TalkImg.com - Image hosting for BitcoinTalk

[joker_josue]

and I just saw Sign In but doesn't have Signup Im I missing something or do you provide image hosting without a user

You can upload images without login. Anyone who wants an account to manage their images must ask me to assess the possibility.
But, you can use the site normally without login.

[1714155985]

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[1714155985]

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[Synchronice]

Also, you'll have to optimize uploaded images without losing quality (slight quality loss is okay), so, the best way to do that is to implement something similar to TinyJPG and compress all the uploaded images automatically, this will reduce the server load, the data and things will be better for us too.

As a user, I don't like it when a host messes with my images (although wiping exif is a good thing). It's not up to the host to decide what quality losses are acceptable.

There is nothing wrong with lossless compression, the difference between the original one and the compressed image is very minimal, some people may not even notice, but the size advantage is huge. Instead of 2.5MB limit size, I think it will be better to increase the actual limit and apply lossless compression, so, my 5MB image can turn into a 2.5MB image. Overall, this will be a more comfortable experience for everyone.

I don't want to be that guy but I'm a little bit skeptical here. There is a chance that this service won't become popular and you'll just waste money for nothing because for example, if 10 image is uploaded a day and you have a total of 3650 image in your database, if you just shut down this service, 3650 image will disappear from this forum, which, can be a problem for users. And if you don't shut down, it can become a little bit boring to take care of such service and pay some money out of pocket.

I clearly understand your point of view. By the way, that was the main question that was asked in this topic. If you notice my answers are: than depending on me this project is to last a long, long time.

Note my story of an online gallery, which I have maintained online for over 10 years. Having an online gallery doesn't scare me and I am aware of the resources needed to keep one up and running.

Definitely I read your responses but I missed your story of an online gallery. That's an amazing and a little bit nostalgic for me. Now I really believe that it's not a toy for you and you'll seriously take care of this.

Sometimes numbers are spoken of in a frightening way. But sometimes it's not like that. My service only accepts images up to 2.5 MB, this makes everything more controlled. Imagine that all forum users (3536195 members), upload a 1MB image, I would need 4GB of disk space. I do technical management of a website that has just over 66k images and occupies 30GB of disk space. By the way, you can visit here: https://allaircraft.net/

I would correct: 4TB. I know that's a typo, just saying.

Believe me, I would be very happy to have 3000000 images on the site.
But realistically, you would think that all forum users will post 1 MB image, most will upload images under 1 MB. Do you know what is the current average of the images that have already been uploaded? Less than 200KB. Sometimes when talking about an image, you think that everything will take up a lot of space, but remember, I limit everything to 2.5MB.

Yes, I believe now. By the way, my personal suggestion will be to increase the limit and implement the lossless compression, it will be just way better for everyone. Imagine, someone take a photo with his smartphone and wants to publish an image on Bitcointalk via your website. Images taken by smartphones are usually high in size and it's very uncomfortable if users have to google some image compression websites, upload there and compress and then download to upload on your website. But if you increase the limit up to 5MB and implement image compression, my photo may turn into 2.5MB, will save your space, my time and will result in overall good experience.
If people are really against lossless image compression, then it can be better if images under 2.5MB go without compression but higher than that will get automatically compressed.

[LoyceV]

The more users who access the server, the heavier the server load will be.

Pushing static images out doesn't take much resources other than bandwidth.

The biggest problem will be bandwidth, but that's only with time that I'll be able to evaluate the best solutions to apply. At the moment, I have a lot of available bandwidth (20GB/month), which I have the possibility to increase with some ease without major cost changes.

That's low! My list of all funded Bitcoin addresses on a $20/year VPS used 2 TB/month and got a donated upgrade to 50 TB/month last year. Together with my other Bitcoin data projects, it's now using 10 TB/month. But none of those use cloud hosting, unlike the rest of loyce.club (also donated, but the bandwidth costs are much higher).
Either way, that leaves lots of options to grow, and I doubt Bitcointalk will use that much bandwidth for images in the coming years.

There is nothing wrong with lossless compression, the difference between the original one and the compressed image is very minimal, some people may not even notice, but the size advantage is huge.

