Photobucket Goes Rogue

It's really odd that Wilt's main httpix page has options for copying embed codes, including BBcode.....and then doesn't allow external linking!! Maybe there are options in the user account settings...

davesrose wrote in post #18406118
It's really odd that Wilt's main httpix page has options for copying embed codes, including BBcode.....and then doesn't allow external linking!! Maybe there are options in the user account settings...

A trial account?

I noticed there is a Cloudfare security on httpix.com:

in Chrome:

http://104.27.129.111 …911a2d9b3d17695​f53f7f.jpg

"You've requested an IP address that is part of the Cloudflare network."


As said, configuration is nowadays REALLY complex.

Pekka wrote in post #18406121
A trial account?

And not open for new user sign up. Can't find much documentation on the service either...

davesrose wrote in post #18406125
And not open for new user sign up. Can't find much documentation on the service either...

Odd is also that there is no gallery root:
https://httpix.com/ima​ges/wilt/

davesrose wrote in post #18406118
It's really odd that Wilt's main httpix page has options for copying embed codes, including BBcode.....and then doesn't allow external linking!! Maybe there are options in the user account settings...

I am speculating that you need a fully functioning (not trial) account for external linking hotlink, but have not verified that with John yet.

Yes, in a series of PMs, John told me

"I do have a solution to replace photobucket, it's something I've used personally to share photos with friends and family and never really designed to be used by others....Let me know if you're interested in trying it out. I can set you up with a test account for you to poke around...it provides HTML/Embed Code so you can simply copy-paste the photo to forums or email....However, I'd recommend we only move forward with the photobucket migration if you are satisfied with the test account as the migration will take time to process."

Maybe I am his guinea pig on a not-yet-available service?!
Not that I mind being a test for a new service, I am happy to provide him with input on what works and what doesn't...as a career I used to take products out for medical capital equipment, and bring back user comments to the engineers to address issues that needed attention before product general availability.

Just now exchanged emails, and he pointed me to the right codes to use, two of them being tried here:

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Wilt wrote in post #18406144
Yes, in a series of PMs, John told me

"I do have a solution to replace photobucket, it's something I've used personally to share photos with friends and family and never really designed to be used by others....Let me know if you're interested in trying it out. I can set you up with a test account for you to poke around...it provides HTML/Embed Code so you can simply copy-paste the photo to forums or email....However, I'd recommend we only move forward with the photobucket migration if you are satisfied with the test account as the migration will take time to process."

Maybe I am his guinea pig on a not-yet-available service?!
Not that I mind being a test for a new service, I am happy to provide him with input on what works and what doesn't...as a career I used to take products out for medical capital equipment, and bring back user comments to the engineers to address issues that needed attention before product general availability.

Okay, so that is a bit different and pretty cool. John has basically created a cloud storage domain, and when you are a paid subscriber, you will probably get a subdomain to use instead of Wilt being a subdirectory. Just a guess though. So this means you don't need to purchase the entire set of web services to manage your own site, or get a domain. I still recommend a domain, just in case, but if you think you will use his services over the next several years, then no real need to get one. What is the cost of this smaller service he is offering?

Wilt wrote in post #18406139
I am speculating that you need a fully functioning (not trial) account for external linking hotlink, but have not verified that with John yet.

Oh, so this isn't a full fledged photo hosting service but something John the POTN member is offering? Yeah, so looks like he's got his own setup with his own "content management system" (user interface that's allowing you to manage your photos). You can check with him to see how he'll set up your paid member file structure (and since this is intended for POTN members, he'll be sure to allow hotlinking). You can certainly price compare and decide whether to go with him, use imgur, your own FTP site, smugmug, etc.

Pekka wrote in post #18406121
A trial account?

I noticed there is a Cloudfare security on httpix.com:

in Chrome:

http://104.27.129.111 …911a2d9b3d17695​f53f7f.jpg

"You've requested an IP address that is part of the Cloudflare network."


As said, configuration is nowadays REALLY complex.

Pekka wrote in post #18406138
Odd is also that there is no gallery root:
https://httpix.com/ima​ges/wilt/

Pekka wrote in post #18406138
Odd is also that there is no gallery root:
https://httpix.com/ima​ges/wilt/

httpix.com is currently a trial. In John's webhosting page, its 30 days to try it out and see how it is. It's not a full blown domain but more of something like PB for image hosting only.

www.tinypic.com is another free site (for now). However, it doesn't leave the filename attached. It gives it some generic filename.

