Greetings . . . we’ve had several discussions around the topic of photo hosting and the ease/difficulty of posting photos here on the Forums.

I recently linked a Swap Meet posting out on Facebook and was surprised to see photos attached directly to the thread:
Swap Meet circa Aug '19

It seems that when the Swap Meet Forum was created back in 2011 the administrator enabled permissions for file attachments. To date we’ve had just a few posters find and take advantage of this feature. It is the only Discussion Forum on our site where the File Manager has been enabled. I am going to leave it configured as it is useful for buyers and sellers alike. File size is limited to just 50K. I am open to increasing that size limit.

In addition I have configured the File Manager to be available in all Discussion Forums for Club Members. When creating a post you will find the File Manager link in the Post Options below the posting text box:

clicking the link will open the File Manager in a pop-up window (make sure your browser is not blocking pop-ups for our site):

the utility is pretty straightforward just browse for the file, select it and then click the 'Add file' button. Once you have uploaded your files click 'Done adding files'.

It seems that it will be a handy approach for quickly attaching an image or two on the fly – but there are some limitations.

First, the Attachments summary appears at the end of the Post just before the poster’s signature (if any). The images cannot be placed in context within the flow of the discussion – like one can with IMG links from the Photo Library or external hosting source.

Secondly, the behavior of the links in the Attachments summary is a bit of a head-scratcher. What little documentation I have found suggests that “the attachments are made available for download.” Which is what I typically find when accessing our site using Mozilla Firefox on a PC:


But sometimes the images actually render – which is what I noticed when following the link to our Forums from Facebook on my Android phone.

In other browsers' the behavior can be puzzling where some appear as links, while others render:


Peculiar behaviors aside – the files are online and can be accessed with right-click to load or save etc.


In addition to images, we can also use the File Manager to attach detailed documents like PDFs, Word Docs or even Spreadsheets. I currently have the size limited to just 400K (with Images in mind). Should you have a larger technical document that you would like to get attached just send me a PM I am happy to get it online and available to the community.

Regards,
stock49

Nice detective work.

The complete instructions for posting pictures needs to be on a "sticky" easily found and not buried in old posts that are hard to search. The difficulty in posting pictures and the ban on non members from members only features will not attract new members. New people coming here can not easily find the information they were looking for and can not post pictures needed to clarify their needs. This does not make anyone want to sign up.

Threats of being kicked out of local chapters in driving people away form this the club not forcing them to join.
I reenlisted but have received nothing that was promised except that I can attempt to post pictures. Exactly what are the benefits of membership? Decals, membership card, and 12 Port news that don't come. Access to club events that have a registration fee.

Good feedback Beater. The instructions for posting photos are a sticky in the Chapter News forum - I guess not necessarily easy to find there . . . perhaps I should enable the old "Bulletin Board Information" forum and move these How To posts over there?



Our main website and these forums are paid for by club member dues. Shouldn't club members have privileges here beyond those who have simply registered to post?

regards,
stock49

When we get down to only a hand full of posts a week I really don't think it matters. What is the ratio of members vs non- members posting here? Between this board, Facebook , and the 12 Port news there dews money must be spread pretty thin.

I've always enjoyed reading the 12 Port News, but if I don't get it what is the incentive to pay dues? Like Beater of the Pack the decals and membership card if we were to get them is not worth $32.00. I understand there was a changing of the guard so some wrinkles can be expected.

I reupped a while back and have received exactly nothing so far. I’m for killing the 12 port news if it means we could have an up to date forum where pics could be posted without having to put them on a 3rd party site first.

Beater
Jalopy 45
Robertf

Did all three of you use the new paypal feature to renew your dues? If so I will contact the office to get this taken care of.
Anyone else?

Yes.

Yes

OK. I spoke to the outgoing Membership Chair this morning. She indicated that several accounts were skipped that paid using PayPal. The first catch up mailing went out early this week. The next catch up mailing will go out next week. Robertf and Jalopy were in the first batch. Beater is in the second batch. Sorry for the delay in processing.

Best regards,
stock49

Thanks for the extra effort. You do a lot for the club.
As far as the membership Chair, It's one thing to have a job and another thing to do it.

Now Now Beater in all fairness there were some extenuating circumstances here.

We are cutting teeth on the automated payment part of joining/returning/renewing with PayPal. Some of the member accounts got bollocks' up when they went through this new machinery. This is why I was unable to verify your status as a club member initially (the payment wasn't attached your membership record). Same with some of the folks who went through the machinery in the fall. They did not show up as members in good standing so they got skipped when 12PN mailing label run took place. This is being addressed by the follow up mailings.

Moreover, we are in transition right now. We have a new membership chair who is handling the bulk of the manual activities. Meanwhile I am working with the outgoing chair (and the back office folks at Imembers) to get the automated aspects to settle down.

Patience will be most appreciated.

best regards,
stock49

Thank you stock49

I paid by check, and it took a while to get my stuff, but I did get it.

It depends on timing how quickly the process will turn-around. When membership enrolls you into the database they set a flag for a label print run. Mailings are typically just once per month. So if your application arrives a day or two after a batch mailing you could wait a few weeks before the next batch goes out.