Another test.
All the photos I had on PB are one my PC.
I use ad blockers and flash blockers with FF so never an issue except the full page pop up to upgrade whenever I signed into PB.
One report I read was PB does not like ad blockers and part of the reason for charging users.
Some sites tell me to disconnect my ad blocker to read an article which I will not.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Well said, Simon.
Alton Junction
Reading this long thread will provide answers (be warned, it will be painful). My understanding is that you have two options: pay the PB fee or start fresh with another site. I am starting a new collection of Pics with Flickr:
4-8-4 bowser 0113 by Simon, on Flickr" alt="" />
It's free. You need to make sure your photos are under the "public" option (if there is a little lock on the picture, then you need to change the setting for that picture in Flickr to be available publicly). You also have to select the BBCode option (in Flickr). Otherwhise, it works very well. You also have to click on the icon (on the MR add post window) that allows you to preview the picture. Otherwise, you may think that it has not worked. This was not necessary with PB.
I feel sorry for all of those who dedicated a lot of their precious time to post their work here, for the benefit of others, out of pure generosity. Dr. Wayne comes to mind, but there are many others. We can't expect these folks to re-post their pictures, so many threads from the archives will be lost. Shameful.
Simon
My thanks to the moderator for not shutting this thread down. I'm a bit frustrated at the moment so please forgive my following comment:
Respectfully to my fellow modelers that are "tired" of this thread.....if it annoys you....then ignore it! I'm not "super-savvy" with the internet and I certainly appreciate any helpful information that is posted regarding this issue.
I received the email recently and, at first, thought it was spam. Then I saw this thread and realized it was no joke! I immediately thought of the MANY photos I've posted on this and several other forurms regarding metalizing, which a number of passenger rail modelers found helpful.
I appreciate the options that several of you provided. THANKS! I'm not certain which route I'm going to take so I'll research the pros and cons of: Trainboard, Flikr, imgbb, and Imgur.
I've only used PB as a photo hosting tool as I have all of my original photos on my computer and on external backup.
I did upload many photos on to PB, spread among albums. I'm not looking forward to going in to my account and deleting every single one; but it appears that I may have to eventually.
I'm still hoping that PB owners "might" have a change of heart as the backlash is coming from around the globe.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Geared Steam Well, thats a wrap then, the man, the myth, the legend, has spoken upon his disciples, thread officially killed. No, just my opinion, about my situation, and how it applies to me. Now I'm off here to actually build model trains, used up my quota of forum time for a while..... Confidence really bothers you, doesn't it? Sheldon
Geared Steam Well, thats a wrap then, the man, the myth, the legend, has spoken upon his disciples, thread officially killed.
Well, thats a wrap then, the man, the myth, the legend, has spoken upon his disciples, thread officially killed.
No, just my opinion, about my situation, and how it applies to me.
Now I'm off here to actually build model trains, used up my quota of forum time for a while.....
Confidence really bothers you, doesn't it?
Sheldon
What makes you think I was talking to you?
Confidence and arrogence is a fine line.
doctorwayne maxman richhotrain Now if we only had a first name to go along with the photo. Laugh So in that case, "Sir" is okay, too? By the way, what's for dinner? Wayne
maxman richhotrain Now if we only had a first name to go along with the photo. Laugh
richhotrain Now if we only had a first name to go along with the photo. Laugh
If you don't want him to show up, stay away from the salmon mousse.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I'm confused, why was this moved here?
Check out the Balfour and Colucci Creek Southern Railroad, my proto-freelanced N scale model railroad, at bccsrailroad.weebly.com or on Youtube on my channel, N Scale Train Boy.
-Dennis
This is a forum for those who wish to share photos of their models with the community. To start off, here is my N Scale Kato F3A, F3B, and SD40-2 painted in the scheme of my prototype-freelanced railroad, the Balfour and Colucci Creek Southern, as well as an Atlas SD35 painted in the scheme of one of the B&CCS' subsidiaries, DomCol Railways, leading a mixed freight around a bend into the fictional town of Balfour, NY.
richhotrainaha, so his first name is Virgil !
I don't think so, Tim.
doctorwaynewhat's for dinner?
You will have to Guess.
richhotrainNow if we only had a first name to go along with the photo. Laugh
They call me Mr. Tibbs.
maxman
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Nothing is free, it is just a matter of who is paying and how.
Nothing is free, it is just a matter of who is paying and how.
If all I want is a photo sharing feature and Photobucket wants to charge me $400 when I can get it free at imgur, imgbb, and Flickr, why would I choose Photobucket? The point is that only Photobucket is charging a fee for photo sharing while others are not. The only real thing that you get from all these services is photo sharing capability. A lot different than choosing a General Contractor.
