Anyone else use Photobucket?

**french frank** · 12-07-17, 22:05

Originally posted by french frank View Post

I've been receiving emails from Photobucket that I will need to upgrade my account if I want to embed pictures on the forum (they call this Third Party Hosting), eg using [IMG][/IMG].

Looking around the web for comment, it seems they're asking a tidy sum for an upgrade or "some features of your account will be disabled".

Imgur beckons …

The situation in full:

Photobucket says photo-f**k-it, starts off-site image shakedown

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/30/photobucket_charging_400yr_3rdparty_pgs/

No more freeloading graphics, it wants its $400-a-year cut

**P. G. Tipps** · 13-07-17, 05:11

I have used it on the very odd occasion to post an image here.

To paraphrase a shamelessly populist politician's recent response in Parliament I suggest to you that Photobucket can go

As you say there are alternatives, at least for the time being.

**Dave2002** · 13-07-17, 08:16

I don't use Photobucket, but I find it worrying that so many products and services are now shamelessly chasing money. Buy an App from the Apple store - or download "free" ones, and a year later some things don't work, so the only "option" is to look for another one, or "upgrade" to a much more expensive "pro" version.

The "free" ones often have minimal functionality, and then there are so called "in app purchases" which may gradually introduce useful and possibly much needed features.

In the last few days I have met several examples of such "creep". One concerned some files which I tried to send to a friend. Turns out they were zipped together, and his version of WinZip wouldn't unpack them. I suggested using 7-zip instead, but that didn't work for some unknown reason. In the end he simply downloaded a new trial version of WinZip to do the job. I don't suppose he would have minded paying a small amount for a new version of WinZip, but the sum requested was over £30.

Another was a tool to recover deleted photos, as I was approached by someone last year who had deleted the photos from an SDHC card. I tried several tools, and eventually recovered all the photos using free tools. Now the same tools are either not free (and now quite expensive) or don't work. I have yet another friend who has presented me with the same problem with deleted photos on an SDHC card - I might have to go back to a very old computer which has still got a program which works (and AFAIK still works) for this task - though it is running Win XP and I don't relish the thought, but I can probably get it working.

I do have some slight sympathy with the vendors and developers, as they can't survive if all of their products are free. However I do sometimes buy quite expensive software, which makes me feel less concerned. On the other hand some products which may only be needed very infrequently are hiked up in price to an extent which makes me look for other free or cheaper alternatives.

**french frank** · 13-07-17, 08:59

It seems they changed their T&Cs on 20 June - on their blog (which I hadn't ever visited or even been consciously aware of).

They have now emailed me (same email message) three days in a row, so I have now replied to them that I only joined to be able to post on [this] forum, so I would be unlikely to use their service much in future, as the cost they were demanding for an upgrade wouldn't be worth it. I shall use pictures already on the internet and post that url.

[I had a go at imgur, unsuccessfully. My meanness!- I read that you didn't have to open an account; I succeeded in uploading an image, but the code wasn't a url so didn't work here].

Robert the Photobucket Robot has now replied. I can see no way of getting my message through from 'support@', so I'll now try 'info@' the address the first email came from.

**Dave2002** · 13-07-17, 13:02

Imgur code should work. I think you need to select the one labelled direct link, and there's a box to tick/untick in the interface to this forum - can't remember which way round right now.

**jayne lee wilson** · 13-07-17, 14:54

To post your uploaded image from imgur, the link to click on is "BBCode (message boards and forums)" the 5th one down - it turns green, then copy and paste as usual... it doesn't need to be a url, surely...

(If you want to change size from "original" do so first, before hitting the link...)

This works for me every time - apart from grabbing jpgs off of the web (or converting to such), it's all I've ever used to post album covers here....

**french frank** · 13-07-17, 16:22

Do you have to register first? You seem to be able to upload without registering/signing up, and what I read yesterday was that you didn't have to. This is the page I start from http://imgur.com/upload.

I still can't find a code that works (I've tried </>embed post and another http://imgur.com/a/QZSDW but that didn't work either.

When you hover over the window, you see another http://imgur.com/m52RsW2 which says copy. It doesn't work whether I add [IMG] [/IMG] code or not - but if I do add it nothing appears at all, like … NOTHING.

**Dave2002** · 13-07-17, 17:13

Not sure if I can answer that directly. I do have a registration (fairly minimal) with imgur, and a password. Then I do use a page like the one you showed. I'll try to get back to you on this. If you really don't want to register there may be a way to make it work - or not!

**Dave2002** · 13-07-17, 17:22

Let's try this, done without logging in to imgur.

Yep - works. You have to select the down arrow thing, next to the Copy link, then choose the BB Option.
[Actually you may not have to, but that's the way I did it, and it works. There may be other ways.]

Also you uncheck the flag in this site to retrieve the file.

A slight glitch seems to be the IMG codes - I'll try to remove those.

Ah - the site puts an extra img (or IMG) in - so now I've sorted that.

I don't know what happens to photos uploaded anonymously. Maybe they just stay in limbo, or perhaps they disappear after a while, or perhaps the site figures out who I am anyway, by examining cookies in my browser.

**jayne lee wilson** · 13-07-17, 20:35

Originally posted by french frank View Post

Do you have to register first? You seem to be able to upload without registering/signing up, and what I read yesterday was that you didn't have to. This is the page I start from http://imgur.com/upload.

I still can't find a code that works (I've tried </>embed post and another http://imgur.com/a/QZSDW but that didn't work either.

When you hover over the window, you see another http://imgur.com/m52RsW2 which says copy. It doesn't work whether I add [IMG] [/IMG] code or not - but if I do add it nothing appears at all, like … NOTHING.

Well, I signed up ages ago so never use the site without that.... it's not a problem is it, signing up? Free, takes two minutes....
All I usually do is hit "browse" then upload the image from the file where I stored it with a double-click.... after that - see above, you check the image in your IMGUR image collection, choose size and copy & paste from "BBCode" as I said above... I love using IMGUR just because it's so straightforward (and some of the Cat Gifs are great too of course, especially the Floof Dumps...)

If you don't register, I dunno, things might get a bit...vexing...

**french frank** · 13-07-17, 21:09

Thanks, both. I'll keep trying. I did find Photobucket easier - and for resizing to a good standard for the forum.

JLW - no, no real objection to registering. Just laziness because I didn't think one needed too :-)

**french frank** · 13-07-17, 21:28

Yes, the down arrow offered 'Get share links' and then the four options included BBCode. Thanks to all

**jayne lee wilson** · 13-07-17, 21:55

It's all a matter of caring and sharing....

Just watching these three cats make me happy

https://imgur.com/gallery/slrmdJU

Discover topics like cat, and the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

**P. G. Tipps** · 14-07-17, 06:38

I much prefer the rather more cynical, non-PC type of Scottish feline which wisely gives humans a very wide berth ...

I've just used Photobucket here and there are various plans offered ... like $2.99 a month ... but 'embedding' still seems to work for free though the T&Cs claim it won't unless one 'upgrades'.

The mysterious wonders of management policies ... American as well as British it seems. On this occasion at least I welcome and vigorously applaud it ...

Anyone else use Photobucket?

Anyone else use Photobucket?

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment