How to handle photos in the forum

[Barry]

To date, the only place for members to display their photos is in the Photo Gallery Forum. It still requires the use of outside image hosting. I'm interested in knowing what the general feeling is towards the way photos are handled in the forums. I know some are on slow connections and allowing images to be posted within all forums could be an unpleasant experience. There are pros and cons either way.

[Sundance]

As you've already outlined........ Posting images within
the thread makes it a nightmare for dial up users. And
from what I have heard there is a resurgence of the
dial up industry due to $$$$$$.

If they are eventually allowed in the thread my hope
would be to keep the size down to less than 300K and
kept higher resolution pics in the gallery.

[Brenda]

I like them in the threads, but it wouldn't matter to me either way.

[Ravenseye]

I'd much rather see a link only in the forums. The pics can have their own gallery but pics make for lot's of scrolling. At least with links only in the forums, you can choose to view a pic on a new tab or page and, once you've seen it, work the thread without being encumbered by all the additional overhead.

Also, I find that people who post pics sometimes use them in place of words. You know, a post that says "What do you all think of this" with a picture, isn't very useful when you do a search. People who post with links to pictures often (but not always) add a fairly decent description to the photo that they're referring to. That makes the post somewhat more useful. Don't know about the rest of you but when someone posts a link and simply says "Check it out".....I don't. If you post a picture that forces me to check it out....every time I visit the topic, I'm not terribly happy (unless I'm in a forum where I would expect it).

[Sundance]

Great points Ravenseye......... I hadn't thought about
the search issue, but it's true.

[BeeCurious]

Even though I think it would be nice to have photos in the postings, I'm sympathetic towards the members who have dial-up.

Some of the members with the slowest connections may be the quickest to respond some of my questions...



...I'm still going to campaign for improved search capabilities.

[jeff123fish]

I just recently was able to get DSL photos in the forums can be a real pain. I do like pictures for getting a better idea of what people are trying to describe, so for those folks I think links should be allowed.

[Bodo]

Trixy, question.

Make the forums more informative with imbedded images yet make it virtually unuseable to people w/o broadband.

I could see limiting images to no larger than 800pixels (heck even 600) on the longest side and limiting images to one per post. Or images could be automatically displayed as thumbnails so that you would have to click it to see full size.

[Barry Digman]

I would vote to keep the photos out of the forums. I look at other forums and they soon get so cluttered with signatures, avatars, photos, etc. that the message and continuity of the conversation is lost.

[magnet-man]

I have mixed feelings about pictures and avatars. Some forums I have been to the pictures are end up being huge. I don't know if the software can limit the size that is displayed. If it can't I see trouble ahead, because there are a lot of beekeepers that are not computer inclined.

As far as avatars, some can be really annoying. Beemaster allows avatars and the animated ones can be down right distracting.

Bandwidth is really the issue though. I suspect a lot of beekeepers are in locations that broadband is not available. It is conceivable the forums could get loaded down and some members would have no choice but to leave Beesource.

Barry, may is make a suggestion? That was a rhetorical question. Why not post a poll in the "Bee Forum" if the user has broadband. Why there and not in "Bulletin Board & Site News"? I very rarely go into this forum and I think most users are the same. The "Bee Forum" would allow the more users to be aware of the poll. This is important demographic information that you want the largest sample possible. It would give you an idea if you are dealing with 50% or 5% of your user base.

The poll question can read:

I access Beesource via:
Dial Up (Slow)
Cable or DSL (Fast)

[Barry]

As far as avatars, some can be really annoying.

Don't worry, avatars won't be showing up here!

[Ravenseye]

I like magnet-man's idea about a bandwidth poll. If one were to be taken, there should be another category for "varies". I probably visit Beesource from four or five PC's a day and, when I travel, I use a rather slow air card on one of the laptops. I would probably skip threads altogether if I had to wait for photo's to stream. I still feel that pics are a great extra to a forum but posts are textual in nature. I really don't want to quote someone else's post and then remove the image tags so that I don't repost a picture, etc. Again, links can accomplish the same purpose of providing a picture without automatically displaying it.

The suggestion regarding image size is a good one. Resolution is important too, not just image size, since both resolution and actual image size affect final file size. It's the file size that's critical.

Oh yeah....no pics in Tailgater! Just had to say that one!!!

[drobbins]

I know this is out of Barry's control but it seems like the BB software should allow you to set whether or not you want to see pictures in your profile. Then you could turn them off if you're on dialup. Is that not an option?

Dave

[Bizzybee]

Don't worry, avatars won't be showing up here!

Arrrgggg, and I have such a good one for MM to look at everyday!!!!

I like the idea of pics in the threads. But I too think there should be a size restriction. 480 would be pretty good I think. I have more than enough juice to load up bigger images but prefer smaller images with posts.

There are options in the User CP for thread options. Go to Edit Options>Thread Display Options and uncheck "Show Images" You can also ignore signatures and avatars..............see there magnet!!

[drobbins]

>>There are options in the User CP for thread options. Go to Edit Options>Thread Display Options and uncheck "Show Images"

if that's the case, I see no downside to allowing them
what am I missing?

Dave

[No_Bivy]

pics are good......dial up still exists?Hahahaha....just kidding

[Barry]

if that's the case, I see no downside to allowing them what am I missing?

What Ravenseye said about quoting is a concern of mine. I'm assuming there is a way to restrict an image from being pasted into a reply so we don't get multiple copies floating around in a thread.

Perhaps the best way to deal with this whole issue is just to give it a try and see how it works for everyone. No promises it will stay, but if everyone can independently tailor the images to their circumstances, we ought to be OK.

[Sundance]

There are options in the User CP for thread options. Go to Edit Options>Thread Display Options and uncheck "Show Images" You can also ignore signatures and avatars..............

If this is the case, then I withdraw my no vote. Wouldn't
be a problem,

[Bizzybee]

Don't ya love it when a plan comes together

[Barry]

Upon reading more about this feature, I will have to use the attachment feature for all this to work. That was my fear. For those controls to work in the User CP, the images have to be uploaded to the beesource server so they can be controlled. Can't do that with a simple image link as it is now.
There goes the bandwidth. I'll still give it a try and see what kind of impact it makes on the server end. I've had a few good donations lately so let's put it to use.