Post by Tommy on Jul 17, 2017 13:09:29 GMT -5
As of the updated date below, this is the best information I can provide on the methods of posting photos here. This article is not intended to be an in-depth tutorial or discussion on each method; this is just a "how do I post photos" overview.
ARTICLE: The primary methods of posting photos on the Rock Tumbling Hobby forum
Tommy Lay
Editor's Note (updated 11-26-2021)
General cleanup and edited and re-worded in a few places.
Fixed some bad links and deleted dead links from the recommendation list.
Moved Postimgs up the recommendation list based on a sterling review by a trusted member.
Photos are a fun and integral part of the forum experience. We strongly encourage newcomers and regulars alike to post photos often so we can truly enjoy what the rock hobbies look like from your perspective. Posting photos on this Proboards software forum can also have its challenges so the purpose of this article is to provide a bit of organization and clarity on the subject.
The following is a summary of four primary methods of posting photos here on the forum.
1) Cloudinary Photos Upload button
You will find this button when using the following forum features, Create Thread, Reply, and Quick Reply. When this feature is used, forum-ready image link(s) are automatically inserted into your post and will be visible as full size images in your post. To use this free feature each member must sign up for a Cloudinary account and carefully follow the steps outlined here in this tutorial for full integration into your forum posting experience.
Pros: Very easy to use, fully Proboards forum integrated drag and drop 3rd party photo hosting. Generous free photo hosting plan offered by Cloudinary with paid plans available.
Cons: Cloudinary is an extraordinarily feature rich program and the account setup and management can be confusing. The result is worth it though so if you need help please let us know by posting about it in the Technical Help and Testing area of the forum.
2) 3rd Party Hosting
3rd party photo hosts are websites that specialize in uploading and displaying photos on the internet and none of these are owned or affiliated with Proboards forums. Some of these are free and some are not but they all work basically the same way. You choose which one you will use, create an account on their website, and follow their procedures to upload your photos to their website. Most will provide you with an internet link to the photo and you will then post that link here on the forum to display the photo.
The following is an edited list of 3rd party hosts. This is not a paid endorsement of any of these companies or their services and we cannot speak to the safety, reliability, or long term stability of any one of them. Please do your homework because the risks of lost photos by the user, and lost posted content to the forum are exactly the same with all of them.
Cloudinary
Postimages
Flickr
imgbox
Fotki
freeimagehosting
ImgBB
ImgPile
ImageShack
NickPic
VGY
Village Photos
Pros: Ease of use - upload dozens of photos to the host website and visually choose which photos you will share. Most will provide photo resizing so you won't have to use a photo editing software to reduce the size of your raw images before posting on the forum. Some hosts will format the link into the forum BBcode which makes copying and pasting into your post very simple. Some hosts are phone friendly - making it easy to upload photos from your phone, and providing the ability to copy and paste the link into your post.
Cons: You must do your homework and go with the one you trust. As with all internet photo hosting companies you have no control over the business practices or ethics of the company. As we saw with PhotoBucket they can flip a switch and hold your photos ransom for exorbitant amounts of money and there is nothing you can do about it. Often with 3rd party hosts it is not easy or intuitive how to go about obtaining your photo link for pasting on the forum.
3) Owning your own Website (personal 3rd Party Hosting)
Owning your own domain and or website is the most reliable form of 3rd party hosting available. To summarize, you purchase a domain name, choose a hosting company such as www.dreamhost.com, use either a file transfer client program such as freeware FileZilla, or a photo gallery software such as Piwigo.org to upload your photos to the internet, get the links to the images, and post them on the forum.
Pros: As a website owner you have complete control over the hosting of your photos as long as you continue to pay your monthly or yearly hosting bill. For comparison purposes our Dreamhost account costs roughly $140 per year for unlimited storage and bandwidth. Domain hosts such as Dreamhost.com often offer free photo gallery and blog software such as Piwigo and Wordpress among others, which they will install on your domain usually with just a few clicks. They also have have reams of helpful and detailed articles and tutorials covering virtually every step of the processes.
Cons: Mildly complicated and techie and it's easy to get caught up in a bunch of nonsense that you don't need by hosting companies who want to jack up your costs. A website owner should have a general working knowledge of how to purchase a domain and how file transferring works. Photos are not resized so some use of a photo editing software may be required if you typically deal in enormous digital photos.
4) Tapatalk
Tapatalk is an ad-based phone application that manages forums. Proboards is not owned by or directly affiliated with Tapatalk but they are registered with them and thus you are able to access this forum from the Tapatalk app. Any and all instructions for using Tapatalk must come from your independent research of their software.
Pros: Available free in Playstore for Android, App Store for Iphones, etc. Very easy to post to the forum and add lots of photos directly from your phone. Photos are automatically resized.
Cons: Very advertising heavy, Can be confusing to find your favorite forum and set up the program initially. Visually, forums like RTH are shown in "birds eye" view in the app meaning you can't see the majority of the forum and it's very easy to miss most of what is going on. Formatting of posted photos in relation to the text of the post leaves a bit to be desired. We are not able to assist you with ANY of the features or issues you may encounter while using Tapatalk.
