Image hosting problems

[bmathison1972]

This is not really a 'sever issue' but not sure where else to post.

My images are not showing, apparently Photobucket is under maintenance. However, other people who seem to use PB have their images visible.

I hope this is a temporary thing. If I have to go to another hosting site I am not re-uploading ALL of my images...

[sbell]

This is not really a 'sever issue' but not sure where else to post.

My images are not showing, apparently Photobucket is under maintenance. However, other people who seem to use PB have their images visible.

I hope this is a temporary thing. If I have to go to another hosting site I am not re-uploading ALL of my images...

I just use Dropbox. Never had a problem there.

[AnimalToyForum]

This is not really a 'sever issue' but not sure where else to post.

My images are not showing, apparently Photobucket is under maintenance. However, other people who seem to use PB have their images visible.

I hope this is a temporary thing. If I have to go to another hosting site I am not re-uploading ALL of my images...

I remember other members having similar issues, but with Facebook - they changed all the image urls. I think it happened to Brontodocus. I hope Photobucket don't cause serious problems by doing something similar.

Photobucket try and redirect to html pages (rather than .jpg files) so they can shove ads in our faces. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the pure image file with the Photobucket service. Maybe they are trying to enforce that in new ways...

[AnimalToyForum]

I'm using this thread to talk about general image-hosting problems. I've been browsing the forum and been surprised by how many defunct image links there are. I'm not sure if there's a different explanation for each host, but I'll list them here for consideration... and perhaps we can find a solution going forward.

Photobucket. This one goes without saying, and has its own thread: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2085.0 However, I think Photobucket reversed their policy of charging for third part hosting, so many Photobucket-hosted images are now working again. For now. I wouldn't trust them not to do it again, so absolutely a host to avoid, although I've put the purge on hold for now. Of course, some Photobucket links are not working - they just show a "Photo not found" icon, so I guess those members have deleted the photographs from Photobucket but left the defunct links on the forum. @tyrantqueen seems to be a victim of this host.

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

Dropbox. Again, these images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @sbell seems to be a victim of this image host (although some links are broken, while other links are not).

Upic. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @bio-boy seems to be a victim of this host.

Servimg. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @Takama seems to be a victim of this host.

With so many hosts being so unreliable, it shows we are taking a risk by using free image hosts. This trend is quite worrying, and bad news for forums (not just ours). So, what about solutions? Well, let's list them.

1.Enable image attachments on the forum. I'm cautions to do this because of the negative impact it might have on my own server. But I'm considering it.
2. Self host images by paying for a domain and webspace.
3. Pay for image hosting (still risky, in my opinion, the host can pull the plug at any time)).
4. I could host images on animaltoyforum.com (not using the attachment system, just uploading them directly onto the server as I do my own images). That would be labour intensive.
5. Any other ideas!?

[sbell]

I know my dropbox ones got wiped out when my dropbox account got too full, and I had to migrate what I could do Google photos.

Unfortunately, not everything went over and some photos are long gone. Others I've just lost track of where they need to be updated (it's also pretty time and labour intensive, to redo the formats every time).

Image hosting would probably be the easiest in many ways, but it could mean a huge storage issue eventually. Plus, there could be lag issues with slower internet connections eventually.

[AnimalToyForum]

I know my dropbox ones got wiped out when my dropbox account got too full, and I had to migrate what I could do Google photos.

Unfortunately, not everything went over and some photos are long gone. Others I've just lost track of where they need to be updated (it's also pretty time and labour intensive, to redo the formats every time).

Image hosting would probably be the easiest in many ways, but it could mean a huge storage issue eventually. Plus, there could be lag issues with slower internet connections eventually.

You seem to have some dropbox-hosted images still live.

I suppose free image hosting is something that's easy to take for granted, as it has been around for a decade or more, but the landscape seems to be shifting recently. It is a bit concerning.

[AnimalToyForum]

Oh, sbell, couldn't you host your images on your own website, or is space an issue?

[sbell]

Oh, sbell, couldn't you host your images on your own website, or is space an issue?

Well, it's a retail site with limited space (as is everything) but I probably could. Of course, they wouldn't be 'anywhere' so I wouldn't have a place to link back to...

