I have a very interesting screenshot to share, but I can't seem to post it. I tried the attachment option (doesn't allow jpg) and the insert image option (which says it allows jpg) and neither of these would accept the file. The insert image file will upload it but won't insert it as it thinks it's an "invalid file" despite being a direct conversion from the original bmp screenshot file (4.2 mb) to a much smaller jpg (214 k) to save space. What am I doing wrong here? Shouldn't it be ridiculously easy to post a screenshot to the forums?
Images have been disabled for the forum. You now need to use a separate image service like imgur.com. I like imgur because it gives you BBCode that you can just cut and paste for your images.
So you might want to post something like: "Elite needs a hula girl bobblehead!" and this code:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/KjC4foc.jpg?1[/img]
And you would end up with this image:
ADDED: This is what it looks like in imgur. Pretty simple.
So you might want to post something like: "Elite needs a hula girl bobblehead!" and this code:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/KjC4foc.jpg?1[/img]
And you would end up with this image:
ADDED: This is what it looks like in imgur. Pretty simple.
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Thanks, that explains why everything I was trying wasn't working. That's extremely annoying that we can't post images directly to the forums. I mean a jpg under 250 k shouldn't exactly tax their forum servers or storage. I really hate the idea of signing up for some third party image hosting site just to post a simple screenshot to the forums. It is a VERY interesting screenshot though that I'm sure a lot of the players will want to see but I really hate to do extra work to accomplish something that should be built into the forums.
Please make the effort and share it. Community contributions are part of what make this game great!
On the upload issue. It's only recently that it was changed. I know it doesn't seem like much when you consider your own small image, but they've obviously had a lot of images to contend with. And I get the feeling that the forum software doesn't make storing images on cheap storage an easy thing to do. There have been loads of screenshots uploaded. Particularly around beta/bug time. They just had to draw a line somewhere.
OK just followed the instructions you provided, it was actually easier than I thought. Will go and create the thread and see if it works. If you are playing 2.1 you will definitely want to see this.
Yeah sadly the problem was that there are so many pictures that people post from exploration to combat to bugs to everything else it was in the tens of thousands of images and just became too large and unwieldy for them to keep adding storage space to.
There was a thread I can't find anymore commenting about it
There was a thread I can't find anymore commenting about it
Fortunately Khelder's solution of using Imgur turned out to be really easy, it took me literally 5 minutes to set up an account following his instructions. I just posted a different screenshot in another thread and it took me about 2 mins from taking it to posting it in the forums so it's actually quite an acceptable workaround for not being able to post images directly to the forums.
Yeah sadly the problem was that there are so many pictures that people post from exploration to combat to bugs to everything else it was in the tens of thousands of images and just became too large and unwieldy for them to keep adding storage space to.
There was a thread I can't find anymore commenting about it
Here is the original thread
..."Can't upload Pics anymore ?"...with the link to the Brett C (Community Manager) 's post about image uploads....
You say that file should not tax their servers or storage to much. You have to remember that there are 1000's of other people and hosting enough of the files if they allowed it might be to much
Sure, and what is 1000 x 250 k? That's a whopping 250 mb. Even 1,000,000 x 250 k and you're only at 250 GB. My laptop is three years old and it has a 750 GB HDD so that is pretty trivial by any standard. Not hard to store at all. The issue is to simply limit attachments to say 250 k or less and require jpg format posts so people have to convert the high-res 4-5 mb bmp screenshot files to a smaller format. Expecting us to have to use a separate image hosting service to post a screenshot for a bug report or to illustrate a forum discussion topic is ridiculous for a company that has generated something like $50 million in sales so far. They're not working out of a garage, they can EASILY afford the storage space, it would be like a $300 SSD for millions of small pictures. it's just that they apparently want to run the forums as cheaply as possible. Which incidentally is why we have volunteer moderators and not professional ones. Using Imgur is a reasonable workaround, but we shouldn't HAVE to use that kind of workaround for a AAA game we've each paid around $120 for. Sorry about the rant but we are talking a trivial amount of storage here when you actually do the math, I can't believe it would cause them problems even if they had to store tens of thousands of small 250 k images on the forums.
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I could be wrong, but I believe the issue is that the vBulletin software that the forum is running on stores all attachments/images in the same SQL database as everything else. This is nice and simple in a keep-it-all-together kind of way, but it does not scale well at all. There should be an option to store attachments in cheap (i.e. hard drive, S3, etc) storage. This doesn't seem to be available - at least without modifications.
