www.digitalmars.com         C & C++   DMDScript  

digitalmars.D - Forum Enhancement: Post a image

reply Hipreme <msnmancini hotmail.com> writes:
I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
that this forum still does not support images.

Images are a really useful tool for spreading awareness. I have 
some points there to provide

1: It'll create inputs on image databases such as Google Images, 
thus, the image search could find the D forums increasing the 
language reach
2: There's a lot of graphics related project and no one really 
cares about them if there's not to see
3: People usually don't like clicking on suspicious links for 
checking images
4: Having an option for people to show their project could 
actually help in D relevance: for example, one would actually 
need to link their github repo for having the images, which would 
involve the process of someone clicking and then scrolling it 
down. This is too many tasks. Having the images could help people 
being interests.


Some considerations should be made though:
- Images showing code should be banned. It does not help anyone, 
it consumes resourceful value such as disk space and it actually 
makes it harder to test.
- Size limiting could be a great addition
- Reformat images to JPEG for smaller sizes
- Maybe we could have a "Projects" section where people could 
posts their image and close the other sections for text only. 
This reduces the probability of wrong images usage for saving 
resources


Even better: the forums could even create some carousel showing 
"Featured Projects" and even "New Projects" which in my opinion 
would be a big plus, which can bring a more modern feeling to the 
forums, it will bring D's ecosystem awareness, it will even 
motivate people to get their projects there!


There's other things that I would like to see in the future: Like 
buttons. There is a lot of people that are not willing to express 
their interest in the project such as clicking on the reply 
button. Even better, it would not bloat the thread with "+1 
approves this". It is not really people fault, problem is that 
there is no another way to show their interest in the project 
right now.

Again, that feature is a lot useful when bringing new ideas or 
even doing some kind of polls which is missing too, as I said 
before, many people dislike posting but would love to have their 
voice heard.
Jul 18 2022
next sibling parent "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh qfbox.info> writes:
On Tue, Jul 19, 2022 at 12:42:01AM +0000, Hipreme via Digitalmars-d wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think that
 this forum still does not support images.


I use a text-only mail reader.  If there are images, I won't see them.
(I *could* if I wanted to, but it's extra effort, and generally I'm not
interested in images unless the post concerns something graphical. If
we're talking about code, I'd just ignore any images.)


[...]

 2: There's a lot of graphics related project and no one really cares
 about them if there's not to see


This is a valid point, but why images in *forum* posts? Images IMO
belong on the project website, and the forum post could just link to
that.



 3: People usually don't like clicking on suspicious links for checking
 images


I use the mailing list interface to the forum, and generally I'd ignore
image files attached to posts. I'd find them annoying, in fact, if the
post doesn't actually concern something graphical. Excessive image
attachments (icons, signature images, etc.) that don't add any useful
information, I find really annoying.



 4: Having an option for people to show their project could actually
 help in D relevance: for example, one would actually need to link
 their github repo for having the images, which would involve the
 process of someone clicking and then scrolling it down. This is too
 many tasks. Having the images could help people being interests.


Or it could turn away stubborn people like me. ;-)  I much rather have a
forum post link to some project website that hosts images, than to have
to manually open individual image attachments.



 Some considerations should be made though:
 - Images showing code should be banned. It does not help anyone, it
   consumes resourceful value such as disk space and it actually makes
   it harder to test.
 - Size limiting could be a great addition


Size limiting does not prevent people from attaching useless images like
signature icons that add no information to a post.



 - Reformat images to JPEG for smaller sizes


Please no, at the very least use a lossless compressed format like PNG.
If the post concerns, say, graphical code, the worst thing is to end up
with a noisy image caused by compression artifacts that fails to show
what the actual output is. (And if image quality doesn't matter, then
chances are it's not really relevant anyway, just put it on the project
website and drop a link to it.)



 - Maybe we could have a "Projects" section where people could posts
   their image and close the other sections for text only. This reduces
   the probability of wrong images usage for saving resources


That could be more acceptable.  I'll be sure not to subscribe to that.
;-)



 Even better: the forums could even create some carousel showing
 "Featured Projects" and even "New Projects" which in my opinion would
 be a big plus, which can bring a more modern feeling to the forums, it
 will bring D's ecosystem awareness, it will even motivate people to
 get their projects there!


I would see nothing of that, because I read forum posts via the mailing
list interface. (Plus I wouldn't be interested to get such information
on the forums in the first place; if anything, posts where images are
important probably should be posted in the D blog or on the project's
own website. I don't want to be receiving images I didn't ask for.)



