[Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

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LadyGeek
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[Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

BigFoot48 has alerted me to a change in Photobucket's Terms of Use. The free account does not allow any image linking or 3rd party image hosting.

What does that mean? Anyone who has used Photobucket to link to an image will now see "Please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting" in place of your image.

The wiki page Posting images in the Bogleheads forum recommends using tinypic to host images.

Photobucket owns tinypic, I have no idea if the change in Photobucket's Terms of Use will impact tinypic. Just in case, I revised the wiki page to warn users about this possible change (under "Placing the image into a forum post").

BigFoot48 also supplied two helpful websites which suggest Photobucket alternatives. Look under "External links".

If anyone has a suggestion for updating the wiki page, please post here.

(We are not changing our policy regarding attachments. They're still not permitted.)
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by BigFoot48 »

Thanks LadyGeek for posting this. The email I received from Photobucket on July 10 was titled "Some features on your account will be disabled" and included "Photobucket has only restricted the ability to view your photos on 3rd party sites."

However, in one of my threads with multiple graphics they have not yet been disabled. So perhaps Photobucket decided that not giving notice was not a good idea and are waiting a week or two before disabling. If so, this will allow time to move the graphics to another host and edit the posts in threads that may be still actively viewed.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by Mudpuppy »

BigFoot48 wrote:However, in one of my threads with multiple graphics they have not yet been disabled. So perhaps Photobucket decided that not giving notice was not a good idea and are waiting a week or two before disabling. If so, this will allow time to move the graphics to another host and edit the posts in threads that may be still actively viewed.
It's also possible your browser has the images locally cached and your browser hasn't pulled the latest from Photobucket, so what you're seeing may be different from what others see.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by BigFoot48 »

Mudpuppy wrote:It's also possible your browser has the images locally cached and your browser hasn't pulled the latest from Photobucket, so what you're seeing may be different from what others see.
Excellent point! I use Firefox and checked via Chrome and my PB images are still showing. However when I click on them which links to Photobucket I see their statement "Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party hosting available.", so the end is coming. I hope to get my graphics set up elsewhere and re-linked within a few days - at least in the threads I know I posted graphics in.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by BigFoot48 »

Another forum I am active on posted an alert to the change at Photobucket and recommended Postimage (postimg.org), a "forever" free hosting site for images. I checked it out, quickly set up an account, copied en-mass the BH images I had downloaded from Photobucket into a BH gallery in Postimage and started replacing images in my Retiree Portfolio Model thread. It went very quickly thanks to the user-friendly interface at Postimage. I also replaced the tinypic images to have future control over them.

I see that Postimage also offers hosting for forums that would make it easier for users to post images (if that's a good thing): "If you want to add our image hosting service to your forum please install the appropriate Image Upload extension."
Last edited by BigFoot48 on Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by nisiprius »

I use postimages.org but some things about it make me uncomfortable.

It works quite well, it's quicker and less fussy than others... but I worry about its chameleon-like characteristics.

It began at postimage.org.

Then it moved, and postimage.org began redirecting to postimage.io, which means it is masquerading as being hosted in the British Indian Ocean Territory (!), perhaps Diego Garcia Island. I guess there's nothing shady about this, and people think it's cool because it sounds like computer IO. It was at postimage.io as recently as last week.

Now it redirects to postimages.org (plural, postimages-with-an-s). In the time I've been using it, it's sometimes been offline for a few days, other times has displayed a small notice saying they're running out of money and need a business partner. At first it welcomed both "family-friendly" and "adult" images but has asked you to say which kind your image is; then for a while it said they only wanted "family-friendly" images and suggested a different URL for "adult content." Now they say nothing at all about this one way or the other.

I'm not sure whether or not I ever used the url postimg.org but it seems to be the same, as it, too, is currently redirecting to postimages.org.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by Tyler Aspect »

I have used Google Drive uploaded images in my forum messages. You have to first upload the JPG image file to your Google Drive, and get a sharable link. That sharable link will not be usable in the message, but cut the ID segment into the browser's clipboard, and use this format:

Code: Select all

[img]http://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=ABC123[/img]
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

Decrypting Google's URL parameter list is nearly impossible. I never thought you could do that. It works! :beer

I uploaded my favorite wiki test image: File:Calculator.png, which is a .png file.

