Announcing: Upload Photos to Crochetville

[Donna]

Amy and I are excited to announce that you can now upload photos directly to Crochetville! You'll do it with just a few clicks by adding photos as attachments when you post. This new feature is available to all Crochetville members and it is free. Read on to find out the backstory or go directly to our easy tutorial (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290).

Last summer we found over 3,000 threads with missing photos when we reorganized the Show-and-Tell forums. Yep, you read correctly: three thousand! Whoa! That's a lot of great projects lost from Crochetville forever. Additionally, we often receive reports of disappointment when the photos are missing from a free original pattern posted here. That's just two areas of Crochetville; who knows how many other photos are missing, and more are disappearing all the time.

Most of these photos don't disappear intentionally. Our members have been dependent on outside photo hosting services to post photos at Crochetville, and sometimes people may move or reorganize their photos at the photo hosting site, not realizing that it makes them disappear from their posts at Crochetville. And a worst-case scenario is when a photo hosting service goes out of business or shuts down.

Photos are an integral part of Crochetville because our subject matter is crochet. We've realized that we can't be dependent on external photo hosting services. In addition, we have available storage space and bandwidth because the main strain on our servers is the number of visitors Crochetville has at any given moment (technically speaking, the number of connections). When we upgrade our servers to meet the demand for connections, we get more storage and bandwidth. Our need to meet the demand for connections has far outpaced our need for storage and bandwidth.

Please note that this is not an image hosting solution like Photobucket or Flickr. Photos uploaded to Crochetville can not be hotlinked for use at another web site.

Only registered members of Crochetville will be able to see full-size photos. Unregistered guests (and members who are not logged in) will only be able to view thumbnails of photos.

Additonally, as of May 15, 2009, Crochetville will no longer support the option of inserting images or thumbnails from other sites (such as Photobucket). Of course, you may still post links to photos on other sites, you just won't be able to display the actual photos in your post. But we really hope you'll use our new system to upload photos to Crochetville; we think you'll find it quick and easy! And doing so will ensure that your photos stay with your posts on Crochetville for others to enjoy for many moons to come.

Here's the link to our tutorial again: How to Post Photos at Crochetville (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290). Please let us know if you have any questions about the tutorial or any comments about this new feature.

We hope you enjoy the ease of being able to upload your photos directly to Crochetville! As always, please do let us know if you have any questions or comments.

[~Elise~]

woohoo!!!!!

[kel]

AWESOME!!!! :ty

[wiz3283]

Woo Hoo!!!! No more lost photos. Thank you ladies!!!!!!!! :hug

[JoAnn]

VERY cool!:clap

[MJ Warner]

:nworthy Today, at 6:15, while you were posting this, I was learning to upload my pics to here from flikr. It was by the seat of my pants; I have no idea how I finally succeeded, and surely I could never do it again except by happy accident. Thank you for a simple solution from me and all of the other "puter illiterates in the 'ville. :2rock

[Gardener]

Does this mean that pictures in old posts will no longer be visible?

[heart]

I think this is great! Yay! :jumpyay

[jura2908]

i love that they will be automatically resized!

[Misa]

Does this mean that pictures in old posts will no longer be visible?

That's the first thought I had as well :yes

[Donna]

Does this mean that pictures in old posts will no longer be visible? Sort of. Photos in old posts will turn into text links on May 15 when we turn off the option of inserting photos with the IMG tag. The text link will go to the original photo where ever it was hosted. Unfortunately there is no way around that. However, anyone is welcome to edit any of their old posts to upload the images here.

Also, as I have been giving out PAT pixel icons over the past several months to members who have posted free original patterns here, I have been asking their permission to host their photos on our server. It will take some time, but we'll be going through the Free Original Patterns forum and switching over those photos for those members who have given us permission. So at least that area will have photos you can see without clicking the link.

[jessicagil]

No flickr either correct?

[Donna]

No flickr either correct? Yes, it applies to all external photo hosting sites. Photobucket, Flickr, Image Shack, etc., etc.

[heart]

Again, I REALLY like this idea. It cut's out the "middle man" so to speak. It takes time to log into another account, upload to that site, then come here and post. It will be quicker this way and more convient. :) Yay!

[Gardener]

I agree that it will be a lot more convenient, and I really do think its a great thing for the forum. It will be great to not have posts missing pictures anymore.

But..... I am still disappointed at losing all the pictures in the old posts. Sometimes I like to go through the show and tell forums and just look at all the beautiful things people have made.

