announcements Changes to file attachments

[Gloves | 11,761]

Hey all!

Long story short, it's as I expected - open the flood gates and unfortunately it will cost ye. Upping the file size limits and allowing users to just upload anything they want is on the brink of increasing the cost of running the site long-term.

In order to nip it in the bud, there's going to be some changes to file uploads, including but not limited to the following:

• Max file size per post will be reduced
• Max files per account will be reduced
• You will be able to delete your files
• Only images will be allowed to be uploaded

This will be it for now, but note that other similar sites tend to have even stricter policies - another forum I (used to) frequent doesn't actually allow uploads of any sort, you have to use IMGUR and the like. We MAY have to resort to that in the future, but for now I'm working to try and avoid that.

THAT SAID - if you CAN use IMGUR to host your images and link to them instead of uploading here on VGS, that DOES help for the long term.

Any questions feel free to ask!

 

UPDATE: Files are currently being moved to a new storage system. If you notice some images not loading, give it time as there is a lot getting moved.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

Out of curiosity, can I pay extra as a one time fee to actually buy extra space? I’m running out of private message space, and I think I’m near the limit to file size space.

I never delete anything...I still have all my PMs from NintendoAge archived somewhere, I’d hate to manually have to archive these ones.

I don’t want it to be a fruitless endeavor for you, but I do love to shitpost so dearly (seriously) and I also use the image function for some more serious collector stuff as well.

Also, consider compression for the images. We don’t exactly need 24-bit TIFF file quality, or animated PNG support. (I’m not sure if you actually have that enabled but it’s for illustration purposes)

 

...

Oh and that reminds me. Can you expand the email notifications to include the full PM instead of just a snippet? It’s how I archived my entire NA PM history, and googles email search allows me to recall literally any conversation I had on NA in private in seconds.

 

 

Oh part 2: Spreadsheets take no space at all. Consider them as well, were spreadsheet freaks here!

[Gloves | 11,761]

2 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

(1) Out of curiosity, can I pay extra as a one time fee to actually buy extra space? I’m running out of private message space, and I think I’m near the limit to file size space.

(2) I never delete anything...I still have all my PMs from NintendoAge archived somewhere, I’d hate to manually have to archive these ones.

(3) I don’t want it to be a fruitless endeavor for you, but I do love to shitpost so dearly (seriously) and I also use the image function for some more serious collector stuff as well.

(4) Also, consider compression for the images. We don’t exactly need 24-bit TIFF file quality, or animated PNG support. (I’m not sure if you actually have that enabled but it’s for illustration purposes)

...

(5) Oh and that reminds me. Can you expand the email notifications to include the full PM instead of just a snippet? It’s how I archived my entire NA PM history, and googles email search allows me to recall literally any conversation I had on NA in private in seconds.

(6) Oh part 2: Spreadsheets take no space at all. Consider them as well, were spreadsheet freaks here!

I've numbered your statements/questions and will respond below:

1. No, it's a per month thing.
2. Agreed, and I'm working on alternatives.
3. Understood re: "serious collector stuff", but in general I'd advise that there are far better services for image storage than a forum and would in general encourage you to store important images on services designed for that purpose.
4. Image compressions is already in place.
5. I don't believe I can do so, no. I will however, at least look into it. Remind me later if it seems I've forgotten (I likely will).
6. Google sheets would be my suggested alternative.

I'll note that it looks like the primary issue is videos, not images. As I say, compression is already happening.

Consider all of this an ongoing and fluid thing. I'm, adjusting now to see what works. I've reached out to the service provider to see if my S3 configuration is set up properly; if I understand correctly all the images etc. SHOULD be going to an AWS S3 bucket, and thus not bump Invision to the next cost tier. However, the server space seems to be filling regardless, so I've reached out to them to confirm the situation.

If you want to commit funds to increase server space the best way would be through a monthly subscription. That is the most stable way for us to see what we can/can't afford to commit to.

[Gloves | 11,761]

UPDATE: Files are currently being moved to a new storage system. If you notice some images not loading, give it time! There's a lot moving.

[a3quit4s | 4,092]

8 hours ago, Gloves said:

Consider all of this an ongoing and fluid thing. I'm, adjusting now to see what works. I've reached out to the service provider to see if my S3 configuration is set up properly; if I understand correctly all the images etc. SHOULD be going to an AWS S3 bucket, and thus not bump Invision to the next cost tier. However, the server space seems to be filling regardless, so I've reached out to them to confirm the situation.

If you want to commit funds to increase server space the best way would be through a monthly subscription. That is the most stable way for us to see what we can/can't afford to commit to.

I would agree with this; vgs-media.s3 and you know the rest. Can we get a CloudFront US East location, I can't stand the extra 10ms load times  

Edited December 29, 2020 by a3quit4s

[Hammerfestus | 3,820]

This all seems reasonable.  
 

This just made me think; have you ever considered going PBS here and doing some sort of pledge drive?  Maybe on a night when the highest percentage of VGSers are likely to be inebriated?

[SuperJimtendo | 1,116]

Thanks for all the hard work gloves. 

[Jeevan | 8,909]

1 hour ago, Hammerfestus said:

This all seems reasonable.  
 

