The Photobucket Ransom thing

[stone-cold-lead]

When I first saw this thread I wondered what the fuss was all about as I'd not heard anything from Photobucket. Got the email the other day though. Thankfully I think only a few images of mine of any importance were linked from there, and that's going back a bit too. My bloody sig link is buggered though.  Still works as a link but hardly has the same visual impact. Without the linking Photobucket really is a pointless website. Won't see them no more.

[Bergil]

I'd have paid a pound a month or something for the priviledge.

[stone-cold-lead]

I'm downloading what I have on there and then I'll delete my account. I'm sure loss of accounts is the only thing that will affect them and maybe cause a change of policy.

[Orctrader]

I'd have paid a pound a month or something for the priviledge.

This is what's so crazy from a Business perspective.  If they had said "from next month we need to charge...blah.blah.blah..."  £/$ per month, or more, but something ordinary people could afford, I suspect their revenues would have soared.  As it is, sounds like they have no takers.  Very strange.

For me, I have my own website and it is long overdue an overhaul.  For quickness some of the galleries have links to my PB albums, so they no longer work.  And I realise not all of my photos have been put up, so some work to do over the coming weeks.

[Viruz]

To get a clear head, I have disabled the MetalMagic Forum. 
Disabled, NOT closed.

I need time to think.(gain distance)

* Several attempts to download the photos at Photobucket as ZIP file
Have failed.
* Try to copy my Photobucket photo folder using HTTrack
failed.
* On Photobucket are approximately up until 4300 files which are included in contributions

Thank you for your sympathy......

I'm going to cry now

[guitarheroandy]

Sorry, folks. All my photos I ever posted on LAF were from PB. I will not be re-linking them. Far too much work.
I'll obviously find a new solution for future posts. For those interested, my blog is the place to go if searching for any of my stuff from the archives. Everything I posted here is up there somewhere.

[Shamash-Bel]

I'd really recommend Imgur or if you're hosting your own blog then buy a server space (£10~ per year) and put some adverts along the edges. Will likely make your money back.

[Ray Rivers]

Ya know...

Photobucket is a crap place to host your photos anyway. Any photo you put on there is re-compressed again when it is linked to. So the imagine quality is pretty poor. People were fleeing Photobucket for quite some time now. Why have your photos look like shit when linked to? That is why I switch to Imgur (and probably thousands if not millions more) and I think this has been brought up before.

Overall then, what we are seeing is a dying site trying to keep itself alive as it cannot compete with the image quality of other sites available.

BTW, I haven't been back to Photobucket for a long time. I received an email concerning change of conditions but deleted it. So far my old Photobucket links are still in tack. But it is probably only time until they disappear.

*shrug*

[Dolmot]

I'd really recommend Imgur

It's a nice site in general. However, if you plan moving your stuff there (or anywhere else, for that matter), just be aware of the terms. For example, in Imgur's case:

FAQ for Forum Users:

If you are using Imgur to host images for a site makes money, whether from ads or any other way, it's considered to be commercial. This is against our Terms of Service (TOS) and images found to be used this way may be blocked. For more details, please read our TOS.

Terms of Service:

Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com.
--
Although of course we strive to make Imgur as dependable as possible, Imgur's services are provided on an AS IS – WITH ALL FAULTS basis. Your use of our service is entirely at your own risk. We do not guarantee the availability of our service at any given time, or the reliability of our service when it is running. We do not guarantee the integrity of, or the continued availability of, files on our servers. Whether we make backups, and if so, whether restoration of those backups will be available to you, is at our discretion.

and as a minor detail,

Inactive Account Policy:

We encourage users to actively log in and use Imgur when they register an account. To keep your account active, be sure to log in at least once per year. Accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity.

Until 2015 they also had a policy regarding inactive images, which would get deleted if not viewed at all within three months. Later they announced keeping images "forever", but that help article has already disappeared, hence that "forever" may not be that absolute. A new deletion policy could be re-introduced at any moment.

In one Business Insider article, it was simply said that "Patrizi won't comment on Imgur's revenue figures". Do you think their business model will be any more sustainable than Photobucket's? Your guess is as good as mine.


The short version is that you're pretty much guaranteed to find similar terms on any free hosting site. They can cancel or alter the service at any time, and you cannot expect anything beside your money back. Then you'll be re-migrating those thousands of images again. Better keep your local copies (and backups) handy and well organised whenever using a free service. Crucially, never use one as the sole location for the Library of Alexandria. This is not the first case of learning that lesson the hard way.

[sukhe_bator]

Very useful (and somewhat depressing) advice. As much as I enjoy the feedback and exchange of ideas with others on this site, it seems like a lot of faff to an ageing technophobe like me to organize sharing images all over again. With limited spare time available I shall probably cease sharing and revert to my hermit-like existence off grid....

[Jerekin]

The safest option would be to find a forum intern solution. I mean if you chose a photohoster you have to pay them and the servercompany anyway.

We could just make a yearly forumintern crowdfunding campaign like wikipedia.

I mean there must be a way to integrate pictures and text within posts at an appropiate size via intern software. It's 2017.

If space issues appear. Threads which don't achieve a certain "archive status" by request could be deleted after some years. Photosize should also be limtied to a certain size. Big enough to see painted details and technique but small enough not to bloat the forum.

Once integrated most stress free solution.

Just my opinion.


ORRR

As attachements look just fine to me, make one post for each picture so the text stays associatable. Write in first post: "Don't post yet WIP!"

Include that in Forum rules and there you go.

[Jerekin]

This little gem of a program: http://rip.rarchives.com/ might be a really good tip for people who want to archive some stuff before it's forever gone. Only the URL is needed. So it works with script- and addblogs. It's fast and hasslefree. Bypasses the ransom as well. But shhh...

[Viruz]

Hello.
I upload image for image at photobucket down ( originally 4308 Files/32%) 
After the upload, I delete the folder. It is tedious and a lot of work,Each picture separately.


Currently there are 354 files (6,6%) at Photobucket.
After the upload, I delete my account.

The files I load on my MetalMagic Forums Webspace.

Never again imagehoster.
Never Never Never

[Dr Mathias]

I upload image for image at photobucket down ( originally 4308 Files/32%) 
After the upload, I delete the folder. It is tedious and a lot of work,Each picture separately.

You are not able to download full albums? Downloading picture by picture would drive me nuts.

[Viruz]

You are not able to download full albums?

No. Photobucket does not allow me that I tried it 9x

Downloading picture by picture would drive me nuts.

Right enough! I'm totally crazy.