Oversized pictures in non-screenshot threads

[philskene]

I don't get annoyed by the actual the size of the screen shotz, but it annoys me to hell when the jpg file is not compressed.

For those the benefit of those who are still on dial-up, I always compress my screen shots to about 90KB in size. The quality is only slightly degraded.

Wish other would be considerate too ... .

Phil

 

[Red_Rattler]

I think all pictures to be banned is a little drastic. What about project makers on the freeware or payware announcements? They should be allowed to post screenshots of their progress or their finished project.

Johnk did not say that all pictures should be banned, and project making would allow screenshots - as it should.

I think it should be the person who starts the forum who decides whether to posts pictures or links, . . . They can set the limits, and if the pictures are over the set limit by the thread starter

And the thread starter should know what the forum's picture limits are.

Moan, moan whinge whinge.................... you need to get out more and get a life.

I wasn't going to answer, but try going to a library or public computer that IS on broadband (sometimes necessary) , and opening forums on here and elsewhere. Due to the broadband speed being reduced, dial-up was actually faster!) It took 3+ minutes to open this and another board - each that is!

And red rattler is wasting bandwidth by starting two threads on the same subject when he could have simply posted his complaint directly to a real moderator.

I only started one thread, and did it because I feel the limits are not being policed enough.

The forum AUTOMATICALLY re sizes the pictures. It's amazing how far technology has come huh? Now if auran could implement this

Mind if I yell?
Well Auran wouldn't have to if users follow the rules.

As I said at the start, can users be more considerate of other users when posting images.

 

[IsambardKingdomBrunel]

post deleted

 

[Electro]

I agree Red_Rattler if people follow the rules then there would'nt be a problem

 

[Red_Rattler]

Si IsambardKingdomBrunel, you think it's okay to disadvantage people on slower connections then?

 

[pommie]

The images on this forum are all links to outside servers, so Auran cannot control the image size or the image file size except for policing their own CoC, from the looks of things it is not their bandwidth that is being used so I don't think they can be bothered.
There is at least one animated sig of over one meg (I reported it and nothing was done), images outside of screenshots that are way over sized and what gets done, one mod does the right thing every now and then when he feels like it.

Red_Rattler while I admire your persistence in this, a forehead and a brick wall come to mind

Cheers David

 

[Johnk]

IsambardKingdomBrunel and Gandalf0444, I'm sure you both know that your sigs are oversize according to the CofC which states a maximum height of 100 pixels. Creeping up that pixel or two may sound innocent enough, but rules is rules. Can you please reduce the sigs as a gesture of good faith?

The arguement here is not about banning photos. it's about saving time and bandwidth for those of us who by virtue of our location, have very slow internet connections.

Every time a person opens a thread, the server has to access as many as twenty different web sites to collect all the signatures and photos. That in itself is a major task, especially if the forums are busy. Just keep in mind that it's not just the thread you're looking at that taxes the system. The server is servicing other threads with the same rediculously heavy demands. If you use a link instead, the server doesn't have to access Flicker or whatever to collect the photo, thus everything is considerably faster.

As far as bandwidth is concerned, many people (maybe more than half our users) are on dialup or very slow ADSL. Having a fast connection doesn't solve the problem because people in Australia for example pay heavily for the kilobites downloaded. Our major telco (Telstra) charges $30 per month for a miserable 300 megabytes, so visiting this forum can be a very costly exercise indeed.

I have one of those slow connections. Although I have ADSL, I consume my allocated bandwidth by coming to places like this well before the month is over. My ISP then shapes my service to dialup speeds for the remainder of the month and the Trainz forum become impossible to visit. Why? because it takes minutes, not seconds to download national flags, meaningless signature pics and photos I'm not the least bit interested in.

I'm not asking you to remove them, I'm just asking you to convert those pics to links so that I, and anyone else who is interested can click on them.

Of all the forums I visit, this is the only one that allows people to display pictures ad hoc, and I think it's a massive mistake that Auran has allowed this to happen.

 

[Red_Rattler]

Thank you Johnk. Going what you said about the low MB that Telstra gives you, I would say that you're with Bigpond - if you are, it seems not to have a good reputation.

Of all the forums I visit, this is the only one that allows people to display pictures ad hoc, and I think it's a massive mistake that Auran has allowed this to happen.

Their are other forums that allow image signatures - but they are better "policed."

 

[Johnk]

Red-Rattler No I'm not with Big Pond. I'm with another crowd that gives me 30gig for $50 but I use it up pretty quickly doing research for my web sites. Most of the stuff I look at is hi-res graphics at 300 plus kb a go. A new Trainz web site I'm about to release will have thousands of these pics (greatly reduced to thumbnails) to make it easier for people to view them.

I enjoy looking at images but I don't want to be forced to look at them time after time.

 

[Boco]

Let me get this straight...we're concerned about a picture posted on July 15th.

Just checking.

Boco

 

[Scitimar]

Let me get this straight...we're concerned about a picture posted on July 15th.

Just checking.

Boco

Nope ... I think they're concerned with illiteracy , i.e. people finding it difficult to read posting guidelines ... and threads apparently.

.

