• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

Inserting images

lkraus

New member
error.jpg

I keep getting this error when inserting a linked image whenever I use the checkbox to "Retrieve remote file and reference locally." I think others have had the same problem as it was mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago, though I cannot find that thread right now.

This is an important option so that posts here maintain their meaning if the source site goes down or deletes an image.

Can someone look into and fix this problem?
 
Larry -

Are you using smugmug? That previous thread was in the Forum Help area:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?97915-pics-not-loading

I think Ted walked through the process and things seem to be OK from the MOA standpoint...nothing has changed on this end.

No, this was an image from another site (https://i.redd.it/v6nb84rer5d21.jpg). The image appears just fine if the default "Retrieve..." box is unchecked. I get the same error trying to link images from a half dozen random sites unless the box is unchecked.

It really looks like to me as a problem on the MOA end. Who else would be writing a temporary file, and how would the MOA forum software know about it? I'm thinking the forum software is trying to write to an inaccessible location, or a drive is full (unlikely).

Ted's solution is more of a workaround than a fix, as it does put the image in a post, but the image remains vulnerable to deletion at the source site since there is no copy on the MOA end. I hate to see posts with broken links.

Sorry I did not find the original thread - feel free to move this to Forum Software.
 
All linked in images are at risk of actual host deletion. To bring it to the MOA, you would need to save the image to your photo file and then attach it in the conventional method. Seeing a MOA now hosted image will have attached images noted on it.
OM
 
Larry -

OK, I understand a little better. But when you think about it, people are putting links to articles, links to YouTube videos, etc...none of those actually load the content to the MOA servers, so there's the danger of loosing that in the future.

I agree with Omega Man, and do basically what he said...I do a screen capture, save the image to a "trash" folder on my computer, then directly upload from that folder. I can delete the image on my machine later on.

Maybe Ted will see this and see if there's something we can do, but it sounds like the MOA has no play in this.

At your suggestion, I'll move this thread to the Forum Help area...probably won't combine with the other thread, but keep it separate as it is coming at this from a slightly different direction.
 
Larry -

OK, I understand a little better. But when you think about it, people are putting links to articles, links to YouTube videos, etc...none of those actually load the content to the MOA servers, so there's the danger of loosing that in the future.

Isn't the whole point of the "Retrieve remote file for local reference" checkbox to put a copy of the image on the MOA servers, so that we are not relying a hosted link that may become invalid in the future?

If not, what purpose does it serve?
 
Isn't the whole point of the "Retrieve remote file for local reference" checkbox to put a copy of the image on the MOA servers, so that we are not relying a hosted link that may become invalid in the future?

If not, what purpose does it serve?

Maybe think of the MOA server like your computer. You can go look at something many times on the web. If you really like the content, you can save it to the computer.
If every “shared” picture automatically downloaded to the MOA server, it would entail a lot more storage (and probably some monitoring).
In the VB code, the code is wrapped around the target image and that wrap is the instructions to retrieve the image and display it.
Your “retrieve remote file for local reference” is doing just that. Otherwise it would have a command to “and automatically upload to server”.
OM
 
Maybe think of the MOA server like your computer. You can go look at something many times on the web. If you really like the content, you can save it to the computer.
If every “shared” picture automatically downloaded to the MOA server, it would entail a lot more storage (and probably some monitoring).
In the VB code, the code is wrapped around the target image and that wrap is the instructions to retrieve the image and display it.
Your “retrieve remote file for local reference” is doing just that. Otherwise it would have a command to “and automatically upload to server”.
OM

I understand what is happening, but I think you have the function of the "Retrieve.." box reversed.

"Retrieve..." means go get the picture now and store it so we can access it on our server (locally). With the box checked, the picture on the remote site is copied to the MOA server and added to the post as an attachment.

