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Post by dhb5610 on Dec 15, 2018 22:56:32 GMT
I have been reading with interest about using the forum and the difficulties some members have downloading photos to post on here and I for one would like this to be easier than it currently is. I believe more photos would be of great benefit in helping some members with their issues that are raised on the forum. I also understand the issue of cost but there must be a way of sorting this out to allow better and easier access . There are other outlets that are available to Rover enthusiasts that have easier access and my fear is that if something isn't done we may find less and less people using the forum.
I would be happy to contribute financial but if that means that non members would benefit from this then maybe that wouldn't be a good idea as I think there would be a deal of resentment in doing that. In short I don't have the answer but it would be a good discussion to have if nothing else.
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Post by djm16 on Dec 15, 2018 23:59:13 GMT
I also would be happy to contribute to the cost of more storage on the Host Server. There are other good reasons however for keeping picture sizes moderate, and that is to do with bandwidth.
If you have 100Mbs broadband or better you will not notice a difference, but not all the world is on broadband. Unrestricted, many would upload pictures direct from their iPhone and put 10 beautiful images of their pride and joy at 4 Mbytes each.
If I was unlucky enough to click on such a post with my ADSL+ system, it would be more than a minute before I could use my computer again. If a couple of people reply, quoting the first posting in full (still happens quite a lot), then it is going to be 3 minutes before I can use my computer again.
So there are very good reasons for requiring a modest amount of discipline in posting images. It only takes a few minutes to download and learn how to use a basic photo manipulation program, and only a few seconds to make a photo bandwidth and screen resolution friendly.
If you do not have it already, I can recommend PMVIEW for Windows.
There "MAY"? be an alternative, if Proboards is able to implement a media filter that automatically compresses all incoming images before saving. Youtube does this (with good reason). But I am not optimistic.
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Post by Brendan69 on Dec 16, 2018 16:37:54 GMT
I feel the same about this albeit I think ive been politely told to wind my neck in I think.
I have no issues at all paying a small fee if it helps which it does as ive done it on other club forums I belong to.
I know I am a newby here and still quite young compared to many other owners/members BUT if clubs don't attract new and younger owners and members then eventually they dry up and disappear. No one lives for ever and nothing ever lasts forever unless its gently pulled along the line of progress.
I left the Aston Martin owners club because it is sadly run by " the old & bold " who would not let go and or change albeit their loss and I still enjoy my cars which is what its all about in my book along with sharing with like minded enthusiasts.
I can feel another telling off coming my way now!!! LOL
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Post by dhb5610 on Dec 16, 2018 17:40:52 GMT
I think you maybe correct this is a good place and like you I do fear that the club needs to think about the forum and how it is used, there a reluctance to talk about it let alone do anything. Don't get me wrong I like the forum and will stick with it and it is fine for the written word if I want to post photos I will go to Facebook on to the Rover P5 appreciation society which is another good site for Rover P5 enthusiasts. There is a dislike of Facebook and it's not my favourite place but for someone like me who is a member of quite a few groups relating to different classic vehicles it is a good place and most of them are closed groups and are therefore only used by like minded people. The big thing for me is that it is easy to access and use and you can post photos without any problem. I think there is nothing else to say on the matter so best leave this topic alone.
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Post by johnwp5bcoupe on Dec 16, 2018 20:07:44 GMT
Firstly the forum is not run by the club but by our Admin David who gives up his time also to edit the Magazine all for free and does a fantastic job "thank you David", Phil and I are just the moderators. Phil has Rover blood in his veins has done since being a young man! I know he wont comment on this post as he got fed up with petty comments! myself my first P5 at age 22 my present Coupe since 73 so I guess we are classified as "Old and Bold" does that mean we are without knowledge and in our dotage! personally I find that terminology "Old and Bold" smacks a bit of "age discrimination" and as far as I am concerned there is no place for it on this forum. In respect to the forum it was set up to help owners maintain their cars, advice coming from young and old alike over the years with or without pictures, why is it so much effort to use a picture hosting site? Stan at the tender age of 80 manages to use a hosting site. Photobucket went to a paid service and a lot of links were lost on many forums but there are others out there as I have pointed out as did Vince. As David I am sure would say enjoy the knowledge/help on the forum "carry on as you were" and I will second that!