 

[Boco]

Unfortunately, people don't read, not can't read....which is what illiteracy is.

But even so, it may be as simple as not know how to reduce the overall size of the picture. Unfortunately, I didn't notice very many posts on how to do this. Perhaps I'm too eager to hear or see the message, rather than how it's delivered.

And yes Scimitar, evern though you don't see it, it did begin over a six-month old post. Trust me.

Boco

 

[Scitimar]

Unfortunately, people don't read,

Boco

Then maybe you could help 'em out .. and then maybe ya could help with banner sizes a little ... yep ... great idea .. fill in some time for ya

Sci

 

[JimDep]

Every time a person opens a thread, the server has to access as many as twenty different web sites to collect all the signatures and photos. That in itself is a major task, especially if the forums are busy. Just keep in mind that it's not just the thread you're looking at that taxes the system. The server is servicing other threads with the same rediculously heavy demands. If you use a link instead, the server doesn't have to access Flicker or whatever to collect the photo, thus everything is considerably faster.

As far as bandwidth is concerned, many people (maybe more than half our users) are on dialup or very slow ADSL. Having a fast connection doesn't solve the problem because people in Australia for example pay heavily for the kilobites downloaded. Our major telco (Telstra) charges $30 per month for a miserable 300 megabytes, so visiting this forum can be a very costly exercise indeed.

Good info. My guess is that not too many members are aware of this.

it may be as simple as not know how to reduce the overall size of the picture. Unfortunately, I didn't notice very many posts on how to do this.
Boco

I agree that more "how to" posts would be constructive.

I'm repeating a question from earlier:

Is it ok to post a picture in the "prototype talk" category? Going by some posts in this thread, it makes me wonder.

 

[Gandalf0444]

Yes I know all you people can say is follow the rules....However you all(myself included) broke a rule/law at least once and if you say you havn't your simply a lier . And as you know not everyone follows the rules to the T. And if Auran did implement the code or whatever it is to automatically re size images,it would save EVERYONE the hassle. It would save the people posting the pictures time,it would save on POINTLESS threads like this,and the mods wouldn't have to deal with the stupid little pity stuff like the size of images/sigs. And could focus on more of the stuff that sends members of this forum away everyday,because they get attacked by a person,who in turn may have taken away from the community.

 

[BLACKWATCH]

Gaandalf0444 "However you all(myself included) broke a rule/law at least once"

And you remain in breach of a rule with your sig.pic. despite it being pointed out to you on this thread.
The mods wouldn't have to deal with the size of images/sigs, if only you and others obeyed the rules.

 

[Gandalf0444]

Gaandalf0444 "However you all(myself included) broke a rule/law at least once"
And that would be why I said myself included because I ALREADY KNOW ABOUT IT!
And you remain in breach of a rule with your sig.pic. despite it being pointed out to you on this thread.
The mods wouldn't have to deal with the size of images/sigs, if only you and others obeyed the rules.

Oh so I should change it within an instant of someone pointing it out? Believe it or not I HAVE a life outside of this forum. If I had to go somewhere and go shopping it what am I supposed to drop what I am doing and change my signature on the Auran Trainz forum? I don't think so! And yes now that I have time to do it,I will do it,so shut up about it!

 

[sethmcs]

The forums load fine for me.

I don't understand what the big deal is. I have DLS and the forums load just fine. Screenshot thread even with large pics loads fine and illegal signatures load fine as well.

With that said, I had dial-up internet from 1992 - 2006 which obviously ran a lot slower but I didn't complain about pictures loading slowly. Guess what I did? I waited for them to load. I recognized the limits of my system and used it accordingly. I don't have FCT either so I download content at 4Kb per second. Big deal.

The simplest solution is to upgrade to Broadband or DLS or wait.:hehe:

 

[deeelare]

Posting 'How To' threads , 'Before you post read this' , FAQ's , COC's , and a multitude of other threads , are a total waste of time and bandwidth if members do not read them .

There are sub Forums for just about every conceivable thread , yet members continue to post nilly-willy to what is the easier/easiest ?

A lot of members simply do not care , and you can forget about them doing a search prior to starting a new thread .

Those that post regarding not following the rules that are , or in the past , have been guilty of similar offenses , also come to mind .

It is , in my opinion , a lost cause , My Thoughts --- ,DLR

 

[Gandalf0444]

I don't understand what the big deal is. I have DLS and the forums load just fine. Screenshot thread even with large pics loads fine and illegal signatures load fine as well.

With that said, I had dial-up internet from 1992 - 2006 which obviously ran a lot slower but I didn't complain about pictures loading slowly. Guess what I did? I waited for them to load. I recognized the limits of my system and used it accordingly. I don't have FCT either so I download content at 4Kb per second. Big deal.

The simplest solution is to upgrade to Broadband or DLS or wait.:hehe:

Exactly when I had dial up...guess what? I waited,or even better just avoid areas that I knew from earlier had heavy pictures etc.
EDIT:
Also if you really want to get into it...if the user has a REALLY bad connection,believe it or not in the user CP they have options to turn off siggys,so you won't have to look at them,nor download them,as well as an option to disable IMG tags so that the images won't load,and you won't have to see them!