This just made me think; have you ever considered going PBS here and doing some sort of pledge drive?  Maybe on a night when the highest percentage of VGSers are likely to be inebriated?

every night?  lol

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

1 hour ago, Hammerfestus said:

This all seems reasonable.  
 

This just made me think; have you ever considered going PBS here and doing some sort of pledge drive?  Maybe on a night when the highest percentage of VGSers are likely to be inebriated?

Sounds like someone else listens to PBS.  If you want to do it right yo got to do "sustainers" and give out a cheap prize for joining.  I do love my PBS socks.  But would agree, subscriptions my be not ideal for a lot of people but one time donations could drum up some cash.  I would think VGS's birthday would be a great event to do such a thing.  Could give out a bubble that will expire one year later if you are worried about them accumulating.  Also a nice little nudge for people to keep their bubble.

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

The only other forum that I use on a regular basis doesn't allow for any uploading in the forum section because they host so many images in a different part of the website.  Because of this, I've always used Mediafire to upload my images.  I was doing the same here at first, but I got lazy when the restrictions were lifted on max images.  I will go back to my old ways to do my part in saving space.  

I'll just mention that Mediafire is free up to 10GB and doesn't compress your images.  I've been using it for 7 years now.  The only issue I ever ran into is that embed link doesn't always jive with the newer websites such as this one and you have to make one smaller edit to the link for it to work.  I haven't checked yet to see if that's been corrected on their end.  It's still an easy process to link images.  

[Jeevan | 8,909]

2 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

Sounds like someone else listens to PBS.  If you want to do it right yo got to do "sustainers" and give out a cheap prize for joining.  I do love my PBS socks.  But would agree, subscriptions my be not ideal for a lot of people but one time donations could drum up some cash.  I would think VGS's birthday would be a great event to do such a thing.  Could give out a bubble that will expire one year later if you are worried about them accumulating.  Also a nice little nudge for people to keep their bubble.

the nice little prize is a place to hang out .  also you get unlimited pm space i believe......for the liw low price of 5 bux a month!  lol.  sorry I had to

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

15 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

every night?  lol

If it works, yes.  

Have you ever heard of the story of the designated driver who stopped at every gas station he passed on the way home and collected gas money from his drunk friends each time?  We could sort of do the same thing here with our own drunk members. 

[Jeevan | 8,909]

also, u can do an annual amount......just sayin......but anyway, let's just try and watch our usage if we can like @TDIRunnersuggested I for one have uploaded vids to YouTube and just linked them myself.

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

I see the new limit for total attachments.  It still seems pretty generous in my opinion.  I feel like I've uploaded a lot of stuff and I'm only at 15% of the max. I'll still try to use attachments sparingly and link most of my images with Mediafire.

 

A few questions:  What is the new size limit for each individual attachment?  And if a previously attached image is over this limit, has it been deleted or grandfathered in?  Is there a chance that any of my older attachments are done due to size?  No hard feelings if that's the case.  I'm just curious.  Thanks.  

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

By all means lets do our part to lessen the data storage.  But I really do like the idea of a "fun drive" event for VGS's birthday.  Hell, is there even a "tip jar" to do random one time donations of any amount on VGS because I also like that idea too.

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

18 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

the nice little prize is a place to hang out .  also you get unlimited pm space i believe......for the liw low price of 5 bux a month!  lol.  sorry I had to

We aren't mimicking ASPC....we need a very generous donor to do matching donations so then you can say....for a limited time your one time donation will be double by a matching donation from a generous anonymous donor.  So your $20 donation turns into $40.  A $50 dollar donation turns into $100 donation.  That is the PBS/NPR

[Jeevan | 8,909]

8 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

We aren't mimicking ASPC....we need a very generous donor to do matching donations so then you can say....for a limited time your one time donation will be double by a matching donation from a generous anonymous donor.  So your $20 donation turns into $40.  A $50 dollar donation turns into $100 donation.  That is the PBS/NPR

might u be so generous? 

[Jeevan | 8,909]

19 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

By all means lets do our part to lessen the data storage.  But I really do like the idea of a "fun drive" event for VGS's birthday.  Hell, is there even a "tip jar" to do random one time donations of any amount on VGS because I also like that idea too.

there is a donation area....

[Jeevan | 8,909]

@FireHazard51 goto merch and subscriptions, then donations just so u know! 

also shirts are available as well lol.  just sayin'

[Jeevan | 8,909]

I would post a picture, but that would defeat the purpose of this thread

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

41 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

there is a donation area....

You've spurred me to do a small donation.  Now that I've done it I'll do it again I know.  Possibly I'll do it as a "tip" for hosting game nights  

[Jeevan | 8,909]

6 minutes ago, FireHazard51 said:

You've spurred me to do a small donation.  Now that I've done it I'll do it again I know.  Possibly I'll do it as a "tip" for hosting game nights  

not my intentions, but thanks buddy.  just fielding questions! 

[T-Pac | 7,513]

I got this guys - just need to reduce the resolution of my cartoons...

-CasualCart

[Jeevan | 8,909]

Ok quick, everyone delete everything and give @CasualCartall ur megs!!!!

[T-Pac | 7,513]