The file can only get smaller from lossless compression if the original compression was terrible.

Instead of 2.5MB limit size, I think it will be better to increase the actual limit and apply lossless compression, so, my 5MB image can turn into a 2.5MB image.

Why don't you compress the image by yourself, and upload the format you want?

my photo may turn into 2.5MB

It's better to resize the image, 2.5MB is still too much for a forum-sized image.

A resize-option would be really cool, and even a change-format-option could work. I get that it's convenient for mobile users, and you may even be able to create/test/show different file format for the image, so the user can pick which one to use.

[joker_josue]

I would correct: 4TB. I know that's a typo, just saying.

You are right, I made a mistake in writing. Thanks for the correction.
But, I think you get the point across. 

Yes, I believe now. By the way, my personal suggestion will be to increase the limit and implement the lossless compression, it will be just way better for everyone. Imagine, someone take a photo with his smartphone and wants to publish an image on Bitcointalk via your website. Images taken by smartphones are usually high in size and it's very uncomfortable if users have to google some image compression websites, upload there and compress and then download to upload on your website. But if you increase the limit up to 5MB and implement image compression, my photo may turn into 2.5MB, will save your space, my time and will result in overall good experience.
If people are really against lossless image compression, then it can be better if images under 2.5MB go without compression but higher than that will get automatically compressed.

I see the point, maybe it could become something to think about in the medium term. I promise I'll think about it. 

That's low! My list of all funded Bitcoin addresses on a $20/year VPS used 2 TB/month and got a donated upgrade to 50 TB/month last year. Together with my other Bitcoin data projects, it's now using 10 TB/month. But none of those use cloud hosting, unlike the rest of loyce.club (also donated, but the bandwidth costs are much higher).
Either way, that leaves lots of options to grow, and I doubt Bitcointalk will use that much bandwidth for images in the coming years.

The question is, how much bandwidth do you use out of what you have?
I have a lot of room for growth, for now this bandwidth is more than enough. But if I need more, I can easily adjust that, just one call and I double or triple the bandwidth.

[FatFork]

Images taken by smartphones are usually high in size and it's very uncomfortable if users have to google some image compression websites, upload there and compress and then download to upload on your website. But if you increase the limit up to 5MB and implement image compression, my photo may turn into 2.5MB, will save your space, my time and will result in overall good experience.

There's no guarantee that lossless compression will automagically shrink your 5MB image to 2.5MB or less. What if the image is already compressed well but has a high resolution? Keep in mind that this service is meant for image hosting for the bitcointalk.org forum, which has a maximum file size limit of 2.5MB. Uploading larger files to the hosting service is pointless since they won't be displayable on the forum, and this would only make things more confusing and complicated for users.

Besides, many modern smartphones come equipped with built-in image compression apps and tools that automatically reduce image sizes before sharing or uploading them online.

If people are really against lossless image compression, then it can be better if images under 2.5MB go without compression but higher than that will get automatically compressed.

I don't have a problem with using lossless image compression on the server side since it can lower bandwidth usage and speed up the loading and rendering of web pages, which benefits users with slower internet connections. However, it doesn't make sense to increase the file size limit above 2.5MB in this case due to the restrictions already in place on the bitcointalk forum.

[Porfirii]

If you do a translation, let me know to update the list.

Topic translated into Spanish here and added to the list of translations IN PROGRESS of the Alliance Of Bitcointalk Translators' thread, thanks to Peanutswar's proposal.

Keep up the good work joker_josue! this is the kind of services BitcoinTalk community needs. And please, notify us whenever you make changes in the OP so we can get it always updated.

[rdluffy]

Joker, I was thinking here, of course users already suggested the donations, and the ads
And also I already saw that you put it in the main post.