With the box UN-checked, the remote URL is retained in the post (between tags)[/SIZE], and the forum software accesses the remote site to find the picture every time the post is displayed. There would be no need to retain the original URL in the post if the picture file were on the MOA server.

vBulletin makes "Retrieve" the default choice to prevent broken links.
 
View attachment 79630

I keep getting this error when inserting a linked image whenever I use the checkbox to "Retrieve remote file and reference locally." I think others have had the same problem as it was mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago, though I cannot find that thread right now.

This is an important option so that posts here maintain their meaning if the source site goes down or deletes an image.

Can someone look into and fix this problem?

I guess this is far as I can advise on this. BTW, I have never seen your attached “error message” :dunno
OM
 
BTW, I have never seen your attached “error message” :dunno
OM

:uhoh Now what....?
Anyone else NOT seeing the error?

The picture was a screen snip of the error, snipped and saved to my desktop, then uploaded "From computer". It shows in the edit window as Attachment 79630. Looks OK here and on another computer, so it's not showing a cached copy. The only way I can get it to NOT appear is to log out, and then it just shows "error.jpg."

The text in the message is:

forums.bmwmoa.org says
error: Upload failed due to failure writing temporary file.


Let me try referencing the attachment again:
View attachment 79630

and also linking to my Flickr account with IMG tags:
50124382216_0efbbcac96_o.jpg
 
I'm not that versed on the photo sharing sites...I do have a flickr account but rarely use it. I've seen other sharing sites mentioned but don't see any mention of flickr so far. I checked my account to see what I could do with a picture. I can find the Share icon but what it asks me to do is choose either share (to social media and such), embed, and BBCode all which result in the generation of a URL for copy-n-pasting. The fourth option is to email the image which does as one expects, sends an email to the person with an image embeded in it. No where in those sharing options does it let me upload an image directly to say the MOA servers...I can only deal with the URL.

There is a download function which then lets me download the image to my local computer. Clearly, then with the image local, I have the ability to upload to the MOA servers so it remains there should I happen to delete the image from my shared site. In my case, I still have the original image on my computer, so I don't have to go through the download process. Others may use the cloud for storage to keep their computers cleaner and to act as a backup.

Is this the basic functionality of the other sharing sites? Seems that is the nature of "sharing" sites...you share the link to the pictures. In order to not share, you have to get possession of your own image and then you are free to use it to physically upload.
 
Funny, I was posting about the same problem not long ago. I've been using SmugMug for about 14 years and it has been excellent and I have about 15 000 pics up there. It's a pay site but worth it to me. It was created by the same guy who created ADVrider.com.

Once it was pointed out to me to uncheck the remote file box when uploading here all my photo posting has worked just fine. No issues with my photo account. I post a lot of photos on different forums and here is the only place with any issues at all.
 
I think we need to be clearer on what we mean when "inserting images". To my way of thinking, there are two ways for an image to show here on the forum. You post a link which points back to some other site on the internet or you actually upload the image from your computer to the MOA server. In the first case, should the online account or URL location change, the image disappears from the forum. In the second case, that can't happen unless there is a failure of the MOA server.

skibum, you are still just putting a link into the forum pointing back to your online account...not actually uploading the image...at least on your most recent posts. Going further back, I do see that you actually uploaded an image to the MOA server. I understand that maybe that process has changed, either by smugmug or by MOA which is still a little unclear. It would take quite a bit of research to figure out what is different about your posting links to photos on other forums with no problems but yet you have to do things differently here. Probably it would need someone who can get behind the forum software and deal with the actual HTML coding.
 
I'll try again, so it is clear when this error arises. I'm replying to a post, and think that a picture, found on another site will make things clear. I copy the link to the image on another website (Right click, copy image address). I use the Insert Image tool in the MOA editing window, select "From URL", and paste the image URL on the URL line. When "OK" is pressed, the forum software generates an error and no picture is added to the post.
error.jpg

Note that "Retrieve remote file and reference locally" is the DEFAULT, and yet it fails every time. This is a feature that had worked for years up until late June or early July. Images from other sites can be included by unchecking the "Retrieve" box, but that means when they are moved or deleted on the remote site, they will disappear here as well. Remember the way this and other forums suffered when Photobucket changed their hosting policy and all of a sudden the forums were full of dead photo links and many threads became useless.

