Thread: Image Resizer

Bumping for controls to change default max width/height.

Also the ability to show the full image size even if the browser window isn't sized that large.

Bump.

I just went looking for these controls again only to find them missing. (I guess my memory isn't so great these days.)

I'd still also like to be able to see the full image size regardless of browser window size.

Now that I have the ability to work on this myself, I'm going to try to figure out if there's anything that can be done about this situation. I'm thinking at best I might be able to get the controls back so each user can control how big of an image they want the forum to resize for them. This might require a different image resizer plug-in, so that won't happen real soon.

In the interim I'm going to change the global control to resize when images are wider than 1,000 pixels (instead of the 800 pixels it is set to now). This will work well for those with 1280 x 1024 resolution and larger. If you are running 1024 x 768 or something, it really is time to upgrade!

After months and months of thought, I've come to a different conclusion.
Some time in the past, vBulletin got an update (which our forum applied) which automatically resizes images so that they never cause the forum to grow wider than your current window.
This means two things:

• Images will never show embedded at full resolution unless you can resize your window large enough. If you want to see a large image at full resolution you may have to right-click it to view it in a dedicated browser tab. While this annoys me in some ways, it is a pretty good solution to the problem at hand.
• Resizing plug-ins such as the one we use are mostly superfluous now. We could remove the resizing plug-in and in theory no one will have to deal with huge images stretching the post boxes wider than their window (causing the need to scroll horizontally).
  

Since this is still an open issue I'm still working on, I'd like to hear from people about the proposed solution of removing the image resizer plug-in. For those who want to see direct comparisons, you can use my M Coupe build thread on our forum to see how it works now, and my M Coupe build thread on another forum to see what it would look like if we removed the image resizer plug-in.

A recent M Coupe update on our forum with large pictures: http://www.sr20-forum.com/members-rides/55437-benfenner-s-2000-black-m-coupe-8.html#post1008479
The same M Coupe update on another forum with default vBulletin image resizing: BenFenner's 2000 Black M-Coupe - Page 9


For those who are initially unhappy with the default vBulletin behavior in the second link, consider narrowing your browser window if it is too wide to produce similar results.


Edit: After reading this thread again, I see I proposed this same solution a while back, but this was the counter argument:



I will add that Gecko also handles the image resizing just fine, and I assume newer versions of Trident do as well.. So... We could get usage stats to see who (if anyone) is using the forum with such an old browser that it can't handle the default vBulletin resizing. However, I predict that number would be 0 and not worth looking up. I feel now that we need to move on with the times (not something I say lightly) and not be held back by someone using such an old browser. If someone is using IE6 or some obscure old release of a modern browser then they will see the occasional very wide image and that's not the end of the world for them. They should know what they are getting into using such an old browser.

Whatever takes the least amount of time because when I click to view one, single, new post in either of the well-known "photo-whores" threads, I hesitate because I don't want to wait for fifty pointless images to load only to see the most recent post. I already use the least amount of posts shown per page, any other suggestions to fight the "photo-whores"?

@Kyle, all methods require you to download the same amount of information, so none will be any faster than any other. One of my computers is very underpowered, so I feel your pain on the threads with tons of images. I can't open my own build threads on this computer, let alone try to add to them. I haven't limited my posts per page like you have, but obviously that's the best step to take. We could try to limit the amount of images per post to something less than the 50 limit we have right now, but when that was tried in the past it created serious problems with current posts that have 50 images.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the SPOILER tag prevents downloading the contents until the spoiler is unveiled. I believe that functionality might have been added a while back. I will test it. If it turns out to work, I could put spoiler tags around all of my huge image dumps and then my build threads would be safe for people like you again.

Testing to see if the SPOILER tag allows viewing of a post without downloading the spoiler content.


Edit: Images removed. The test failed. Images inside spoiler tags still get downloaded when the page is accessed.
Kyle, there may not be a tenable solution at hand for those with slower connections or weaker hardware.

Hah I had a strong internal feeling this would be your reply. I only have this problem on this forum. The other forums I have no issues with photo-whore threads. And cue the rimshot. 😃

Hmm... Then that may be related to the slow performance we all occasionally experience on this forum when trying to make a post if there's been a period of inactivity (maybe a couple hours). This started maybe 6 months back. This is a known issue we have on the To-Do list as well. Fixing that might just do the trick.
I'm not giving up, just saying there might have to be new developments before this gets solved.

The image resizer plug-in has been disabled.

I will uninstall it permanently once people have gotten used to things and no compelling arguments arise for us to keep it.