the way vb5 deals with image uploads/inline/albums etc

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  • IggyP
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2012
    • 680

    the way vb5 deals with image uploads/inline/albums etc

    hello all,
    im wanting to point out something i think is akward and hope to get making more sense before the software gets too much more developed....if possible

    also interested to hear others views on this....

    some of us have image heavy forums and this can be a huge deal if it is better organized or not.....which is what vb5 is claim to trying to do...

    ok so i filed this jira bug http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-12039 thinking we were missing some functionality, but it turns out the functionality that was there was the actual bug and they will probly take that away?

    this is regarding organization and easy access of images for members.

    AFAIK at present the only way to get an image only list for a forum(from the photo TAB) is by uploading with the photo BUTTON.......this seems unnatural and somewhat unpractical considering it is likely common that people will wish to share these images they upload in posts.......in full size, aka inline.....yet also wish to give option to a one click link of all images in the forum....

    im hoping to see an addition of easy inline attachment capabilities of these images for easy viewing and crossreferencing.......i know it is possible by clicking and grabbing the link and such, but thats too many steps!

    we want to make it as easy as possible for members to use and make the most of the forum software, and adding inline capabilities to uploaded photos, if not even to force images to be uploaded with the photo button i think would actually be best...

    thoughts?
  • IggyP
    Senior Member
    • Mar 2012
    • 680

    #2
    um ya idk maybe this should go in vb5 forum i guess...feel free to move or whatever

    Comment

    • Wayne Luke
      vBulletin Technical Support Lead
      • Aug 2000
      • 73981

      #3
      Would like to have a good dialog on use case scenarios. We do admit that image and album handling is lagging. The conversation usually degenerate into mudslinging though so we end up where we started. I am moving this to the vB5 Feedback forum in hopes that doesn't happen this time.

      How do you envision perfect image handling and album creation? Please be as detailed as necessary.
      Translations provided by Google.

      Wayne Luke
      The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
      vBulletin 5 API

      Comment

      • IggyP
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2012
        • 680

        #4
        im not so sure on an idea for a fully polished end result but pretty solid on a direction...
        i understand that now is not the best time to go over it all as 5.1.0 is so close but im eager to share my views as this is core issue for me...

        to begin basically how i outlined in the starting post.......there are some features which are really good, but sort of spread out too much....

        i dont know how easy or hard some stuff is to code but imho, my opinions atm fwiw

        i LIKE the photo tab for forums to easily view images only, with a brief description...this should stay
        i LIKE the ease of posting multiple size images inline that vb5.1.0 features, this should stay
        i LIKE the easy commenting while uploading from the photo icon...with inline attachments this ability is lost...if the photo icon would allow proper inline linking it could be the best of both worlds
        i LIKE that vb5 is pulling away from past models of having to create separate albums to produce quality image heavy content threads, therefore, im actually open to the idea of having no specific album area...tho if it were done right, who knows.........perhaps best as an addon or something tho idk...or links in profile that go to automatically created albums or such

        i DISLIKE the complication of having only images uploaded with the camera icon to show when photo tab is clicked
        i DISLIKE the confusion of having separate areas for users to upload images, in the same editor box


        if image uploads were forced thru the camera icon, and adding inline linking capability to this, i really think thats the way to go...
        the attachment upload button should remain for pdfs and whatnot but i really dont think thats best for images....

        if all images are forced uploaded thru the camera icon button, this makes so users can automatically easily reference "complete" image only content, and view comments attached...or alternatively take more time and read the threads they were posted in...without extra steps needed by the topic author....

        it seems we've got a jira in to finally fix inline format issues http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-12030 so this is next in my view...
        Last edited by IggyP; Fri 24 Jan '14, 1:29pm.

        Comment


        • IggyP
          IggyP commented
          Editing a comment
          just gonna add in ideas the more i think of it......

          forcing inline images to upload thru the camera icon can also be designed to give a much cleaner post....

          instead of a list of thumbnails, or attachments links, there could be, for example, one photo thumb and the # indicating how many photos were uploaded to the post, which can click to expand to a "mini slideshow"...or even better just a small but obvious photo icon of sort at the end of the post that indicates how many images are uploaded to the post....clicking the icon could open a "mini slideshow" (fullsize image and links first) perhaps with option for smaller slideshow images with one additional click, admin settings, or something but with easy to copy urls, the way the individual post links do here

          ....or best of all an admin option to choose thumbs,links, or a "mini gallery link button" in post display....

