As one who would like to see more pictures...
If you don't know "how" to do something, you should learn. It is hard to believe people who have had computers for many years, still do not know how to "copy and paste". But they exist.
lionroar88 Mike,No offense taken. IMHO, most of the time it is a matter of 'convenience' or 'this takes too long' = 'I don't want to take the time to figure this out'.My point was that Kalmbach has to weight a lot into their decisions when it comes to this FREE site. Hosting a forum of this size is a costly endeavor and keeping it FREE cuts right into their opperating budget. Pictures and Video add a lot to a company's bandwidth, and that doesn't come free of charge either. So unless the forum goes - pay for use, or they increase the subscription rate... you see where I'm going. I for one would prefer to figure out how to host my pics on another site and link to those images here, if it means keeping this site free.
Mike,No offense taken. IMHO, most of the time it is a matter of 'convenience' or 'this takes too long' = 'I don't want to take the time to figure this out'.My point was that Kalmbach has to weight a lot into their decisions when it comes to this FREE site. Hosting a forum of this size is a costly endeavor and keeping it FREE cuts right into their opperating budget. Pictures and Video add a lot to a company's bandwidth, and that doesn't come free of charge either.
So unless the forum goes - pay for use, or they increase the subscription rate... you see where I'm going. I for one would prefer to figure out how to host my pics on another site and link to those images here, if it means keeping this site free.
I will have to respectfully disagree with you. I deal face to face with users everyday. Doctors, nurses, LPN's, PA's, NP's, administration, etc. There are people out there that are just not tech savy. They just do not understand. It is not that it would be "easier" for them, rather make the daunting, frustrating task of posting pictures possible.
Members also subscribe to the forum which helps defray the cost of operation and maintenance. Let's also not forget the advertisers links we see on the forum. I doubt Kamlbach lets them list their ad for free. Lastly this site is a loss leader for Kalmbach and their products. I would think that the operation and maintenance of this site is minimal in regards to monetary output.
The amount of space available on servers is huge. A home use 2TB hard drive is under 130.00! Space should not be an issue with any modern IT department. And if you have a SAN (storage area network) you could possibly have Petabytes of storage available. Either way, pictures on this forum should not even make a noticeable dent in data storage space.
I am enjoying this little debate. :)
lionelsoniYou can see this now--sort of. There is a little picture of two persons that appears to the left of the name of each member who is on-line. And, if you click on "Trains.com Forums" in small print at the top of the page, then scroll to the bottom of the page that that gets you to, you can see a list of everyone on-line at every forum, all mixed together.
You can see this now--sort of. There is a little picture of two persons that appears to the left of the name of each member who is on-line. And, if you click on "Trains.com Forums" in small print at the top of the page, then scroll to the bottom of the page that that gets you to, you can see a list of everyone on-line at every forum, all mixed together.
Thanks for pointing that out, Bob. I did not know that existed until now.
Hopefully, with the new forum software, I will not see a message that the "forum has changed" since my last visit, and have to log out and log back in again in order to post.
Robert
http://www.robertstrains.com/
lionroar88 Part of the problem with posting photos is how do you restrict size, etc. Storage space for photos seems like it would be costly and do the photos then become property of Kalmbach? Lots of questions on that one.I don't see why there is such a fuss. I use ImageShack and they provide the code that you copy and paste into the edit window. The longest time is uploading the images to IS.
Part of the problem with posting photos is how do you restrict size, etc. Storage space for photos seems like it would be costly and do the photos then become property of Kalmbach? Lots of questions on that one.I don't see why there is such a fuss. I use ImageShack and they provide the code that you copy and paste into the edit window. The longest time is uploading the images to IS.
There are alot of people that are not so computer savy, so downloading and managing pics on their local pc can be difficult by itself. Then throw in a third party site that you have to sign up for and then figure out how to upload and manage your pics on that site also. Plus you have to choose the correct link to post the pics.
