do given that we already have a solution in place that lets people attach images to posts and link them in? It's clunky as all hell and is being re-made to be usable on the new site (because people don't seem to be able to grasp the idea of

Ken.

This is what I use now. Suggested by someone else on boards. Very similar to wthax http://postimage.org/

Spear

Could boards.ie take over responsiblity for Wthax? Or would such a larger degree of image hosting be too much workload or a source of liability?

Thargor

Dav wrote: »

And what is it we're supposed to do given that we already have a solution in place that lets people attach images to posts and link them in? It's clunky as all hell and is being re-made to be usable on the new site (because people don't seem to be able to grasp the idea of

Automatically rehost any pic posted either on the boards servers or on Imgur. I know people might think Imgur is just another hoster but its clearly won the war at this stage and as Reddits go-to host its not going anywhere, Flickr is the only other place not dying on its arse but its a horrible site and its just its community keeping it going.

ken wrote: »

This is what I use now. Suggested by someone else on boards. Very similar to wthax http://postimage.org/

Yes brilliant well done you, that's exactly what I was suggesting was needed in my OP, some useless image host nobody ever heard of that will disappear overnight when its creator gets bored paying for the hosting, just like your wthax suggestion on the previous page.

Ken.

Thargor wrote: »

Automatically rehost any pic posted either on the boards servers or on Imgur. I know people might think Imgur is just another hoster but its clearly won the war at this stage and as Reddits go-to host its not going anywhere, Flickr is the only other place not dying on its arse but its a horrible site and its just its community keeping it going.

Yes brilliant well done you, that's exactly what I was suggesting was needed in my OP, some useless image host nobody ever heard of that will disappear overnight when its creator gets bored paying for the hosting, just like your wthax suggestion on the previous page.

Then make your own.

El Weirdo

Thargor wrote: »

Yes brilliant well done you, that's exactly what I was suggesting was needed in my OP, some useless image host nobody ever heard of that will disappear overnight when its creator gets bored paying for the hosting, just like your wthax suggestion on the previous page.

Well, at least this post doesn't make you come across as being a complete dick.

Thargor

ken wrote: »

Then make your own.

Nope still not grasping the idea I see.

GAAman

Thargor wrote: »

Yes brilliant well done you, that's exactly what I was suggesting was needed in my OP, some useless image host nobody ever heard of that will disappear overnight when its creator gets bored paying for the hosting, just like your wthax suggestion on the previous page.

Wthax was going for many years through multiple boards.ie transitions and was used countless times by boards users. And frankly with your attitude why would anyone want to listen to you much less help you?

Thargor

Im not looking for help so no worries there, this forum is called Feedback, its all explained in my OP if you're having trouble.

_Tombstone_

Thargor wrote: »

See now this is exactly what I was talking about, that site was popular for a while and now its dead, just reditrecting to Imgur, all the images uploaded to it are now lost. Imageshack have obviously recently decided to save a few pennies by deleting vast amounts of their archives aswell because Im seeing their new error message all over the place these days aswell.

I really think something needs to be done about this, Boards is fairly unique in Ireland compared to other countries.

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2055436643/5/#post96359028
Wthax images aren't gone.

_Tombstone_

And imgur will fall someday, Hell if **** had got its act together a few months ago reddit would have been in big trouble.

Any site can fall.

Thargor

Every image on https://****/ is hosted on Imgur. The guy who made wthax even said its not worth bothering anymore because of Imgur, please read the OP and try to understand.

Skylinehead

Why do I get the feeling you work for Imgur

Gordon

You think that other image hosters should be ignored because they'll close down eventually, but promote imgur instead because it's currently popular. It may be the case now, but one day Imgur too shall pass. It may take the form of a change to policies, massive hack, bankruptcy, whatever, but it still has the potential to close down.

Thargor

Yes, all those things could happen, my point is that Imageshack and Photobucket are terrible right now, every thread that uses them is full of dead links a few weeks later, I give up tbh.

Into The Blue

Just attach the image to your post. Click on the attachment, and wrap it in img tags.

Only way you'll loose your dinner pics will be if boards goes kaput.. Noone will be around to care.

MugMugs

Into The Blue wrote: »

Just attach the image to your post. Click on the attachment, and wrap it in img tags.

I thought everybody just did this. Clearly not.

MugMugs

MugMugs wrote: »

I thought everybody just did this. Clearly not.

The only issue I see with that method is if the thread is locked, you can't remove the attachment if you decide to later.

GLaDOS

Karsini wrote: »

The only issue I see with that method is if the thread is locked, you can't remove the attachment if you decide to later.

You can do it via your control panel I believe

ScienceNerd

ScienceNerd wrote: »

You can do it via your control panel I believe

You can if the thread is open. Not if it's locked though. The check box is missing.

Into The Blue

Karsini wrote: »

You can if the thread is open. Not if it's locked though. The check box is missing.

Chat a mod, and they'll delete it

_Tombstone_

Into The Blue wrote: »

Chat a mod, and they'll delete it

No guarantee...unless its a pic of yourself.

Use something else.

_Tombstone_

Thargor wrote: »

Ummm no, Imgur is dominant because its Reddits choice, Reddit and Imgur arent going anywhere. Photobucket/Imageshack/Tinypic are all sh1t right now and will remain so.

Thargor wrote: »

Automatically rehost any pic posted either on the boards servers or on Imgur. I know people might think Imgur is just another hoster but its clearly won the war at this stage and as Reddits go-to host its not going anywhere, Flickr is the only other place not dying on its arse but its a horrible site and its just its community keeping it going.

Not a year later and look whats happening, Reddits starting to dump Imgur and host all itself. Everything on the one page, no more clicking. It could be Bye Bye Imgur in no time at all + they've been serving up a hell of a lot of blank black pages instead of cute kittens lately. They got $40 million in Funding 2 years ago, I'm no suit but I'd say they could be up sh1t creek if they don't get alot, alot of traffic from somewhere else. It's cheap buyout time!

With the tool, users will be able to upload images up to 20MB and GIFs up to 100MB in size directly to Reddit.

https://gfycat.com/ will be the go to for gifs bigger than the limit.


http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/05/reddit-forsakes-imgur-with-launch-of-native-image-upload-tool/
http://www.randalolson.com/2016/05/25/why-is-reddit-replacing-imgur/

biko

That's fascinating and all but how does it connect to this thread from 2014 where boards said they don't bother what image hosting platform people use?
Or did you just remember your old comment?

Thargor

I knew something like this was coming:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40492668

The photo threads in cycling and motors are disaster zones now.

LoLth

I suppose it was inevitable but I can see where photobucket are coming from. They provide storage space for free but nobody visits the page to view the photo so they don't get any pageviews, just resource links. Storage costs money and has to be funded somehow.

its a pity they didnt allow X amount of free linkage storage and anything over that added a watermark or threw in an ad in the corner (not that I want ads but it would have solved the problem of revenue for photobucket and allowed users to accept the ad or buy more space or reduce their usage requirement. Then again, it would be difficult to ensure that appropriate ads are placed on images.