          ...
          Last edited by IggyP; Wed 29 Jan '14, 5:52am.
      • Princeton
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2001
        • 662

        #5
        I love the editor when it was first introduced - still do.

        Why not make everything visible (upon user action)? I don't see why links and photo option can't be on the same page at the same time.

        While you are at it add inline tagging to the editor. Not sure why this is a popup.

        To improve experience...
        either open the editor as a popup (centered on page) or have every option inline
        Liquid Layout = Less Ad Revenue?
        How to Monetize Your Site

        More features does NOT equal progress (Less is More)

        Administrator:
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        Comment

        • Wayne Luke
          vBulletin Technical Support Lead
          • Aug 2000
          • 73981

          #6
          You're dealing with different content types here...

          Camera Icon - Photo Gallery Content Type. It is really designed with for the purpose of multiple image uploads. Each with their own description. I think they should be individual nodes with titles and comments as well. Lightbox needs to be improved for better viewing with javascript scaling in place for smaller screens. Lightbox should be full window.

          Link Icon - Link Content Type that includes links to other sites and video links. Formatted a little differently but is meant to be the focus of the topic.

          Poll Icon - Poll Content Type. Not really changed that much from before in how it works.

          Text - Default content type. This is what you get if you don't select any content type on the left.

          The editor, attachments, and smilies (icons on the right) apply to all content types and are toggles. Turn them on and they should stay on between page loads. When you use the editor tool bar to insert an image it is either linked as BBCode or an inline attachment. This is different from the Photo Gallery Content Type.

          I guess the biggest issue is the interface doesn't really distinguish between content types much. So that needs to be fixed somehow. However each of the content types are controlled by permissions. For instance, Polls are off in this forum. So if you wanted to eliminate different options you could do so with permissions.

          Lot of different issues here though and each one needs to be tackled.

          1) Content Entry. How to keep the envisioned content types, make them more cohesive and easier to understand.

          2) Reusing attachments and uploaded images whether they are an inline attachment, from a photo gallery in the forum channel, or a photo gallery attached to the user's profile. We had the asset manager in 4.X for this.

          3) Displaying photos and images within a forum. Not only within the lightbox but within as inline content as well. There are a number of issues to help image layout coming in 5.1.1 which is in development now while 5.1.0 goes through QA. So we hopefully this will be fixed sooner rather than later. Lightbox updates are another story. Default system needs modern image uploads and resizing first before we tackle the lightbox. I believe resizing is going to be fixed in 5.1.1 as well. However that isn't guaranteed yet.
          Translations provided by Google.

          Wayne Luke
          The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
          vBulletin 5 API

          Comment

          • IggyP
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2012
            • 680

            #7
            was working on some image/album things just now...

            to focus things some, there is one sorta basic idea im after that i use constantly and want to see in vb5...

            ability to post image heavy posts, without a list of 30 attachment links

            i have traditionally grabbed the links from albums, but this requires another open window and semi-complicated esp for the average user...perhaps more importantly the ability to post as inline thumbs is lost with this method

            ive said it before, but cant stress enough i would like to see this camera icon enabled with inline capabilities..........reason are:
            1. all images will show if a member clicks the forums photo "TAB"(NOT ICON)....(perhaps as auto created individual albums based on thread titles...i see there is some sort of function like this already half working)
            2. a post can list inline thumbnails with no long attachment list at the end of the post
            3. images are allowed to have individual descriptions when viewed album style, but can also be used inline
            if you guys can figure out how to do that with attachments or whatever as long as its possible to post professional content like that....perhaps an option to hide the list of attachments and adding the ability for attached images(jpg, png etc) to list in the photo TAB...........this still would not grant the benefit of cross listing as albums tho

            i still think its redundant and confusing tho having 2 ways to upload an image to a post? is there any good reasons to not simply add this functionality to the camera icon and force all image uploads thru there?
            Last edited by IggyP; Sun 2 Feb '14, 10:43am.

            Comment


            • IggyP
              IggyP commented
              Editing a comment
              was just considering that auto album creation idea...
              i think it would be best if under a set # of images per topic, 1-10 for example, images would go into the "posted images" auto created album(as does currently), but if over 10 or whatever would go into an autocreated album with the same name as topic posted, or have an option to list this way perhaps .....would be pretty solid feature imho and fit well with this overall idea im suggesting
          • Guest

            #8
            I'm following this thread.

            For now I've disable the 'Camera Button' as it is confusing for members. All our members click on the camera, upload photo's and ending up with tiny thumbmails they can't use inline.

