UniTink72

I've been a lurker on this forum for a long time. And now that I have a C6Z, there is so many great how-tos on here its even more useful for me.

However there's a big problem, now that the C6s have been around since '05 some of the original how-tos have links to pics that are dead. Real shame, there was great stuff in these. One of the many examples:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...up-w-pics.html

We have to endure crazy amounts of forum vendor posts. How about the forum admins give a little and allocate some space on their servers for pics chosen to be important? I guarentee you'll find users willing to help pick out the important ones for posterity's sake.

c4cruiser

Back when that thread started, the only way to post pics was to have the poster upload them to a photo hosting service like Photohost or Photobucket. The pics were in an account set up by the individual and were typically password protected to gain access and upload pics.

These services did provide a limited amount of storage at no cost so if somebody didn't want to pay for more space, the account owner had to delete old pics in order to make room for new ones. CF had no way to deal with what the posterr did with his own pics.

CF at the time had no real server space available except for those supporting members who got the ability to upload pics thru an attachment process.

And how would the Mods define what pics (much less threads) would be a tech help? They would have to go thru hundreds of pics within threads; a job they don't really have the time to do.

The attachment feature has been opened up, but there is still the issue of who decides what thread w/pics is saved. The CF members can always write up a sticky or ask that a given thread be moved to one of the generation Tech Tips.

UniTink72

I understand that it would be work, but I bet if storage were offered people would help. I know I would be willing.

Here is just another of many examples. a C6Z Howto on changing your heads. A very important topic right now with the LS7 valve issues, and I bet it will still be useful 30 years from now.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-headswap.html

This is a sticky, so obviously the mods thought it important. But the pics are stored on a facebook server. I really think these things are important enough that they should be stored locally and not be dependant on external sites like shutterfly or facebook.

c4cruiser

It's still up to the person who uploads the pics to keep them somewhere. I think that the CF now allows anyone to use the attachment feature. That allows pics to be uploaded to storage media that CF/IB either owns or controls.

Whether or not the Mods would be able to decide what is important and what isn't is more of a issue with their workload as Moderators. My guess is that if sufficient justification for keeping a specific thread is presented and found to be justified, then there could be a way to retain a specific thread. But that's not our decision to make.

I would think that one of the Mods or Savewave has already read this thread and they may be able to chime in with their comments. Even then, if pics are hosted on a server(s) belonging to IB, then any decision for long-term archiving of pics will be up to them and not the CF Administrators.

savewave

It's unfortunate when picture links stop working, particularly in how-to threads.

As mentioned, we have better control over that than in the past because it's now possible to upload pictures to your gallery and use the URL created for those pictures to embed them in a post. You also, of course, can attach photos to posts now.

In each of those scenarios, the photos then are preserved on the IB servers.

The site's volunteer moderators/admins just don't have the time to do a comprehensive review on current threads each day, much less go back and review older posts for any subsequent issues. For that reason, we are very dependent on site users reporting threads/posts that require attention.

UniTink72

So there are a number of C6 threads I'd like to have their pictures archived. And am very willing to spend time doing the legwork of saving a picture to a different location, editing simple HTML to change the link to the pictures, that kind of stuff (if I'm allowed). How do I help? Who do I talk to?

savewave

Are these tech threads you are referring to? Please provide some links so I have a better idea what you are trying to achieve.

You certainly should be able to save the pictures. Depending on how many there are, you might exceed the capacity of pictures you are able to host in your personal gallery. Alternately, the pictures could be attached to a post, but you wouldn't be able to attach them to the original post. So, it's complicated without knowing more.