I will give my opinion: I am using the service and I like it, very simple and without any problems
I wouldn't mind if there was more than 1 ad, for me you can put more ads, as most of us will only use 1 upload button and then grab the link to the post
I don't know if most agree, but it would be no problem at all to have the ads if it means the maintenance of the site and the value that will ensure the longevity of the service, this is the most important feature for us

I think you can even get an specific ad if you post on Services tab here on Bitcointalk

[zasad@]

"TalkImg.com - Image hosting for BitcoinTalk" translated into Russian
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5451159

[roksana.hee]

@joker_josue,
Congratulations on the launch of TalkImg, a fantastic new image hosting service designed specifically for the BitcoinTalk community. It's great to see a solution to the problem of slow-loading and disappearing images on the forum. The features, including the limitation of image format, size, and usage, along with spam control, will make it a valuable tool for users. It's impressive that no user registration is required, and all hidden information is deleted when uploading. I am excited to see the upcoming features, and I am sure the community will appreciate the effort and support provided by joker_josue. Well done!



I already use it. Really it's a great invention for BitcoinTalk Community. Also, I'll publish a post on my local Board named    
[Re: বাংলাদেশ (Bengali)].

Hi @joker_josue,
I am wearing the signature campaign for publishing your recently launched helpful tools named TalkImg.com. Also recently updated my previous post. You can see that link here: TalkImg.Com

[Timelord2067]

I would like to have an account via TalkImg.com - how do I go about arranging this?

My suggestion is to add Delete button, if user decides to delete image himself for privacy or any other reasons.

Instead of a delete button, perhaps an "expires in XXX days/weeks/months/years etc" - or no delete.

The advantage of this is limiting image hosting used for auctions, sales or giveaways that are done in a matter of days or even weeks.  Those pages are not likely to be viewed in more than a few months time, so it won't matter if it comes up with an "image not found" notice.

Worst case scenario, disable new uploads, and keep existing images. But I hope to make sure that never happens. It all depends on community support.

I've just made a small donation - hope it helps.

If usage growth is large, I will certainly enlist the help of other users to help moderate and perhaps create a plan, in case something happens.

May I suggest two or three from four or five wallet holders?  (Safer to err on the side of caution from the outset)


Some other questions:

• I use lightscreen - can your site be added in the app?
• I've read others expressing concerns over the file size of the gallery over time becoming too huge to handle.  Can external sites such as drop box be integrated?  i.e. if a user has a dropbox/cloud account the images are backed up to their own dropbox and called on as needed (or seldom used images be ported to cloud style services while high volume images are kept on the talkimg site.
• There was an issue with http Vs https for some images a year or two ago.  Anyone who changes the BBCode from http to https has their images restored, however there are a great deal of those images that haven't had their code fixed.  AFAIK there hasn't been a sweep done to identify those images with broken links.  In that context, can you see that kind of thing becoming an issue with your site?
• When I right click "save as" an image posted on the BCT website all images have a generic ip.bitcointalk file name.  I see there is a link to the talkimg website for examples posted above, however, I was just wondering about an image that is used with a URL for a third party website - can the file name of the image be included?
• These two images still haven't uploaded after thirty minutes many hours.
  
  
  
  (It says upload complete, but nothing else has happened - no BBcode, nothing)
• Donations:  A QR code for the wallet address might be handy.

• For the sustainability of TalkImg's image hosting, there must be a donation button so that those who want to donate and support the website to continue to exist can donate directly via Bitcoin or other coins.

  
  I'd really only suggest Lightning and maybe one or two others (ETH seems to have outrageously sky high TX fees, so I wouldn't recommend them)
• Perhaps a separate thread walk-through on how to integrate TalkImg into any screen-grab style program? (e.g. the how to sign a message that scoured practically all wallet types available at that time)
• Backups:  A monthly update with the most recent uploaded images would help in the event of a disaster e.g. date centre fire that wipes out countless terabytes of data in one foul swoop.  Perhaps these could be offered for down load, or sold with the proceeds being used to maintain the site in perpetuity?
• FTP:  I haven't used FTP for many years, but from recollection, the protocol is only used for give/take - I don't think it would be useful as there would be no BBcode or delete token issued

I'm trying to find the original transparent version of this so I can have it hosted on your site (irony - hotlinked from archive.today )




Anyone translating the thread should forward the merits earned to the OP @joker_josue (i.e the one from two merits)


I'll spread the word amongst the Known Alts of any-one - A User Generated List ^{Mk IV} investigators.

Kudos.

