Loading Pictures on the Forum Project

[Leon]

There has been an engineer working on our picture loading issues. The product installed is Imagemagick v6 ....I tried uploading a picture a few minutes ago and didn't see anything different. A lot of members complain about posting pictures but what is the exact issue? Is it they are always too large and don't downsize automatically? Or should they load real small, like FB, and then be able to be clicked on and blown up on screen? or?

TIA...
.

[D. Bergin]

Please, please, please...don't make it like Facebook.


I think the exact issue is what you said. A lot of people have a hard time figuring out how to resize an image below 2MB, so just give up on the process.

Also, when that happens, there's no reason given why the photo didn't upload. It just doesn't upload. A lot of us have figured out through the process of elimination that it's because of the size. I figured out myself, it was probably bumping up against a 2MB limit, because I have the same protocols on my own website software.

A lot of posters have no clue why their image got booted, and just give up.

We've discussed this before, but it didn't used to happen as much, because the Net54 software used to accept up to 5MB images, and then would compress down to an acceptable limit when adding the attachment to the post, and make it appear at approximately the same size as it does now, with the 2MB limit.

That's why image attachments still look the same as they used to. They just don't accept as large of files to compress down.

[Balticfox]

Members thoughtlessly post pictures that are too wide (say over 1250 pixels) and that messes up the formatting of the page for many of us (I'm using a 15" screen at home). Therefore what's needed is an auto-reduce feature for pictures.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Please, please, please...don't make it like Facebook.


I think the exact issue is what you said. A lot of people have a hard time figuring out how to resize an image below 2MB, so just give up on the process.

Also, when that happens, there's no reason given why the photo didn't upload. It just doesn't upload. A lot of us have figured out through the process of elimination that it's because of the size. I figured out myself, it was probably bumping up against a 2MB limit, because I have the same protocols on my own website software.

A lot of posters have no clue why their image got booted, and just give up.

We've discussed this before, but it didn't used to happen as much, because the Net54 software used to accept up to 5MB images, and then would compress down to an acceptable limit when adding the attachment to the post, and make it appear at approximately the same size as it does now, with the 2MB limit.

That's why image attachments still look the same as they used to. They just don't accept as large of files to compress down.

The image max sizes are controlled by Vbulletin and we have always been able to change the max loadable size. We can set that back to 5mb, as it was set to 2mb some time ago, to help with storage issues. But from what I have read there is more to it than that. What do members want?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Members thoughtlessly post pictures that are too wide (say over 1250 pixels) and that messes up the formatting of the page for many of us (I'm using a 15" screen at home). Therefore what's needed is an auto-reduce feature for pictures.

Thanks. We have that but maybe we need a better s/w to do it? My at home laptop screen is about 27" as I have an external monitor, keyboard and mouse attached.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Leon

We have that but maybe we need a better s/w to do it?

But it only works if the Manage Attachments feature is used. If the image is hotlinked using IMG tags, images are not reduced.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

But it only works if the Manage Attachments feature is used. If the image is hotlinked using IMG tags, images are not reduced.

Ok. Thanks. So, images that are hotlinked need to be reduced? Anything else?

Here is what I was sent from the engineer but he isn't super familiar with the ins and outs of vbulletin image loading...

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[Vintagedeputy]

Last night, I tried to upload a picture that was zoomed in on a card and the system wouldn’t accept it. I then went for a wider photo where the card was smaller and it accepted that. I would just like a system that accepts the photos that we send without any technical knowledge required to reduce them.

[D. Bergin]

Hot-linking is a whole other animal. I wouldn't even know if there's a way to fix that other than disallowing it completely...which I wouldn't suggest, just because it would create another obstacle for posters, and it might be inconvenient when it's too big for some posters, but at least it sucks from other websites bandwidth and not Net54's.

If your guy has a way to shrink those down however, that would be great.

If there's a storage issue with attachments Leon, I am certainly ok with you keeping it at 2MB, rather then 5MB. I can easily work around that.

I assumed VBulletin was using a tool to compress them down to how they appear on the website, and storing it at that size. I wasn't aware it was storing the full sized file.

Only problem is other posters who may not be as savvy with internet stuff, don't know why their images aren't uploading. There's no error reason given when an image gets rejected. It just says "Upload of File Failed", but it doesn't say why.

[Zach Wheat]

It would also be nice to have images archived so when the image hosting application expires, readers can still see the photo's. Not sure how big of an issue this is, but it helps when reading old threads where the pics are important.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Hot-linking is a whole other animal. I wouldn't even know if there's a way to fix that other than disallowing it completely...which I wouldn't suggest, just because it would create another obstacle for posters, and it might be inconvenient when it's too big for some posters, but at least it sucks from other websites bandwidth and not Net54's.

If your guy has a way to shrink those down however, that would be great.

Hotlinked pictures are reduced on other discussion forums (e.g. Vintage Non-Sports) so it can't be difficult for a computer pro.