            Also the photo-viewer that is being used when clicking on a thumbnail is a bit, erm, how do I say this nicely, not so well designed.

            Now. our member now MUST use the attachment option to make images show inline, the disadvantage of this feature is that they need to do the pictures one by one. There is an option in AdminCP -> Message Attachments Options > Attachments Upload Inputs / Attachment URL Inputs but those features don't work.

            Also the album feature isn't working well yet in VB505 / VB510b3, when you see someone has made an album and you click on it, you end up seeing an empty page with a CKEditor box, you can reply to it, the owner of the album sees that there is a reply, but the reply is hidden / unviewable after that.

            The only option to show an album is to go to the profile of the user and click the Media Tab. I don't understand why this is all working not so well.

            Comment


            • Guest
              Guest commented
              Editing a comment
              BTW I've also disabled the left 'Link' button, as it is the same story. They want inline links, they think that is the correct button and they are ending up with a link at the end of a posts.

              That link is also not always working well BTW. Ending up with a 'root' link only.

            • John Heisz
              John Heisz commented
              Editing a comment
              Hi,
              I've been trying to find where I can disable the camera icon like you did. I even posted a new topic on it. Even though a support member replied, he did not tell me where to find it, which seems to be a waste of a reply. Searching online, in the admin cp, or on here only finds this post. If you can help, I'd greatly appreciate it.

            • Guest
              Guest commented
              Editing a comment
              You need to add this in the template:

              contententry_toolbar:

              {vb: set allowTypePhoto,0}
          • IggyP
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2012
            • 680

            #9
            Originally posted by GuiltyNL
            For now I've disable the 'Camera Button' as it is confusing for members. All our members click on the camera, upload photo's and ending up with tiny thumbmails they can't use inline.

            Also the photo-viewer that is being used when clicking on a thumbnail is a bit, erm, how do I say this nicely, not so well designed.
            i have also had members stop posting basically over this confusion, even after explaining other ways like using attachments, esp for some of our older members its just too complicated/confusing...

            Originally posted by GuiltyNL
            Now. our member now MUST use the attachment option to make images show inline, the disadvantage of this feature is that they need to do the pictures one by one. There is an option in AdminCP -> Message Attachments Options > Attachments Upload Inputs / Attachment URL Inputs but those features don't work.
            is this only an issue for you uploading from urls? i usually upload from files and love the ability to select multiple files even using the ctrl key, havent tried much from urls tho...

            Originally posted by GuiltyNL
            Also the album feature isn't working well yet in VB505 / VB510b3, when you see someone has made an album and you click on it, you end up seeing an empty page with a CKEditor box, you can reply to it, the owner of the album sees that there is a reply, but the reply is hidden / unviewable after that.

            The only option to show an album is to go to the profile of the user and click the Media Tab. I don't understand why this is all working not so well.
            its a little worse than that.....once you click the album under media tab, it may list some albums but like if you check my albums on this site you will only see one or 2 images instead of the dozen or so that should be there...

            my biggest issues with attachments are the ugly list at the end of the post and not being able to view images under the "photos" tab...then naturally the album issues...

            i would also like to see the user profile area less split up and "hidden", for example latest posts links, album links etc should all be on the initial profile page rather than hidden at the bottom of the about me section.....cant even see it unless you scroll down and the albums also i would like to see for example a latest album module or something on the main profile page, which could be clicked to go to a more "media tab" type function...

            i just noticed the problems with the link icon not using the proper link myself so +1 there

            thanks for posting guiltyNL hopefully we can all get this sorted somehow before too much longer...

            Comment

            • Guest

              #10
              Originally posted by IggyP
              i have also had members stop posting basically over this confusion, even after explaining other ways like using attachments, esp for some of our older members its just too complicated/confusing...
              Indeed, that's why I've disable the button completely, we have too much members to explain it to. So disabling was the best option.

              Originally posted by IggyP
              is this only an issue for you uploading from urls? i usually upload from files and love the ability to select multiple files even using the ctrl key, havent tried much from urls tho...
              No also from local hard drive. I can only upload one file at a time, using the CTRL-key doesn't work. They have to be uploaded one by one if you use the attachment button. That was the only advantage of the camera button. Though, I had a bug that users could only upload 5 pictures per time. There is a JIRA about it and I created a ticket, but Customer Support doesn't respond to it anymore.

