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Photobucket Picture Removal


How to handle orphaned threads with the Photobucket "give us $399" demand  

47 members have voted

  1. 1. Should we:

    • Replace the annoying graphic with a short message
      47
    • Remove the thread completely
      0


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We've been looking into the PB debacle and the way we see it, there are two methods of removing the ransom demand pics from threads.  One is to remove the URL and replace it with a short message as to why the pics are gone, the other is to remove the threads completely, on the basis that without pics, they will make little sense.

 

I'm torn over which option is best, and have made enquiries with Invision to see if there's a quick & easy way to accomplish the task.  Both have their merits and drawbacks, as follows (in my eyes at least):

 

Remove individual "picture" URLs

This would leave the majority of any affected thread intact, although heavy picture threads would make a lot less sense as a result.  The benefit would be that any technical information contained in the thread would be there for future reference.  I suspect we'll need a custom script to be able to do this, unless there's an in-built option to retrospectively alter threads.

 

Remove complete threads

This would completely sanitise any affected thread, but would also wipe out any remaining useful content, inlcuding any photos that weren't affected.  We'd have to do this on member request, or via reported threads as we go along.  The only benefit over & above the other option would be the reduction in size of the database over time, which isn't a massively compelling reason.  The other issue is, at what point do we consider a thread non-viable?  How many pictures over how many posts?  That's a bit of a :worms:

 

Have your say by voting in the poll.

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If you remove it completely, all info and tips are gone, but some of us are able to work around the facts theres no picture..............its just like reading a book?  You picture in your minds eye what you think it maybe..............we do it all the while when we read novels, we picture the scenario...............just a slight "message note" Mike would suffice........ideally, if only one pic is involved, you may still be able to see it........I have googled many items recently in images to find what I was looking for AND found it, its only when I click on the link to the page that I find its PB and all the images have been replaced on that linked page by dreaded camera icon, BUT, the image remains on the google data base

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My preference is for option 1. As you say, the remaining text may have value and it seems a shame otherwise to consign someone's efforts to the cyber bin. Having said that I don't think many people would fret if my efforts disappeared :rofl:

 

I would also suggest that if option 2 is adopted, the person opening the thread should be given the chance to update it, by reinserting fresh links and giving them a reasonable timetable to do so before the plug is pulled.

 

Then there are threads and contributions by such persons as the late lamented Edgar. I noticed that many of his photos disappeared shortly after his passing. Maybe if the photos exist elsewhere the Mods could repopulate them over time.

 

Trevor

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As often happens during the process of expounding different options, I convinced myself that I preferred option 1 during the posting.  Unless anyone can come up with a compelling argument for thread deletion that hasn't occurred to us yet, it's a more complex and problem filled option.  Where do you stop, who decides, do we give OP the option to reinstate are all aspects that take up moderator time, which is precious.  There are bound to be some threads that are utter garbage after the pic removal, so we'll leave that to members to flag up as we go along.

 

Keep the ideas and thoughts coming though, as we're always option to a better way of doing things :)

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It shouldn't be a difficult thing to do a single SQL query using a regular expression over all the thread entries should be able to look for all occurrences of 'photobucket' in an image source and replace the string with your own message/pic of Panzer Vor posing provocatively...

 

(best to test it first on a clone of the DB table of course)

Edited by Kallisti
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1 minute ago, Kallisti said:

It shouldn't be a difficult thing to do a single SQL query using a regular expression over all the thread entries should be able to look for all occurrences of 'photobucket' in an image source and replace the string with your own message/pic of Panzer Vor posing provocatively...

 

(best to test it first on a clone of the DB table of course)

 

Easier said than done by someone (me) that knows more Japanese words than MySQL syntax and the layout of our database.  Also, we'll wait to hear from Invision on that score.  Why have a dog & bark yourself? :)

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As someone who knows more about neurosurgery than he does about what's involved with what you have to do, I would say go with option 1 for the following reason. If the thread is still there, with it's associated text and info, it leaves the door open then for the originator to replace the PB photos with ones from whatever hosting site that they are currently using....assuming that they would want to. Just my two centimes worth.

 

John.

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There's that too, thanks John :)  Gone is gone, afterall.  With option 2, we run the risk of removing threads that people just haven't gotten around to fixing yet :shrug:

 

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At some time, I will start to slowly replace the pictures. So, PLEASE don't delete the text as well, posts may still be useful without pictures. For me, option Nr.1

 

Alex

 

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I would prefer to replace the graphic.

It leaves a chance to the autor to upload again his pictures.

