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GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Garland Bayley on July 05, 2017, 04:37:32 PM

Title: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 05, 2017, 04:37:32 PM
Now that Photobucket has declared war on us and wants to exhort $400 a year from us to continue to get our pictures to appear here, you might want to try flickr.

I had some trouble figuring how to get pictures from flickr to appear here so I asked on the thread
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,40551.0.html
and got some help that you might find useful.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: John Kavanaugh on July 05, 2017, 04:49:59 PM
Here is a link to an article explaining the greatest thing ever done for personal memories and future conquests: http://geeknewscentral.com/2017/07/02/photobucket-charging-subscription-fee/
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Steve Lang on July 05, 2017, 08:58:37 PM
 8)  Yes, very unfortunate... I've used Photobucket for many years but I've only used 9% of my free space.. I think that's good and will definitely be moving to Flickr

... always like the edit function..
... seems first they try to extort $ to go add free, and they've made it a small pain with all the ads that pop up.  I almost went for that but on principle didn't
... its kinda like Hotel California Cloud Computing, luckily i have copies of everything
hang around long enough and you see a lot of things change, oh well, play on.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 05, 2017, 09:19:36 PM
They originally provided the img bracketing already in place for posting. Eventually they changed that so that they embedded img bracketing in the url bracketing so that if you clicked on a picture you went to their website. I figured that was a good move, as it seemed to me it would provide them exposure, i.e., free advertising of sorts.

We make no money from using their website and providing this exposure. I could understand if people were using the 3rd party hosting for commercial gain. However, in essence we are providing a public service to people looking for golf information.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Ben Malach on July 05, 2017, 11:46:53 PM
I personally have found Imgur to be the best for creating albums and has no hosting fee.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Sean_A on July 06, 2017, 04:47:59 AM
I switched to Flickr recently because I couldn't cope with Photobucket.  It seems in the past year the site is incredibly slow and finicky.  The big problem with Flickr is no editing capability...I like to crop pix and that function has been down for yonks.  Still, slowly my pix will be leaving the Photobucket site and migrating.

Ciao
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Ulrich Mayring on July 06, 2017, 07:10:17 AM
You have to be aware of the fact that any service that is provided for free today will cost money tomorrow. If you are not prepared to either pay for a service or move off it once it starts charging, then your best option is to self-host. Which is what I do for my pics. It costs me a few bucks per month to have my own server, which not only hosts photos, but also my email, website and everything else that I wouldn't trust anyone else with.

However, what I don't understand is people getting angry when a free service suddenly starts charging money. That step is inevitable and everyone, who charges money for their work, should know that!

Ulrich
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Jon Cavalier on July 06, 2017, 07:12:48 AM
I switched to Flickr recently because I couldn't cope with Photobucket.  It seems in the past year the site is incredibly slow and finicky.  The big problem with Flickr is no editing capability...I like to crop pix and that function has been down for yonks.  Still, slowly my pix will be leaving the Photobucket site and migrating.

Ciao


Sean:

I don't use it often, and when I do, it's always for cropping tweaks like you, but the editing function works for me in both the official Flickr app and the third party Flickstackr app that I use. You may want to give that a try.

One note of caution - I'm a big fan of Flickr in general for its cost (free), space (1TB), functionality/easy embedding, and it's album and share capabilities, and I've been using it for a long time. But I'm somewhat concerned about its future in light of the Verizon acquisition. So if you use it, make sure that it's not your only backup.

Which gives me a chance to once again tout Google Photos and to again say that everyone who has more than a handful of photos should be using this excellent free service/app. I won't go through the long list of terrific features, but its only drawback is that it doesn't currently support direct embedding of photos like Flickr does. Eventually it will, and when that time comes, it will be the only online photo service you'll ever need.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Sean_A on July 06, 2017, 07:17:01 AM
I switched to Flickr recently because I couldn't cope with Photobucket.  It seems in the past year the site is incredibly slow and finicky.  The big problem with Flickr is no editing capability...I like to crop pix and that function has been down for yonks.  Still, slowly my pix will be leaving the Photobucket site and migrating.

Ciao


Sean:

I don't use it often, and when I do, it's always for cropping tweaks like you, but the editing function works for me in both the official Flickr app and the third party Flickstackr app that I use. You may want to give that a try.

One note of caution - I'm a big fan of Flickr in general for its cost (free), space (1TB), functionality/easy embedding, and it's album and share capabilities, and I've been using it for a long time. But I'm somewhat concerned about its future in light of the Verizon acquisition. So if you use it, make sure that it's not your only backup.

Which gives me a chance to once again tout Google Photos and to again say that everyone who has more than a handful of photos should be using this excellent free service/app. I won't go through the long list of terrific features, but its only drawback is that it doesn't currently support direct embedding of photos like Flickr does. Eventually it will, and when that time comes, it will be the only online photo service you'll ever need.