I hope you have found this article informative and helpful. We will work to keep the information updated and fresh as time goes on.
ARTICLE: The primary methods of posting photos on the Rock Tumbling Hobby forum
Tommy Lay
Editor's Note (updated 11-26-2021)
General cleanup and edited and re-worded in a few places.
Fixed some bad links and deleted dead links from the recommendation list.
Moved Postimgs up the recommendation list based on a sterling review by a trusted member.
Photos are a fun and integral part of the forum experience. We strongly encourage newcomers and regulars alike to post photos often so we can truly enjoy what the rock hobbies look like from your perspective. Posting photos on this Proboards software forum can also have its challenges so the purpose of this article is to provide a bit of organization and clarity on the subject.
The following is a summary of four primary methods of posting photos here on the forum.
1) Cloudinary Photos Upload button
You will find this button when using the following forum features, Create Thread, Reply, and Quick Reply. When this feature is used, forum-ready image link(s) are automatically inserted into your post and will be visible as full size images in your post. To use this free feature each member must sign up for a Cloudinary account and carefully follow the steps outlined here in this tutorial for full integration into your forum posting experience.
Pros: Very easy to use, fully Proboards forum integrated drag and drop 3rd party photo hosting. Generous free photo hosting plan offered by Cloudinary with paid plans available.
Cons: Cloudinary is an extraordinarily feature rich program and the account setup and management can be confusing. The result is worth it though so if you need help please let us know by posting about it in the Technical Help and Testing area of the forum.
2) 3rd Party Hosting
3rd party photo hosts are websites that specialize in uploading and displaying photos on the internet and none of these are owned or affiliated with Proboards forums. Some of these are free and some are not but they all work basically the same way. You choose which one you will use, create an account on their website, and follow their procedures to upload your photos to their website. Most will provide you with an internet link to the photo and you will then post that link here on the forum to display the photo.
The following is an edited list of 3rd party hosts. This is not a paid endorsement of any of these companies or their services and we cannot speak to the safety, reliability, or long term stability of any one of them. Please do your homework because the risks of lost photos by the user, and lost posted content to the forum are exactly the same with all of them.
Cloudinary
Postimages
Flickr
imgbox
Fotki
freeimagehosting
ImgBB
ImgPile
ImageShack
NickPic
VGY
Village Photos
Pros: Ease of use - upload dozens of photos to the host website and visually choose which photos you will share. Most will provide photo resizing so you won't have to use a photo editing software to reduce the size of your raw images before posting on the forum. Some hosts will format the link into the forum BBcode which makes copying and pasting into your post very simple. Some hosts are phone friendly - making it easy to upload photos from your phone, and providing the ability to copy and paste the link into your post.
Cons: You must do your homework and go with the one you trust. As with all internet photo hosting companies you have no control over the business practices or ethics of the company. As we saw with PhotoBucket they can flip a switch and hold your photos ransom for exorbitant amounts of money and there is nothing you can do about it. Often with 3rd party hosts it is not easy or intuitive how to go about obtaining your photo link for pasting on the forum.
3) Owning your own Website (personal 3rd Party Hosting)
Owning your own domain and or website is the most reliable form of 3rd party hosting available. To summarize, you purchase a domain name, choose a hosting company such as www.dreamhost.com, use either a file transfer client program such as freeware FileZilla, or a photo gallery software such as Piwigo.org to upload your photos to the internet, get the links to the images, and post them on the forum.
Pros: As a website owner you have complete control over the hosting of your photos as long as you continue to pay your monthly or yearly hosting bill. For comparison purposes our Dreamhost account costs roughly $140 per year for unlimited storage and bandwidth. Domain hosts such as Dreamhost.com often offer free photo gallery and blog software such as Piwigo and Wordpress among others, which they will install on your domain usually with just a few clicks. They also have have reams of helpful and detailed articles and tutorials covering virtually every step of the processes.
Cons: Mildly complicated and techie and it's easy to get caught up in a bunch of nonsense that you don't need by hosting companies who want to jack up your costs. A website owner should have a general working knowledge of how to purchase a domain and how file transferring works. Photos are not resized so some use of a photo editing software may be required if you typically deal in enormous digital photos.
4) Tapatalk
Tapatalk is an ad-based phone application that manages forums. Proboards is not owned by or directly affiliated with Tapatalk but they are registered with them and thus you are able to access this forum from the Tapatalk app. Any and all instructions for using Tapatalk must come from your independent research of their software.
Pros: Available free in Playstore for Android, App Store for Iphones, etc. Very easy to post to the forum and add lots of photos directly from your phone. Photos are automatically resized.
Cons: Very advertising heavy, Can be confusing to find your favorite forum and set up the program initially. Visually, forums like RTH are shown in "birds eye" view in the app meaning you can't see the majority of the forum and it's very easy to miss most of what is going on. Formatting of posted photos in relation to the text of the post leaves a bit to be desired. We are not able to assist you with ANY of the features or issues you may encounter while using Tapatalk.
I hope you have found this article informative and helpful. We will work to keep the information updated and fresh as time goes on.