Attachments As Links vs Thumbnails

[William Whitaker]

More and more it seems that attachments are showing up as links rather than thumbnails. I've double-checked to make sure that I'm logged in. Thumbnails are awfully nice to have as a preview to see if I want to open the attachment. And at first I was getting thumbnails. But now I seem more frequently to be getting just links. Is it an adjustment on my end or does it depend on something else?

Also the server seems to be very slow at times, at seemingly irregular intervals. Sometimes it's quick. Other times it takes two or three minutes to open a post. FWIW.

[Leigh]

It depends on how the originator included the image.
If it was inline using the [IMG /IMG] tags, it should display inline unless it's too big.
I think the vBulletin s/w imposes a maximum size limit, beyond which it provides a thumbnail automatically.

If the originator used the attachment option, I think it always displays a thumbnail.

I've also noticed the server seems quite slow, unpredictably. I'm going to start a separate thread on that.

- Leigh

[jnantz]

hi will

i had the same question ...
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?87452-question-about-uploading-attachments

it turns out that if you upload more than 1 attachment, the first one is full size, and the other ones
load as thumbnails that you click on and preview.
i kind of like the preview function too !

john

[Leigh]

OK. I mis-interpreted the original post.

I've also noticed that the attachments show up as a simple icon with a file name attached rather than as a thumbnail.

This is true even when there's only one attachment.

It appears this change, and others, are designed solely to increase the click count on the site.

Of course it also inconveniences the members, but the site owners apparently don't care about them at all.


- Leigh

[Kirk Gittings]

Leigh. We could absolutely care less about click count. As a totally non-commercial site of what value is click count to us? NADA 0.

Your getting on your ridiculous high horse again. You should reread your signature quote.

The plain fact is that upgrading the software, which members had been lobbying for for along time (the moderators and owner could have cared less), has created allot of unforeseen changes that must be worked out.

[Leigh]

Kirk,

I've been designing and deploying software for 45 years. I know what's involved in a major upgrade.

The point I'm trying to make, and which seems to go unnoticed, is that every change is degrading
the user experience rather than enhancing it.

Another example of which is the lack of text in the email notifications. It was present in the previous
version, and I expect it can be made so here with a simple option selection.

I realize vBulletin is commercial s/w, not custom s/w for your particular application.

That being said, I expect there are a lot of options available, and the defaults may not be those that
are most appropriate to this particular site.

If you'd be so kind as to send me the user documentation I'll be happy to review it and make
recommendations regarding settings, which you can certainly ignore if you choose.

While my comments may appear super-critical, I'm really trying to help by bringing up points for discussion.


- Leigh

[jnantz]

i don't think any of the changes are degrading my experience at all ... its just change ...

and compared to the lusenet board this place is like a rolls royce ...
this place used to be a text base bbs... no email, no graphics, no subscriptions, no classifieds, no off topic discussions ... just text

[Ralph Barker]

. . . I realize vBulletin is commercial s/w, not custom s/w for your particular application.

That being said, I expect there are a lot of options available, and the defaults may not be those that
are most appropriate to this particular site.

If you'd be so kind as to send me the user documentation I'll be happy to review it and make
recommendations regarding settings, which you can certainly ignore if you choose.

While my comments may appear super-critical, I'm really trying to help by bringing up points for discussion.


- Leigh

Your points are well-taken, but you should realize that we've been through this before. Major upgrades in software usually involve trade-offs between new features and new peculiarities - and a corresponding shake-out period after going live. Although we pre-set most of the vB options during testing to be similar to how our previous version worked, there are, as should be expected, a few aspects that aren't well described in the software documentation.

For practical reasons, we tend to set options in a way that strikes a balance between user experience and any associated admin workload.

[Leigh]

Hi Ralph,

Yes, there are always tradeoffs.

My comments about increasing click counts are based on the current business model
for sites of this type on the web, even though LFPF may have differing goals.

I'm a moderator on another site, of a size and activity level quite similar to LFPF.
The owner of that site makes quite a lot of money from advertising based on click counts.

From that experience I'm willing to bet that the defaults in the new version of vBulletin
are designed to maximize the click-throughs, and I've certainly seen ample evidence to
support that assessment.

Thanks.

- Leigh