Jon

This is the message I see when I try to edit.

Photo Editor Upgrade
The edit photo feature on the Flickr photo page is currently disabled pending an upgrade.Very shortly, you’ll have access to a more stable, more feature rich photo editor to complement your Flickr experience!Sorry for the inconvenience of this unexpected upgrade, but we’re confident it will be worth the wait.
I am eagerly awaiting embedding from Google!

Ciao
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Keith Grande on July 06, 2017, 10:16:41 AM
+1 on Google Photo
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 06, 2017, 11:44:49 AM
...

However, what I don't understand is people getting angry when a free service suddenly starts charging money. That step is inevitable and everyone, who charges money for their work, should know that!

...

It seems to me that there is a long history of free software packages that have never charged money. Often times the free packages had limitations. The trade off is usually limited quality for free vs. better quality with a charge. Photobucket has been awful for years (see Sean's comments above). Why would anyone pay for something so bad. If they were willing to pay, they would get something better.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Michael Whitaker on July 06, 2017, 11:56:32 AM
Jon - Google Photos does allow direct embedding. Open a photo, right-click on photo and select "copy image location", paste location into image link on GCA post. Voila! I only use Google Photos to post on GCA. Has never failed.

Whit

PS - you can get 100GB of extra storage for your Google Drive for $1.99 per month! I store all photos and video there. Super easy.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Kalen Braley on July 06, 2017, 12:10:18 PM
...

However, what I don't understand is people getting angry when a free service suddenly starts charging money. That step is inevitable and everyone, who charges money for their work, should know that!

...

It seems to me that there is a long history of free software packages that have never charged money. Often times the free packages had limitations. The trade off is usually limited quality for free vs. better quality with a charge. Photobucket has been awful for years (see Sean's comments above). Why would anyone pay for something so bad. If they were willing to pay, they would get something better.


Photobucket has chosen the "crack dealer on your local corner" route.  Got its users hooked and then charged them an arm and a leg when they thought it customers are vulnerable.


Except the difference is there are other free/low cost options, so they're really just shooting themselves in the foot.  Sure some may pay for one month to retrieve their photos if needs be, but I suspect its a desperation move by Photobucket, the proverbial last gasp of air to get some extortion money before they close shop. As has been said, their site has been lousy for a couple of years now... agonizingly slow and a clunky user interface.


P.S.  I have no trouble with going to a pay model mid-stream, but to go from $0 to $400 per year is just dumb.  If they went to something cheaper like $50/year that allowed 3rd party hosting, they would have have probably survived this. Bye Felicia!
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Jon Cavalier on July 06, 2017, 12:31:44 PM
Michael: Thanks, that's good to know. Hopefully they'll add support for direct BBCode embedding, but your method is certainly an easy workaround. Great tip.


Kalen: Well said. I can't image what else Photobucket's strategy could be other than wringing a few bucks out of people who need to pull down their photos. After all, why would anyone pay $400 a year for a mediocre service that Google, Flickr, and Amazon do better and for free, and Apple also does better and with impressive integration and synchronization across devices for a fraction of the cost.


I use Google photos with autoupload for free as my backup, Flickr for sharing albums and images here, and I pay Apple $9.99 a month for 5TB of iCloud photo storage. Normal people could certainly get by with only one of these. But I have no clue why anyone would pay $33/mo. for a lesser, antiquated service with mediocre functionality and minimal support when these other options exist. 
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Marty Bonnar on July 06, 2017, 12:56:30 PM
Jon - Google Photos does allow direct embedding. Open a photo, right-click on photo and select "copy image location", paste location into image link on GCA post. Voila! I only use Google Photos to post on GCA. Has never failed.

Whit

PS - you can get 100GB of extra storage for your Google Drive for $1.99 per month! I store all photos and video there. Super easy.


Don't seem to be able to do that 'copy image location' thang on the IPad. Any thoughts anyone? Bueller? Bueller?


F.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: David Davis on July 06, 2017, 01:40:15 PM
I'm using Imageshack.


They started charging a while back and I imagine it's where they all are going. It's hard to run an online business these days. It's not good if Google takes over the world, just wait to see what will happen then once they have run everyone else out of business.


I think it costs like 30 bucks a year or something for Imageshack and seems functional enough.


I guess the others must be the same. If figure it's worth the investment to share photos with the great people of this site!
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Tommy Williamsen on July 07, 2017, 06:25:36 PM
Jon - Google Photos does allow direct embedding. Open a photo, right-click on photo and select "copy image location", paste location into image link on GCA post. Voila! I only use Google Photos to post on GCA. Has never failed.

Whit

PS - you can get 100GB of extra storage for your Google Drive for $1.99 per month! I store all photos and video there. Super easy.


Don't seem to be able to do that 'copy image location' thang on the IPad. Any thoughts anyone? Bueller? Bueller?


