Image Attachments

vtac

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
Modnote: Image uploading is currently disabled so you don't need to read the instuctions below. For the time being please upload images to a hosting site and use the insert image tool to point to it's url.

It's long been a dilemma for online message boards. Image hosting sites die and forum threads end up with broken images. We've seen it happen numerous times here in the last 13 years.

Today we're finally enabling local image attachments so you can upload images directly to your posts. Please read on for some important details.

There will be a 2MB/image limit. Enough for most photos when using reasonable compression while helping keep download sizes manageable for those on slow connections/mobile data. We also want our image hosting to be sustainable long term and storage/bandwidth can add up especially with image heavy threads. The limit may be increased in the future.

IMPORTANT: Exif Data and Privacy Concerns

Modern cameras - smartphones especially - can by default, geotag the photos you take by adding the GPS location of where they were taken. This can be a serious privacy concern. The forum software does not currently support the removal of geolocation data from uploaded photos. There are some workarounds, however they are not perfect solutions. The safest way is for you to make sure your photos don't contain this data before you upload them anywhere on the internet.

Camera/phone settings can be configured to not add geolocation data in the first place. Photos that already have geolocation data can be stripped of it.

There are numerous articles which demonstrate how to do these things. I'm just going to link some google searches here so you can figure out what works for you.

Android
iphone
Windows
Mac
Linux

As a precaution, image attachment functionality will be opt-in only for now.

If you understand all of the above and would like the feature enabled on your account please go to your account preferences, find the Image Attachments field and select Yes.

fc-image-attachments-request.png

After you've saved the change it can take some time for the change to take effect. Come back in 30 minutes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
vtac

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
This is how to attach images once you have the functionality enabled on your account.

how-to-attach-images-fc.png

Or attach multiple images:

how-to-attach-multiple-images-fc.png

Then insert the image(s) by clicking the Thumbnail or Full image buttons. If you attached multiple images you can insert them all at once or selectively throughout your post.

how-to-insert-images-fc.png
 
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Planck

Planck

believes in Dog
Irfanview is an excellent free image viewer that does a great job of compressing images for the web. Simple and fast with quality output.

AIR It will also strip EXIF data. Supported by the developer since the 90's
 
cybrguy

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
So, I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but after signing up in preferences I don't seem to be getting any different behavior out of the image icon. Tried different themes and it didn't matter.

image.jpg
 
cybrguy,
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ginolicious

ginolicious

Well-Known Member
I wanted to confirm that when we upload photos the geolocation isn’t stripped? It is something we have to do on our device prior to posting?
 
ginolicious,
Abysmal Vapor

Abysmal Vapor

Supersniffer 2000 - robot fart detection device
@pakalolo said that he had set the photoupload to delete the exif date on NFC. @vtac Are you saying that those things are not reliable.

NFC - Meet the Admins on Zoom, May 25, at 7 PM GMT/3 PM EDT/12 PM PDT

I caught it briefly, but had to run out the door. How was the audio for everyone? That bird sound was buzzy but annoying after a while. Headphone/earbuds help stop echos and ghost sounds, and generally improve the audio for everyone. Was cool to put faces to some names, will there be more FC...
fuckcombustion.com
 
Abysmal Vapor,
Bad Dog

Bad Dog

Yeah I pissed on the rug...... so what
I changed my preferences yesterday but still can’t post pictures :(
 
Bad Dog,
pakalolo

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
Abysmal Vapor said:
@pakalolo said that he had set the photoupload to delete the exif date on NFC. @vtac Are you saying that those things are not reliable.

NFC - Meet the Admins on Zoom, May 25, at 7 PM GMT/3 PM EDT/12 PM PDT

I caught it briefly, but had to run out the door. How was the audio for everyone? That bird sound was buzzy but annoying after a while. Headphone/earbuds help stop echos and ghost sounds, and generally improve the audio for everyone. Was cool to put faces to some names, will there be more FC...
fuckcombustion.com
Click to expand...

That was accomplished using an add-on. There is a new version of the forum software coming that might include this ability, but the current version doesn't support it.
 
vtac

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
Bad Dog said:
I changed my preferences yesterday but still can’t post pictures :(
Click to expand...
Looking at your account, you should be able to. Please PM me if it's still not working for you and we'll get it figured out.

Abysmal Vapor said:
@pakalolo said that he had set the photoupload to delete the exif date on NFC. @vtac Are you saying that those things are not reliable.
Click to expand...
I have confidence in the developers of XenForo when it comes to the quality of code they produce. Less so for third-party add-ons in general since they can be created by essentially anyone. When XF is updated it can cause third-party add-ons to stop working. Since they aren't supported by the XF devs, it's up to the add-on authors to update their add-ons, which doesn't always happen. That can be problematic if the add-on is being relied upon, especially to handle something like this privacy issue.

Hopefully the feature will be added into XF itself where it will be coded well and maintained. Even then, I think it's important for members to know how they can take their privacy into their own hands and not rely on software which they have no control over.
 
DJ Colonel Corn

DJ Colonel Corn

The Vapor Ninja
Gonna test this image uploading stuff.....

Divine Tribe V4 with bottomless banger and RX2 20700 mod
​
.... say, that looks pretty good.
Gonna post and take a look at how it appears as a post.
Pardon me, kind of using this thread as a sandbox tonight to test out this uploading feature.
Apologies where appropriate.
Also testing alt text feature.
This is great, no more relying on 3rd party hosting ! My concern is that Imgur may also disappear, along with ANY of the other hosting sites, as we've seen happen already.
Awesome, guys, thanks for all the work @vtac , @pakalolo , and all the rest of the staff here at FC forum !
Great feature !!

EDIT: Just checked the post, looks great guys, thanks again !
 
Haze Mister

Haze Mister

Verdant Bloomer
Manufacturer
Finally, image hosting on FC!! :rockon::rockon::rockon:

BTW various image editing apps have the option to "export" or "save for web" and strip the EXIF data. Graphic Converter for Mac is one and can be used for free.
 
Haze Mister,
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Okla68

Okla68

Well-Known Member
Why is mine saying.."Opps, weve ran into a problem" when I attempt to post a pic ?
 
Okla68,
LesPlenty

LesPlenty

Well-Known Member
Company Rep
Okla68 said:
Why is mine saying.."Opps, weve ran into a problem" when I attempt to post a pic ?
Click to expand...
I had the same problem, the max size is only 1MB, not 2MB as suggested above...a PITA as all my phone pics are about 1.5MB (I dumb down the settings in my phone but keep forgetting to put it back up and then get lackluster other than FC pics).
 
DJ Colonel Corn

DJ Colonel Corn

The Vapor Ninja
It seems I'm only allowed to use a URL to post an image in a conversation with a user.
Is that right ?
 
DJ Colonel Corn,
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