Why attaching files is better than using an image hosting service
 

I prefer it when my members attach images on my site rather than using an image hosting service. I like it this way because images hosted on a third party tend to break. I see a lot of broken images and broken imageshack images in forum posts. Wouldn't you rather provide the space on your server for attachments instead of having your forum full of broken pics? See my point?

On the other hand, hosting images on your server impacts your backup. Not just backup time, but backup size.

But, we all have our own preferences.

It has its pros and cons when people use the attachment manager instead of an external host.

Pros:
- Less likely to be deleted
- More flexible, you can manage the attachments

Cons:
- More bandwidth
- vBulletin tends to mess with the quality of images
- All attachments are loaded through PHP, more load on the server
- Possibly slower with loading (see above point), some external hosts are faster because of static delivery

I use a first party uploader/image host. Best of both worlds.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=307803

The images could still be deleted by photobucket

I use VB image Hosting on 3.8.8 and Photobucket Image Uploader I do not like attachments, I prefer hosting the images.

Our forum goes back to 2004 and we have lost literally thousands of images from image hosting sites deleting them. I use the image importing plug in now and most of the images that are hosted elsewhere get imported directly to the site.

I am not concerned with the storage size. I am more concerned with having broken images all over the site.

Umm, no. They are locally hosted and have nothing at all to do with photobucket and are also, completely independent of the vBulletin install..

what? I thought that the images were stored by photobucket. How does it work?

You didn't read the instructions in the link I shared? "Photobucket" was in quotation marks, for a reason. It's not Photobucket, it is your very own "photobucket" you control.

It is separate software allowing upload and storage of images on your own server, and it is independent of the vBulletin installation completely. Unlike with attachments, there is no writing to the vB database and there is no issue at all if you upgrade, backup, etc because it has nothing to do with vBulletin.

Storage isn't a issue either because even the cheaper hosting allows for unlimited storage. The images are stored in the file system.

but you understand it is not my fault if someone or something gets in. I am still skeptical about fotonucket.

Ok now i get it, but why is it better than attachments?

Well this is the shortest article I have ever seen... Why didn't you just post this as a new thread somewhere?

Here is why: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....24&postcount=7

Also, it is usually faster to load images from your own server then to pull them from elsewhere.

Someone voted my article 1 star and i tried to upvote it to 5 stars, but it is only at 3 now:(

That's the average of 1 and 5:

(1 + 5)/2 = 6/2 = 3

I know, but i wish it was 5.

You need a minimum of 6 people to rate with 5 stars (and nothing lower), so that the average is raised to 4.5, and will be rounded to 5 stars in the icon display.

If you want 5 stars try writing a real article and not a short paragraph.

Yes, I had no idea this was posted as an article until the rating was brought up. I thought it was a question instead. :)

It was an article telling people that attachments is better than a hosting service.

I would agree, I also prefer when users attach images than hotlink to third party image hosting services, for the reasons you stated and also because many of those images stored on such sites don't render at all in some OS/browser combinations.

I don't mean this to be harsh though, but I don't feel your initial post qualifies as an article, but rather an opinion. To me, an article should be a detailed explanation on how to do something. :)

So should i edit it and add a detailed explanation on how to attach images?

Well, I suspect most users here know how to attach images (it is the users on their forums that would need to be addressed about that), however you might want to research the options admins have to auto-convert hot-linked images to files stored on their servers, perhaps using products already available here, and provide an explanation on how to accomplish this, including the pitfalls, pros/cons of different methods, etc.

Look at the various areas of confusion that might have arisen regarding this issue and provide information that brings more clarity to the options/solutions already available.

In short, you want to take the available information, and bring more clarity to it, and unify presently disparate information into one cohesive article that will be of value to as many vBulletin owners as possible. :) Sounds easy, right? :p