Yeah reading the dev post it sounds like some ridiculously inefficient forum coding if it can't embed a 250 k jpg easily. I mean most people's signatures (i.e. all those INARA pilots licences, etc.) must be at least 50-100k each and those are attached to EVERY post the person makes. Granted I think the signature images are handled differently than an embedded jpg attachment but you get the idea. I think that they should really look at upgrading the forum software to something more capable if less than 50 GB of small images is enough to grind the forums to a standstill.
These are some of the worst forums, technology-wise, that I have used for a game since... Everquest? I really don't get why. Mobile support should be totally standard by now, and image hosting is trivial at this sort of scale.
I guess FDev don't think their web presence is important enough to justify in-house development, and it definitely reflects on their brand.
I guess FDev don't think their web presence is important enough to justify in-house development, and it definitely reflects on their brand.
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WOW, that's a pretty bold statement..... have you ever ran a forum with +/- 40,000 users? you have any idea of the size of the database required to store all the information? the bandwidth cost etc....
I am guessing no.
The issue here is, they are now a big gaming company that has taken in tens of millions of dollars in revenue. The costs are what they are. If you want to make AAA games you have to just eat the costs for proper servers to host forums. I mean it's like a lawyer complaining about having to spend $500-1000 on a decent suit to look professional when arguing a case in court, so he wears a $150 discount suit that looks terrible instead. Running these forums with software or storage that isn't up to the task just isn't a justifiable way for them to save money.
Not defending anyone / thing just stating a fact!
I haven't done as much gaming as most of the CMDRs on this forum (not this post)....gaming in general, but I thought it was nice of Frontier to host the images when I first started using these forums.
I thought it was maybe something not all gaming companies' did on their official forums....maybe I am wrong /new to this.
So I ask ...does anyone here actually know of a few or or most gaming companies that actually host the images on their own servers & do not require you to use a 3rd party to host the images on the gaming companies' official forums?
If the majority do host the images on their own servers, then I can understand you frustration...however if it is only a small minority that actually do then I would say that it was nice while it lasted.
Either way it has been this way on Frontier forums since March 2016 & is not going to change, so let's share all the 3rd party services that allow us to post our images on this forum to share....then get back to what is most important ...Flying, Trading, Exploring, Pirating, Combat, Smuggling, ...Elite Dangerous gaming
(this is not indended to continue the argument, defend, or attack... but ask a real question as Google has failed me just now lol, as it pertains to the path this discussion has taken)
I thought it was maybe something not all gaming companies' did on their official forums....maybe I am wrong /new to this.
So I ask ...does anyone here actually know of a few or or most gaming companies that actually host the images on their own servers & do not require you to use a 3rd party to host the images on the gaming companies' official forums?
If the majority do host the images on their own servers, then I can understand you frustration...however if it is only a small minority that actually do then I would say that it was nice while it lasted.
Either way it has been this way on Frontier forums since March 2016 & is not going to change, so let's share all the 3rd party services that allow us to post our images on this forum to share....then get back to what is most important ...Flying, Trading, Exploring, Pirating, Combat, Smuggling, ...Elite Dangerous gaming
(this is not indended to continue the argument, defend, or attack... but ask a real question as Google has failed me just now lol
, as it pertains to the path this discussion has taken)
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Well considering the forums are just a bunch of moaners why would they.
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Thats a pretty rubbish analogy to be fair.
I have seen far worse forums from far bigger companies than FD. It works, thats all that matters, and saying its not professional simply because it can't host its own pictures is utter horse manure of the highest order. Its functional, thats all it needs to be.
Why don't you like the analogy? I think it fits quite well. If you want to run a business like a professional there are certain costs associated with that. If you try to scrimp on those costs despite having a very substantial revenue stream it just makes you look cheap. I'm not saying that I expect the forums to handle 5-10 mb screnshots but at least 250 k is not asking much. Instead they completely disabled images, basically saying they "can't do it" because of 40 mb worth of tiny images. So I'm supposed to believe that they successfully programmed Elite to procedurally generate an entire galaxy worth of stars and systems? And yet somehow they can't get their forums to handle a 250 k jpg? Sorry but I'm not buying their explanation. It sounds like they are using completely inadequate forum software or storage if they can't handle small imbedded images. It's hard to pretend that 40 GB of images is a "lot" of images for a computer to handle when most people can store more than this on their phone.
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