more flexible attachment system

[andrewjs18]

use the imgur upload tool that martec wrote a tutorial about.  you tell the app which image to use and it'll automatically add the image inside [img] tags inside the post for you.

Doesn't this mean that that picture is then hosted publicly for anyone, even those not on my forum, to view?

yes, although I don't know if you could set up something with imgur's API so that all uploaded photos from your site go into an album you set up that is then set to hidden.  

[Euan T]

Hi,

Your feature suggestion has been accepted as a planned feature to be implemented in MyBB 2.0. Thanks for your contribution!

[msm1]

This really should go without saying but I will say it anyway .
The uploader should have the ability to allow multiple files to be selected at once (like phpBB) and not just add additional browse buttons (like simplemachines 2).

[Jones H]

The attachment system for 2.0 will be a lot more powerfull - including multiple attachments

[Jabberwock]

That's great news to hear. Good work I must say.

[msm1]

The attachment system for 2.0 will be a lot more powerfull - including multiple attachments

That's great

[Waltersmind]

I am glad to see that other people are wanting a better attachment system like I do, but let me throw this out in the wind:

First, let me give a little background history so you can better understand what it is I am trying to do. I have been a member of several "BASIC" computer programming forums for several years now for nostalgia reasons, and I have had a blast with the interaction I have had with fellow members, as well as sharing projects and demos between us. The main site I have been a member of since 2011 is qb64.net which offers an enhanced version of QBASIC. The site went down nearly a year ago due to hardware issues, and none of us members could get a hold of the owner. So, to try to keep things going until we find out what happen (which the site was only down for two weeks), I decided to start my own forum. I tried many of the packages out there to see what they had to offer and I hated everyone of them. I didn't think I was going to find anything I like until I came across the MyBB forum software. I immediately fell in love with it, not only due to the features it offered, but how much easier it was to make modifications and my own additions to the software, which in turned allowed me to provide my own features to my members.

The version I am currently running is 1.6(ish) and I am in the process of updating to version 1.8.6, but due to the changes I made to the internal files of the software, I can not just upgrade to the latest version with loosing all the work I have done so far. So, I have decided to start from scratch with 1.8.6, and redesign the entire site much differently. With MyBB 2.0 on the horizon in the next year or two (I am just assuming when it might come out), I really would love to wait on that release, but since we do not know when it will be out, I decided to go ahead and build the next version of my forum with MyBB 1.8.6. It will be a lot work getting this done, and then more work to upgrade my forum to the MyBB 2.0.

Now the feature that I wanted to present & suggest to the community, and the powers-to-be, is a modified version of the attachment system. Since I run a computer programming forum, I want to offer my members a "Project" system which will be part of the attachment system. My main goal on my forum is to promote the projects of my members, make them easy to find & download, make it easy for my members to keep track of the various versions of their projects, and make all files & projects uploaded by my members accessible to them in their control panel, as well as on the page that they are creating a new post on. This is the system that I am currently building in my second version of my programming forum.

As I have already mentioned, I will be using a file attachment system, as well as my new project system together. If I or my members would like to post *.PDF's, Microsoft Office Documents, text files, or other non-project files, we would use the standard file attachment system. If we wish to share a project, then they will be able to click on the project button and a pop-up box would appear (like you see with images in a photo gallery) which will allow them to upload files, create sub-folders (in the file list, not actual ones on the server, though the project system will take care of where the files and folders are stored), set a version number, name the project (other than the file name), add screenshots of the running project, and anything else that is related to the project.

The project system I am working on for my members will also create and update a project page or section that will allow users of the site to download individual projects, projects from a particular member, projects in a specific category, or all projects shared by the members. My members, as well as members of other BASIC programming forums have been requesting a means to make it easier to find and download past projects, and I plan to provide my members with such technology. However, I would love to see this type of system in MyBB 2.0, even if it is an option I would need to turn on (so I don't have to recreate it when MyBB 2.0 comes out).

My members already love the fact that I have made easy enough to find great projects on my site, even though the way I did it is frowned upon by many. But it works for my members.

If you wish to see my current forum, it is located at http://www.TheJoyfulProgrammer.com. Please note, when I get the second version of my forum done (I am talking about the features and look I will be implementing), I plan on adding more forums for other programming languages by duplicating the second version, and modifying the copies to give them their own unique look and feel. I will be using the project system in those as well, which is why I have to wait to finish the next version of my forum. So, when you go to my home page, all I have is an image of the name of the current forum, which links to it. I am currently working building a home page for the primary site, so it will be changing sometime soon (as soon as I figure out what I want to put up).

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts about the project system I described, so please feel free to let me know.


Walter Whitman
The Joyful Programmer
http://www.TheJoyfulProgrammer.com

P.S., I apologize for the long post, but I wanted people to know where I was coming from on my suggestion, and why it is important for me to have such a feature.

[OldDuck]

- ability to add more than 1 attachment at once

- a progress bar for the uploads

- rather than having the attachments confined to 1 thread/post, it would make more sense if attachments are added to a user's attachment gallery (or whatever you want to name it) so they can use the same image in multiple threads/posts at the same time.  this would make things more efficient and save on server space.

It seems that the mybb team has taken in account the first two features, but is the third one also considered as a planned feature ?

Devil's advocate: There are other and better solutions to storing files and with good MyCode / Markdown / Whatever support, you can easily display images / videos and other file types within a post either through embed or a link. So why do we need attachments?

Using an external hosting is not the best idea from my point of view. When this external host will go down, you will lose all your files :/ And you will also have to comply with every changes they could make in the future: adding some adds, disabling some features,...

Another feature that could be added is a special button for images (uploaded as attachments) which could permit to directly insert the image in the message using the img mycode. For forums directed to artworks, movie reviews, photographs, ... this could be really nice.
This could be also added for audio and video files if an offical mycode for this arrives in mybb 2.0. Using the html5 video and audio tag this could be really nice.

[Euan T]

The third is not considered as confirmed, but is something that we will certainly be thinking about. It would certainly reduce disk space usage and improve user friendliness if each user had an "attachment album" (or something) and all attachments were stored there rather than linked to a post.

[andrewjs18]

The third is not considered as confirmed, but is something that we will certainly be thinking about. It would certainly reduce disk space usage and improve user friendliness if each user had an "attachment album" (or something) and all attachments were stored there rather than linked to a post.

if my 3rd suggestion gets implemented, I'd seriously consider enabling attachments for all user groups again. because of how inflexible attachments are in mybb 1.X, I have it disabled for everyone.