[Gorditadogg]

My issue is that, when looking at pictures on my desktop, they can be so large as to take up the width of my screen, and I need to scroll down to see the bottom 2/3ds of the card.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[Leon]

I'll have them take a look at this thread. Thanks ya'll!
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[CobbSpikedMe]

Hi Leon. The problem I always seem to have is that when I try to upload images of my high grade Cobbs and Wagners the pictures always come out as low grade common beaters. I always just assumed it was my computer reminding me that I don't own and high grade Cobbs and Wagners and it is keeping me honest.




.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by cobbspikedme

hi leon. The problem i always seem to have is that when i try to upload images of my high grade cobbs and wagners the pictures always come out as low grade common beaters. I always just assumed it was my computer reminding me that i don't own and high grade cobbs and wagners and it is keeping me honest. :d




.

lol

[steve B]

I'm hardly the most technical computer guy.

You guys make me feel pretty good, at least as far as pictures go.

I use Paint to resize then the board software to upload the pictures.
Sometimes I get one rejected, and I just shrink it a bit more and try again.

[irv]

Just trying something to see if it has reduced the size?
Yep, it did. I chose the Microsoft resizer, among other things it does, free download.

[Leon]

The response from the engineer. We have the IMageMagic 6 installed now but I don't see any difference....I told them that and here is what they said. I will probably have them put in the line of code. Any thoughts?


"My understanding of the issue that you are concerned about here (there are a few different ones in that thread) is that when someone hotlinks an image from another site using the IMG tag, it can mess up the vBulletin formatting if that image is too large.

This problem is only fixable by changing the code which is sent to the viewers webpage and having their computer dynamically resize the image as they view the page. Your server can’t resize the image since your server never sees the image – the IMG code instead tells the user viewing the page to go to another server to get the image.

Usually, I’d recommend finding a plugin that does this, but
1) Finding a reputable site for plugins that old would be difficult and
2) I don’t even know if plugins were a thing in v3.

Doing some searching it seems like you aren’t the only one to run into this problem and someone has posted a possible solution here:
https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/web...ed-images.html

Looking over the code I don’t see any problem with it, and it does what you need – it tells the users browser to resize the image down to a width of 800 pixels if it’s bigger than that and gives the user an option to click the image to see it at its regular size. You can adjust the pixel width to whatever works best for your users.

Because it only modifies the width though I have a feeling it may cause images to get distorted because it won’t also resize the height, but how that’s handled is really up to the user’s browser and you have no control over it. Trying to dynamically modify both the width and height of the image to scale properly and be under a certain size would require a lot more code (and probably JavaScript).

Keep in mind we are server administrators and not developers – normally we would decline requests to modify code. As this is changing a single line and I don’t see an issue with it we can make this change for you if you’d like, but I can’t give you any guarantees on if this will be a suitable fix for you."


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[Leon]

The last bit of code was installed several days ago. I am not sure it's made a difference but if anyone wants to give it a try, and let me know, it would be great. Please see the post right above here for the technical stuff. This will probably be the last attempt at updating the picture loading for the forum. Otherwise, we are probably stuck with what we got. Thanks!

A bit from the above post that is most pertinent, I think..

"Looking over the code I don’t see any problem with it, and it does what you need – it tells the users browser to resize the image down to a width of 800 pixels if it’s bigger than that and gives the user an option to click the image to see it at its regular size. You can adjust the pixel width to whatever works best for your users.
Because it only modifies the width though I have a feeling it may cause images to get distorted because it won’t also resize the height, but how that’s handled is really up to the user’s browser and you have no control over it. Trying to dynamically modify both the width and height of the image to scale properly and be under a certain size would require a lot more code (and probably JavaScript).


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[Snowman]

It sounds like he just installed the Image Magick library but isn't actually using it to resize images.

There are two primary complaints I encounter most often here. 1 - images that other forums would not have issues with often fail to upload here. 2 - when images do get uploaded, they are often quite large and mess up the formatting of the website.

You should be able to use Image Magick to automatically resize all images uploaded to the site. It should also be able to support more images formats and sizes than before. Resolving both issues above.

https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...th-imagemagick

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Snowman

It sounds like he just installed the Image Magick library but isn't actually using it to resize images.

There are two primary complaints I encounter most often here. 1 - images that other forums would not have issues with often fail to upload here. 2 - when images do get uploaded, they are often quite large and mess up the formatting of the website.

You should be able to use Image Magick to automatically resize all images uploaded to the site. It should also be able to support more images formats and sizes than before. Resolving both issues above.

https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...th-imagemagick

I think that the Image Magick s/w might need to have more programming than what they are able to do.

[bobbvc]

Originally Posted by Leon

There has been an engineer working on our picture loading issues. The product installed is Imagemagick v6 ....I tried uploading a picture a few minutes ago and didn't see anything different. A lot of members complain about posting pictures but what is the exact issue? Is it they are always too large and don't downsize automatically? Or should they load real small, like FB, and then be able to be clicked on and blown up on screen? or?

TIA...
.

