I’m just putting this out here for some input. You can upload / post oversize pictures on the forum, and it will automatically resize them visually for display. But if they are huge photos, despite how they appear on the screen, they will cause freezing, glitches, and delays when trying to read those threads. Probably most noticeable if you are on I-phone.
Pictures should be a reasonable size for posting. Or the threads they appear in will be problematic. To clear the problem, I used to download the photos, re-size them, and re-post at the smaller size. But I can’t be spending that kind of time anymore, so to keep the forum from “clogging” with oversized photos, I can just delete the oversized photos with a note to edit and re-post at a reasonable size, which should be a simple task for the poster who put them up in the first place.
That would be outside my ability as moderator. The site owner / creator would have to modify the site, moderators don’t have access to forum software. And while it seems like it might be a cool thing, we who have been here awhile know that site changes also come with a downside. My job is to keep things working here using what I have available to me.
My thinking is that there are plenty of guys posting pics that have been resized for posting, I don’t see any reason why everyone can’t do it. Like I say, I could go through and do it myself, but I’m really trying to scale back on the time consuming aspects of moderating here. Even deleting the oversized photos and posting a note of the problem is time-consuming, but nowhere near as much as doing all the resizing myself, which used to take a lot of time. And threads getting clogged or bogged with oversized photos makes them problematic and less accessible on a lot of computers, and doesn’t benefit anyone.
thanks Eddy, I’m sure a lot of people are unaware of the problem. That’s why I thought I might start deleting the photos (to clear up the threads) and post a note to the poster, to make them aware. Eventually, everyone will catch on, and it won’t even be an issue anymore, except maybe rarely. Thats my thinking, anyway.
Yes. The forum software will resize the physical dimensions. But the file size slows the thread from downloading to screen, regardless. At first I thought the forum software was resizing the file size, but not so. I realized this when my screen kept freezing as certain pics downloaded s-l-o-w-l-y. So like I said, I right clicked and got the pic’s URL. Then, going to that address, I got this HUGE picture way bigger than my screen. So for awhile I was saving the pics, resizing them with MS Paint, then uploading them to my own Flickr account, and re-posting them in the thread. And it worked, the pics still appeared the same on screen, but it eliminated the problem. So that’s how I know what the problem is.
Yes, it’s image size meaning kb and mb, not physical size. I blame digital cameras, which are only gaining megapixels by the week. People take a 18mp image and upload the unedited jpeg and it’s quite large. So don’t do that. I usually resize to somewhere around 1000px for the widest widest dimension.
Yes, it is oversized. Your pictures are some of the ones that freeze my computer up - I figured you were unaware. And I always love the boards you post!
There’s really no excuse for posting huge pictures. It is true that file size is the issue. While not always the case, the file size can be greatly reduced by making the image size suitable for internet. That horse pic above measures 3264px × 2448px. I know few people who have a monitor that big and it wastes bandwidth. 1200 to 1800 px wide is plenty. Sways tends to be slow, as websites go in general. Huge files just slow it further. Lots of free programs that can re-size with ease out there. MS Paint, Irfanview, Gimp, etc.
Then there’s the hosting sites like photobucket and tinypic. Tinypic is easy and you don’t need to register, though you do have to fill in a captcha.
that’s true Sammy - I think the guilty parties are just unaware.
So I’m gonna start removing the oversized photos, with a note to re-post at a smaller size. And I encourage any other moderators so inclined to do the same. I’m just not gonna shrink the pictures for them, like I did in the past. And if I do nothing, like I have been lately, the photo threads get really almost unreadable from my computer. Its worse on other computers I have used.
I use Flickr, it used to be easy to get the picture’s URL for posting, but they’ve made it harder lately.
But you can upload a file from your computer, a lot of people do that. Just about everyone has a simple graphics program like MS Paint. I can put a picture in MS Paint and reduce it to any percentage I choose, easy peasy. Then upload the smaller file for posting.
Its really easy, and we can walk anyone through the process, there’s lots of guys here who know how to do it and would help explain it.
I would like to eliminate the boggy-ness of the photo threads. Especially since a lot of us are accessing Swaylocks by phone now, and its worse on the phone screen. Some threads just won’t show pics on my phone, at all. If they are oversized.
I’m old fashioned, I guess. Still using computers, only. A desktop and two laptops. Dropped my data plan and downgraded from a smart phone to a regular one. Service here in the boonies is too spotty and a data plan is a waste of money.
Sorry about that. I don’t quite understand the 20KB file size limit on sways side of the formula. Why wouldn’t the file size limit be what you desire to make loading quicker? Wouldn’t that solve the problem? Sammy A’s post…I literally have no clue what he or she is talking about. A testimony to my ignorance. I have no problems quickly loading any photos via phone or mac desk top. Never had a clue it was a problem. Thanks Huck for adressing the issue. I gotta go, looking at my sun dial it seems to be getting late.
bb30 - they call you Charlie? - anyway, let us know how we can help you.
If you have the pictures in your computer, you can resize them smaller with MS Paint - do you have that program? Most people do, but not everyone.
the file size limits were not set by me, so I can’t answer for that. I have no idea. What I do know is that lots of people post huge pictures. The forum software will make them appear smaller, but the huge file size creates a big unnecessary bog in the site. And its really easy to remedy, just a matter of posting pictures at a smaller size.
Huck, rather than start removing offending pics, why not start to educate The Bretheren with a sticky thread on the main page entitled How you must post pics…with links to free sites like Photobucket and editing apps like Edit Free.
If there’s going to be a hard and fast rule about pics from now on, give people fair warning.
Set a maximum of 1000 pixels in either direction with a warning that pics beyond those dims wil be removed for the benefit of the site and the members.
Removing existing pics without the opportunity of time and available process will just annoy some posters. Give them time to adjust but after a certain period the new laws will apply to everyone.
Following that, castration of all offenders seems fair and just.