Wilt wrote in post #18406144
trial account

Yes, in a series of PMs, John told me

"I do have a solution to replace photobucket, it's something I've used personally to share photos with friends and family and never really designed to be used by others....Let me know if you're interested in trying it out. I can set you up with a test account for you to poke around...it provides HTML/Embed Code so you can simply copy-paste the photo to forums or email....However, I'd recommend we only move forward with the photobucket migration if you are satisfied with the test account as the migration will take time to process."

Maybe I am his guinea pig on a not-yet-available service?!
Not that I mind being a test for a new service, I am happy to provide him with input on what works and what doesn't...as a career I used to take products out for medical capital equipment, and bring back user comments to the engineers to address issues that needed attention before product general availability.

Just now exchanged emails, and he pointed me to the right codes to use, two of them being tried here:

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

both show up in preview, but fail upon posting.

I'm in the same boat, John told me to use FileZilla client. I have everything working just confused on how to make it work close to Photobucket.

Wilt wrote in post #18406144
both show up in preview, but fail upon posting.

It doesn't look like John's configured the site to fully allow hotlinking still. It's being hosted with Cloudflare. Looks like this is one way to enable hotlinking (he'd have to create this directory in your image link):

How-do-I-allow-hotlinking-from-a-specific-site

Just wondering, we've found that imgur, postimage, or cubeupload works. Do you not like them?

Edit: saw that John had embedded your image in his hosting thread. Looks like if I copy it, it works. The main difference with it is that it's http instead of https. There can be a lot of issues mixing and matching http vs https. As Pekka said, configurations can get quite complicated.

taking your medium BBcode from the embed options, and replacing https with http

IMAGE LINK: http://httpix.com/imag​e/Reyy

IMAGE LINK: http://httpix.com/imag​e/R2b1

davesrose wrote in post #18406258
... we've found that imgur, postimage, or cubeupload works. Do you not like them?

I switched to imgur, after the PB meltdown. So far, it is working for me.

Wilt wrote in post #18406144
trial account
Just now exchanged emails, and he pointed me to the right codes to use, two of them being tried here:

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Pekka, the identical links work on another forum for me (on APUG forum), but result in error windows on POTN forum, about files not found. I have advised John of this behavior, and he is researching.

davesrose,
I'll pass on to John the change you tried to my links, from https to http. Thx.
BTW, I tried identical (https) links in APUG as used also in POTN, and everything works fine in the other forum, with the https versions.

I have rendered no judgement yet on which one I like the best...I simply want to play with each, compare the uses, and assess pros and cons of each after a bit of familiarization and usage before deciding.
Part of the assessment is ease of upload and copying working links to various forums for hotlink, part of the assessment is ability (or not) to have folders set up for various organizations of images, to make an image easier to locate at a later date for re-use. For example, on PB I have a folder for equipment shots, another folder for illustrations of photographic principles, and another folder for examples posted prior to 2015, and another for 2015 to present. Thus far I have found some of the hosting sites do not seem to have some form of image categorization like that...one example of finding pros and cons of the hosting sites, then deciding the best.

Once I decide, I will post on POTN what I have chosen, and why it was chosen of the other hosts, so that other POTN members in predicaments with PB links becoming dysfunctional can make choices suited for their needs. That's also why I am openly testing candidates and advising of issues as I find them...so that hosts can fix the issue or so that users can avoid that service because of the issues.

Hey folks, just saw this thread.

As mentioned my site is behind CloudFlare and I've been able to use it to post/hotlink images from it at other sites/forums. This is the first time I've seen hotlinking not working at POTN but I don't believe it's a problem with hotlinking (since it does hotlink fine in message previews) but more to do with what happens to hotlinked images once you submit the post.

@Pekka, any idea what error the POTN server is seeing? It looks like it is trying to fetch the file first to look for EXIF data but that is failing only through HTTPS. CloudFlare does use SNI protocol so that may be the cause of the incompatibility.

In the meantime, I do have a workaround for the issue (essentially forcing the embed codes to use a different domain that does not go through SSL).