And when I cleared the dropbox images, I tried to leave ones like the walkarounds and such; it was mostly my database ones that moved, so it may have been those (I've never renamed the photos because it takes too long!) As I said, though, some like the tardigrade ones may be long gone

[AnimalToyForum]

Oh, sbell, couldn't you host your images on your own website, or is space an issue?

Well, it's a retail site with limited space (as is everything) but I probably could. Of course, they wouldn't be 'anywhere' so I wouldn't have a place to link back to...

And when I cleared the dropbox images, I tried to leave ones like the walkarounds and such; it was mostly my database ones that moved, so it may have been those (I've never renamed the photos because it takes too long!) As I said, though, some like the tardigrade ones may be long gone

Yeah, you don't have to have them integrated into the retail site. For example, I keep my animal toy images in folders at animaltoyforum.com/animaltoyimages/company/blahblahblah No visitors will ever stumble across them unless I link to them directly. I think it would be the way to go for you, so long as you have plans to renew your domain for the foreseeable future.

[sbell]

Oh, sbell, couldn't you host your images on your own website, or is space an issue?

Well, it's a retail site with limited space (as is everything) but I probably could. Of course, they wouldn't be 'anywhere' so I wouldn't have a place to link back to...

And when I cleared the dropbox images, I tried to leave ones like the walkarounds and such; it was mostly my database ones that moved, so it may have been those (I've never renamed the photos because it takes too long!) As I said, though, some like the tardigrade ones may be long gone

Yeah, you don't have to have them integrated into the retail site. For example, I keep my animal toy images in folders at animaltoyforum.com/animaltoyimages/company/blahblahblah No visitors will ever stumble across them unless I link to them directly. I think it would be the way to go for you, so long as you have plans to renew your domain for the foreseeable future.

I'm pretty confident in google photos now. It's unlimited and isn't going anywhere (as far as any site anyway...). Of course, it is also possible to host them on Facebook too, but I'm not sure if it's possible to keep photos in a 100% private folder there...

[Varanus]

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

I've changed all my image urls to PostImage and they seem to be working.  I may have missed a few, but I think I got all of my walk-arounds and photos in the taxonomic groupings sections.

All I remember of Imageshack was one day not being able to log in and then all the images became defunct.  Just as well, because that site was slow and spam ridden as heck!

[Badger]

1.Enable image attachments on the forum. I'm cautions to do this because of the negative impact it might have on my own server. But I'm considering it.
2. Self host images by paying for a domain and webspace.
3. Pay for image hosting (still risky, in my opinion, the host can pull the plug at any time)).
4. I could host images on animaltoyforum.com (not using the attachment system, just uploading them directly onto the server as I do my own images). That would be labour intensive.
5. Any other ideas!?

Solution 1: This might work here, due to it not being particularly active, but it won't work on the DTF.
Solution 2: This would probably the best one on your list, if not for the fact that it is likely many people here don't have the resources and/or time to do so.
Solution 3: Apart from the risk you've mentioned, this also suffers the issue of not everyone having the resources to do so.
Solution 4: While I can see how this would be less straining on the server than an attachment system, wouldn't this also add an additional strain on the server?

Of the solutions you've listed. I think solution no.2 and no.4 are the best.


Another solution I've seen: Improvising social media sites and making them your image host. This suffers from two potential issues: that the site in question changes image URLs routinely (this is an issue with Facebook and possibly Instagram) and that the site could potentially pull the plug on free image hosting, or even their service in general. The two sites I've seen this used with are DeviantArt and Imgur (the latter of which I use as my personal image host). Neither site looks set to be going anywhere soon, although both have questionable communities directly or indirectly associated with them.


EDIT: Can I just express an opinion here? I personally don't get the popularity of PostImage. The ads on there disorientate from the actual image, and the whole website looks like it was designed by someone still in high school. Basically, I don't trust the website that much.

[Takama]

I'm using this thread to talk about general image-hosting problems. I've been browsing the forum and been surprised by how many defunct image links there are. I'm not sure if there's a different explanation for each host, but I'll list them here for consideration... and perhaps we can find a solution going forward.