Rich,
One last thought.
I have a Samsung tablet with Google softeware and Verizion service. Those three companies made a deal to provide the combined products and services I use. I pay Verizon every month for a phone line and data, I paid for the tablet. Samsung got paid, and Google gets paid, and it all starts with the money I pay Verizon every month.
The services provided by Google are built in that pricing. And yes they make additional money with ads, ads I don't look at. How much is paid by ads and how much is paid by Samsung and Verizon? Don't know, don't care.
Again, I don't use enough Google apps or sites to hardly ever see their ads.....but I pay every month.
Just a few more thoughts:
Yahoo and Google are places I stay away from because there always seems to be a catch or a problem. There sites and services are miserable to use in my view.
Just because one business model works in one part of a market, does not mean it will work in all parts of the market forever.
But I guess being self employed most of my life gives me a different view. I don't see others in business, big or small, as the "enemy".
I simply decide if what they are offering is a fair value for me if I can afford it.
I don't start out assuming someone is trying to "rip me off". Again, I walk away from customers who think I am trying to rip them off....rather not have their money.
Randy, that effort to move photos takes time, and I'm not a computer wiz, I hate the constant wasted time of learning new software.
Time is MONEY. And there is no garrantee at the next provider.
Even if you don't use the other services, Photobucket provides more than storage and hosting.
Is the fee high, maybe, did they handle this poorly?, yes. But I simply don't have the time, so I made a choice. A choice that has no real impact on other aspects of my life.
And I walk away from customers all the time who think my services are too expensive.........yet I am booked solid with work until this time next year. Point? We all value things differently.
Now that I have read Sheldon's and Randy's most recent replies, I'll add a few more thoughts of my own.
I agree that it makes little sense to use a site like Photobucket for photo storage. The only reason that I ever joined Photobucket was to use it as a photo sharing device. The only photos that I have ever uploaded to Photobucket were those photos that I have posted on this forum.
I agree with Randy that $400 is an outrageous amount for Photbucket to demand for continued photo sharing. But, even $1 per month is extortion. Why? For the reason that Randy gave about his model railroading club. Instead of grandfathering the photos already uploaded to Photobucket, they simply cut off the users at the knees, no advanced notice whatsoever. In my case, I still have not received any notice.
Now, with regard to Sheldon's jab at free users like myself, I can only say that there are lot of things "for free" on the Internet, like Photobucket until June 28th, my Gmail and my Outlook email accounts, a whole host of free sites for calculations, weather forecasts, games and puzzles, etc., etc., etc. How do all these sites generate revenue? Simple, they rely on advertising. So, as soon as Photobucket decided to charge a fee, I deleted my photos and moved to imgbb.
There are many things I pay for - including my backup provider so I have a truly unlimited, reliable backup with a stable provider. As someone who is actually in this business - the $400 that Photobucket demands is an OUTRAGEOUS amount. I don't pay near that for my unlimited backup service and it stores a lot more data than a bunch pf Photobucket albums would - mainly because it backs up ALL my photos PLUS all my other stuff. And the total data transfer per month is far more than would be ever seen by linking a bunch of photos.
Add to that that I know how much hosting services charge - again with very generous transfer limits I have never even come clost to hitting. That costs me 1/4 of what Photobucket wants and is where I host my web site as well as any linked pictures.
Frankly, Photobucket's tactics remind me of what the landlord did to the old model railroad club I belonged tooo. AFTER we had the layout fully operational and somewhat sceniced, he TRIPLED the rent. Thought he had us over a barrel, just like Photobucket. Out came the sawzalls and we did not renew the lease. The equivalent of bad word of mouth in those days was the barber across the street who had been there for decades and heard about this - if he was free and someone was looking at the building we vacated, he would come over and mention what the landlord did to us. It took well over a year to lease out the space again. Meantime, the club found a propery for sale and bought it - no landlords. They were recently featured in MR. So Photobucket really doesn't have anyone over a barrel, you can move to a different provider, it just takes effort. And with business practices like that, seems well worth it. There are lots of alternatives.
As for ads - hey, serve up ads all you want, but when the ads completely cover the screen until you dismiss them - that's unacceptable. It's as bad or worse than the clickbait stories on social media, one tiny picture and caption per page with the rest of the white space filled with ads. Useless, unusable, and ignored by me. Photobucket is free to run their business as they see fit, just as I am free not to be extorted. Frankly, I think they will either change back or fail trying to charge this much. If it IS the only palce you have certain photos - at least download them back to your computer so you don't lose them forever.
-_Randy
Maybe I am simply misunderstanding something here, but many of you talk as if your pictures are ONLY stored on Photobucket, or whatever hosting site you use?
Why would anyone do that? Why are they not on YOUR computer as well? They had to come from somewhere to put them on Photobucket?
And if you got them elsewhere on the web you may be in copyright violation by putting them on a broad access site like Photobucket.
Photobucket could blow up tomorrow, I still have all my pictures, on my hard drive, on a backup, and on a cloud storage system.
All that would be lost is the specific sharing.
I have been paying for ad free Photobucket for some time. And even after this change my previously linked photos continued to show up on this forum and the other forum I post photos on.
Seems they restricted the "free" users first.
They did restrict new posting on my account. You can all call me foolish, but I have enough photos on Photobucket, with links not easily replaced, that $400 a year is a bargain for ad free, hassle free photo hosting.
Two cell phones, one tablet, data, Fios high speed internet, cloud, land line, cable TV, NetFlix, Amazon Prime and a small membership fee on MyTractorForum all add up to well over $400 a month.
So what is another $34 a month for easy, already in place, and now effectively unlimited storage photo hosting?
FACT - In all of this complaining, only free users were having real issues with Photobucket because the popups were overwelming. I never had any problems except the occasional "the site is down" for a few minutes.
Just like I say about price complainers in this hobby, generally, you really do get exactly what you pay for. There is no free lunch, and it is just a matter of time before "free" goes away on the web.
I don't have the time to re-upload all my photos, learn some new site, spend hours with the administrator at MyTractorForum to relink my photos because they don't allow direct editing of old posts, etc, etc.
And keeping that info, and the info I have shared on here, available for others is something that has some importantance to me.
In the time most of you have spent finding a new "free" site and getting it working, I simply made an extra $400.
Did Photobucket handle this well? - No, but there might not have really been a great way to handle it..........
Notice how little I have been posting lately.........my time is valueable.
DSchmitt test still working for me, so far
test still working for me, so far
Rtextbrd2small_testzpsyunjkqio by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr
This is the image blocked by Photobucket. I clicked on the Meter to open it in Photobucket. Right clicked the the image (Meter) that opened and "save image as". It saved the original image to my computer. Then I upload it to Flickr. It also works for other posters images.
52316_zpsjqkdqqid by Donald Schmitt, on Flickr
Image from tomkat-13 thread "More Signs you can use"
Note will not work for some posters.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
richhotrain Are guys not interested in imgbb? www.imgbb.com Rich
Are guys not interested in imgbb?
www.imgbb.com
I'll share my (at this stage) decision on a new site. I will use it only for trains photos for posting on the Forum. I don't have more important needs for a blog or webpage, EBay sales, etc. I back up all my photos (sometimes) on a separate hard drive but haven't bothered with better bachup strategies.
I tried imgbb and it worked ok. I tried imgur and it worked ok. Both easy enough to get used to. I did some searching for reviews and background and my concern was that I could see the imgur story (since 2009 IIRC) but I could not glean much about imgbb. So my leaning was towards the more established imgur.
Then, since several mentioned it here, I tried Flickr. It was as easy as any to use and as a part of Yahoo (for awhile) I think it's as likely as imgur to be around and not do anything too shocking. So I've gravitated to Flickr and plan to go that way, but I can't make a real strong argument.
If developments occur with Flickr,Ii would consider paying a modest (less than $10/month) fee not to change, perhaps. But if it does not work out, I'll probably just change again, realizing the prior Forum threads of any utility with my photos are negatively impacted.
I do get value by searching for prior threads on a subject where I'd like info and often these may include helpful photos. So the PB impact may be frustrating for me, and maddening for others. All I can do is pick a new one for me, and hope we do not have another such outrageous event or lose members' interest in posting useful or interesting photos.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I don't know if I will ever use a specialty photo hosting site again. I startred with something, back when I needed a way to get photoos online. They got bought by Photobucket but they didn't transfer the images over. Now this with PB. Meh. I do have an imgur account but I never use it.
I also have never relied on a cloud based photo site to store my photos. My phootos are on my server, which replicates all files to two or more physical drives in the server, plus the server is backed up to a cloud based backup with unlimited storage. Plus the copies I have put on my web site to share. Restore has been tested, I can get my stuff back if the whole server melts. If a drive fails, i just repalce it with a new one (often bigger - since the older drives are the smallr ones and more likely to fail) with no data loss. So i am fairly confident that my irreplaceable photos are protected across multiple hardware and multiple locations.