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Maximun size of postings’ attachment files?


Derek Uzzell

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I’ve now carried out some experiments on what the size of a file needs to be for it to successfully attach to a forum posting.

 

A -- For most forum members, a file must not exceed 100kb (as stated in the file-attachment procedure).

 

B -- However, forum Moderators can attach larger files up to and including a 200kb size.

 

I’m not sure why forum Moderators should have this enhanced capability, but it may always have been present since 2005 when the O&AL forums were set up.

 

For over 10 years these forums were overseen by successive members of Warners editorial staff who had full Administrator privileges that included ‘banning’ user-accounts.

 

In 2016 the O&AL forums were subjected to an intensive spamming attack that was held in check by the creation of a few volunteer Moderators that had a limited range of Administrator privileges (but not the ‘banning’ one!).

 

Forum registration is much more robust nowadays and the type of spamming that occurred in 2016 is no longer possible, but day-to-day forum oversight continues to remain in the gentle hands of the volunteer Moderators.

 

(I don’t know how many volunteer Moderators were recruited in 2016, nor how many are still active forum members. At least two, but there might be more...)

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There are plenty of ways to provide photos when making a forum posting, but not all forum-members will be familiar with image hosting services like Postimage and will likely attempt to use these forums’ own file attachment feature.

 

How to use this feature is described in the Forum User Guide and I’ve repeated that guidance below. The point of my posting was to confirm that the the forum’s own file attachment feature restricts a file’s size to a maximum of 100kb, except for forum Moderators who can attach files with a size not exceeding 200kb.

 

********************************************************************************************************

 

Q: How do I attach a file to a forum posting?

 

A: The procedure for attaching a file to a forum posting is as follows:

 

1: Type the posting’s text into the Message box.

 

2: Tick the box titled "Attach a file after posting”.

 

3: Click the posting’s SUBMIT button.

 

An “Attach a file” box should now appear, When it does

 

4: Click on the “Choose File” button.

 

The response to clicking on the “Choose File” button will depend on the device you are using. But however your device (PC, Mac, tablet, phone) responds, you’ll need to identify and choose the file you want to attach. The file-name should now appear alongside the “Choose File” button. When it does

 

5: Click on the “Submit” button.

 

If the file you are trying to attach has a format that the forum’s software can handle, a message (in red) “Upload successful” should appear, plus information showing the name of the file and its size.

 

6: Now click on "Return to the thread” in the “Actions” box to complete the process. (If you want to attach several files, repeat actions 4 and 5 as necessary, and then click on "Return to the thread”.)

 

......................................................................................................................................

 

THE CRITICAL THING IS TO ENSURE THAT THE SIZE OF THE FILE BEING ATTACHED DOES NOT EXCEED 100KB

 

Attempting to attach a fairly large file with a size exceeding 100KB may prodce the following error message

 

Request object error 'ASP 0104 : 80004005'

 

Operation not Allowed

 

/forums/includes/include-upload.asp, line 51

 

However, if the file is really large, the attachment process may fail with no error message and with “no file selected” appearing alongside the “Choose File” button.

 

......................................................................................................................................

 

If a file has a .jpg extension (eg. photo.jpg) the attached file-image should be permanently visible on the posting.

 

If a file has a .jpeg extension (eg. photo.jpeg) just the name of the file will be shown at the foot of the posting. If a forum-member then clicks on the file-name, the member’s own device (PC, Mac, tablet, etc.) will attempt to handle it and the image will normally become visible.

 

It is possible to attach other file-types provided that the file-size is no larger than 100KB. However, there is no certainty how the forums’ software will react.

 

 

Q: How do I get a picture under my name when I post?

 

A: You can upload a small picture (normally called an avatar) via your Control Panel - scroll down to the 'Images' section (the last area on the page), and click the 'Browse' button in the 'Upload profile image' box. This will open up a 'file browser' window. Locate the image you wish to use as an avatar, click on it, and press the 'Open' button. The file browser window will close. Then just click the 'OK' button in the 'Upload profile image' box; your image will be saved to our servers, and your picture will appear next to your posts!

 

There are a couple of limitations: The image must not be larger than 50kb in filesize (this is to keep the loading speed of the pages as fast as possible), and the image will be resized to 100 pixels wide when it's displayed (a pixel is a unit of measurement - basically, one 'dot' on your computer screen). This means that if the image you upload is significantly wider or narrower than this, some distortion may occur - obviously, the best solution is to resize the image before you upload it. This can be done using several computer programs (such as Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Macromedia Fireworks, Paint Shop Pro, etc.). For more information of free image editing software, please click here (please note - Warners Group Publications Plc cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites).

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FWIW I use an app on my Apple devices called " Image Size". ( !). The app will resize any image in the photo folder.

 

I imagine android users have pretty much a similar app.

 

The other problem seems to be the file extension.jpg or .jpeg one displays the picture the other just display a link back to the MMM server for download and display.

 

Rgds

 

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The “Image Size” app is available for Android phones and tablets as well as for Apple mobile devices

 

https://www.image-size.com/

 

and there are plenty of alternatives.

 

The .jpg and .jpeg file-extension issue is highlighted in the Forum User Guide I referred to above, but some forum members have also reported problems viewing attached .jpg files.

 

Where the forum’s own ‘attachment’ feature is concerned it’s the size of the file that is critical, and it is academic what extension a file has as long as the file’s size does not exceed 100kb.

 

Files with a .jpg .jpeg .gif .pdf .heic .docx (etc.) extension will all attach to a posting as long as the file-size is 100kb or less - but whether the effect is what the poster anticipates and/or what the reader of the posting will see is another matter.

 

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