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Post by enigmas on Dec 16, 2018 23:26:53 GMT
I've enjoyed using this forum for what I believe is now over 20 years. I purchased my P5 MK3 when I was 38 as a very run down 'fixer-upper' as a birthday present and spent 2 years rebuilding it (but not to John's standard...as I had a young family and money was tight) It then served me as a daily driver till I was 60. I have with fair regularity posted various technical, whimsical and other Rover related topics/queries to this forum in all that time. I've acquired knowledge and insights from the various participants of this forum and also at times rubbed some against the grain primarily on technical differences. I've emjoyed the inclusiveness of the forum and corresponded with enthusiasts from many countries including: the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, NZ, and America to name a few. I think the forum Admin and Moderators do a marvellous job in maintaining the forum and keeping it open to world wide participation. I believe the Modified section of the forum was created to broaden participation and to create a section for those enthusiasts that aren't rigid traditionalists. This one move created a broader church for the forum. This forum is one of three I visit with regularity, two of which are in the UK and one in North America. No, I'm not club member (for obvious reasons) but would be If I resided in the UK. As for displaying pictures, I've always used picture hosting sites for images that I want to post on the forum. Truly it's not that difficult and there are many helpful individuals on the forum willing to guide a novice through the process. Fo my tuppence worth I think it is a good place and like a family we all get on each others nerves at times.
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Post by OlafR on Dec 17, 2018 8:49:40 GMT
I have a deep respect for people that are willing to spend their time for running things such as the forum and the magazine! And I'd also be willing to contribute financially if that would do the trick, regardless of whether or not this is restricted to club members or not.
I very much detest 3rdP sites for hosting pictures - we've all seen what this can lead to in the not too distant past (thank you again, PhotoBucket). Also, hi-res pictures are particularly valuable for us as it's often the little detail that we want to zoom onto. Bad with 20kb pics!
That said, if any compressing is required to reduce disk space then it should be the software itself that does it, i. e. the forum software. If you post pictures on Facebook, WhatsApp et al, that's exactly what they do. IMHO, it won't ever work if the people posting have to do it, for a couple of reasons: - it requires general knowledge, i. e. the person posting needs to know that pictures need to be resized
- it requires technical knowledge, possibly beyond the abilities of the poster
- it takes time (a considerable amount thereof, too!)
On the other hand, hard disk space has gotten cheaper and cheaper over the years, and I do wonder as to how expensive it could get? Technical information & detail (and that's what those pictures often are!) is key to ensuring that our cars may be maintained over the next decades, particularly in a sense so that newbies/youngsters (which includes me, you choose whether the 1st or 2nd term applies )find the information they need. So I do think that it's something that the club with its not so very unsubstantial savings could invest into. But then again, that's just my .02!
Cheers, Olaf
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Post by David on Dec 17, 2018 9:36:00 GMT
Healthy debate is always welcome, though I would ask to consider your comments before posting. A bit of background. This forum was created in 2004 (moved from an earlier, more basic version) and over the following 14 years we have seen it grow considerably - even more so, as over time, and now with mobile phones people are finding it easier to add accompanying photos. During all this time we have not had the necessity to increase our current storage space of 200mb, which I feel is an accomplishment in itself, as many of you have willingly followed the request for the maximum size of photos.
Simple arithmetic:- 200mb @ 1mb each means maximum of 200 photos. 200mb @ 250kb each means we can have 800 photos.
As has been mentioned, it really is not difficult to supply photos at this size and should you decide to use a photo hosting site your photos will automatically be reduced to fit. I really don't see an issue here other than the forum member spending a minute or two to resize their photo.
Saying that, the club is aware that the forum has become a victim of it's own success and to that end, from January, we will be purchasing additional storage space of 500mb (or the equivalent of 2000 photos) , BUT the size of any attached photos will remain at 250kb.
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Post by dhb5610 on Dec 17, 2018 9:58:28 GMT
Thank you David I agree healthy de bate is constructive and I think what you need to bare in mind is that some of us are newish members and therefore don't know past history of the forum these issue will re appear from time to time as we al all concerned about both the club and the forum.
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Post by Warwick on Dec 17, 2018 10:07:35 GMT
David, something that would help to minimise unnecessary data storage would be a simple post explaining again how and when to use the Quote function. There is so much unnecessary quoting that it is clear that many members don't understand that there is a simple Reply function. If you are replying to the immediate previous post, there is no need to quote it. It's right there. This is even more important when that post contains photos that get repeated over and over again, making the whole thread much harder to read. It should also be explained that you can edit out unnecessary parts of a quoted post, leaving only the bit you are commenting on or replying to. And, you need to be careful when quoting, not to add your post inside the quoted section, making reading your post difficult or confusing.
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Post by OlafR on Dec 17, 2018 11:04:05 GMT
I visit the group regularly (don't do much on Facebook except for cars lately. ) BUT, the FB group has its privacy settings set to "public", meaning that everyone (regardless of being a member of the group or not, AFAIK it's even visible to the general public) is able to see what I like or post. Even worse, Facebook "friends" may receive a notification about my post or thumbs-up. I don't post or like anything in such groups. I did once request to make it a private group, but that was ignored. Since we're at this again: if you set a FB group to "private" nothing is lost. This just means that people must apply to become a member of the group (and an admin needs to click-confirm that) and that content is not visible to non-members. Cheers, Olaf
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Post by David on Dec 17, 2018 11:08:34 GMT
Accessing information for Rover enthusiasts, be they club members or not, on this forum or our Facebook page, is fundamental to the clubs objectives. Restricting access to such information, benefits no one IMHO. To be a member of either is a choice, not an obligation
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Post by Brendan69 on Dec 17, 2018 11:21:23 GMT
I also DONT do FB or Twitter OlafR. Its a den of inequity as far as I am concerned and the worse thing ever to appear from the www world.
