Victoria: Rain/Storm event: 29th Nov - 5th Dec (Images)

[Blackee]

Hi all,

We have received numerous messages from AWF members and guests about the length of time opening the current obs thread, due to the amount of (high quality ) pictures within the thread.
Especially chasers and those mobile with limited bandwidth, can we ask you to post your images into this thread as a temporary measure.

Once the event settles down (in terms of the amount of obs being posted) we will then merge your pictures/images etc into the observations thread (date/time will hold and be placed in the correct order, and not at the end of the thread). When you have posted images, feel free to post an observation and let us know that you have posted some pics in this thread!

I do hope you understand the reason for this action, and continue to encourage you to post you images!! We are very proud to house such great images!

Any concerns please shoot a pm or email to Karl or myself.

Cheers

Wes

[Blackee]

Thanks to all who posted their photos in here yesterday!
I know it means another thread, however the Obs page was much more functional for those on the road or via iPhone getting updates.
All photos have now been absorbed back into the event obs thread in the correct order.

Would appreciate any feedback, both positive and negative!

[Soxy]

Whats happening everytime I go to upload a photo tells me board is full???? How can I upload and to where photos from last nights storm???

[Blackee]

Whats happening everytime I go to upload a photo tells me board is full???? How can I upload and to where photos from last nights storm???

Soxy, have you saved images in photobucket or similar?

[ShaneEEEE]

Thanks to all who posted their photos in here yesterday!
I know it means another thread, however the Obs page was much more functional for those on the road or via iPhone getting updates.
All photos have now been absorbed back into the event obs thread in the correct order.

Would appreciate any feedback, both positive and negative!

Hey Sniper,

To be quite honest I would prefer it if this thread remain open and all images be posted into this thread. If I see a thread that is 58 pages long as the current obs thread is, I will generally ignore it.

I think the idea of having a thread dedicated to imagery for an event is a brilliant idea, it saves having to sift through a thousand posts to find images.

Just my 2c worth.

[schitzengiggles]

Wes,

I like this idea. The other alternative is to bang images in the OBS thread as per usual and create a seperate thread containing text only (or BOM STW charts) information/warnings in regards to ACTUAL storms in progress.
It'd be nice to have posts the quality of John's over the last few days in an easily found area. I think others have a fair bit to bring to the table in that respect too. AV, johnno, yourself.. etc. The better the information, and the easier that information is to access, the better the experience that those living vicariously will get.

[Soxy]

Hey Guys I must be stupid have saved photos to my desktop and then trying to use upload attachment down at bottom here and doesn't want to let me have some amazing photo's

[Lily]

Soxy, upload to a photobucket account, then copy the (IMG) link into your post

[Meso]

Thanks to all who posted their photos in here yesterday!
I know it means another thread, however the Obs page was much more functional for those on the road or via iPhone getting updates.
All photos have now been absorbed back into the event obs thread in the correct order.

Would appreciate any feedback, both positive and negative!

Hey Sniper,

To be quite honest I would prefer it if this thread remain open and all images be posted into this thread. If I see a thread that is 58 pages long as the current obs thread is, I will generally ignore it.

I think the idea of having a thread dedicated to imagery for an event is a brilliant idea, it saves having to sift through a thousand posts to find images.

Just my 2c worth.

Agree with this. Would much prefer to have all the images from an event in one thread, rather than having to flick through over 50 pages of "rumbles here!" and "its pouring!"

That being said, most of the regulars usually repost all their pics in the corresponding storm chasing thread anyway. Not everyone does tho, so quite a few good pics get lost amongst everything.

[windyrob]

Not every system is going to have pretty photos, what about a seasonal photo thread? Post larger image sizes in there and either links or thumbnails in the obs thread?
By the way how do you post a thumbnail that links to a larger photo with these codes?

[Australis(Shell3155)]

Windyrob.. I sent you a pm last night.. did you get it..?

[Lily]

Windyrob, Photobucket (and I assume others) will give you an option to post clickable thumbnails. Perhaps this is the middle ground for this issue combined with a storm chaser's photography/reports thread.

I think it's very difficult to keep everyone happy, and regardless of the outcome, there will still be people who don't agree. At the end of the day, the genuine intention is there to make AWF as user friendly as possible for everyone; from novices with a general interest in weather, to storm chasers & photographers, to expert commentators alike.

