Can Vbulletin's "Rich-Text Editor" save pasted images locally?

[PaulEscobar]

Before reading, let me say...

My question is very simple.

But it begs alot of explanation.
Which is why I've typed so much.
Feel free to just read the red-lettered parts, to get the quick-version of my question.


My Personal Background...

I am a "potential customer", not looking for "support instructions".

I work in the Oil and Gas industry.
I'm used to working with Microsoft's ONENOTE program.
But my co-workers are not familiar with this software.

So I'm thinking of creating a forum.
We'd share general articles and research, in an easy manner.

But there's a certain prerequisite the forum-software must have.


My Problem...

Vbulletin has a great "rich text editor".

It's a real time saver, and is easy to use.
You can avoid html coding and even "bbcode".
It allows users to copy from outside sources, while pasting with images and formatting intact.

I notice that the pasted images tend to be hotlinked (files hosted on foreign sites). If the foreign site goes down, the images can disappear from a post.

Since I want to use the forum as a database, this is troublesome.


What I need...

When pasting into the "rich text editor"...
I'd like the images to be AUTOMATICALLY converted/re-hosted on my own local site.

I know there are "image hosts".
But many users of my forum will not be familiar with image-code and image-hosts.

If the rich text editor can simply convert their pasted foreign-images into locally-hosted images...it would save alot of time.

Is Vbulletin capable of doing this?

--------------- Added 06 Feb 2008 at 03:35 ---------------

Just to note..
I originally posted this at "Vbulletin.com".

Many responders there suggested I post my topic here at "Vbulletin.Org" instead.

So I'll try it, hoping to see if there are any possible solutions to my query.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

This is not possible by default with vBulletin. It should be possible to create a modification to do this, but i have not seen such released yet.

[PaulEscobar]

Thanks for replying Marco.

Since that is the case, I will hold off on purchasing VB.
If this feature was available (as a modification or whatever), I'd have no hesitation purchasing.

[falguni1]

the same feature was requested at smf and they said it will not be done.

It is not correct as many of the images are copyrighted.

[Dismounted]

It CAN be done, but it would/would not be legal depending on where you live/location of the server.

[PaulEscobar]

It CAN be done, but it would/would not be legal depending on where you live/location of the server.

Perhaps I should clarify.
I have no interest in, or need for, violating copyrights.

The forum I'd like to setup would not be public.
It's for team members, who already have access to certain documents & materials.
Alot of times, they are articles and research we have done ourselves.

We already share these on other mediums, such as emails and OneNote.
But the current way we communicate information is inefficient.

Instead, I'd like us to communicate on a forum.
This would arrange our ideas better, and allow us access to many more communication features.

My problem is that the forum would require migration.
The data from emails and OneNote would have to be transferred to the forum.
Without an automatic upload feature, this would be time-consuming and unfeasible.


the same feature was requested at smf and they said it will not be done.

It is not correct as many of the images are copyrighted.

As far as I know, it's the responsibility of the website owner to ensure compliance with copyrights. Vbulletin and other forum systems are not responsible for content.

Look at my case.
I have tons of my own research in my email account, and in my Microsoft-OneNote book.
So do my teammates.

They are properly formatted, and arranged in a certain way.
Using Vbulletin's current "Rich Text" feature...our images would be useless. Since you can't get images hotlinked from someones personal computer or email account.

But if we got to paste/upload...the images would appear as desired.

[SEOvB]

It CAN be done, but it would/would not be legal depending on where you live/location of the server.

So you're saying if i use the attachment feature for a copyrighted image its illegal?

[nexialys]

the only illegal thing in this action is that you're becoming "owner" of the content that will become uploaded to your server if the system work that way. actually, having just a link to the image is publically acceptable because the net can be viewed by all... but if you host it on your site, you have to ask permission to do so...

it's the same as if you see your neighbour's car in the street... you can see it. if you want it in your driveway, you have to ask your neighbour to move it there... or you steal it.

