Hey Folks....
You all may have noticed that from time to time of late the forum either run slow or Blocker needs to take it down for a while for some maintenance on the database from time to time to keep it ticking over sweetly on all eight cylinders. A recurring issue we seem to be encountering is that with the current structure of the forums, the uploaded images are beginning to clog up the system as they are essentially embedded in the same database that the forums are and are the cause of most of the speed issues we have been encountering. Externally linked pictures and attachments are not an issue as they have little impact upon the amount of data transfer onto and off the server we are hosted on.
What this means that over the next little while we will need to shift the internally hosted images out of the database (I understand they are to be saved, so not all is lost – Blocker will advise more on this issue as time progresses) and move to exclusively using what is referred to BB code to link images to the site from an external source. Up until now users have been able to use either method to either upload directly to the forum or to use BB code to link to a photo or video etc externally. The method of uploading images directly to the forum is to be phased-out over the next few weeks and will no longer be available in the near future (timeframe to be advised).
Most of you wont have any issues with this change in forum direction as it is the most common way of linking images and attachments to a Bulletin Board/Forum and has been in widespread use for well over a decade, so most are familiar with it by now. In fact the option has been there all along in both “quick reply” and the more advanced “post reply” functions of the forum to link to an externally hosted file using the buttons of the user interface. For those not familiar with it or are unsure of it the concept and use of it is fairly simple. In a nutshell you can either use the buttons available to carry out the functions you require or you can manually type the required code around the external link.
The basic technique for images is fairly simple. If you want to insert an image into your comment, you can do so using the [img] tag. The [img] tag accepts only one parameter, the URL to the image file. (NOTE: Please be considerate of others and do not hotlink their images unless you know that it is allowed. Also, be aware of malicious anti-hotlinking techniques in use as you may end up with an image in your post that you hadn’t bargained on!). You will either need to have your own image uploaded to an image hosting site (such as Photobucket etc – in which case they will already have code shortcuts available to use to share your image on a forum such as ours), or if you are linking to an image on another website, the usual way to copy the URL of the image is to right click on the image and copy the URL (otherwise known as the web address) of the image. Then, either using our ready-made “insert image” buttons or manually typing out the [img] tags around your pasted link you can place the link to the externally hosted picture in your post. Apple users may have a different way of achieving the same result but it wont be too different from the windows way of doing things.
Clear as mud?
The mod team understand that not everyone likes change, and for this we do apologise as a team, however we do seek your understanding of this necessary change in how we handle pictures and attachments from now on. There are good tutorial resources available in the FAQ area of the forum as well as externally on places such as you tube etc. The mod team is also here to answer any query or help with any issue you might have in relation to this small change in how we do things. Please feel free to ask away!
Regards,
Dave.
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