 There's other things that I would like to see in the future: Like
 buttons.  There is a lot of people that are not willing to express
 their interest in the project such as clicking on the reply button.
 Even better, it would not bloat the thread with "+1 approves this". It
 is not really people fault, problem is that there is no another way to
 show their interest in the project right now.


Buttons wouldn't show up in the mailing list interface. (But then, I
wouldn't really care anyway, so it doesn't matter.)



 Again, that feature is a lot useful when bringing new ideas or even
 doing some kind of polls which is missing too, as I said before, many
 people dislike posting but would love to have their voice heard.


Making decisions based on internet polls is highly unreliable, and once
things like "like" buttons are instituted, they are highly prone to
abuse by unscrupulous parties.

Disclaimer: these opinions are just my own.  Most of my views are not
majority anyway, and I don't pretend to represent anyone or anything
except myself. So take this with a suitable-sized grain of salt.


T

-- 
Without outlines, life would be pointless.
Jul 18 2022
prev sibling next sibling parent reply Paul Backus <snarwin gmail.com> writes:
On 7/18/22 20:42, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think that this 
 forum still does not support images.


I'm replying to this message using the forum's NNTP interface, and 
attempting to include a screenshot of my Vim configuration for D as an 
attachment. Let's see if it shows up on the web interface!

(I messed up the first time I sent this and accidentally emailed Hipreme 
directly. Sorry about that!)

Edit: it turns out there's a hard ~50KB limit for newsgroup messages, so 
I've had to severely compress the image to try and make it fit.
Jul 18 2022
parent rikki cattermole <rikki cattermole.co.nz> writes:
Shows up on Thunderbird and is a link on DFeed.
Jul 18 2022
prev sibling next sibling parent reply Ahmet Sait <nightmarex1337 hotmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.

 [...]


I think markdown image syntax works fine, but you might need an 
external server to upload your image.

Test:

![Profile 
Image](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/d63befae55dfd8858500bced654647e0?d=identicon&s=160)
Jul 19 2022
next sibling parent ryuukk_ <ryuukk.dev gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 09:00:03 UTC, Ahmet Sait wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.

 [...]


 I think markdown image syntax works fine, but you might need an 
 external server to upload your image.

 Test:

 ![Profile 
 Image](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/d63befae55dfd8858500bced654647e0?d=identicon&s=160)



I think it is fine too, but few problems


- Problem: they are not properly resized when too big
- Solution: resize them, and make them clickable, if click, open 
it as fullsize in a tab


- Problem: i can never remember the syntax
- Solution: when markdown is enabled, display a little header 
with various buttons, including an insert image button
Jul 19 2022
prev sibling parent reply Ola Fosheim =?UTF-8?B?R3LDuHN0YWQ=?= <ola.fosheim.grostad gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 09:00:03 UTC, Ahmet Sait wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.

 [...]


 I think markdown image syntax works fine, but you might need an 
 external server to upload your image.


It is problematic for moderation and archives, i.e. it can be 
used for getting marketing spam into forums.
Jul 19 2022
parent bachmeier <no spam.net> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 13:16:12 UTC, Ola Fosheim Grøstad 
wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 09:00:03 UTC, Ahmet Sait wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.

 [...]


 I think markdown image syntax works fine, but you might need 
 an external server to upload your image.


 It is problematic for moderation and archives, i.e. it can be 
 used for getting marketing spam into forums.


The image can be changed at any time in the future if it's 
externally hosted. This opens the forum to spreading various 
types of porn, coordination of terrorist attacks, and really 
anything you can do with externally-hosted images. It wouldn't 
even be detected if the actor did it after a couple months.
Jul 19 2022
prev sibling parent reply Ali <fakeemail example.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.


Many new comers do wonder about this forum software
and many have asked to move to better options like discourse

To save you time, yes this forum is antiquated
but the community, just doesn't seem to have an appetite to 
change it

D is a small community, so if you think about it
this forum, might actually be good enough

Take D and the D community for what it is, dont dream for them

And because it is a small community, they dont have bandwidth for 
things like
changing the website, the forum, adding a chat room, marketing, 
moving to github etc ...