 

on other forums (forumactif board in france), they chose to disable links from photobucket as a default setting.

admins have to reactivate them manually.

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21 minutes ago, alex said:

At some time, I will start to slowly replace the pictures. So, PLEASE don't delete the text as well, posts may still be useful without pictures. For me, option Nr.1

 

Alex

 

 

Me too, on both counts

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1 hour ago, Panzer Vor!!! said:

Remove all affected thread  after warning that it will happen on  such a day eg Monday 24 /7 .

 

Start afresh with a clean slate

The problem with that scenario is that some of these threads might contain informative or intesting data, not just images.  By deleting those threads we could lose information such as dimensions, production dates, serials and codes, names and locations of service and movements, etc., etc.  So no, let's not delete the threads en-masse just because the images have (perhaps temporarily) gone.  

 

Another point, the owners of those threads may not yet realise that their images have been affected but, when they do, they can re-insert the images quite easiy; however, re-writing all the text again would be a real pain.

 

Mike

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My sympathies to all who have spent the time posting photos of their fantastic creations on Britmodeller only to have them now hidden by a 'no third party sharing' box. I have benefited greatly from your efforts in my re-start on modelling.

 

I only used Photobucket for one post before this situation came up - the pictures are still there so I must still be in a one month grace period or something similar.

 

With all this trouble, I have moved to Flickr - much more user-friendly - and cancelled the Photobucket account before any abuse can start.

 

Good luck to all.

 

Mike

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Keep the old threads please. I started to replace the old PB with fresh Flickr links, but it is a slow process and I will most likely not be able to replace all lost pics. But if I cannot tell which I can replace and which I cannot - who else can??? Plus maybe (hope dies last) PB will cancel their idea to ask for several hundred dollar for third party linkage - now that a good deal of internet users have very strong feelings for them... At least I hope no other hoster tries the same in the future.

 

René

 

 

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I think we're all in accord so far* (no, not a Honda), but we'll let the voting continue, as there's some interesting comments coming out of it already :)

 

* except for Dave, who doesn't appear to have voted for his stated option. :hmmm:

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I voted for option 1.

As per everyone else; the written info is still there

eg, the other day I searched for info on D-day stripes; the photos are all mostly gone but the written info was still there and thats what I needed

 

A thought;

Perhaps you can 'appoint' a couple of special moderators just for going thru threads and changing the ransome message

 

I don't have many photos I can change; just one RFI afair and some others in GBs which I cannot change due to them being locked down

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For what little my opinion is worth, I choose Option 1. I have already started going back and replacing my PB images with Flickr copies. It's a long, slow process but I'm kind of OCD that way. I'm also retired and I do have the time.

 

 

Chris

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Seems option #1 works for most people here.  I renewed my PB account two days before the annoucement, so I'm good for another year.  

 

I realize that reading the text without the photos is not optimum, but us model tech. guys should be able to figure things out from the description.

 

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I'm currently restoring a LOT of gallery photos on another site.  It's a lot of work.

Here at Britmodeller, I'd like to plan to review all my GB threads, refreshing the gallery photos.  In most cases the build thread shows me making a model, and some commentary - I'll mark them in the title for deletion.

Might well take some time, so long deadline please.

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43 minutes ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

I'll mark them in the title for deletion.

 

It would be more efficient to report them for deletion, as changing the title relies on a Mod seeing an old thread that might be dozens of pages from the first one :shrug:

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I voted for option 1 as well.

 

The photos are very important to many threads, but often there are links to other sites, other builds, references to books etc... These will all remain useful (though the links may clearly lead you to another 'Photobucketed' thread...).

 

So keep them for now. Maybe over time you could somehow see what older threads are being revisited (possible?) and those which aren't and devise some sort of 'deletion schedule' from that info...?

 

Matt

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I think it depends where the thread is located. If the thread is a discussion thread such as the WWII Aircraft section for example I think the photo adds value but the discussion is also a valuable source of information in this type of thread so I think the links should be replaced in this instance.

 

If it's something like a work in progress or ready for inspection thread then I think these type of threads are heavily reliant on the image content so I would suggest deleting these threads if they are not updated within a reasonable amount of time. Then if someone wants to re-share photos of a completed model in RFI then they could start a new thread and it would be like seeing all these models for the first time again.

 

Whatever decision is made it doesn't sound simple.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

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As soon as I finish this I am going back to vote for option one

 

I wonder if replacing a deleted picture with an invitation on the lines of " if you would like to see the deleted pics for this thread please send a pm"

 

It would allow us to get them from the hard drive to replenish the thread when wanted

 

Difficut timesl

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