attaching photos

[Bob M]

I'm having the same problem as Dad's Bike. The Forum doesn't seem to like my photos (copies attached) what can I do?

[Dave]

Bob,

Can you provide some more details please? eg

 - How many photos did you try to attach at one time?
 - Were they all a similar size to the two attached to this post? Or taken with the same Canon IXUS 500?
 - Are these two photos attached to this post exactly the same as those you tried to post elsewhere?
 - What do you mean by "...doesn't seem to like..."? Was it the same as Dad's bike "...error message saying failed security and to contact the administrator help" or something different?
 - Did you try again and get the same error situation? Or a different message?
 - Which browser are you using?
 - What sort of Internet connection do you have with TPG? If it's an NBN connection , what speed rating is it?

In the meantime, please send your photos to the address shown in this topic, tell us which post you would like them attached to, and we'll take care of it.

thanks, Dave

Updated details for emailing photos - Dave, 11Feb2021

[Dave]

Bob,

Thanks for emailing the photos and all the information about what happened. I made a test post and the images attached OK.

So we have one occasion where attaching failed (your first attempt to post), and two occasions where attaching them was successful (yours and mine).

I looked through the forum source code and believe this may be the wording of the full error message that appeared.

Code: [Select]

'Your attachment has failed security checks and cannot be uploaded. Please consult the forum administrator.'
The two conditions that trigger that error message appear to be
   1. The attachment is not a file type that is allowed to be attached.
   2. The software wasn't able to reduce the image size from the original size, to the size displayed on the web page.

Clearly, number one doesn't apply because they were both JPEG images and they are definitely allowed.

So for some reason, sometimes, the software is not able to process the images and it spits out the 'security' error message above.

The programmers who wrote the code seem to have written their error message to apply to condition one.
Images that fail due to condition two, get the same error message even though it's not true.

So if anyone else encounters that same error message, the best thing is just to go ahead and post the text of your message where you want it, in the forum.
Then send your photos to the address shown in this topic and we'll add them to your post.
Also, be sure to include the title of your post in the email so we know where you want them to go.

There is a major new version of the forum software almost ready for release and we really hope the whole image handling process has had a complete overhaul.

Dave

Updated details for emailing photos - Dave, 11Feb2021

[Daren W Australia]

Hi I just got this in the ew gearbox thread when I tried to modify the pics by retaking them horizontally see snip attached Ta Daren

[Dave]

Hi Daren,

If you use a photo editor to resize your photos before posting, it greatly improves the chances of the attachment being successful.
The current standard display size for all photos (attached or linked) is currently 900 pixels wide. So even if the photo is 4000 pixels wide, it still only displays at 900 pixels wide in the forum.

If you resize your photos to 900 pixels wide x (whatever) pixels high and remove the metadata before posting them, the attachment process runs more smoothly and they load quickly when people view them.
Removing the metadata is a good idea for security reasons too. Photos taken on mobile phones usually show your exact GPS location.

Otherwise, please follow the advice from the above post...

So if anyone else encounters that same error message, the best thing is just to go ahead and post the text of your message where you want it, in the forum.
Then send your photos to the address shown in this topic and we'll add them to your post.
Also, be sure to include the title of your post in the email so we know where you want them to go.

Dave

[Daren W Australia]

Hi Dave,

This page helped my sort this www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/remove-metadata-from-photos/

I changed the settings on my phone with their guide.

For changing their size windows 10 open in photo viewer click the 3 dots right hand top corner, hit resize click 4meg (mine were 11meg) rename the copy, easy.

Ta Daren

[Dave]

Good work Daren, that's very helpful information.

Here's another article "How To Resize Images And Photos In Windows"using the Windows Paint program which is included with most Windows installations.

The screen snip below shows what to enter to resize to 900 pixels wide.
In this example, the height dimension is automatically calculated as long as the "Maintain aspect ratio" box is checked.

Dave