[PaulEscobar]

the only illegal thing in this action is that you're becoming "owner" of the content that will become uploaded to your server if the system work that way. actually, having just a link to the image is publically acceptable because the net can be viewed by all... but if you host it on your site, you have to ask permission to do so...

it's the same as if you see your neighbour's car in the street... you can see it. if you want it in your driveway, you have to ask your neighbour to move it there... or you steal it.

In a general sense, that's a good point.

But for those with copyright concerns, I'll repeat...
Suppose the content IS YOUR OWN...
A Vbulletin Rich-Text upload feature would be priceless.

I just sent an email to a colleague in Calgary a few minutes ago.
I included 3 images of pie-charts, in between my paragraphs.

With Vbulletins current setup...
I can't just copy and paste my email into the rich-text editor.
The images can't be hotlinked.
I have to re-save the images to my hard drive, upload them to an image host, and then paste the image-code exactly where it was before.

That maybe fine with just 1 email.
But I have 87 emails of this nature.
And they have to be transferred over to any potential forum.

Things get worse if I'm using the Vbulletin attachment feature.
I can't have my chart directly under the relevant paragraph.
Makes for hard reading.

[Michael Morris]

Let me make sure I understand this - you want to be able to have an image be uploaded when it is pasted into the WYSIWYG editor from anywhere yes?

If so, it's flat out impossible - for security reasons javascript cannot read image data from the clipboard of the host OS or read a file's contents without going through the browser's file input control. You must upload the image as a separate action, and no vendor can provide you otherwise unless they also rewrite your browser.

Note, this *might* be possible using ActiveX controls in IE, but ActiveX is the sourcepoint of 95% of IE's security flaws and it is highly recommended that you turn it off, leave it off or, better yet, don't use IE.

[PaulEscobar]

Let me make sure I understand this - you want to be able to have an image be uploaded when it is pasted into the WYSIWYG editor from anywhere yes?

If so, it's flat out impossible - for security reasons javascript cannot read image data from the clipboard of the host OS or read a file's contents without going through the browser's file input control. You must upload the image as a separate action, and no vendor can provide you otherwise unless they also rewrite your browser.

Note, this *might* be possible using ActiveX controls in IE, but ActiveX is the sourcepoint of 95% of IE's security flaws and it is highly recommended that you turn it off, leave it off or, better yet, don't use IE.

Sure, it's a stretch to get copy/paste from the hard drive.
I'd love that, for copying/pasting from Word etc.
But it's not neccessary.

Most of my discussion pieces exist on the net.
My discussion emails.
My own weblog articles and posts.
Those are all hosted on the net.
Same goes for my team-mates.

Microsoft's OneNote has a powertoy that can export NoteBooks as websites.
So I'd simply have to upload those to my site.
Once hosted, I could copy/paste whatever's relevant into Vbulletin.

So yes, I am still keen on this feature.

[Dismounted]

Things get worse if I'm using the Vbulletin attachment feature.
I can't have my chart directly under the relevant paragraph.
Makes for hard reading.
Yes you can. You can insert attached images where ever you want in the post.

[PaulEscobar]

Yes you can. You can insert attached images where ever you want in the post.

Testing...
75948
End Test.

Ah! I just tried out the attachment button option.
It works.

Unfortunately, it still doesn't help me.
If it was just a matter of a few images, I'd be up and running yesterday (with VB's default features).

My problem is migration.
I can't imagine repeating this manual upload/attachment process 87 times over, with at least 6 images for each go.

So it's still neccessary to have something as quick as paste/upload.
(Crossing my finger)

But thanks for pointing out that nifty feature!
If I ever do have a go with VB, it'll come in handy.

[nexialys]

actually, what you require is not related to a script or a feature, it all depend on how the BROWSER manage the content... none of the browsers i know is permitting to copy/paste content from your hd...

so if you really need this, i would suggest you go to mozilla.org or microsoft.com and make a request there...

[PaulEscobar]

actually, what you require is not related to a script or a feature, it all depend on how the BROWSER manage the content... none of the browsers i know is permitting to copy/paste content from your hd...

so if you really need this, i would suggest you go to mozilla.org or microsoft.com and make a request there...