[Donna]

I forgot to mention... you don't have to upload to Crochetville from your computer. If you keep your photos on Flickr or other online photo album, you can easily upload to Crochetville directly from your online photo storage. Just copy and paste the URL of your photo into the box labeled Upload File from a URL. It's in the tutorial (http://www.crochetville.org/openads/www/delivery/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=178__zoneid=5__cb=d62c 9cc0ee__oadest=http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290). Check it out and give it a try. See what you think and let us know. We value your input! :yes

[Donna]

But..... I am still disappointed at losing all the pictures in the old posts. Sometimes I like to go through the show and tell forums and just look at all the beautiful things people have made. You are right about that. It is an extra step to click a link to see the old photos. I agree and will give it some more thought. That is a problem we considered, but sometimes a solution presents itself where there seemed to be none.

[heart]

But..... I am still disappointed at losing all the pictures in the old posts. Sometimes I like to go through the show and tell forums and just look at all the beautiful things people have made.


Yeah, me too.

[adagio]

Does this mean that pictures in old posts will no longer be visible?
that is my question, too.

Edit: Well, Donna answered that one.
Thank you.

[RachelG]

Nice!! (for future pictures being added, at least)

Thank you!

[champygirl]

Just switched the pics over to attatchment in 2 of my patterns. It was pretty easy for me :yes and sorta fun to make the changes :). And so much quicker. :c9 It beat uploading pics to photobucket:yes. Lately for me on photobucket:angry, it takes forever and is a pain and pics seem to take forever to load.:think I usually end up swearing.:( I was hesident about this change, but am now totally for it.:yes:yay Thank you Donna and Amy.:hug I am liking this change.:hook

[Donna]

Thank you for giving it a try, champygirl! I'm glad you like it and found it easy! :yay

[Katchkan]

So how do we control the size? I don't post large pictures of my designs. So if it's only one size this might be a problem for me. What size will the pictures be?

[Donna]

So how do we control the size? I don't post large pictures of my designs. So if it's only one size this might be a problem for me. What size will the pictures be? For those who want their photos to be the maximum size, no editing is necessary (Crochetville will automatically resize them to a max of 800 pixels on the longest side).

However, you can edit your photos as much as you want, including the size, before you upload them to Crochetville. As mentioned in the tutorial (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290), images equal to or smaller than the limits (100 KB and 800 pixels on the longest side) will not be resized. So if you want to post small images, they will remain small.

Additionally, images uploaded that are equal to smaller than our thumbnail size (250 pixels on the longest side) will not have a thumbnail created for them (because they are already thumbnail size or smaller). However, this means that unregistered visitors will not see that image because they can only see thumbnails, not full-sized images. (I would prefer it if thumbnails were made of all images, regardless of size. That is, the thumbnail would be whatever size the small image is. That way, unregistered visitors could see it. However, unless the vBulletin developers make that change, it would require custom coding that may be more complicated than I am able to do.)

[kazily]

This is a great feature! Thanks so much Donna & Amy. :cheer This will make it super easy to add pix without making extra steps.

It doesn't bother me that old photos won't show because it's not any trouble to click the link if I want to see it. I'm often doing that anyway with photos & patterns people put on their blogs.

And with original patterns posted at the 'Ville, I'm sure most people will give permission for their photos to be moved to the server, so the pix will stay with their patterns here.

[LegalWoman17]

Fantastic !!! BIG THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR US.

[ctawq]

Kudos to you all :cheer :day :cheer Thank you for making this change. It will make future post so much easier.

[ctawq]

Oops I hit sent to quick.. Will the hyper links still work? When they link to pictures?

[kittyloverdeb]

Wow! I can't wait to try this! I hate dealing with Photobucket! Thanks for all you do!

[AmyS]

Oops I hit sent to quick.. Will the hyper links still work? When they link to pictures?

Yes, the links to the pictures will still work (assuming the picture still resides at the URL's location). When an old photo converts just to the link to the picture, we aren't TOTALLY losing the picture.

All we're losing is the ability to see the picture in the actual post. You'll still be able to see the picture if you just click the link to it.

So while we must deal with the inconvenience of needing to click on links to see old pictures, this will quickly (very quickly, at the rate new threads are started around here!) be outweighed by the great advantage of having pictures in new threads permanently available, with no risk of them being lost permanently in the future.

Don't forget---even in the old threads, the pictures don't have to stay as links forever. The original posters of those old threads are welcome to take time as they have it available and edit the posts to change their photo links to attachments so the photos will appear in the threads forever.

[ctawq]

Thanks for the clarification Amy.

You all ROCK!!

[DesertCrocheter]

Agreed--this is a welcome change. Thanks, Donna! Patty

[Momcrochets]

Thank you for the effort you ladies put into Crochetville to keep it running smoothly, and continuously improve it. :clap

[kookaloo_starr]

This is a great new addition, thank you.

[Navymomx2]

My question that I haven't been able to find an answer for is this, does Crochetville have any rights to any of our uploaded pics for their own use or does ALL rights belong soley to the owner of the pic?