Photobucket. This one goes without saying, and has its own thread: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2085.0 However, I think Photobucket reversed their policy of charging for third part hosting, so many Photobucket-hosted images are now working again. For now. I wouldn't trust them not to do it again, so absolutely a host to avoid, although I've put the purge on hold for now. Of course, some Photobucket links are not working - they just show a "Photo not found" icon, so I guess those members have deleted the photographs from Photobucket but left the defunct links on the forum. @tyrantqueen seems to be a victim of this host.

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

Dropbox. Again, these images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @sbell seems to be a victim of this image host (although some links are broken, while other links are not).

Upic. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @bio-boy seems to be a victim of this host.

Servimg. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @Takama seems to be a victim of this host.

Most of my images work. However i did noticed that some do not appear anymore  . Its not just on here, But Also STS forum.   

[AnimalToyForum]

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

I've changed all my image urls to PostImage and they seem to be working.  I may have missed a few, but I think I got all of my walk-arounds and photos in the taxonomic groupings sections.

All I remember of Imageshack was one day not being able to log in and then all the images became defunct.  Just as well, because that site was slow and spam ridden as heck!

Thanks for that! 

[AnimalToyForum]

I'm using this thread to talk about general image-hosting problems. I've been browsing the forum and been surprised by how many defunct image links there are. I'm not sure if there's a different explanation for each host, but I'll list them here for consideration... and perhaps we can find a solution going forward.

Photobucket. This one goes without saying, and has its own thread: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2085.0 However, I think Photobucket reversed their policy of charging for third part hosting, so many Photobucket-hosted images are now working again. For now. I wouldn't trust them not to do it again, so absolutely a host to avoid, although I've put the purge on hold for now. Of course, some Photobucket links are not working - they just show a "Photo not found" icon, so I guess those members have deleted the photographs from Photobucket but left the defunct links on the forum. @tyrantqueen seems to be a victim of this host.

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

Dropbox. Again, these images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @sbell seems to be a victim of this image host (although some links are broken, while other links are not).

Upic. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @bio-boy seems to be a victim of this host.

Servimg. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @Takama seems to be a victim of this host.

Most of my images work. However i did noticed that some do not appear anymore  . Its not just on here, But Also STS forum.   

Funny business with your host?

[AnimalToyForum]

1.Enable image attachments on the forum. I'm cautions to do this because of the negative impact it might have on my own server. But I'm considering it.
2. Self host images by paying for a domain and webspace.
3. Pay for image hosting (still risky, in my opinion, the host can pull the plug at any time)).
4. I could host images on animaltoyforum.com (not using the attachment system, just uploading them directly onto the server as I do my own images). That would be labour intensive.
5. Any other ideas!?

Solution 1: This might work here, due to it not being particularly active, but it won't work on the DTF.
Solution 2: This would probably the best one on your list, if not for the fact that it is likely many people here don't have the resources and/or time to do so.
Solution 3: Apart from the risk you've mentioned, this also suffers the issue of not everyone having the resources to do so.
Solution 4: While I can see how this would be less straining on the server than an attachment system, wouldn't this also add an additional strain on the server?

Of the solutions you've listed. I think solution no.2 and no.4 are the best.


Another solution I've seen: Improvising social media sites and making them your image host. This suffers from two potential issues: that the site in question changes image URLs routinely (this is an issue with Facebook and possibly Instagram) and that the site could potentially pull the plug on free image hosting, or even their service in general. The two sites I've seen this used with are DeviantArt and Imgur (the latter of which I use as my personal image host). Neither site looks set to be going anywhere soon, although both have questionable communities directly or indirectly associated with them.


EDIT: Can I just express an opinion here? I personally don't get the popularity of PostImage. The ads on there disorientate from the actual image, and the whole website looks like it was designed by someone still in high school. Basically, I don't trust the website that much.

Yeah, I don't think it is reasonable to expect every casual internet user to own server space.

The trouble with social media sites is that the image addresses change over time, without warning. Since they aren't image hosts they don't worry about a permanent image address. I've experienced this frustration myself when I've lazily linked to an image I've posted on social media instead of uploading it onto my server.

Another solution that occurred to me: sign up for a free blog - Blogger or Wordpress or whatever - and then upload images to that. They come with a lot of space, the image urls should be permanent, and there is no charge even for 3rd party hosting. I guess this is similar to @sbell's solution of using google images.

I also share your reservations about postimage. It is a dodgy spam ad hell!