Unfortunately as the forum grows in strength there will always be areas of the boards that some people don't necessarily agree with, all we can do is try to accommodate the majority and be open to ideas and feedback (which I believe is the case).

[tizza]

I honestly think that clickable thumbnails are the way to go. They must be kept small though, as I've accidently posted large thumbnails myself. That said, if they're kept small people can see them straight away, click for the larger image and move on. This will stop masses of bandwidth getting chewed up and stop fantastic photos from getting lost or not being posted at all which is a huge loss. I've only ever used photobucket and it makes it so very easy to do this. If there is something caught in the image that isn't visible in the thumb, a short note can explain where to look in the larger pic. I totally understand the bandwidth issue especially with mobile phones or people with low internet plans. This will cut down excessive usage by at least 50-70% if not more. I think it's important to post images as they happen in the one thread and this is what I feel a great compromise. The full images can be put in later by the moderators but at least we wont lose fantastic photos.

Take my avatar as an example, if the clickable thumbs are around that size or a TAD bigger, this is what will stop the bandwidth issues. They really don't need to be much bigger than that.

[BigBen]

I'm stuck between what I'd prefer.

I think thumbnails in the main thread is a good idea, I also like the images in another thread. I would like them to stay in that thread though. I'd love to be able to go back and view the images and some chat about them in an image thread. Moving them back to the event thread later means you have to wade through so much more.

I'm not going to be fussed either way, I do have sympathy for the field guys, using mobiles to access the site. After all I live the chasers dream through their updates, without them my enjoyment of the weather would be so much less, so whatever helps them the most is what I'm for.

[Instability]

Maybe I am not technically correct, but can't you switch display images off as a user setting? If you are on the road using a wireless connection (through an iPhone for example), wouldn't this stop the bandwidth problems?

Personally I like to see the photos with the posts as it adds to the story that is unfolding before us. Otherwise it would be like reading a book or a manual with all the illustrations either at the back or in a separate book

Having said that, it would be great if the forum had the ability to display only a default-sized "preview" photo that would automatically link back to the source photo. So, regardless of size of the original photo they would always be the same size in the forum posts. I know that this is probably not technically possible within our forum, but for someone like me who would post thumbnails with links if they didn't find it so technically challanging, it would be a great solution.

Keep up the good work and thank you for providing us with these wonderful forums

Rog.

[Lily]

Instability, your post reminded me to check board preferences, I thought of it last night but then forgot! I believe that could be the answer to part of the problem! Chasers and others accessing the site remotely from hand held devices can turn off images within posts.

Go to User Control Panel > Board preferences>Edit display options

Display images within posts: Yes No



So that just leaves the issue of download limits & connection issues for members with slow connections.

[Anthony Violi]

Short video of the storm at Coldstream yesterday at 1 pm that dropped 27mm in 10 minutes at Dads farm.

Yet again, destroyed more fruit, price of Strawberries will be high.

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Longer video with better footage when i catch up with my brother tomorrow.

[mad*moo73]

I actually quite like having a seperate thread for the images of an event. Saves you scrolling through pages of posts in the obs thread if you want another look at some of the pics. Doesn't worry me what is done in the obs thread in regards to pics. That's my 2 cents worth!

[Petros]

Maybe I am not technically correct, but can't you switch display images off as a user setting? If you are on the road using a wireless connection (through an iPhone for example), wouldn't this stop the bandwidth problems?

Personally I like to see the photos with the posts as it adds to the story that is unfolding before us. Otherwise it would be like reading a book or a manual with all the illustrations either at the back or in a separate book

Having said that, it would be great if the forum had the ability to display only a default-sized "preview" photo that would automatically link back to the source photo. So, regardless of size of the original photo they would always be the same size in the forum posts. I know that this is probably not technically possible within our forum, but for someone like me who would post thumbnails with links if they didn't find it so technically challanging, it would be a great solution.

Keep up the good work and thank you for providing us with these wonderful forums

Rog.

I use Photobucket still, and I confess I should be pasting the thumnail not the full snap, will start doing so again, just got caught up with the general trend of past 12 months.

[Nick Sykes]

Hey guys

I would still like to see images in the obs but it really is about quantity and size. What i dislike are posters who post 20 large images of basically the same thing, what i would like to see are maybe a few good pics of nice size, say 800x600 pixels max and then maybe a link to more images in an image thread or photo site. Thumbnails could also work.

Nick