As I said, copy/paste from the HardDrive is NOT important.
Microsoft OneNote allows me to export my data as a website.
I would simply upload it to my site, then copy/paste/upload into Vbulletin (if the feature ever gets created).

My real problem is from already-hosted material.
Such as my email & weblogs.

The images do show up when I copy/paste into the Vbulletin Rich Text Editor.
The problem is that they're hotlinked from foreign sites.

My sites purpose would be to create a record of our discussions/brainstorms.
This would be troublesome with current Vbulletin.
Because as soon as the images lose their host, my posts lose their meaning.

[fariborz khan]

As I said, copy/paste from the HardDrive is NOT important.
Microsoft OneNote allows me to export my data as a website.
I would simply upload it to my site, then copy/paste/upload into Vbulletin (if the feature ever gets created).

My real problem is from already-hosted material.
Such as my email & weblogs.

The images do show up when I copy/paste into the Vbulletin Rich Text Editor.
The problem is that they're hotlinked from foreign sites.

My sites purpose would be to create a record of our discussions/brainstorms.
This would be troublesome with current Vbulletin.
Because as soon as the images lose their host, my posts lose their meaning.
PaulEscobar , i need this ...please let me know how can vb team resolve this problem

thanks

[Dilmah]

vB team can't resolve the problem. As you have been told, only the browser can control this.

[PaulEscobar]

vB team can't resolve the problem. As you have been told, only the browser can control this.

From what I've read in this topic, and the ".com" forum, it is possible.
Some people have stated that it may take a few lines of code.

Perhaps there was some confusion as to what needed to be uploaded.
Obviously, it might be impossible to upload files pasted from your hard drive.
But it shouldn't be impossible to convert pasted/hotlinked images into uploads.

I'd love to have a forum, especially one like VB.
But due to the migration of data involved, it would be pointless without such a feature.

[nexialys]

actually, like i stated at first, you can easily convert links to be uploaded to the server, but only once you submit the post... can't be done by drag-drop... or you will have a god in ajax to make it so...

when the post is submited, you can have a hook that will detect all attached links and will upload them to the server the same way avatars are uploaded...

[PaulEscobar]

actually, like i stated at first, you can easily convert links to be uploaded to the server, but only once you submit the post... can't be done by drag-drop... or you will have a god in ajax to make it so...

when the post is submited, you can have a hook that will detect all attached links and will upload them to the server the same way avatars are uploaded...

Yes, this would be excellent!
I obviously don't care if it's done directly after paste, or after the post is submitted.
So long as it ends up being natively hosted.

Now, does this feature exist?
Or will there have to be some modification created?
Or will there need to be some code changed?

Because I'd like to purchase VB if this can be done.

[onespot]

Whomever said this was imopssible was "flat out wrong" - I do this with so many other apps and it is NEEDED in vbulletin! How do we get this? Who do I pay? Where do I go?

I want to be able to copy an image to my clipboard (in my example I support my dealers by providing screenshots of what they need to do). In dokuwiki, I simply copy it to my clipboard and paste it into the post - voila!

I also do this with Jira using a a Javascript Applet.

This is also possible with other apps such as Screenr (which is even a video screencast of my desktop).

[BirdOPrey5]

This thread was 6 years old... Software and technology has changed.

That said this isn't going to ever be a feature of VB3 or VB4 and I highly doubt it is a feature you will ever be able to get implemented even if you are willing to pay someone, it would likely require a completely new editor which is going to be cost prohibitive.

The creator of this thread wanted this ability because he didn't want images to break if they were removed later from external sites.

There is a mod now that automatically copes all external linked images to local images as a regular scheduled task. It runs transparent to the user and would be the way to solve the issue the OP was having.

Even if it isn't 100% perfect for your needs it would be a tremendously better starting point then trying to modify the vBulletin editor.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=253309

[Spangle]

Isn't this a perfect example of when to archive or delete irrelevant threads from any forum ?

[BirdOPrey5]

Close, perhaps... delete? No. No reason to delete anything IMO, not because every one is useful but because no way to tell the useful ones from the useless ones without reading through every post- and even then- it's just a guess.