Talking T Gauge

David K Smith

I am exploring the possibility of moving TTG to a private host that I already use. The point of doing this would be to a) upgrade to the latest version of forum software, and b) allow image hosting and other useful features.

The issues I face are: a) there is no guarantee the database can be successfully imported to the private host, let alone upgraded to a new version; b) it would mean shutting the forum down for a week or so while the transfer takes place, although I doubt anyone would mind; c) there is a nominal fee involved to archive a public forum, not that $20 would be a showstopper.

So, I am posing this question to the members in the form of a poll. Also feel free to respond at length in a reply.
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—David

http://www.t-gauge.net/
http://1-450.blogspot.com/

rmyers · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Evanston, IL USA

Having image hosting and hopefully file hosting would be a big win. The one positive comment I received about my idea for a Yahoo list was from someone that agreed that the hosting features made it worthwhile.

As for losing content, keep the old site up with a banner warning that this is not the place to put new post for a few months. By that time the posts will either be obsolete, or relevant content regenerated on the new forum.

If the consensus goes strongly against,I'd say that that would be a good argument for a Yahoo or similar list, with its purpose being a file and image repository.

Bob

zomer · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

Well said Bob. I was just going to say the same thing. Smile

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Victorian T Gauge Blog
http://www.victorian-tgauge.blogspot.com/

trainspotter-usa · Joined: 04 Sep 2008 Posts: 315 Location: Minnesota

Don't quite know where I stand on this.
I'm a member of a form that has its own file hosting capabilities (rmweb)
and one that isn't (cheshire railway modellers) both are fine by me. I use photobucket for my image storage and have no problems with that as can be witnessed by my posts with images here.
I wouldn't be interested in a Yahoo! group as in my experience in the past I've had issues with spamming, there's limits on the file size you can store. You can't attach files to posts any more I believe (I can be correccted on that)
I think the Yahoo haters outnumber the Yahoo lovers quite substantially
Everything seems fine as it is currently. As my dear old dad used to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
ian
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I CAN see how cool this stuff is!!!
http://more-t-please.blogspot.com/

rmyers · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Evanston, IL USA

I just created a pair of groups:
groups.google.com/group/t-gauge/
groups.yahoo.com/group/t-gauge/
to create a photo and file repository.

I consider these groups provisional. I'm not trying to yank the rug out from under David's efforts. I figure that they can provide a good place to post photos and files pending some hosting connected with this list or a successor.

I created the Google one, as in my perception for what is really an advertisement delivery service, they do seem to try not to be evil, and some folks have had bad experience with Yahoo (though I have not).
I created the Yahoo one as they seem to have a more mature product.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Bob

DJdeTrainman · Joined: 05 Feb 2009 Posts: 93 Location: New Jersey, USA

I feel we need to keep all of these wonderful posts open: if it means we have to give up image-hosting instead of discontinuing all the current threads, than so be it Exclamation

After all, this is now archived T-gauge history, and it is still history in the making! Don't stop us all now!!! Sad

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D.J. (Now also Other David, since Mr. Smith was here first)

http://www.trainweb.org/mccann/offer.htm
-Silence is golden...
...but the noise from T gauge must be at least a bronze.

David K Smith · Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject:

jerrybigcat · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Bourbonnais, IL, USA

I agree with DJ de Trainman. You've created a place for "T" history, please don't destroy it. Sad

David K Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject:

OK, I've taken the first step to make the forum a bit more enjoyable. I paid the one-time $10 fee to have the ads removed.

My next challenge will be an alternative to image hosting. phpBB.BizHat.com does not offer that option, so I'll need to be creative...
_________________
—David

http://www.t-gauge.net/
http://1-450.blogspot.com/

David K Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:04 pm Post subject:

Well, perhaps not surprisingly, bizhat.com has a separate service that offers totally free image (or any file type) hosting. One downside is that support for this service is a lot of annoying advertising--some of which is borderline adult in nature, and some of which makes annoying noises, like the cricket chirping we used to get when this forum was first launched.

This is the upload page:

http://uploads.bizhat.com/

You don't need an account, or need to register, or do anything in fact except just upload a file. After uploading, you're provided with a number of options for embedding the image, which looks like this:

http://uploads.bizhat.com/upload_success.php?id=384689

Note that this page not only contains some highly annoying ads, but it also wants to run some dynamic software in your browser, which is not harmful but simply another annoyance if you're using IE, because you get the IE alerts warning you about the software.

The most appropriate option on this page is BB Code designed to just copy and paste into the forum. Here is the result of using their BB Code:

The original image is 800 x 1200 pixels, and what the embedded code does is display a thumbnail. To see the full-size image, you need to click it, whereupon you get hit with ads--and after I just paid to have them removed from the forum.

Oh, well, it is free, after all. I think I'll make a sticky post explaining all of this so members who need image hosting have a relatively painless way of doing it.
_________________
—David

http://www.t-gauge.net/
http://1-450.blogspot.com/

David K Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject:

Testing 1, 2, 3...

Seems BizHat does not lock down the file you upload. It's therefore possible to view the original file with no advertising. You just need to view it in the normal way, then right-click on the image to get the actual file URL. Then you can embed it in a post, like this:

A bit more complicated, but hey, it works.
_________________
—David

http://www.t-gauge.net/
http://1-450.blogspot.com/

David K Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:43 pm Post subject:

NEVERMIND.

I just received notice from BizHat that they are closing down their file hosting service. Not enough income, they said. Oh, well, the research continues.
_________________
—David

http://www.t-gauge.net/
http://1-450.blogspot.com/

David K Smith · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:50 pm Post subject:

OK, so now I'm giving tinypic a whirl. Their upload results page cannot be linked, so I am storing the results here.

HTML for websites

TBA · Joined: 08 Sep 2008 Posts: 120 Location: Massachusetts

Your efforts in building and growing this forum are appreciated!

Thanks.
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Brian Austin

David K Smith · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:47 am Post subject: