gandhig wrote:

Alternatively, I upload the image and copy the link address and use the 'Img' option instead of 'attachment' for embedded display like below. Hope this is what is being discussed.

So you're attaching it, then instead of using the "view inline" attachment tags, using img tags?

Yeah, I guess that's a workaround, but before the forum software upgrade you never had to manually do that, it basically did it automatically. I MISS that feature.

collector wrote:

But it works as expected on other phpBB boards, including this board before the upgrade. And the reason that Stiletto wants to embed the image instead of linking to it is to preserve the image in the thread, even if any other site goes down. One of the most valuable things about VOGONS is that it is a huge, growing, searchable database, not just a place to gab. This board goes back for more than a decade. How many other sites have come and gone in the mean time?

Exactly. I don't think places like imgur will last forever. (Even VOGONS might not, but at least we can control that somewhat...) For example, in the thread of my example post, I did a lot of research. One of the researched websites took me to another forum where someone had embedded a photo... hosted by Picasa. Basically dead now, so the image didn't load. As for the image I embedded, the website I found it on is some random collector in China. So... yeah.

Remember the other year when those file-sharing sites went down? People were using them for piracy, but people like us were using them for useful utility hosting and such. How many files needed to be rescued? We're all still recovering 😀

gandhig wrote:

I misunderstood the 'embed' part. If it was felt that i was gabbing or something like that, then I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention and I will think twice before posting from now onwards. I do really appreciate the knowledge transfers going on in our forum and the efforts put by older members.

Relax, collector was just pointing out that the forum was not just a place to have conversation but a great repository of information, attachments included (and thus preferable to attach useful files rather than link to them when possible). You're doing fine so far IMHO. 😀

gandhig wrote:

Just for the sake of curiosity, If I upload an attachment, will it go to the Vogons forum server(and will be stored permanently there) or to some sort of cloud where it might get lost in the future. Even if it is stored in vogons server, will the attachments get purged over time?

Stored on the vogons.org server. It's not cloud, but a standard web hosting package. Not sure what the RAID/backup situation is. Anyhow, to the best of my knowledge no attachment has _ever_ been purged, unless somehow it was the casualty of a forum software upgrade/migration... which I don't think has ever happened.

Of course, there's filesize and file extension restrictions, etc. Which is why I also suggest hosting things like drivers and manuals (and maybe at some point useful utilities) on SquallStrife's VogonsDrivers.com which has less restrictions. In the long run, if it's shared for _us_, I think places like Mediafire is a bad idea. But that's just my opinion.

collector wrote:

That is the difference between linking and uploading an image. For it attachments to be deleted, outside of something like a server hard drive crash, it would take direct action by a mod, administrator or someone with FTP access to delete them.

I think you put that much more succinctly than I. 😀

Stiletto wrote:

Yeah, I guess that's a workaround, but before the forum software upgrade you never had to manually do that, it basically did it automatically. I MISS that feature.

I didn't know about the software upgrade as I joined just few months back. I thought that the present output of 'place inline' is its default behaviour and that you were asking the admin for a new feature, never suspected a broken feature (after upgrade), another reason why I shouldn't have commented in the first place on a thread posted by a moderator and started by an admin 😢. Though my status is 'Member' purely based on my number of posts (and not by the time since I joined), I still feel like a newbie getting accustomed to our forum's environment. BTW, thanks for your kind words 😀. I was really feeling bad on hindsight about the different possible interpretations.

Stiletto wrote:

Preferably, I'd also like to have embedded images that are larger than the browser window auto-fit to width of window. I'm currently limited to a 1366x768 display and frequently recently embedded images (attached or not) are larger than that and force me to scroll.

It would be cool if it got implemented as viewing the embedded images on a smartphone is really painful with only half of the image visible. Now I have to open the image to view it fully.

Since its introduction VOGONS Vintage Driver Library has become a valueable source of information. Perhaps it's time to add a link to it on one of the panels at the top?

But it is not officially part of VOGONS. I don't know if there is anything on that site that a bit legally questionable, but if I were Qbix I would be a bit leery of adding something that I had no control over as if it was official. While it is a valuable resource, the stickied thread provides nearly the same convenience. It is also of interest mostly to the old systems builders, a subset of VOGONS. Remember what VOGONS is an acronym of and the original intent of the site. However, in the end it is up to Qbix.

collector wrote:

But it is not officially part of VOGONS.

Bingo.

Closing thread. Start a new thread if you want to discussed forum changes.