It's clear that nothing has been done to correct the problem, and that many responding are trying to be helpful, but they are not familiar with the feature or the forum software.

How can I get this referred to someone who can investigate and fix this problem with the forum software?
 
Larry -

Can you point me to the picture in question that you are trying to post here? I'd like to try it myself so I can get a deeper feel for the issue.

I will say that sometimes an image on another site has controls on it such that it can't be "hot-linked" somewhere else. At least that's something I've encountered in the past. Notwithstanding the issue as you see it being related to something with Photobucket, there could be other things changing out there on the web.

I don't think any of use "average" people can solve this if there's a real problem with either the MOA software or elsewhere. The MOA has access to a great internet program via contract. I'm sure Ted Moyer has been checking in on this thread from time to time. I will make sure he's brought up to date and maybe he can bring in a "ringer" to see what's going on.

But I would still like to go through this myself, so info on the picture would be appreciated.
 
Larry -

I was able to recreate the situation you describe. I tried half a dozen different images I found on the web and they all had essentially the same error. On one of them, I did uncheck the "Retrieve" box and the image was then posted/shown in my test post. I don't know precisely what that check box does or is intended to do.

Alternatively, if I right click and save the image to my local machine in a test area, I can then upload the image from my local machine as usual. In that sense, the image would no longer disappear from the MOA servers if I delete the image on my computer. Clearly that is extra steps that can be onerous over time.
 
I'm glad that you have seen and understand the problem. As you have seen, the error occurs on most files. The picture that reminded me of the problem was from Amazon, but it will affect any of our users that keep their images on Flickr, SmugMug, Photobucket or any other hosting service.

Yes, there are some sites that do not allow copying an image. They block the right-click menu, or the file format is not the generic .jpg, .bmp, etc. It's just a bit frustrating that a feature that did work, and is supposed to work, now fails. If we are contracted for the service, I'd expect that our payments include some troubleshooting, or that we have someone who can correct its configuration. My totally uneducated guess is that the software is trying to write the image file to a location that no longer exists or for which the program does not have write permission.

I did a little Googling, but did not find much related to this specific problem. One reference, on the vBulletin help forum, suggested that the error is caused by an "Image Processing Library" called by vBulletin. Again, enough knowledge to be dangerous, as I don't know the consequences of changing that setting, or how to configure the "library" , but maybe it is another avenue to investigate.
 
It has always been my understanding that if an image was to or intended to remain on the MOA forum, it had to be moved to the MOA server.
This was especially important when DIY’s were created or being created. This kept the continuity on the MOA forum.

Here is an excerpt from the instructions/suggestions when creating a DIY-


OK - We may want to insert an image in the thread about now (perhaps illustrating the tools or supplies)- so we look down at the bottom of the Advanced Editor page - under:

"Additional Options" - and you'll see "Attach Files" - click on this button.
Valid file extensions: bmp doc gif gpx jpe jpeg jpg pdf png psd txt zip
And a button that says "Manage Attachments"

Click on "Manage Attachments."

A popup window opens - and you're given two choices: (1) finding a file on your computer, or (2) uploading one from a URL (such as PhotoBucket or some other website.)

We do this so the image will be hosted on the MOA server, and not dependent on an outside service (which may disappear - making the DIY useless if the photos are linked instead of uploaded to our servers.)

There are restrictions on the image size, depending on format, so before creating the DIY, you may want to make sure your images conform.

The attached image will always appear below whatever text you enter in the message, and you're restricted to one image per message. Please plan accordingly.

While I can usually make an image appear, I’m still not sure what is going on re- the above process.

OM
 
Back
Top