              Originally posted by IggyP
              its a little worse than that.....once you click the album under media tab, it may list some albums but like if you check my albums on this site you will only see one or 2 images instead of the dozen or so that should be there...
              Indeed, the album part is far from finished. I'm also unable to view all the albums on a album-overview-page or something like that. That would be an awesome feature.

              The image viewer is also lacking, it is not responsive, to small, too black and it just doesn't work. For example this simple FancyBox2 works much better, and automatically resizes, suiting the screensize you are using:




              Originally posted by IggyP
              my biggest issues with attachments are the ugly list at the end of the post and not being able to view images under the "photos" tab...then naturally the album issues...
              I've changed the attachments to show 'Full' (so inline) instead of a Thumbnail. Because that just doesn't work. People click on it and get redirected to a new page with just the photo on it. When they close it, the are also gone from your forum, because they need to use the 'Back-button' so also that feature isn't finished yet.

              Originally posted by IggyP
              i would also like to see the user profile area less split up and "hidden", for example latest posts links, album links etc should all be on the initial profile page rather than hidden at the bottom of the about me section.....cant even see it unless you scroll down and the albums also i would like to see for example a latest album module or something on the main profile page, which could be clicked to go to a more "media tab" type function...
              I know Dragon Byte has an extension for it, but I haven't tested it. As the core of the albums isn't working well, it doesn't make sense to add an extension to it.

              Originally posted by IggyP
              i just noticed the problems with the link icon not using the proper link myself so +1 there
              Yup, I've also removed that one too. As it is confusing AND it doesn't work well yet. (See below The link should direct you to this topic, but I think it redirects you to the root of this domain.)

              Originally posted by IggyP
              thanks for posting guiltyNL hopefully we can all get this sorted somehow before too much longer...
              You're welcome!

              Comment

              • IggyP
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2012
                • 680

                #11
                Originally posted by guiltyNL
                No also from local hard drive. I can only upload one file at a time, using the CTRL-key doesn't work. They have to be uploaded one by one if you use the attachment button.
                thats odd...i just tried again on this forum to confirm and was able to select 3 different files with the ctrl key and upload successfully...browsing usually chrome or firefox, chrome for this test fwiw...

                Originally posted by guiltyNL
                I'm also unable to view all the albums on a album-overview-page or something like that.
                im also having this roughly working thru the media tab in the user profile link....also fwiw albums ive created have managed to retain all images, its the auto created one that lists # of photos wrong and can be missing some...

                Comment

                • Guest

                  #12
                  Upload 3 different files at once with the Image button (so in the Advanced Editor bar)? It only works for me when using the 'Attachment button' or the 'Photo camera button'

                  (BTW I'm subscribed to this thread, but I don't receive notifications in my Message Center nor I receive an email. )

                  Comment


                  • captainslater
                    captainslater commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Notifications aren't working - there's a JIRA for this.
                • IggyP
                  Senior Member
                  • Mar 2012
                  • 680

                  #13
                  just getting back into looking into this and i must say....

                  NIIICE SAVE!

                  awesome work, i really like the direction its going is basically exactly what i wanted.....i hope its still not considered a bug?

                  the only thing i wish improved atm is one step that seems can be simplified......and an odd behaviour regarding inserting as attachments...

                  ok so just to recap one of the main things i wanted was ease of cross publishing images and using them inline with text...without having 2 different confusing ways...

                  currently you can create an album in user profile, then click camera icon in a post, and link those images to the post to be inserted into text....however you must link the images, THEN POST, THEN EDIT, and only then are we presented with inline insert links for all sizes...this is a confusing and redundant step that would be good to remove....it would be ideal to have the links appear immediately the same as when uploading attachments...

                  which brings me to the second part needing improvement....attachments....im ok with leaving it as an option, it can help with convenience or simple posts sometimes...
                  but i notice that if you insert an image it clones the image insert links creating quite a long list of identical "images" links....this can also end up creating the taglist of a few attachment links at the end of the post, which you have otherwise done very well to clean up.

                  i really like some of the redundancies tho, like when posting "photo" content you are still given a link to a simple album, or you have the option to look down the images as they are displayed and explained inline the post...really nice, just hoping it will continue this direction...

                  please advise any current jira regarding this issue i may look into thanks



                  Comment


                  • IggyP
                    IggyP commented
                    Editing a comment
                    oh the one other thing i found confusing i mentioned a couple posts ago is the auto created album for all images posted....is it possible to set this to "anytime" by default??
                    thanks and keep up the good work

                    oh hmm little bug there too it seems &quot,

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