Questions: Attachments / License

[z0diac]

1: Is there any way to batch-upload files as attachments? (when the file selection window pops up, it only allows one at a time - is there any way to do a "hold-down-SHIFT or CTRL" and select)

2: Does uploading attachments use threading? (for large attachments)

3: Is there an attachment size limit?

4: Are allowed attachment types based on file extension or does the program look into the actual file itself?

The reason I ask questions 2/3/4 is that I'm planning on switching our forum script over to vBulletin - we currently run a forum for hosting sports video clips. Some can be large (90+MB) Also, some .AVI files are rejected as avi files because of their "sub" formats (Divx, Xvid, etc) and the current script looks at the MIME type in the actual file to determine it's type. We need something that just looks at the extension.

So basically we need a a script that:
- allows multiple file selection for uploading (especially where pictures are concerned and a photographer wants to send 100 pictures - it would be a nightmare to have to select each file individually)
- allows large file size uploads
- bases file type on extension only

Can vBulletin do this?

Thank in advance!

[Steve Machol]

1. No.

2. Not sure what tthat means. Please explain.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

[feldon23]

1. Although there are people using vBulletin for the purpose you mention, you might want to install some kind of File Repository add-on to handle this kind of thing. You can only select and upload one attachment at a time with vBulletin.

2. PHP does not support "threading". It is not possible, as far as I know, to override this behavior.

[z0diac]

So when it was answered "YES" to the question "is there attachment size limits" - does that mean there's a maximum size hard-coded into the script that attachments can't be larger than? Or is it "the skies the limit" and the admin sets the limit? (I probably misworded my question into not being a yes/no question - my fault) The reason i ask is because the free script I'm using now "lets you" set an attachment size limit - as long as its not more than 10MB because that's a limit put into the actual script.

Right now I'm using "tforum" (free php forum script) and the reason they said large uploads weren't working (and I'm only talking 7-8 MB files) was because they weren't threaded. But I also use FrontPage to do my web updates, and often transfer 50+ MB files with no problem, and I'm pretty sure FPage doesn't use threading when transfering files within the program, so I'm hoping the fact that vBulletin doesnt use threading isn't the problem that I'm getting with tForum. (in other words the problem isn't threading at all - i'm hoping)

[Steve Machol]

Large file uploads are limited by the server settings in PHP, MySQL and Apache.

[z0diac]

Large file uploads are limited by the server settings in PHP, MySQL and Apache.

Yes, I was told to change a php file in the o/s to up the size limit with the current forum script I'm running. Although I can't remember what the file is now. I think it was some sort of .ini file but I can't remember where (??)

Do you know of all the places I'd need to go edit to up the file size to say.. 100MB ? (or at least, 50)

[feldon23]

php.ini.

You can only edit this file if you own your own dedicated server ($79-249/month). On a shared server it is extremely unlikely they will change this setting for you.

Apache also has a certain time limit it will allow scripts to run before assuming them "hung" and killing them off. This file is httpd.conf.

I'm not sure MySQL's limitations but for 10MB attachments, I'd set vBulletin to store the attachments in the file system. You still have to deal with the above 2 issues.

[MJM]

You can only select and upload one attachment at a time with vBulletin.

FYI, You can set in AdminCP Options > Message Attachment Options > Attachment Upload Inputs > set how many attachment upload input boxes are displayed on the upload form.

User can > Individually choose files from computer, then after they have all been selected, > Upload all files at one go

[Steve Machol]

I seriously doubt you will get 100Mb to work. However once you are a customer we can provide you with more support. You will need root access to the server to make these changes.

[z0diac]

Simply put - I'd like people to be able to

1: batch upload many pictures at once, straight to my server (without having to use a free photo hosting site like Imageshack)

2: upload videos anywhere from 1mb to 50mb in size.

3: have the script check *only* the file extension, not look into the file itself (because the script I'm using right now does the latter and it's giving a lot of problems not recognizing certain types which I've SET to being allowed)

Is there any plans in the future for allowing people to batch-select files for uploading? (ie: more than one at a time)

and/or.. is there any add-on for vBulletin that will allow this?

I apologize for asking so many questions when I'm only spending $160 - but that's a lot of cash for me at the moment, and I'd hate to have it set up and running only to realize a couple days later that it's really not what I was looking for.

[Steve Machol]

1. If you mean attachments to posts, you can set vB to allow multiple attachments at the same time.

2. Again this depends entirely on the server, and 50Mb may be too high.

3. No sure what you mean. vB looks at the extention and mime type.

[z0diac]

php.ini.

You can only edit this file if you own your own dedicated server ($79-249/month). On a shared server it is extremely unlikely they will change this setting for you.

Apache also has a certain time limit it will allow scripts to run before assuming them "hung" and killing them off. This file is httpd.conf.

I'm not sure MySQL's limitations but for 10MB attachments, I'd set vBulletin to store the attachments in the file system. You still have to deal with the above 2 issues.

Thanks a bunch! Yes all attachments are (and will be) stored on disk. tForum's script is hard-coded with a 10MB max attachment size (although admins can set it lower) - but it was annoying I couldn't go larger than 10megs).

Yes I lease my own dedicated server (Linux, and have root access of course) I will have to find the php.ini and httpd.conf files and see what they say right now...

Ok, I've sent my max filesize to 32M (to start with) and my timeout is 300s which should probably be boosted - but is this timeout clock actually ticking away *during* the upload? I thought the timeout seconds only tick away during inactivity (??)