The reason I ask this is because on some sites when pics/images are uploaded directly to the site then the sites owners are free to use the pics for their own purposes as long as the pic resides on the site.

[Donna]

Each member retains full copyright to the photos they have posted. By posting on Crochetville, you are simply granting us a limited license to display that material on the Crochetville web site only. This applies to photos the same as it has always applied to the text of the messages you post here. We have to have the right to display them so that members and visitors can read posts and view photos.

[CrochetCatskills]

Wonderful addition

Thanks

[JoBug]

I gotta learn something new?!?!?! Oh scarey for me!! LOL, I will have to go through the tutorial...because it took me forever to figure out the photobucket way..lol.. and now that I am doing the comfortghan for my SIL, I will have to learn the new way so everyone can see the pics of the squares I am recieving, whew that I didnt get toooooo many before I have to learn this..lol..okay JoBug, grab your coffee, a english muffin and get learin' :think
Yes I am a computor junkie, but not so much at knowing what I am doing :lol

[Donna]

I promise, the new way is much easier than using Photobucket! :yes

[Navymomx2]

Each member retains full copyright to the photos they have posted. By posting on Crochetville, you are simply granting us a limited license to display that material on the Crochetville web site only. This applies to photos the same as it has always applied to the text of the messages you post here. We have to have the right to display them so that members and visitors can read posts and view photos.

Thank you :)

[JoBug]

I promise, the new way is much easier than using Photobucket! :yes
Thank s Donna, I will get it, I will PROVE you can teach an old dog new tricks...:lol

[alwayscrafting]

I am liking this. I think once the "bugs" are worked out we will really, really appreciate the change!

Thanks girls!

[Donna]

I am liking this. I think once the "bugs" are worked out we will really, really appreciate the change!

Thanks girls! Glad you like it! What are the bugs? I know we've been discussing the 4MB upload limit in Board Help, but is there anything else?

[ctawq]

Thank you Donna, I was wondering if there was a size limit. Maybe alwayscrafting "Bug" is that there are no instructions for what to do after you browse for your picture. A note to hit the "upload" button may help others. This service you all have added is AWESOME!!! The ease of posting the pictures direct to the 'ville is great. Thank you again for all your work.


:mug:cat:yarn

[Donna]

Maybe alwayscrafting "Bug" is that there are no instructions for what to do after you browse for your picture. A note to hit the "upload" button may help others.

Step #4 under How to Upload Attachments in the tutorial (http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290) already says to click the Upload button.

4. Click the Upload button and wait until the file has uploaded. During upload, your photo will automatically be resized and a thumbnail will be automatically created.

This service you all have added is AWESOME!!! The ease of posting the pictures direct to the 'ville is great. Thank you! :manyheart

[RecycleCindy]

I love the you are offering your own photo hosting for posting here. I didn't see this mentioned but are you going to remove the picture size at the bottom of each photo. It kinda detracts from photo when the size is displayed. Also do all posts like in the patterns links area have to post a photo of the item now on Crochetville? If so I think that is a wonderful idea so a person can see the item here on the 'ville rather than having to go to someone's blog just to see the project.

[AmyS]

I love the you are offering your own photo hosting for posting here. I didn't see this mentioned but are you going to remove the picture size at the bottom of each photo. It kinda detracts from photo when the size is displayed. Also do all posts like in the patterns links area have to post a photo of the item now on Crochetville? If so I think that is a wonderful idea so a person can see the item here on the 'ville rather than having to go to someone's blog just to see the project.

The forum software automatically displays the picture size at the bottom of each photo. I can't remember if Donna has investigated whether it's possible to remove that or not. She'll have to give an answer to that question.

When you see the picture size listed, that means the forum is showing you a thumbnail (reduced size) version of the picture. If you click on the photo, a new window will open on your screen, showing the picture at actual size.

[Terri/LadySorce]

I'm having trouble with my puter and hyper-links.
Is there anyway that you can just post the full link to where the tutorial is? I want to learn how to do this now lol :yes

[~Elise~]

I'm having trouble with my puter and hyper-links.
Is there anyway that you can just post the full link to where the tutorial is? I want to learn how to do this now lol :yes

Only 'cause it is you!

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290

you should be able to cut and paste the URL now in a new browser window.

[Terri/LadySorce]

Only 'cause it is you!

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=99290

you should be able to cut and paste the URL now in a new browser window.

hahaha.. love you too Elise
Thank you so very much!

[AmyS]

Terri, you can also find the tutorial at any time by going to the main Crochetville page, www.crochetville.org, going to the FAQ and How-to folder, clicking on the folder, then clicking on the tutorial thread from there.

Hope that helps!