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?
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…
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
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.
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.
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…
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.
Personally I strongly dislike when forums require registration for images or worst yet, links. If its a forum where I plan on participating somewhat regularly then it’s a lesser issue but otherwise it means I have to create yet another account and also remember to login just to see the images. Ugh.
Geez. I cannot believe they go that far. If anything it seems like allowing external images would be desirable since it would mean less storage used and load for your server.
otoh
if they want to create a sales database that can be monetized,
then the steps they are taking to own the images, and prevent user content deletion,