I would like to get some feedback from all of you on this subject. We have the ability to insert images via url linking. At this time we can click on "Insert other media" and click on "Insert image from URL" as seen in the below screen capture.

 

This is a great and convenient tool especially if you host your images within services such as Flickr or Photobucket. This allows you total control over your images, and it's convenient and easy to do.

 

But, herein lies the problem, and the threat to the integrity of our files and images within topics and posts in our community. When an image is inserted into our community using the url feature, if that image is moved, or deleted at the original location, then it is no longer view-able here in our community.

 

While going through older topics, and while moving topics up from the archives to our live forums, I have had to delete dozens of topics, very valuable and in-depth topics because the images are no longer in the topic, because the image location has been altered at the originating end, or the images have been deleted all together in the Flickr or Photobucket account from whence the image came from.

 

The same is true for images hot-linked (hot-linking is not a good thing to do from websites if you do not have permission to do so)  from other websites. We can at this point insert image via url by simply right clicking on any image on the web, and then using the "copy image location" feature in your browser, and then inserting the image here in our community. I have used this feature too. It is very convenient when I am sharing images from our sponsors or advertisements from them as well. But, nothing last forever, and frequently those images at the original location eventually could be moved, or deleted altogether. And we are left with a topic that does not make sense, because the supporting image(s) is gone.

 

Solutions

1. We could eliminate the feature altogether.
2. We could educate our contributors as they come aboard of the negative impact of this process (time consuming on my end to have to brief everyone on this for the life duration of our community)
3. Contributors must be sure that the images they are bringing in via url will never move from their original location.

 

The above are just a few of the suggestions, I hope you can come up with more solutions to this problem.

 

If you'd like, you can experiment within this topic the effects of inserting images from your offsite photo-sharing accounts, go ahead and insert your image via url, then delete the image at your account, then see the effects of that process here.

 

Please keep in mind, I do delete topics in our forums where the image(s) are missing. I have come across some of my own topics where I used the insert image via url feature, and the images are missing, and I must delete the topic.

 

I am making a promise to myself and our community, starting now, I will download any image I want to use from another source, to my desktop, and upload it here for use in a topic, and of course when it comes to my own images of my own work and experiences, I will upload those as well. That way they will be in the topic for the duration of history.

 

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated on this very important subject (the preservation and integrity of our topics and posts is one of the most important goals on The Patriot Woodworker)

 

 

 

I would also like our contributors to consider this policy in our Guidelines as well:

 

Quote

When posting and linking to images, videos, files, etc., please refrain from hotlinking. This is the direct linking to images (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png, etc.), video (.avi, .mov, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, etc.), audio (.mp3, .wav, etc.), archives (.zip, .rar, etc.) or otherwise downloadable or streamable files, on servers that you do not have permission to link to, instead of linking to the page where the item can be found. This includes providing a direct link to the file, even if that file is not embedded into your post. This practice costs the server owner money and resources.

 

This addresses inserting images via url from another website. As the statement indicates, the "hotlinking" is a bad thing for the website owners that you are grabbing that image from. It is pulling from their resources and in the world of the web and websites, it's not a good thing and kind of looked down upon. We want to be good partners in the WWW.

 

This policy excludes any file, video, image that has a share feature. In other words, if you see a YouTube video with the share link available, then it is inferred by the owner that they are approving the sharing of their content, not too mention Google who owns YouTube, has made provisions for the videos on their server to be shared. It is expected.

 

The above policy refers mainly to privately owned websites and their files and images and videos.

The option to do away with url linking seems the best to me. But, I'm a real dummy in this area. Is there a good reason someone may have for using the url?

21 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

The option to do away with url linking seems the best to me. But, I'm a real dummy in this area. Is there a good reason someone may have for using the url?

Gene, I am leaning towards turning the feature off. Apparently there aren't that many folks using the feature based on the response here!

So it may not effect really anybody, at least not as much as I thought it would. I guess I was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

39 minutes ago, John Morris said:

I guess I was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Thats all a matter of perspective.

Just now, Gene Howe said:

Thats all a matter of perspective.

Tis indeed, tis indeed!

49 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Gene, I am leaning towards turning the feature off. Apparently there aren't that many folks using the feature based on the response here!

So it may not effect really anybody, at least not as much as I thought it would. I guess I was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

I'm using it...

17 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

I'm using it...

Stick, can you explain how you are using it, some more detail would be greatly appreciated.

What do you use it for? What do you link to? Thanks!

now it's not working as I was doing...

Edited October 9, 20169 yr by Stick486

1 minute ago, Stick486 said:

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-hDLOQrQ1FuQ%2FTkfAk0oqobI%2FAAAAAAAAAR8%2FJRb9Ze42Xzs%2Fs1600%2FLate%2BAfternoon%2BWinter%2BMountain%2B%2Bthe%2Blong%2Bgoodbye%2B2011.png&f=1

Stick, that tells me nothing

How do you use this service? Can you give me a sentence or two on your uses? Thanks!

 

got it...

click on > insert other media...

click on > insert image from URL...

Thanks Stick. This is where our dilemma arrives. If that image disappears at the originating end, then it disappears here as well, leaving a hole in the topic or post. 

How would you feel if we eliminated this feature and allowed file and image uploads exclusively?

I definitely see your point and it is your house...

here is the file photo...

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 20169 yr by Stick486

two more..

both are the North Bagram mountains...

 

35 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

I definitely see your point and it is your house...

No, I must correct that, it's your house, you all should know that by now.

If it was my house, I'd just change it without asking, but it's not my house. This is your house, this is why I ask. But we are going to need more feedback than this to make the determination if the feature stays or goes.

Thanks Stick for your valuable feedback.