Post/Sig Images Turned Off - Diesel Forum

JLester · 01-12-2002, 11:26 PM

I turned off the ability to display images in posts and signatures tonight. My fears about turning it on with the previous software came true. There is just too much abuse of it. All the animations and pictures are very distracting when trying to read posts. Also, some were beyond the limits of good taste in my opinion. I also think they were the cause for some of the speed problems. Some of the images I looked at were hosted on servers overseas! That means a slow request to that server had to be made before the page was displayed.

You can still add one image to your profile that will display alongside your post and if someone clicks on your username. Please go easy on them though or I will also have to turn that feature off. Even though the forum software reduces their apparent size in order to fit the space available, if you actually put in a 640x480 image (for example), each user has to download that whole image. The browser actually resizes it after it has been downloaded.

I know some of you may not like the decision. The other moderators and I all agree that it needs to be done though. Some of the posts were starting to look like a carnival! Not the atmosphere we are going for here at Ford-Diesel.Com. You can still use the (url) code to put in a link to an image.

Thanks,
Jason

Johnboy3 · 01-13-2002, 12:14 AM

What a bummer. I really liked being able to post a picture to show what exactly I was talking about in a post. I thought that was great feature.

I also understand why you turned it off. I was hoping the little kids with a new toy on the site would get tired of it before it came to this. You gave fair warning I guess.

This feature is turned on at the TDR and I have never seen it abused. I suppose they finally got over the new toy phase a long time ago.

Oh well I guess.

Rex-a-FORD · 01-13-2002, 07:42 AM

Jason

I can't really argue with you about turning of sig./post images.

I do have a question though. Can you turn off signature images separate from post images.

If so, could it be considered to turn on post images again. Then only allow one image per post. That image would have to be relevant to the topic (Ford Diesels) and as they say (one picture saves a thousand words) help clarify the point of the comment.

The large cackle thread going on is a good example. The CPS and injectors traces posted were very informative and really made the point of what was being discussed very clear.

If an image is posted that is not relevant, on topic, or in bad taste the Moderators could(should) delete it.

Leave the signature images off, nice toy but necessary.

Rex

JimTJr · 01-13-2002, 10:08 AM

BUMMER ,,just learned how to do it.... maybe you could only limit the images to jpg the size of the ones on the side bar...not annimated gifs.ect...? And only one per sig.. just a thought,,you do run a great board here,,glad to be a part of it now.
Thanks for all your hard work.

Awl_Bidness · 01-13-2002, 10:19 AM

As someone still locked in to phone line access that won't do better than 28.8K, this will save me a lot of wait time. I do regret that others with better access options will be disappointed.

Regarding the images which really make sense, wiring diagrams, graphs, etc, I hope we can find a good compromise because they really are valuable.

HeyBob · 01-13-2002, 11:23 AM

Man am I glad you turned that stuff off, I honestly can't believe you turned it on in the first place. It took forever to load, and like you said, "Looked like a carnival".

JLester · 01-13-2002, 11:33 AM

There isn't a way to limit the number or size of the graphics, and I really don't want to add additional work for the moderators.

Jason

JLester · 01-13-2002, 11:34 AM

You can still post a link to any image that other users can click on. The image will be displayed in a different window instead of inside the post itself.

Jason

Super Duty John · 01-13-2002, 01:28 PM

Saves a bunch of time for me. I always thought those things were distracting.

Fred Hemer · 01-13-2002, 02:07 PM

It was likly slowing the load time too things seem to be quite abit faster today!

cat235d · 01-13-2002, 02:16 PM

Huge bummer, i tought this was the high tech computer age!! oh well it was cool while it lasted

Central Texan · 01-13-2002, 10:26 PM

It was something that had to be done. Some folks were going overboard. Good move Jason.

NP · 01-13-2002, 10:41 PM

Sorry to see some of the smaller ones go, but many were way to big. I, like several others here, are stuck with a <28K connection and the pages were getting slow to load. I even had to turn off all of the Avatars that were showing up under everyones names. Someday, maybe this part of CA will move into this century and DSL or Cable will be available.

Thanks Jason for looking out for those of us slo-pokes.

Subman · 01-14-2002, 11:17 AM

I'm also glad it was turned off. Too much B/S was being posted as pictures and was distracting. I turned it off for myself the second day after the software changeover. This site has been one of the best for easy navigation and the loading of the pages. We who still live in the darkages of 56K or 28K need all the help we can get.

Renegade · 01-14-2002, 04:07 PM

I for one will miss it - It would really help at times when comparing parts & such. (back to the links [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img])

Now I cant show off the true Renegade under the name - the dog is prettier than me

Did you cut out all of webshots cause I notice a few still have a pic under their name such as yours

Oh Well - It was nice while it lasted.