F.


I can't seem to figure it out on my iPad either.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 11, 2017, 12:53:32 PM
It seems they have escalated the war on us. I have been downloading my albums to move them on to flickr. Today my downloads began to be defective with pictures that will not display correctly on my computer. Anyone else experiencing such a problem?
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Eric Smith on July 11, 2017, 01:10:55 PM
Not sure about this war.


I have used Photobucket since I joined this site in 2007 and have no issues with them. I pay 2.99 per month and my pics are in my posts as they always have been.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Michael Whitaker on July 11, 2017, 01:25:50 PM
Jon - Google Photos does allow direct embedding. Open a photo, right-click on photo and select "copy image location", paste location into image link on GCA post. Voila! I only use Google Photos to post on GCA. Has never failed.

Whit

PS - you can get 100GB of extra storage for your Google Drive for $1.99 per month! I store all photos and video there. Super easy.


Don't seem to be able to do that 'copy image location' thang on the IPad. Any thoughts anyone? Bueller? Bueller?


F.


I can't seem to figure it out on my iPad either.
Martin and Tommy,


I can't make it work on my iPad, either... as I described. It works on a laptop, but can't figure it out on the iPad. I have an old app called "Web Albums" by Pixite that organizes my Google photos. That app will give me a link to a Google photo that works on GCA, but that app no longer appears to be available in the App Store. This app allows me to post photos on GCA using my Google photos. For some reason the Google Photos app does not provide that link. I can't find another app that will provide the proper link, so I guess this will only work with a desktop or laptop until the Google app starts providing a sharing link that will work.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 11, 2017, 04:04:24 PM
Not sure about this war.


I have used Photobucket since I joined this site in 2007 and have no issues with them. I pay 2.99 per month and my pics are in my posts as they always have been.

They just haven't sniffed you out for using them as a 3rd party host yet.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Kalen Braley on July 11, 2017, 06:01:23 PM
Not sure about this war.


I have used Photobucket since I joined this site in 2007 and have no issues with them. I pay 2.99 per month and my pics are in my posts as they always have been.

They just haven't sniffed you out for using them as a 3rd party host yet.


Or he could be grand fathered in given he's been a paying customer for what I would assume has been several years...
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 11, 2017, 07:17:39 PM
Not sure about this war.


I have used Photobucket since I joined this site in 2007 and have no issues with them. I pay 2.99 per month and my pics are in my posts as they always have been.

They just haven't sniffed you out for using them as a 3rd party host yet.


Or he could be grand fathered in given he's been a paying customer for what I would assume has been several years...

Or, they could be waiting until they have hit all the freeloaders like you before turning their attention to the ad-free third party hosting.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Tommy Williamsen on July 11, 2017, 08:15:56 PM
I tried to post a photo using Google photos but no luck. When I right click I don't see "copy image location." I do see "copy image address" but when I paste the link no picture comes up just a long series of letters and numbers.


Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Mike Sweeney on July 11, 2017, 08:49:01 PM
I tried to post a photo using Google photos but no luck. When I right click I don't see "copy image location." I do see "copy image address" but when I paste the link no picture comes up just a long series of letters and numbers.


You have to move it to your G+ account, make it public and post as before. The default image is smaller, so change the initial block  to "img width=800" (don't use the quotes,  use [ and ] - I have to use the quotes here so you see them).


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MC8o5zgh6ro/WVujY9rkQMI/AAAAAAAADSo/kSE0tmgnCR4xG8GcA9eUIBGBpTC-L10lwCJoC/w530-h398-p/IMG_0358.JPG)
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Tommy Williamsen on July 12, 2017, 12:10:44 PM
Good grief, I didn't realize that the policy from Photobucket was retroactive. All pictures from previous posts are gone!!


I still can't figure out Google Photos. I went to Google Plus but couldn't figure out how to move the pictures. I can do somethings on my computer as long as it doesn't require getting a new skill.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 12, 2017, 03:03:59 PM
Good grief, I didn't realize that the policy from Photobucket was retroactive. All pictures from previous posts are gone!!
...

They are probably still in your photobucket account. Photobucket is just blocking their display.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Dunlop_White on July 27, 2017, 12:47:43 AM
Photobucket has just eliminated all the photos I've used for years to supplement posts in the Discussion Group….effectively compromising the content of entire threads throughout GCA. I could spend $400 annually with Photobucket to restore posts -- or spend days and weeks converting to a new site and re-embedding them back into countless threads. 
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Garland Bayley on July 27, 2017, 01:43:46 AM
Photobucket has just eliminated all the photos I've used for years to supplement posts in the Discussion Group….effectively compromising the content of entire threads throughout GCA. I could spend $400 annually with Photobucket to restore posts -- or spend days and weeks converting to a new site and re-embedding them back into countless threads.
Please spend the $400 so they can improve their website to consistently allow me to get my pictures back through downloads.  ::)

Pretty fly by night organization.  >:(

Best of luck to you.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: David Lott on July 27, 2017, 09:38:59 AM
You have to be aware of the fact that any service that is provided for free today will cost money tomorrow. If you are not prepared to either pay for a service or move off it once it starts charging, then your best option is to self-host. Which is what I do for my pics. It costs me a few bucks per month to have my own server, which not only hosts photos, but also my email, website and everything else that I wouldn't trust anyone else with.

