MetaChat - Image info in the Mecha Wiki.

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27 January 2006

Image info in the Mecha Wiki. After noticing a thread regarding images on MeTa, I was finally moved to add some information about images here on the "User Guide" section of our Wiki, which I've been meaning to do for a while. So please read it for possible general educational value, or feel free to spruce up the entries to make them clearer/more useful.

post by: taz at: 07:54 | 30 comments

No sprucing needed. You write goodly.

posted by peacay 27 January | 08:32

*feels guilty* I've been hotlinking. Me bad.
it's just that whenever i protested a hotlink in the blue this past year people would just laugh and mock me and claim that links and therefore hotlinks is "What th intarnet is for, man" and somewhere in all that mocking i turned bad and began hotlinking, waaah, momma THEY started it!

posted by dabitch 27 January | 08:59

Please bless me Father, for I have sinned. I hotlinked yesterday.

*says two Hail Marys and one Our Father*

posted by iconomy 27 January | 09:07

Oops, I've been bad with the image linking too. I'll try harder in future.

posted by omiewise 27 January | 09:11

heh. Well, it's more complex than I've stated it there, obviously. I hotlink sometimes, when, for example:

the regular site url is already linked and promoted in the same thread... at that point I'm just pointing out a particular photo/image on a site that's already being credited.
the image has a site credit on it, and it seems obvious that the site is clearly set up for distributing these kinds of pics.
it's an image that clearly is promoting the site it's hosted on... say a desktop/wllpaper photo with the site url incorporated into the image.
it's a big, commercial lucrative site where I deem the promotion value to them is more important than any paltry bandwidth consideration. (Total judgement call).
commercial sites (that don't seem like small mom and pop things) where I'm linking to an item for sale, and all a viewer has to do is go to the root site in the url to see their whole site, because I think "hey, woohoo! Free advertising for you!"

posted by taz 27 January | 09:14

(hm. I need to change the <li> property in the CSS to put a little space between items... but I'll wait 'til we get relocated...)

posted by taz 27 January | 09:18

Know what would be cool? Below the text field, where the bold, italics, etc tag buttons are...to have a small tag button. We sure in hell use it enough!

There's probably a place on the wiki to put suggestions like this, too, huh.

posted by iconomy 27 January | 09:24

Also, for example... I personally wouldn't cavil much about linking directly to an image on the Metropolitan Museum of Art site, for instance - just because I know they have big bucks, and it ain't going to hurt them... Plus their goal, ostensibly, is to educate the masses.

So for me, myself and I, the two main considerations are, "will this possibly cause trouble for a little person hosting his/her own site" and "will this image I'm posting from another site possibly get FUBARed by them changing file names, moving files, etc."

ico, what do you mean by tag button... I think I agree... but I'm not sure. Strike that. I always agree with you... but, still, what do you mean?

posted by taz 27 January | 09:33

Taz, I think it's written quite well. I like it. And, thanks.

posted by richat 27 January | 09:41

I don't know what you actually call it...hee. The buttons we can click on ...shortcuts? They do Bold and Italics and Quote and all that....under the text field where we type.

What they called? I never knowed this?

posted by iconomy 27 January | 09:49

Heh...I went away for a while and started feeling guilty after dabitch's comment. I *used to* hotlink a bit at my house. And I actually stopped because I was afraid that 'they' would change the image. In fact I reposted some images later on because of that. There's a few still floating around but they are definitely cited and I think a couple are to commercial sites so I figure I'm advertising for them.

But your last comment [taz] makes me feel better about hotlinking in the MeTa thread some hours ago - it was an NYPL image. I also agree that it's ok when an institutional site obviously has their own ocean of bandwidth.

But I realllly should sign up for photobucket, although I guess flickr is ok.

posted by peacay 27 January | 09:49

*uh oh, tries really hard not to look guilty*

posted by mcgraw 27 January | 09:58

Imageshack.us and Supload are two very easy ways to store an image for free, without registering anywhere, in case that's a problem for anyone.

posted by iconomy 27 January | 10:02

Flickr is perfectly fine, peacay!

Nobody feel guilty! we've never bothered to put any policy stuff or guidelines on this before... it's a brand new day!!!!!!!!!

ico: ah! do you mean a button to automatically put the < > thingies around selected text?

posted by taz 27 January | 10:07

i didn't mean to suggest that there was anything wrong with the way you have presented this info, taz. i agree with everyone else, it is very well written. i learned more about why i probably shouldn't have linked to images (& animation) as often in the past. i'm glad to know this. i've been vewy vewy baaaaaaaaad - like elmer fudd bad - with the images. thanks for the info, taz.

posted by mcgraw 27 January | 10:13

taz, I think iconomy meant [small] tag with the bold/italics etc.

posted by peacay 27 January | 10:15

Yes, I meant a button that would make text small... ;) After reading what I first wrote, I can see why it didn't make sense.

We have buttons that make it bold, italic, etc. I was saying it would be nice to have a button that would automatically make the text small.

like this!

posted by iconomy 27 January | 10:29

Ack! D'oh. I read that as a small button, not a [small tag] button. But, as I prophesized, I do, absolutely, agree with you!

posted by taz 27 January | 10:38

And I want a button for a hamburger and a massage please.

posted by peacay 27 January | 10:38

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Hugh Janus 27 January | 11:08

*looks for the 'happy ending' button*

posted by iconomy 27 January | 11:29

Well there's only room for one more button - so a hamburger and massage button it is.

Well we have to get out priorities straight

posted by dodgygeezer 27 January | 11:46

*presses "hamburger and massage" button repeatedly*

posted by taz 27 January | 11:59

*massages taz's hamburger*

posted by jonmc 27 January | 12:51

*sighs*

posted by taz 27 January | 13:00

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Hugh Janus 27 January | 16:00

I'm just kidding, I'll follow the guidelines. I just love that painting in all its super-wideness, is all.

Thanks for letting us img src here, it really makes for great times.

Also thanks for everything else, I have such a swell time here.

posted by Hugh Janus 27 January | 16:41

^I should point out that that was a *sigh* of contentment above.

posted by taz 27 January | 17:05

Also, that since I'm using FF, your trribly bgg image only appears to be 500 pixels wide for me, Mr. Hugh Janus, and thus not so huge. *sighs*

posted by taz 27 January | 17:27

≡ Click to see image ≡

Bubees is fair game to hotlink, for Bubees is is the "loan" folder.

posted by dabitch 27 January | 20:59

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