I am an IT professional at a hospital. I am always looking for ways to make things easier for the end user. Please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't my pic for my avatar automatically resize? I know it is possible to automatically resize pics when uploaded. It is done on a different forum I am a member of. Also the pics I posted with Photobucket automatically resized, so size should not be an issue.
As far as ownership goes, who owns the avatar pics that are uploaded? Also, whether I use a third party software or upload directly to CTT, I would believe you are agreeing that the pics are public. Either way I still retain my pics wherever they may be stored; on my PC or server.
The thing to remember is that the forum users are the "customers" and a way to upload pics right from their PC's will make things much easier and enhance the "customers" experience.
I don't mean this to be rude, I am just throwing out some thoughts.
arkady phillyreading I would like to see the photo posting made easier than going through a second or third party to post photos!! It took me almost 45 minutes a while back to post a photo and since then I have quit posting photos. I second that request. Photo posting badly needs to be streamlined.
phillyreading I would like to see the photo posting made easier than going through a second or third party to post photos!! It took me almost 45 minutes a while back to post a photo and since then I have quit posting photos.
I would like to see the photo posting made easier than going through a second or third party to post photos!! It took me almost 45 minutes a while back to post a photo and since then I have quit posting photos.
I second that request. Photo posting badly needs to be streamlined.
I third that. I was able to upload a pic, just like that, for my avatar. I can't imagine it is a big step to post pics the same way.
Bob Nelson
Thanks for the heads up Carl. I hope the changes happen as smooth as silk, even though they seldom do. One thing you can be sure of, if they don't you will be getting lots of feedback at York this year.
I to think it would be nice to be able to see who is on board when you are posting, both of the other train forums that I visit from time to time do this. Shouldn't be to hard to implement.
Lee F.
OH NO!!!!! Carl, I hope they let you and the CTT staff have some "control" over how this will work. I know in the past, IT did not do that and we had some "messes". Will wait and see. Hope it goes smooth.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Ole Timer I'm still waiting and looking for the changes .....
I'm still waiting and looking for the changes .....
think the key here is "At the end of August, our website and forums will be getting some exciting new upgrades"
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
--Black Diamond-- One thing about a train, it doesnt matter where it's going, You just have to decide to get on... Woo Wooo.....
black diamond we use to have a form of live chat it was about 2 or 3 isp's ( think thats the correct terminology )ago here. you could log on and see who was presently logged on as the names was at the bottom. If you go over to the model railroad side there a few who still will say there just grabbing a cup of coffee and will be back in the corner booth if anyone comes in. when it was like that we would come in and talk back and forth quite a bit. A lot complained when that went away but once the switch was made it was too late. also that system was getting real slow as it was so overloaded for what it could handle. There still some here who remember it and still miss it as progress isn't always better for all. I'm one who misses it. I use to hang out with the model railroaders at first for probably my first year or so. in fact I know I was still hanging out with them mainly when I had my defibrillator put in and that was in April 2006
There's a CTT Facebook page... http://www.facebook.com/ClassicToyTrains
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
like black diamond said back about 3 years ago we use to see who was on in the coffee pot at the bottom of the page and we basically had a live chat a lot of the time which was great. I think we had to refresh the page thou but at least we saw who was in the coffee pot at the time or what ever post you were in.
Will there be a live chat room incoporated into the new website?? Did you ever get a Facebook page?
GREAT !!!!!!
At the end of August, our website and forums will be getting some exciting new upgrades. We’ve been hard at work revamping and refreshing all the features you know and love to make them even easier to find and use. We’re improving the forum’s design and ways in which you’ll be able to interact and connect with other forum members. Even though the forums may look slightly different, all previous forum topics and threads will be preserved. We will transfer everything from our old forum to the new. In addition, the new forums will allow you to build a more comprehensive profile, tell more about yourself in your biography, and become friends with other members. This will help you stay on top of what others with similar interests are talking about. We’re excited to lift the veil on the new site and forums. Stay tuned for more updates and the exact launch dates.
___________
Carl Swanson, editor
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
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