However, what I don't understand is people getting angry when a free service suddenly starts charging money. That step is inevitable and everyone, who charges money for their work, should know that!

Ulrich


Indeed. But everyone loves free stuff
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: BCowan on July 27, 2017, 10:19:46 AM
Photobucket has just eliminated all the photos I've used for years to supplement posts in the Discussion Group….effectively compromising the content of entire threads throughout GCA. I could spend $400 annually with Photobucket to restore posts -- or spend days and weeks converting to a new site and re-embedding them back into countless threads.


Dunlop,


I highly recommend imageshack, I pay maybe $40-60 a year and the site quality is much better. They gave me a free year in 2013.  I'd recommend u give them a shot.  $400 seems like a shakedown.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Dunlop_White on July 27, 2017, 11:06:31 AM
Thanks for the recommendation. Imageshack could work nicely moving forward. However, I would need to spend days and weeks re-embedding all the old photos into old threads, which are now compromised without them. Looks like we have no other choice.





Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: John Kavanaugh on July 27, 2017, 11:41:09 AM
Thanks for the recommendation. Imageshack could work nicely moving forward. However, I would need to spend days and weeks re-embedding all the old photos into old threads, which are now compromised without them. Looks like we have no other choice.


Dunlop,


Before you do all that work you might ask Ran if he has any data on people visiting old threads. This site is even set up to deter people from posting on old threads. On an attempt you are asked if you really, really want to add anything new.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Bart Bradley on July 27, 2017, 01:02:56 PM
I am not complaining but my pictures haven't disappeared.  Wonder why?


Bart
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Richard Hetzel on July 27, 2017, 01:06:29 PM
I stopped using photobucket a long time ago, way too many adds.


I use imageBB.com, totally free and quite simple to use.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Mark_Rowlinson on July 27, 2017, 01:24:38 PM
I have a lot of photos now blocked on Photobucket. But I've got loads more which have not been seen including old colour slides scanned. I should be very happy to share these with GCA folk if someone would send me instructions for posting them. I have a mixed bunch of old slides which have lost their captions, so we might have some fun identifying them! They're mostly British but there are a few European and American ones, although I am not sure how many of the American ones I am allowed to post - certainly not Winged Foot.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Mike Sweeney on July 27, 2017, 08:42:07 PM
I tried to post a photo using Google photos but no luck. When I right click I don't see "copy image location." I do see "copy image address" but when I paste the link no picture comes up just a long series of letters and numbers.


You have to move it to your G+ account, make it public and post as before. The default image is smaller, so change the initial block  to "img width=800" (don't use the quotes,  use [ and ] - I have to use the quotes here so you see them).


(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MC8o5zgh6ro/WVujY9rkQMI/AAAAAAAADSo/kSE0tmgnCR4xG8GcA9eUIBGBpTC-L10lwCJoC/w530-h398-p/IMG_0358.JPG)


Reposting for Mark Rowlinson.


Google has lots of money, and this seems to work free of charge, for now.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Joe Hancock on July 27, 2017, 08:53:03 PM
Instead of all this discussion about which site to host photo's for fee or free, shouldn't we just pay Ran to upgrade and host our photo downloads directly? Todays free site might be the the next PhotoBucket tomorrow. Dunlops example is the perfect reason to let GCA.com host, that way the photos are always there, unless the website disbands altogether, making all this a moot point.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Sean_A on July 28, 2017, 03:46:50 AM
I have been served notice....another month or so and 3rd party hosting disappears. 

Ciao
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Neil White on July 28, 2017, 07:26:29 AM
I have started uploading photos to Facebook ensuring that they are private.


From there I can view the photo and right click to copy the link.


This might suit some of you.
Title: Re: Photobucket war on us
Post by: Kalen Braley on July 28, 2017, 11:18:24 AM
Instead of all this discussion about which site to host photo's for fee or free, shouldn't we just pay Ran to upgrade and host our photo downloads directly? Todays free site might be the the next PhotoBucket tomorrow. Dunlops example is the perfect reason to let GCA.com host, that way the photos are always there, unless the website disbands altogether, making all this a moot point.


Joe,


I'm all for this as this would certainly simplify things. Storage is dirt cheap...its the bandwidth hit you're really paying for.  What would be the cost basis, assuming 100-200 active posters of this site at any given time?