edit by c0ldshadow, this problem is now fixed as of 6/1
How to Fix Attached Pictures in Old Posts!
As you know, one of the problems ppl have been having with the new forum is getting attached pictures from their older posts to display in-line properly in the new forum. YaBB always displayed attached pictures inline directly below the text, and many members expected and relied on that when composing their previous posts in the old forum.
But the new forum often displays these pictures as just a attachment "link" at the bottom of the posts. Even worse, these pictures are currently not even accessible AT ALL to casual visitors or lurkers, which represent the vast majority (typically over 80%) of the users of this site!
This inability to display the older posts as they were originally intended and written (with the attached images intact & visible inline with the contents), or for the lurkers (not being able to access these pictures at all!), tends to obfuscate or in many cases even destroys the poster's original meaning and flow of content.
So here is a solution to this problem!
(Note that this only applies to older threads that had been "converted-over" from YaBB to new forum)
1) Go into the original YaBB forum here -
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl
and find your original post. Scroll down to the picture in question.
2) Directly above the picture, you will see a paper-clip icon and a filename (like "mylaser.jpg"). Position your mouse directly over that filename, so that the link highlights -
3) Now, with your mouse still over that link, right-click it, and then select "Copy Shortcut" (for IE) -
or "Copy Link Location" (for FireFox) -
4) Go to that same post in the new forum. Click the "Edit" button at the bottom of your post -
5) Click your mouse in the edit box, scroll down to the bottom of your post text -
6) Now click the "Image" Button (above the text box, the one with the two mountain peaks in it) -
7) When the box pops-up asking you to "Please enter the URL of your image:" -
...then press Control-V on your keyboard. This should paste the address you copied in step 3 into that box -
You should see something like this -
"http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forumdata/yabbfiles/Attachments/mylaser.jpg"
8) Click OK, then Save Changes. If you did this right, your original picture should now appear at the bottom of your post! -
Cool, huh? That's it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Note again that this only works for older posts that were converted-over from YaBB. Displaying attachments for new posts still needs to be resolved.
Benefits:
This will always display the image properly inline!
This allows everybody (including lurkers) to view the original post with all the pictures intact!
There is also extra server overhead associated with the way the new forum displays attachments (separate program run - "attachment.php", extra database access, login check, generating the special HTTP headers to simulate an image, etc.) This approach avoids all of that, reducing the load on c0ld's server!
It is also possible to apply something like this in an automated fashion, conceivably converting every single attached image and fixing ALL of the older posts at once! That is something that still needs to be looked at.
Enjoy!
How to Fix Attached Pictures in Old Posts!
As you know, one of the problems ppl have been having with the new forum is getting attached pictures from their older posts to display in-line properly in the new forum. YaBB always displayed attached pictures inline directly below the text, and many members expected and relied on that when composing their previous posts in the old forum.
But the new forum often displays these pictures as just a attachment "link" at the bottom of the posts. Even worse, these pictures are currently not even accessible AT ALL to casual visitors or lurkers, which represent the vast majority (typically over 80%) of the users of this site!
This inability to display the older posts as they were originally intended and written (with the attached images intact & visible inline with the contents), or for the lurkers (not being able to access these pictures at all!), tends to obfuscate or in many cases even destroys the poster's original meaning and flow of content.
So here is a solution to this problem!
(Note that this only applies to older threads that had been "converted-over" from YaBB to new forum)
1) Go into the original YaBB forum here -
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl
and find your original post. Scroll down to the picture in question.
2) Directly above the picture, you will see a paper-clip icon and a filename (like "mylaser.jpg"). Position your mouse directly over that filename, so that the link highlights -
3) Now, with your mouse still over that link, right-click it, and then select "Copy Shortcut" (for IE) -
or "Copy Link Location" (for FireFox) -
4) Go to that same post in the new forum. Click the "Edit" button at the bottom of your post -
5) Click your mouse in the edit box, scroll down to the bottom of your post text -
6) Now click the "Image" Button (above the text box, the one with the two mountain peaks in it) -
7) When the box pops-up asking you to "Please enter the URL of your image:" -
...then press Control-V on your keyboard. This should paste the address you copied in step 3 into that box -
You should see something like this -
"http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forumdata/yabbfiles/Attachments/mylaser.jpg"
8) Click OK, then Save Changes. If you did this right, your original picture should now appear at the bottom of your post! -
Cool, huh? That's it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternative Approaches -
Instead of Steps 2 & 3, you can also right-click the image itself, select properties, then highlight & copy the URL from the properties screen. (But the paperclip method is easier/faster!)
In Steps 5-8, rather than using the "Image" button, you can also enter the code manually (NOTE - If you feel uncomfortable entering post codes manually, you may be better off just using the Image button above). Go to the bottom of your post in the edit box, then type "
![](http://" (without the quotes), then Control-V to copy the saved URL, then ")
" (without quotes), then click Save Changes.
Again, these are just alternative approaches, you don't need to use them if you just follow the Steps above!
-------------------------------------------------------------------Instead of Steps 2 & 3, you can also right-click the image itself, select properties, then highlight & copy the URL from the properties screen. (But the paperclip method is easier/faster!)
In Steps 5-8, rather than using the "Image" button, you can also enter the code manually (NOTE - If you feel uncomfortable entering post codes manually, you may be better off just using the Image button above). Go to the bottom of your post in the edit box, then type "
Again, these are just alternative approaches, you don't need to use them if you just follow the Steps above!
Note again that this only works for older posts that were converted-over from YaBB. Displaying attachments for new posts still needs to be resolved.
Benefits:
This will always display the image properly inline!
This allows everybody (including lurkers) to view the original post with all the pictures intact!
There is also extra server overhead associated with the way the new forum displays attachments (separate program run - "attachment.php", extra database access, login check, generating the special HTTP headers to simulate an image, etc.) This approach avoids all of that, reducing the load on c0ld's server!
It is also possible to apply something like this in an automated fashion, conceivably converting every single attached image and fixing ALL of the older posts at once! That is something that still needs to be looked at.
Enjoy!
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