Things you can actually change are the Language Compiler, the 
libraries and fixing bugs
Jul 19 2022
next sibling parent reply ryuukk_ <ryuukk.dev gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 15:24:33 UTC, Ali wrote:

This forum is quite nice to be honest, it loads very fast, and 
has a pretty nice UX overall

There some areas where it could need some love, like that post 
mentions (images)

But also 'quoting', there should be some ways to fold/unfold big 
quotes automatically, or better threads within post to keep the 
context

And when replying to someone, have a little clickable url to go 
so the actual post, to make the life easier for readers
Jul 19 2022
parent reply Dennis <dkorpel gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 15:33:13 UTC, ryuukk_ wrote:

 And when replying to someone, have a little clickable url to go 
 so the actual post, to make the life easier for readers


Below your avatar it says "Posted in reply to Ali" with `Ali` 
being a clickable link to the post. The link suggests it would go 
to a user profile though, so it's easy to miss.
Jul 19 2022
parent ryuukk_ <ryuukk.dev gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 16:12:39 UTC, Dennis wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 15:33:13 UTC, ryuukk_ wrote:

 And when replying to someone, have a little clickable url to 
 go so the actual post, to make the life easier for readers


 Below your avatar it says "Posted in reply to Ali" with `Ali` 
 being a clickable link to the post. The link suggests it would 
 go to a user profile though, so it's easy to miss.


Oh i never noticed it!! Thanks!
Jul 19 2022
prev sibling parent reply Hipreme <msnmancini hotmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 15:24:33 UTC, Ali wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 00:42:01 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 I believe that, specially in 2022, it is astonishing to think 
 that this forum still does not support images.


 Many new comers do wonder about this forum software
 and many have asked to move to better options like discourse

 To save you time, yes this forum is antiquated
 but the community, just doesn't seem to have an appetite to 
 change it

 D is a small community, so if you think about it
 this forum, might actually be good enough

 Take D and the D community for what it is, dont dream for them

 And because it is a small community, they dont have bandwidth 
 for things like
 changing the website, the forum, adding a chat room, marketing, 
 moving to github etc ...

 Things you can actually change are the Language Compiler, the 
 libraries and fixing bugs



So, basically what I asked was a "Projects" section which would 
create more space to D people advertise D projects and post 
images showing their projects. The Discord community already has 
something like that, why don't do it with the forums where 
eventually any D user will come? D is a small community but it is 
far over from being good enough. I'm here because I like what D 
proposes, but "Good Enough" feels really as an overstatement 
about D's current state.

In my time programming in D, I have seen a plenty of people 
saying just how old the forums feel, like, needing a modern 
redesign on it. Not to mention how abandoned it feels over all

Another thing, that statement even made this forum feels like its 
made from language compiler developers to language compiler 
developer. Like, there is an unaccountable people which has 
already contributed to the language as a language, but what D is 
missing right now is D software.

In the end of the day, if you have users, you'll know more bugs 
there is in the language if there isn't just compiler developers 
using it.

If you're living on a hut and feels like it is good enough, 
you'll never have a mansion. The community which had appetite for 
a change already moved out :). As Teoh mentioned, if someone is 
bothered with images and projects on forum, they can just 
"Unsubscribe" for that section and keep following it from the 
mailing list. That's what inclusion is. Not having a choice is 
not inclusion
Jul 19 2022
parent reply Paul Backus <snarwin gmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 20:03:37 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 So, basically what I asked was a "Projects" section which would 
 create more space to D people advertise D projects and post 
 images showing their projects. The Discord community already 
 has something like that, why don't do it with the forums where 
 eventually any D user will come?


This is what the "Announce" forum is for. When you create a 
project using D, or release a new version of your project, you 
can post in the Announce forum to let the rest of the community 
know about it.

Maybe we need to do a better job of encouraging members of the 
community to post in the Announce forum?
Jul 19 2022
parent reply Hipreme <msnmancini hotmail.com> writes:
On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 22:46:47 UTC, Paul Backus wrote:

 On Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 20:03:37 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 So, basically what I asked was a "Projects" section which 
 would create more space to D people advertise D projects and 
 post images showing their projects. The Discord community 
 already has something like that, why don't do it with the 
 forums where eventually any D user will come?


 This is what the "Announce" forum is for. When you create a 
 project using D, or release a new version of your project, you 
 can post in the Announce forum to let the rest of the community 
 know about it.

 Maybe we need to do a better job of encouraging members of the 
 community to post in the Announce forum?


As I said, my view on announce is that it feels much more like 
official D staff stuff rather than community projects. Specially 
if you look at the front pages, most one would see are those 
announcements.

And, to be honest, I don't know how much people feels worthy of 
showing their humble little project next to D staff things
Jul 19 2022
parent Mike Parker <aldacron gmail.com> writes:
On Wednesday, 20 July 2022 at 03:12:15 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

 
 As I said, my view on announce is that it feels much more like 
 official D staff stuff rather than community projects. 
 Specially if you look at the front pages, most one would see 
 are those announcements.

 And, to be honest, I don't know how much people feels worthy of 
 showing their humble little project next to D staff things


The Announce forum has been used for community announcements 
since it was opened in 2005, 10 years before Andrei created the D 
Language Foundations. Announcements related to D, including 
community projects, is absolutely what it’s for.
Jul 19 2022