I had no problems loading pictures using a PC. About a year ago I switched to a MAC and haven't been able to load pics since. I haven't tried loading a pic in about 8 months though.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Leon

I think that the Image Magick s/w might need to have more programming than what they are able to do.

Here is what Gemini says about using ImageMagick with vBulletin.

-------------------------------------------------------

To use ImageMagick with vBulletin, you need to install ImageMagick on your server and then configure vBulletin to utilize its capabilities for image processing tasks like resizing, creating thumbnails, and manipulating uploaded images, effectively leveraging ImageMagick's powerful image manipulation features within your forum environment.
Key points about using ImageMagick with vBulletin:
Installation:
ImageMagick needs to be installed on your server, typically through your hosting control panel or by manually compiling from source depending on your operating system.
Configuration in vBulletin:
Within the vBulletin admin panel, navigate to the "Image Settings" section where you can specify the path to your ImageMagick executable, enabling vBulletin to call upon its functionalities for image processing.
Functionality:
Once configured, vBulletin will automatically use ImageMagick to perform tasks like:
Generating thumbnails for uploaded images
Resizing avatars and profile pictures
Converting image formats
Applying image filters or effects (depending on your vBulletin theme and customization)
Benefits of using ImageMagick with vBulletin:
Advanced image manipulation:
ImageMagick provides a wide range of image processing options beyond basic resizing, allowing for more complex image adjustments within your forum.
Flexibility:
You can fine-tune image settings in vBulletin to achieve the desired look and feel for uploaded images.
Optimized performance:
When properly configured, ImageMagick can efficiently handle image processing tasks, especially for large image uploads.
Important considerations:
Compatibility:
Ensure that the version of ImageMagick you install is compatible with your vBulletin version and PHP setup.
Permissions:
Make sure your web server user has appropriate permissions to access ImageMagick executables on the server.

[Leon]

Thanks Travis. I am not sure our older version of s/w is going to be able to do that. But will pass this on. He might have already seen this below as he was researching...

Here is a question. We use the same s/w as Blowout. Do their pictures work correctly?

Originally Posted by Snowman

Here is what Gemini says about using ImageMagick with vBulletin.

-------------------------------------------------------

To use ImageMagick with vBulletin, you need to install ImageMagick on your server and then configure vBulletin to utilize its capabilities for image processing tasks like resizing, creating thumbnails, and manipulating uploaded images, effectively leveraging ImageMagick's powerful image manipulation features within your forum environment.
Key points about using ImageMagick with vBulletin:
Installation:
ImageMagick needs to be installed on your server, typically through your hosting control panel or by manually compiling from source depending on your operating system.
Configuration in vBulletin:
Within the vBulletin admin panel, navigate to the "Image Settings" section where you can specify the path to your ImageMagick executable, enabling vBulletin to call upon its functionalities for image processing.
Functionality:
Once configured, vBulletin will automatically use ImageMagick to perform tasks like:
Generating thumbnails for uploaded images
Resizing avatars and profile pictures
Converting image formats
Applying image filters or effects (depending on your vBulletin theme and customization)
Benefits of using ImageMagick with vBulletin:
Advanced image manipulation:
ImageMagick provides a wide range of image processing options beyond basic resizing, allowing for more complex image adjustments within your forum.
Flexibility:
You can fine-tune image settings in vBulletin to achieve the desired look and feel for uploaded images.
Optimized performance:
When properly configured, ImageMagick can efficiently handle image processing tasks, especially for large image uploads.
Important considerations:
Compatibility:
Ensure that the version of ImageMagick you install is compatible with your vBulletin version and PHP setup.
Permissions:
Make sure your web server user has appropriate permissions to access ImageMagick executables on the server.

[Snowman]

I'm not sure. I don't use Blowout.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Leon

Thanks Travis. I am not sure our older version of s/w is going to be able to do that. But will pass this on. He might have already seen this below as he was researching...



Here is a question. We use the same s/w as Blowout. Do their pictures work correctly?

Blowout doesn't automatically resize images either.

[stlcardsfan]

My pictures used to always show up small and sideways from an Ipad. I haven't tried in years though.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Leon

The last bit of code was installed several days ago. I am not sure it's made a difference but if anyone wants to give it a try, and let me know, it would be great. Please see the post right above here for the technical stuff. This will probably be the last attempt at updating the picture loading for the forum. Otherwise, we are probably stuck with what we got. Thanks!

A bit from the above post that is most pertinent, I think..

"Looking over the code I don’t see any problem with it, and it does what you need – it tells the users browser to resize the image down to a width of 800 pixels if it’s bigger than that and gives the user an option to click the image to see it at its regular size. You can adjust the pixel width to whatever works best for your users.
Because it only modifies the width though I have a feeling it may cause images to get distorted because it won’t also resize the height, but how that’s handled is really up to the user’s browser and you have no control over it. Trying to dynamically modify both the width and height of the image to scale properly and be under a certain size would require a lot more code (and probably JavaScript).

Doesn't appear to be working:

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...=356696&page=4