The sharable link is:

Code: Select all

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8VSNcUR-B6IOHRXbFc1MWQzN1E/view?usp=sharing
Then, modify the URL as you indicated to:

Code: Select all

[img]https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B8VSNcUR-B6IOHRXbFc1MWQzN1E[/img]
Becomes:
Image

Update 12/19/20: You may see the word "image" instead. See my post below.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

The Google Drive technique is now in the wiki: Posting images in the Bogleheads forum
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

Recent versions of Firefox may be preventing forum images to be displayed due to the use of 3rd-party cookies by Google. IOW, you'll see the word "image" instead of the intended image. An explanation is here: Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop

I found a work-around which doesn't have this problem. The wiki has been updated. See: Posting images in the Bogleheads forum (Google Drive)

The revised instructions:

I uploaded my favorite wiki test image: File:Calculator.png, which is a .png file.

The sharable link is:

Code: Select all

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8VSNcUR-B6IOHRXbFc1MWQzN1E/view?usp=sharing
Then, modify the URL to:

Code: Select all

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/0B8VSNcUR-B6IOHRXbFc1MWQzN1E[/img]
Becomes:
Image
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

I'm bumping this thread because a member notified me of a privacy concern regarding the "Anyone with a link can view" shared link in Google. As site admin, it's my job to be paranoid and protect member privacy.

Summary - If you are logged into a Google account, the name of the file's owner is visible. (See below for details.)

Bear in mind that Google has always been this way. Nothing has changed, at least as far as I can tell, so this is nothing new.

Please don't panic and remove the image. Those images are much appreciated and help everyone.

Instead, simply go anonymous in your Google Account. You'll have peace-of-mind knowing that readers accessing those links won't know your name. This applies to all of your files. Not just in forum posts, but any type of shared file and where you've sent those links - friends, family, or other websites.

=============================
I posted the following in the wiki page: Posting images in the Bogleheads forum (Privacy concerns)

A file shared using the "Anyone with a link can view" method is visible everywhere the link is used. Not just in the forum, but in other websites or emails that you post this link to. The links can be passed multiple times, so you really don't know where your image (or any shared file) is used.

There is a privacy concern, but only when you are logged into a Google account. The issue is that the name of the file's owner is visible from the sharable link (the link that starts with https://drive.google.com). Click on the vertical ellipse --> Details --> Sharing.

This information is not visible when using the file ID method as described above. The owner's name is only visible when the person who accesses the link is logged into a Google account.

If this is a concern, please don't remove the image. Forum members depend on this information.

Instead, change the name on your Google account to be anonymous. See Change your Google Account picture, name & other info. Single characters are allowed, so you can use your initials for your first and last name, for example.

You'll have peace-of-mind knowing that your real name is not visible, regardless of where the file resides or who views your file.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by 22twain »

If you can find all your posts with images that use the sharable link (drive.google.com), you can also edit them to change the link to the second, "safe" form shown above (lh3.googleusercontent.com), no?

The only problem I see with this, so far, is that if someone quoted your post with the sharable link, the image and link are included in the quote. They remain unchanged if you edit your original post, and you obviously can't edit someone else's post.
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Re: [Wiki] Posting images in the Bogleheads forum

Post by LadyGeek »

That is correct. Moderators can edit someone else's post. If this is an issue, report the post and explain what to do. (Bear in mind that we do try to accommodate member requests, but it takes time. Editing a lot of posts is a strain on our limited resources.)
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How to post a photo on Bogleheads?

Post by MattB »

[Merged here - mod oldcomputerguy]

Hi,

How do I post a photo (screenshot) on Bogleheads?

Do I have to upload the image to an online repository and then insert a link? Or is there a way to upload a photo directly to Bogleheads?

Thank you.

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Re: How to post a photo on Bogleheads?

Post by DSInvestor »

Bogleheads Wiki Page on Posting Images:

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Posting ... eads_forum
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Re: How to post a photo on Bogleheads?

Post by MattB »

Thank you.
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