Attachment and media gallery upload restrictions

Simon Hampel

Simon Hampel

Administrator
Staff member
20+ year member
As an anti-spam measure, I have implemented some new restrictions on uploading attachments and adding photos to the media gallery.

New members who have not been around long or posted much will not be able to upload.

This should not affect any existing users - but it may take some time for the system to update all user profiles to allow the uploads.

If you have previously been able to upload but now cannot, please let me know (you can post in this thread if you like) and I will invesigate.
 
My account is affected of these new restrictions. Please investigate. Either lift the restrictions or delete my account and photos all together. Thank you.
 
But I mean if someone's been around the community for this long surely they should be allowed to post no? Especially considering how the Semi's guy been on the site since 2014 with 500 or so media, I don't really see why you'd have to post when for some people there really isn't much they want to say.
 
The new restrictions are there for a reason - to prevent spammers. The restrictions apply to everyone equally.

The requirements to overcome the restrictions are not onerous.

FYI - you can also remove the restrictions without meeting the criteria by upgrading to premium membership - spammers don't tend to pay to post.
 
Hello. Loving this website but haven't been here for a while. I think I might be affected by the changes and are unable to upload photos.

Appreciative of any assistance and again, loving the site.
 
CarLarchameleon said:
Hello. Loving this website but haven't been here for a while. I think I might be affected by the changes and are unable to upload photos.

Appreciative of any assistance and again, loving the site.
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Same as everyone else - you'll need to post more before you can upload more media.
 
WalkingAgnatha said:
But I mean if someone's been around the community for this long surely they should be allowed to post no? Especially considering how the Semi's guy been on the site since 2014 with 500 or so media, I don't really see why you'd have to post when for some people there really isn't much they want to say.
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Agreed, that's just pushing away valuable contributors (through media rather than posts) from the site.
 
Simon Hampel said:
This should not affect any existing users
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To be clear - when I wrote this, I was not taking into consideration people who have made a significant number of uploads, but only a few posts on the forum.

These new restrictions will affect users in this situation - they will have to make more posts on the forum before they can upload more media.

It's not an onerous restriction to surpass.
 
ThomasNotTom said:
Agreed, that's just pushing away valuable contributors (through media rather than posts) from the site.
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I generally disagree with that. It may sound a bit harsh and judgmental, but I generally feel that the users who only post in the media section and never in the forums tend to be self-promoters who just want likes and compliments for their portrait photos of animals. If they actually wanted to discuss zoos and animals, why wouldn't they post in the forums from time to time?

Those who contribute with discussion-worthy exhibit photos tend to be equally active in the forums in my experience, so I don't think we're pushing many of those away. Those who do nothing else but only post portrait photos honestly don't contribute much to a zoo message board, though they could be valuable contributors to a photography message board which I assume also exist somewhere out in the big internet.
 
Simon Hampel said:
These new restrictions will affect users in this situation - they will have to make more posts on the forum before they can upload more media.
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Hvedekorn said:
but I generally feel that the users who only post in the media section and never in the forums tend to be self-promoters who just want likes and compliments for their portrait photos of animals. If they actually wanted to discuss zoos and animals, why wouldn't they post in the forums from time to time?
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To add further clarification for those in this situation, posts and comments made within the media galleries are no longer included in total post-counts (whilst they were prior to the forum software changed in 2016) and therefore affected users need to post elsewhere on the forum.

As for the point made by Hvedekorn - there are quite lengthy discussions in the media gallery, although fewer since the aforementioned software update made keeping track of gallery comments and discussions significantly harder, so one cannot automatically assume that those primarily uploading photographs and commenting within the gallery have no interest in zoo discussion. See, for instance, the 10-page discussion on this media item:

Refurbishment of former Cheetah and Cassowary Enclosure - ZooChat
 
Maybe I should have my point a bit clearer - I believe that those who exclusively upload portrait photos - and never post in the forums - are mostly out for likes and compliments. Not those who also or primarily upload exhibit photos. I have uploaded plenty of exhibit photos myself and enjoy the discussion that can come with these.

Edit: Oh, now I get your point; that people who have made a lot of comments in the media section, but not in the forums, will be counted as having no posts. Now I agree it would be a shame if we sorted out those users, but to my earlier point, I believe that most users who seek discussion about zoos and animals will post in both the forums and the media section.
 
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Hi Simon, I am somewhat new here, but I have uploaded photos in the past to Emerald Animal World and Nix asked me to add some photos yesterday, but I am sadly unable to.
 
Jaguar_X said:
Hi Simon, I am somewhat new here, but I have uploaded photos in the past to Emerald Animal World and Nix asked me to add some photos yesterday, but I am sadly unable to.
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I'd recommend interacting on the forum more by commenting on some threads. Hopefully then you'll be able to post the images. It's a shame you can't currently, especially as the collection you speak of is underrepresented in the gallery! Thank you!
 
Hello, I can't upload photos right now because I can't find the add media butto:(
 
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