CPF Sold - Under New Management

Off-topic Chatter
145

I have noticed a change in the way CPF handles images

they now take images I upload, and automatically replace them with a thumbnail (small image).

the full size image is only available IF logged in to CPF

iow, CPF is appropriating images and hosting them on their own site

this fits with the objective of CPF to limit info sharing to people who are members…

CPF wont show full size images anymore, unless the viewer is a logged in member

my reaction is to stop posting,
since my pics are not being shown in the size I posted, and my pictures are being appropriated and loaded onto CPF servers, automatically… (no longer optional)

146

They’ve always had nutty rules, I guess it’s continuing?

Chris

147

And what the hell is with that new “airing out HDS’s dirty laundry” thread of pure dogpiling? No forum with sane moderation that I’ve ever been a part of would allow this, it would be shut down on sight.

148

Wow, one more reason to avoid CPF.

How tiny are the thumbnails?

149

Who is HDS and why would they air dirty laundry ?

150

Iunno, ask that Hogokanshakalaka guy that’s working full-time as a launderer :smiley:

151

As i recall in Japan many years ago they had ATMs that would wash money so it would be clean.
In retrospect hat would have been great for covid.

152

Couldn’t you just link to say a gallery on Imgur? No thumbnails, but non-members could just open the link and view the images. Or would that not be allowed?

153

dont know… but defeats my purpose, which is to share free info…
I do use gallery links on Reddit cause I cant post pics inline

I was about to try posting an imgur gallery link on CPF, by editing an existing post, but it seems editing is no longer possible… on a 1 week old post…

seems CPF really wants to own my posts, and does not want to let me change them…

here is a link to a FWAA gallery of mine
https://imgur.com/a/FmR9Qje

but I prefer to post pics in thread… more effective than a link… people dont click links much

fwiw, in my old CPF posts, pics are still there, inline and full size

what CPF is doing now, follows the change in ownership and web software… designed to deliver targetted ads, and to create a proprietary database of flashlight info, sales prices, and images…

fwiw, the new owner has been a CPF member since 2005… I dont expect a change in culture, nor moderators… as you can see from Hogos laundry confrontations, with the support of several of the moderators.

that is something that has always seemed wrong to me, when CPF moderators pile on in a thread, to attack a member they disagree with.

it only started to make sense when I realized they are in it for the money

CPF mods protect the vendors and advertisers from negative comments by individual consumers.

the new website changes are designed to monetize info posted there

154

155

That’s not unique to CPF.

A lot of forums only display the full-sized or original images that they host to members who are logged in. TLF, for instance.

CPF can be critiqued for many things, but that is not one of them.

156

I haven’t been on CPF in years, but I was active there for a long time and never had serious trouble with the mods. I dropped away after getting less interested in lights for personal and financial reasons, and feeling like the pace of interesting developments had slowed down. It’s interesting that the modder scene seems to have mostly moved from there to here. Anyway I have no idea how much money Greta got for the sale, but I hope it was a lot, and I wish her the best.

157

Using [ img ] [ / img ] tags works just fine and they are posted full size. I see no issue with making the pics uploaded to their server just a thumbnail. If members click on them it will opens to full size. If you want to see them full size and not a member, sign up. It’s free.

158

that is my point

that is a change.

the new owner is appropriating images onto the CPF server, so he can deny access to non signed in members. The original image link address I post is being moved to a proprietary CPF database.

In the past, all the images I posted were available to be seen by people who are not signed in…

159

This is nutty on their part (and expensive)
To me its not a membership ender but to each their own.

160

It’s definitely a change but if you use the image tags does it still show full size? I have my own image hosting so I never upload to any forum site.

161

no
that is my point
I do not upload my images to the CPF server
I only link to images on my imgur photohosting site

CPF now changes the photo link to their own private host. They are literally downloading the image from imgur, placing it on their own host, and deleting the link to the original imgur source.

in the past this was optional, we could choose to upload to the CPF server, or not. It is no longer optional, instead it happens automatically now.

162

What if you have a copyright notice on your pic? :smiling_imp:

163

Oh damn, gotcha. I’ve never visited while not logged in.

164

I sent the new CPF owner, name Jelly, a PM with a link to that thread. I let him know I felt Hogo was abusing his moderator status.

Jelly did not reply, but he gave a thumb up acknowledgement to my PM. And the thread has been deleted.

So, Im impressed with the new owner, in this regard.