Regards,
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Post by Brendan69 on Dec 17, 2018 11:27:04 GMT
Firstly the forum is not run by the club but by our Admin David who gives up his time also to edit the Magazine all for free and does a fantastic job "thank you David", Phil and I are just the moderators. Phil has Rover blood in his veins has done since being a young man! I know he wont comment on this post as he got fed up with petty comments! myself my first P5 at age 22 my present Coupe since 73 so I guess we are classified as "Old and Bold" does that mean we are without knowledge and in our dotage! personally I find that terminology "Old and Bold" smacks a bit of "age discrimination" and as far as I am concerned there is no place for it on this forum. In respect to the forum it was set up to help owners maintain their cars, advice coming from young and old alike over the years with or without pictures, why is it so much effort to use a picture hosting site? Stan at the tender age of 80 manages to use a hosting site. Photobucket went to a paid service and a lot of links were lost on many forums but there are others out there as I have pointed out as did Vince. As David I am sure would say enjoy the knowledge/help on the forum "carry on as you were" and I will second that! I think your over reacting and taking things a tad too personal here and out of context. All this has been about is idea's and polite suggestions and at no point has there been any nasty comments made as far as I can see/read. Its your trainset at the end of the day. Regards,
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Post by davewright on Dec 17, 2018 11:41:28 GMT
I have to say that I could not run my P5B without the help of the people on the forum so am very grateful for all admins and contributors. The one thing that would help me is a change to the RSS feed. Other RSS feeds I see contain the first line of the post as well as the heading. This means I can see some detail of the post without having to open it. I don't know if this is possible with this forum but it would be nice if it could be switched on.
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Post by David on Dec 17, 2018 12:00:28 GMT
Dave,
At the bottom of the HOME page you should find: Recent Threads - Recent Posts - RSS Feed - Mark All Boards Read
Click on the link and hopefully it should work.
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Post by davewright on Dec 17, 2018 12:46:50 GMT
David Sorry, you misunderstand I think. RSS feeds are working fine. The difference between the feeds from this forum and the others I use is that this only puts the heading in the feed notification whereas the others put the heading and the first line of text. Don't worry too much as it is only a little thing but if it is just a tick box then it would help me. Dave
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Post by johnwp5bcoupe on Dec 17, 2018 13:32:34 GMT
Brenden first of all it's not my trainset I merely help the forum run I suggest that statement is a tad provocative! as was the "Old and Bold" in inverted comma's! no nasty comments just innuendo's! Enjoy this great site for what it is a place to find help from like minded enthusiasts myself included.
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Post by David on Dec 17, 2018 13:41:27 GMT
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Post by Brendan69 on Dec 17, 2018 18:31:12 GMT
Ok, lets leave it be now then and get on with enjoying things which I intend to do.
Its Brendan BTW. LOL
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Post by OlafR on Dec 18, 2018 9:28:41 GMT
Accessing information for Rover enthusiasts, be they club members or not, on this forum or our Facebook page, is fundamental to the clubs objectives. Restricting access to such information, benefits no one IMHO. Facebook's closed groups do not present much of a restriction. The membership ensures that admins can expel people that post or behave inadequately. It also helps to see who is interested in the matter. You can just provide access to everyone, they only have to express their interest, that's all. To me, it's rather the open/public groups that limit me, so there's the dilemma for you: while I'd be willing to contribute to the FB group, I won't due to its unlimited accessibility. But I'll leave it at that. Cheers, Olaf
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Post by Ken Nelson on Dec 19, 2018 20:39:49 GMT
The forum has worked well for me here in the USA, and the pictures have been clear enough for the details I have needed. Thanks to all the folks who maintain it.
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Post by Warwick on Mar 21, 2019 12:39:24 GMT
David, something that would help to minimise unnecessary data storage would be a simple post explaining again how and when to use the Quote function. There is so much unnecessary quoting that it is clear that many members don't understand that there is a simple Reply function. .... Gee, this Quote function is useful. I just posted in a thread, via my phone. I don't think I've ever done that before. I discovered that there is no Reply button when using a mobile phone. Your only option is a Quote button. This explains a lot. In order to avoid quoting, I had to delete the quoted text from my reply before posting it. Not easy on a phone screen.
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Post by OlafR on Mar 22, 2019 8:44:40 GMT
If you intend on reading/posting here with your mobile device (cell, tablet, etc.) more often and provided you're using Android, take a look at Tapatalk ( infos here, download here).
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Post by Warwick on Mar 22, 2019 9:10:56 GMT
Thanks Olaf. I only read it sometimes on the phone. It's an iPhone, anyway.
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