[Takama]

I'm using this thread to talk about general image-hosting problems. I've been browsing the forum and been surprised by how many defunct image links there are. I'm not sure if there's a different explanation for each host, but I'll list them here for consideration... and perhaps we can find a solution going forward.

Photobucket. This one goes without saying, and has its own thread: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2085.0 However, I think Photobucket reversed their policy of charging for third part hosting, so many Photobucket-hosted images are now working again. For now. I wouldn't trust them not to do it again, so absolutely a host to avoid, although I've put the purge on hold for now. Of course, some Photobucket links are not working - they just show a "Photo not found" icon, so I guess those members have deleted the photographs from Photobucket but left the defunct links on the forum. @tyrantqueen seems to be a victim of this host.

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

Dropbox. Again, these images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @sbell seems to be a victim of this image host (although some links are broken, while other links are not).

Upic. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @bio-boy seems to be a victim of this host.

Servimg. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @Takama seems to be a victim of this host.

Most of my images work. However i did noticed that some do not appear anymore  . Its not just on here, But Also STS forum.   

Funny business with your host?

Occasinally.    They have hiccups from time to time. But i used it forever.

At least they dont tell me to disable my Ad Blocker, which is why i abandond Photobucket in the first place.

About Google images


I tryed using it as a Hosting site.   But there is no way to host an image, and you will have to copy the URL to post it, and the URLS are HUGE. I tried to post a walkaround on STS using this method, and the STS server thoght I was a spam bot, and had to do a test to prove i was not

[AnimalToyForum]

I'm using this thread to talk about general image-hosting problems. I've been browsing the forum and been surprised by how many defunct image links there are. I'm not sure if there's a different explanation for each host, but I'll list them here for consideration... and perhaps we can find a solution going forward.

Photobucket. This one goes without saying, and has its own thread: http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2085.0 However, I think Photobucket reversed their policy of charging for third part hosting, so many Photobucket-hosted images are now working again. For now. I wouldn't trust them not to do it again, so absolutely a host to avoid, although I've put the purge on hold for now. Of course, some Photobucket links are not working - they just show a "Photo not found" icon, so I guess those members have deleted the photographs from Photobucket but left the defunct links on the forum. @tyrantqueen seems to be a victim of this host.

Imageshack. These images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @Jetoar (who will fix his images in due course), @Varanus, @werb for example, all seem to be victims of this image host. I presume Imageshack have changed their 3rd Party hosting policy, does anyone know?

Dropbox. Again, these images are not appearing even if one goes direct to the image URL. @sbell seems to be a victim of this image host (although some links are broken, while other links are not).

Upic. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @bio-boy seems to be a victim of this host.

Servimg. Images aren't appearing because the host doesn't seem to exist any more. @Takama seems to be a victim of this host.

Most of my images work. However i did noticed that some do not appear anymore  . Its not just on here, But Also STS forum.   

Funny business with your host?

Occasinally.    They have hiccups from time to time. But i used it forever.

At least they dont tell me to disable my Ad Blocker, which is why i abandond Photobucket in the first place.

About Google images


I tryed using it as a Hosting site.   But there is no way to host an image, and you will have to copy the URL to post it, and the URLS are HUGE. I tried to post a walkaround on STS using this method, and the STS server thoght I was a spam bot, and had to do a test to prove i was not

...yet.

And I had no idea that Photobucket demanded that, although it makes sense for a business model that's primarily ad-driven. What's the saying? "If something is free then you're the product".

[Takama]

I would not use it if the pesky adds would not download malicious content without my permission and without warning. Which is what Photobucket did to me on several ocasions.   

[Fembrogon]

Pardon me for bumping this thread; I was debating where best to bring it up.

I'm encountering some images that aren't appearing on the site; specifically I noticed posts by @brontodocus and some by @sbell in the Deep-sea fish thread, as well as a couple of other spots in the Animal Groups sub forum. After checking my main browser (Brave) as well as Firefox to verify the images wouldn't appear, I checked the posts themselves and noticed the image links were of a different sort than other posts whose photos worked; so I assume this is a hosting problem.

These photos, for example, don't show up for me:
http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=63.msg453#msg453

...But these images do:
http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=1749.msg14165#msg14165