[OgNasty]

Very cool service. This has been needed for a long time. I now hope that I remember to use it next time I have a photo to upload. Taking a quick glance at the site, it appears to be much more user friendly on my mobile than other options like Imgur, which I appreciate. I could see this becoming extremely popular here. Thanks for building this.

[dkbit98]

You can upload images without login. Anyone who wants an account to manage their images must ask me to assess the possibility.
But, you can use the site normally without login.

Is there any option to use third party tool software with TalkImg.com website and what parameters should we enter for this to work (server, port, etc)?

One suggestion:
Maybe you can talk with theymos to give you free advertisement boost as unofficial image uploader for bitcointalk forum.

[joker_josue]

I would like to have an account via TalkImg.com - how do I go about arranging this?

Send a PM to talk.
Those who have an account will be able to use an API that will allow them to be used in apps. But, I am still working in that field.

Instead of a delete button, perhaps an "expires in XXX days/weeks/months/years etc" - or no delete.

The advantage of this is limiting image hosting used for auctions, sales or giveaways that are done in a matter of days or even weeks.  Those pages are not likely to be viewed in more than a few months time, so it won't matter if it comes up with an "image not found" notice.

As I mentioned earlier, the goal is for images not to be erased. At the time of creation a link is generated, if used the image is deleted, if not used the image will remain.
One of the goals of creating this project was the fact that there were many images on the forum that no longer appeared. That's annoying.

I've just made a small donation - hope it helps.

Every help counts! Thanks. Only this management, only made me want to continue. 

• I've read others expressing concerns over the file size of the gallery over time becoming too huge to handle.  Can external sites such as drop box be integrated?  i.e. if a user has a dropbox/cloud account the images are backed up to their own dropbox and called on as needed (or seldom used images be ported to cloud style services while high volume images are kept on the talkimg site.
• There was an issue with http Vs https for some images a year or two ago.  Anyone who changes the BBCode from http to https has their images restored, however there are a great deal of those images that haven't had their code fixed.  AFAIK there hasn't been a sweep done to identify those images with broken links.  In that context, can you see that kind of thing becoming an issue with your site?
• When I right click "save as" an image posted on the BCT website all images have a generic ip.bitcointalk file name.  I see there is a link to the talkimg website for examples posted above, however, I was just wondering about an image that is used with a URL for a third party website - can the file name of the image be included?
• These two images still haven't uploaded after thirty minutes many hours.
• Donations:  A QR code for the wallet address might be handy.
• Perhaps a separate thread walk-through on how to integrate TalkImg into any screen-grab style program? (e.g. the how to sign a message that scoured practically all wallet types available at that time)
• Backups:  A monthly update with the most recent uploaded images would help in the event of a disaster e.g. date centre fire that wipes out countless terabytes of data in one foul swoop.  Perhaps these could be offered for down load, or sold with the proceeds being used to maintain the site in perpetuity?
• FTP:  I haven't used FTP for many years, but from recollection, the protocol is only used for give/take - I don't think it would be useful as there would be no BBcode or delete token issued

Answering in order of the indicated points:
> To ensure the longevity of the project, the ideal is to keep everything on the same server. Because, if something goes wrong, it will be easier to request that the address of the images be edited via BD. But, as I explained before, and based on my knowledge, I can handle 30GB (I say this value because I work on a project that has that in images) without problems. This equates to thousands of images. I would be very happy if we get there.
> The site works on http and httpS. The ideal is to always work on httpS. But, if someone in the link just writes http, everything should work normally.
> No! You have to upload the image. This allows you to prevent abuse of copyrighted images. In turn, all images uploaded to TalkImg can only be used here on the forum.
> I apologize for this issue. I had configured it to only be able to load one image at a time, this helps to reduce spam. By mistake, a configuration element failed that caused this situation. I think it's already resolved. Thanks for the alert.
> Thanks for the QR tip, because this is an image site.  I'll deal with that in the next few days.
> I'm still studying the possibility of using API, maybe soon.
> The server already automatically takes regular backups. I'm still studying extra forms of backups so that everything can be resumed from where it left off. I hope to have news in a few weeks.
> I have no intention of using FTP.

Is there any option to use third party tool software with TalkImg.com website and what parameters should we enter for this to work (server, port, etc)?

