Uploading Photo's to the forum

[Mike_K]

We have previously asked that images that you upload to the forum are less than 500KB and no larger than 2000x2000 pixels, but it seems many of you find that difficult, either you don't know how or you forget to resize them in the excitement to share your latest project or find from eBay.

I've previously thought there must be an automated method, but couldn't find a way. Tonight I was on another forum that also uses phpBB and their site automatically resized the images I uploaded, so a quick pm to their admin and I had the details of how it was done. So I hope I have set everything up correctly so you can upload images straight from your phone or camera (only jpg or jpeg please, no .tif, .tiff, .png, .gif or any other image format).

The below image has only been uploaded to test if the resizer is working correctly, it was originally 4800x4325 pixels and 4.2MB and is now 2000x1802 pixels and 281KB.

[Martin]

Now we need a bit of code that will save server storage space by automatically removing extraneous apostrophes.

[Phil_G]

Mike, in the particular case of a photo that actually needs to be high res, say a PCB track layout, a document scan, schematic or something explaining intricate detail, is it ok to post a zip of the high-res photo, it wont be compressed but will bypass the resizing, and could be removed or replaced by a small version at a later date? I'm an active member of the Vintage Radio Repair & Restoration forum, it also resizes photos so they become absolutely useless as references!

[Mike_K]

Hi Phil, the plugin only resizes jpg and jpeg files, so shouldn't really affect anything you're likely to post that needs higher resolution. Things like pcb layouts really should be in pdf to ensure they size correctly anyway, so won't be affected.

I probably ought to remind everybody why I'm trying to keep images to a reasonable size, it's the hosting costs… I pay for the upkeep of the forum from my own pocket, and I elected to use the lowest cost package with PHP support that was available from Gradient Hosting (I use them because they are a local to me and one of the tech support guys is a member of my club).

If we allowed image sizes of 20MB straight from modern phones and cameras we would rapidly exceed the storage and traffic allowance and I would have to upgrade the hosting package. For the last 18 months Tobe has done most of the forum maintenance, including resizing large images that have been uploaded. This takes up some of his free time that is limited with him working full time, unlike many of us who are retired.

He has had a bad run of people posting large images being uploaded by people who should know better and I know it was frustrating him. By pure coincidence I posted on a different forum that uses the same phpBB software and I noticed it automatically reduced the size of my images. After a quick chat with their forum admin, they helped me setup our forum the same.

This should reduce Tobe's work and make it easier for all to post images, a win-win. If people don't like image sizes being limited there are a few choices such as uploading the images to a different site such as Flickr and using a link. I don't want to have to ask for contributions towards the upkeep of the site or to have adverts on the forum, so everybody's cooperation with this is appreciated.

Thanks Mike

[Phil_G]

Not sure how costs compare but for www.singlechannel.co.uk I use Hostpresto (Xenix Ltd), its actually due for renewal very soon, not had the invoice yet but no doubt it will be more than last year which was £72 for their Pro-Plan, plus between £6 and £15 each for my six domains and a few add-ons, they're also charging me £5 per month for email that I dont use so I need to look into that.
Together it all comes to around £200 p.a. ish. In parallel with this I also have paid hosting on my ISP, BT Internet with duplicated content, which I'm going to ditch as I moved everything on to Hostpresto some time ago. Maybe its time for another move - how does this compare with your host Mike?
Cheers
Phil
(PS I should say that I dont mind these costs at all, it my choice, I'm retired on a low income but hosting is important to me, its a big part of my hobby )

[RichardT]

I now use Hostinger for my website - https://cart.hostinger.com/pay/6be0db66 ... fa21322cce
£150 for 51 months - they did a free Wordpress migration (from previous host Bluehost) last month - all went very smoothly.
I'm resigned to changing host every few years as they ramp the costs after the initial period, but my migration was pretty easy.
Cheers - Richard

[Phil_G]

Not sure how costs compare but for www.singlechannel.co.uk I use Hostpresto (Xenix Ltd), its actually due for renewal very soon, not had the invoice yet but no doubt it will be more than last year which was £72 for their Pro-Plan, plus between £6 and £15 each for my six domains and a few add-ons, they're also charging me £5 per month for email that I dont use so I need to look into that.
Together it all comes to around £200 p.a. ish. In parallel with this I also have paid hosting on my ISP, BT Internet with duplicated content, which I'm going to ditch as I moved everything on to Hostpresto some time ago. Maybe its time for another move - how does this compare with your host Mike?
Cheers
Phil
(PS I should say that I dont mind these costs at all, it my choice, I'm retired on a low income but hosting is important to me, its a big part of my hobby )

Spoke too soon - LCN have just billed me £58 just for the domain name singlechannel.co.uk, no hosting, just the name, the hosting for this domain is on Hostpresto who have just upped their rates to £96... the hobby is getting expensive!