Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Contains help topics such as posting photos to the forum
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Alan H. Tast
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:52 pm
Location: Omaha, NE

Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Alan H. Tast »

The VTCI Forum was improved in approximately 2018 to provide for direct uploading of photos to be used in messages without the need to use a photo hosting service like 'Photobucket,' which previously had been the recommended place for linking photos to messages. VTCI invested a considerable amount of money in obtaining server space for VTCI members and VTCI Forum users to allow them to post photos and not have them 'disappear' like what happened when Photobucket started charging for its use. If you see instructions on how to use Photobucket to upload messages to the VTCI Forum, DISREGARD THEM - THEY ARE OUT OF DATE!

When you post a new message or hit the "Reply" button, a new screen comes up into which you type your message. Scroll down to the bottom of the window and you'll see two tabs under the "Post A Reply" box: One tab says 'Options' and the other says 'Attachments'. Open the 'Attachments' tab and click on the 'Add files' button. A new 'Open' window should pop up on your screen that resembles 'File Explorer' and show a listing of your computer's directory (drives, file folders) and individual files. Find the photo file you would like to upload, click on the file name so that it shows in the 'File Name' box at the bottom of the window, then hit the 'Open' button.

The 'Open' window will close and take you back to the 'Post A Reply' window - the 'Attachments' tab will expand and show the file name and a scale showing its uploading status - once uploaded the 'Status' symbol will change to a green dot with a check mark in it, and the line will change to show two buttons you can pick from - 'Place inline' to place the photo in your message within the text you're typing, or 'Delete file' to delete the file you uploaded. If you don't hit the 'Place inline' button the photo(s) will appear at the end of your message. A picture showing an engine bay should show up at the bottom of my response.

To place a file inline in your message, place your cursor where you want the photo to be positioned, then hit the 'Place inline' button. You should see a bracketed line of text show up that has attachment=0, the file name and another bracketed line of text with /attachment in it. I placed a photo inline of a '57 T-bird by doing this:
Photo placed inline of '57 T-bird
Photo placed inline of '57 T-bird
You can also add a caption to your photo by typing it in the 'File Comment' box.

The nice thing about how this Forum currently works is that you don't have to use a hosting service like Photobucket - the photos will reside on the VTCI Forum's server. It's very easy to do and adds a lot to the functionality of the VTCI Forum.

Yoda: you need to place these instructions as a 'Sticky' and delete the Photobucket-related instructions as soon as possible.
Attachments
Photo of engine bay
Photo of engine bay
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
john6t6
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Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:42 pm

Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by john6t6 »

Thanks for posting the info
1966 Hardtop Sauterne Gold
VTCI #4065
Jim G
Posts: 84
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:25 am

Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Jim G »

Found posting a photo—- I think I need to write down A —Z to get my pics off my iPad to Forum.... JG
7ACEC37E-86CE-43E2-8BEF-74FCB2B27C12.jpeg
I think I did it.... JG
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81F06485-BC05-4054-BFEA-1A7E0EAE73C9.jpeg
Yoda
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Yoda »

Sorry...I rarely actually read the forums so I just saw this and made it a "Global Sticky" so it should appear at the top of every forum now.

Thanks for doing the writeup.

-Brian
Brian E. Pangburn
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1965 Convertible
joelhutchison
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Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:39 pm
Location: Las Cruces, NM & Nashville TN

Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by joelhutchison »

Is there a possibility they you will accept photos with the new heic format? It's high def but a much smaller size than a jpg.
Yoda
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Yoda »

joelhutchison wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:15 am Is there a possibility they you will accept photos with the new heic format? It's high def but a much smaller size than a jpg.
Hi-

I definitely see the value in supporting heic/heif, which apparently started getting widespread support with Apple's release of iOS11. I checked the phpBB support section, and didn't see much, but I would imagine it will be supported in a future update.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Effi ... ile_Format

It is possible that I could tinker with the config files to trick it into working, but I like to stay away from changing the base files whenever I can because the version patches/updates tend to choke on custom mods.

If it's still not there by year end, remind me and I'll see if I can manipulate the configs to support it.

Thanks.
-Brian
Brian E. Pangburn
VTCI Administrator
1965 Convertible
joelhutchison
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Location: Las Cruces, NM & Nashville TN

Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by joelhutchison »

It's been some time since I asked this so I thought I would post an update. For those of you with new phones, i.e. iphone, LG, Samsung, etc. that use the heic/heif format, I was able to find a good heic/jpg converter for free online and it works pretty well and I was able to post the result. The free version limits the number of conversions you can do but the paid version is cheap; $1.99 I think.
Yoda
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Yoda »

Still no built in support, but we haven't had a major version release in a while. Hopefully it will come with the next one. Hacking the message board base source code just doesn't seem like a good, maintainable thing to do.
Brian E. Pangburn
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1965 Convertible
Yoda
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Yoda »

I found a place where I was able to allow upload support for .heif and .heic, but after a little research, a lot of the browsers still don't support it. So, I think you can now upload these files, but others may not be able to view them. I'm curious to hear user feedback.
Brian E. Pangburn
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1965 Convertible
Rjp555
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Rjp555 »

Delivery today
Delivery today
ward 57
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by ward 57 »

Why do the few photos I've uploaded from my laptop turn out rotated 1/4 turn counter clockwise?
VTCI # 13223
67Landau
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by 67Landau »

ward 57 wrote: Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:39 pm Why do the few photos I've uploaded from my laptop turn out rotated 1/4 turn counter clockwise?
I noticed the same thing. You posted this over a year ago with no reply…
doubleload
Posts: 70
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:06 am

Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by doubleload »

1/4 rotation of photo resolved for iPad. The VTCI site appears to have a bias toward landscape orientation. If you shoot your photos with the long axis horizontal (landscape) then they post as shot. Haven’t tried rotating the portrait orientation photos on my iPad yet.
Oiseau DeTonnere
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Re: Placing Photos in Messages/Responses

Post by Oiseau DeTonnere »

This is a specialty situation due to how Apple iPhones and iPads store orientation info in the image. It happens with other websites as well as various software packages that can import photos. Sometimes you can fix it by rotating the photo opened in another software and then re-saving it.
Black/red 1957 Thunderbird D-code
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Location: on the west coast of Switzerland
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