One suggestion:
Maybe you can talk with theymos to give you free advertisement boost as unofficial image uploader for bitcointalk forum.

I'm looking into the possibility of providing an API to make this possible for users who have an account.
Anyone who wants to account, please contact me, so I can assess the situation. (I do not guarantee that all applications will be accepted.)

Hope to get in touch with @theymos in the next few days.

[LoyceV]

Instead of a delete button, perhaps an "expires in XXX days/weeks/months/years etc" - or no delete.

The advantage of this is limiting image hosting used for auctions, sales or giveaways that are done in a matter of days or even weeks.  Those pages are not likely to be viewed in more than a few months time, so it won't matter if it comes up with an "image not found" notice.

This made me think of another suggestion: if an image is scheduled for deletion, can you add that as text in a corner of the image? It may prevent others from quoting it.
After deleting an image, can you replace it with an image showing "This image was deleted from TalkImg.com on May 4, 2023"? That might look messy for images with different height/width tags though.

[joker_josue]

After deleting an image, can you replace it with an image showing "This image was deleted from TalkImg.com on May 4, 2023"? That might look messy for images with different height/width tags though.

This would be easier if implemented in ip.bitcointalk, as it automatically replaces images that can no longer be loaded by others. I wouldn't say the date, but I would say that it had been deleted.
I really have to try to talk to theymos.

[LoyceV]

This would be easier if implemented in ip.bitcointalk, as it automatically replaces images that can no longer be loaded by others. I wouldn't say the date, but I would say that it had been deleted.

It kinda does already:

I really have to try to talk to theymos.

Agreed, but not on this part: some website are temporarily unavailable, and those images should load again once they're back online.

[Timelord2067]

I just had a file paused at 39% upload and then seemed to hang.  Eventually I reloaded the website and reuploaded which got me thing of duplicate file checking at upload.

My suggestion would be if a duplicate image were uploaded e.g. this one,



then the first uploader is provided the delete key, but the second, third etc uploaders only get shown the codes that are shown on e.g. this page: https://www.talkimg.com/image/aDCN

Then again if multiple uploaders have uploaded the *exact* same file, then perhaps a file is automatically prevented from being deleted?

In any event, duplicate file checking would reduce file storage sizes.

[joker_josue]

Agreed, but not on this part: some website are temporarily unavailable, and those images should load again once they're back online.

It is probably possible for him to configure the proxy for several cases, instead of just one. I don't know, it wouldn't be a priority either, at this moment.

Then again if multiple uploaders have uploaded the *exact* same file, then perhaps a file is automatically prevented from being deleted?

I can do that, but the check is always based on the name. So it's hard to say that name is really from the same image.

Imagine that you have the file "2023.jpg" and another user has another image with the same name. For the system, they were the same images, when in reality they are not.

In turn, the system will rename all files, which will prevent the image from being deleted by someone else who does not have the specific link to the image.

[LoyceV]

Then again if multiple uploaders have uploaded the *exact* same file, then perhaps a file is automatically prevented from being deleted?

I can do that, but the check is always based on the name. So it's hard to say that name is really from the same image.

I don't expect many people to upload the exact same image, although it could happen when someone lost the link to his image. If you want to detect them, a checksum for each image would be best. It can easily be circumvented by changing a pixel, but that doesn't matter anyway.
I don't think the first uploader should be able to delete the file from later uploaders, and later uploaders (this part is very easy to do) shouldn't get a say on the original uploader's image. If I'd have to deal with this, I'd use a checksum and hard link all duplicates. That doesn't consume additional disk space, and each user can still delete their own entry if needed.

[WatChe]

and I just saw Sign In but doesn't have Signup Im I missing something or do you provide image hosting without a user

You can upload images without login. Anyone who wants an account to manage their images must ask me to assess the possibility.
But, you can use the site normally without login.

Hi joker_josue. just checked the site and loved your work. Its easy to use and the best part is after you upload the picture you get the BBcode which I can simply paste here and get things done. Just a small query there is option before we upload the image Not family safe upload, we can upload the image with or without checking that box. Can you just guide whats this option is about and when to check that box. Thanks for providing an innovative solution. Thanks a bunch.