How to Post Images on BLF

Used for different testing.

Deleted the old post.

It’s a shame Flickr has instituted a 1000 image limit for their free accounts, after being acquired by SmugMug.

Agreed. But I just wanted something free to see how this works for using a photo site with BLF.
A shame Amazon free cloud won’t work with a direct link (or so I’m told).

A test from youtube

I don’t seem to be able to find a way to set the size of a video to column width. Such as using “width:90%” when posting a photo image.

I can only see using the pixel width.

If this is possible, let me know the magic words.

Thanks,

Jeff

Testing width.

Using this:

video:- YouTube width:600

Next Line video using: FT 001 - YouTube width:400

If you watch this turn the VOLUME DOWN first.

Trying width % video:FT 001 - YouTube width:90%

Gets me 90 pixels

I just let it use the default size. It seems to work fine. I also include the bare link next to video because some people prefer to open the video in a new screen or app. This allows you to change the size, quality, etc… :+1:

I’ll ask this again and “sort of”,sorry. Why is such a busy site like BLF make you use an outside photo hosting site to post pictures here? Look at all the questions about posting pictures here in this thread!

I belong to several sites that have many, many fewer members than BLF and they provide free photo hosting without using all these exterior photo hosting sites.

I know and it will come again where I’ll get severely slammed over and over about how BLF cannot afford it and I should be ashamed for asking such a question like this like the last time I did.

I believe there are lots of folks like me here who are older and technology challenged who love flashlights like everyone and picture hosting sites are challenging to use.

If the answer is again, it’s expensive to host pictures here, I’ll be the first one to contribute a fair amount to have it done and I’ll bet others would do the same.

You genius folks here that do wonders with modding lights that we all admire are probably laughing at this post. So be it and again, let the slamming begin because I just don’t get it and am stupid that I cannot host pictures here without an outside picture hosting site.

I admit I am stupid technologically speaking but I love lights like all of you do!

Yeah, it is a matter of money. The host site needs more disk space to store the images and then every time a page is loaded, each and every image file has to be downloaded from the host to the viewing computer. That uses bandwidth that has to be paid for by the host; this forum. Add to that there is also the bandwidth used when each image is uploaded to the host server. All that adds up. Yes, there will be some folks who will donate $, but if I had to donate $ to every forum I frequent I would not be frequenting as much. The ads help pay for what we got here right now and I think it is fine. Just my opinion.

It is not a stupid question. Not everyone knows what goes on behind the scenes as we click here and there.

I have never been successful with posting an image. I copy the link on Imgur but there is no jpg or png at the end of yhe link. Perhaps that’s the problem. But can you just add. jpg to the link without knowing how the file is stored on the host site?

From Imgur, you need to copy the Direct Link. Does it not give you that option?

It’s easier to do it from a PC than from a phone.

Thank you MtnDon for the polite and informative response. I see where it’s all about expense hosting a site as popular as BLF.

I’ve always wondered though where BLF which has so many paid sponsors and supporters where it couldn’t at least host pictures.

I guess when you’ve made it in this crowed Internet world like BLF has, the expenses are great maintaining a site like this.

I understand that using a third party image host can be daunting. It does not help that different image host services may use different methods to link a photo to a forum posting. Some images hosts are not as easy to use from small portable devices too. I am aware of the image issue/costs only because I am an administrator on a non-flaslight related forum.

Yep, as others have pointed out, we need to use third party image hosting sites because to host it on BLF would cost quite a bit of money.

Yes, you can add the file extension. I do this for people all the time. If it’s a picture you took then you know it should be a jpg. If it’s a picture you swiped from the Web then it gets tricky. On the Imgur website open the single picture and copy the direct link. This may or may not work. I’m always using my phone and the Imgur app tends to work way better. I try to open other people’s Imgur links in the app so I can get a good link to post.

On blf I use the simple post editor and I click on the little button that looks like the orange sunset (next to the green film) and I always set the size. Usually 100%, but sometimes smaller. Then I always add something to the next line (under the image code) Either more text or single dot. This helps when people try to qoute your post.

See what I’m talking about? Why in this day and age is it still so complicated that this thread goes on and on?

Thanks for that and that’s the response I expected. Why is it that this site that gets more income than most other sites and that some of us would chip in to take up the slack just to post pictures?

I guess I don’t get it and never will and please, continue on and I apologize for my intrusion in this thread.

This is also made more complicated by the fact that many people, most(?) people, take pictures at very high resolution. Many pixels; more pixels than what are needed to display well on an average display. I do it too…. the latest images I have taken with my phone have a file size of over 4 MB. 4 MB for one image. The text-only portion of several pages of any one thread here does not come close to that size. A “how I did it” topic here can have a dozen or more images. The images are the real load on the bandwidth.

Even if the software used on a forum incorporates an automated image downsizing feature before actually storing the images on the host server, the image has to first be uploaded in it’s large size. That costs the host server a bunch of bandwidth; expenses.

I shrink images I use down to a couple hundred KB, or less, before uploading them to my selected image host service. Not everybody knows how to do that and may not have the foggiest idea of what I am speaking of.

IMO, the amount of bandwidth used by images is a main reason why Photobucket went from being a free host to a host with extortion-like fees when images are used to be used on third party pages such as forums and blogs. There is no long term free lunch. Somebody pays somewhere along the line.

If it was possible to have web browsers automatically downsize images before uploading to a web site or web image host, that would reduce bandwidth loads. I have no idea how easy that would be to implement or how it could be done. But then we’d have complaints about image quality reduction from some people. Just my opinion.

Life is complicated.

I consider BLF a pretty small, niche forum. We get lots of new users for group buys, but then they dissappear and it’s just a small group of people again.

Maybe if everyone had to pay a monthly fee to use the forum SB could use a more expensive hosting site, but then there would probably be even less users. I’m kinda glad this forum is free. Using an off site host for puctures is not that big a deal in my mind.

Yeah, once you figure out how to post pics, it's not that tough.

I think the hardest part is deciding which image hosting site to use.

Heck, I learned how to post pics with a German image hosting site, and I don't speak a lick of German!

Look at it from another perspective. The are members who frequent other (flashlight) sites.
Sometimes other US sites, sometimes sites in their native country/language.
When using a hosting site they do not need to upload pictures every time they do a review (etc).

Great idea :+1: … make it yearly fee….that way if you get canned, you loose that coin, might cut out/down on all the BS too……where do I pay!