out dated web site

[rogerdodger]

trying to put pictures on this web site is like an ABORINGINE looking at a jet engine, once again I have failed. This site needs to be brought into the 22nd century, or people just will not use it. Why so complicated ? pray tell

[Interpol2471]

Crumbs don't say that Graham just made it easier

[Richard Negus]

Roger,Piece of wee! No problem- provided of course that it's less than 256k and 800 x 800 ! Which rules out almost everything except a big avatar.

Gregoria.jpg

Since most of my snaps are upwards of 1Mb, I have to reduce them to place them here, or put them in the Gallery and refer across.Unless someone (Graham ??) can advise another way.In the 'yottin forum, contributors can put large photo files directly into the text - but then that's a commercial operation with advertising and permanent staff to maintain it.R[/color]

[Richard Negus]

Having a spare moment, thought I'd search for alternate ways of posting large images in a text.Trying the " . Add image to a post " clicky, I got 'site not available' but searching deeper, learned that imageposter.com has been replaced by imageshack.us.If the forum link is amended to this, does that then correct the problem?Trouble is, I don't recall using the link before nor knowing what size of image can be posted that way.R.They reckon that beer contains female hormones and they're probably right. 'Cos after 8 pints, I talk rubbish and can't drive either.

[graham]

Every megabyte we use to host this website is paid for by me. I do as much as I can afford to support the rotary scene, after all, it's been a major part of my life since 1987.(Ask Richard :-))The site is hosted on reliable (Yes that means it isn't cheap) hosting. The forum and image posts are backed up every 24 hours and will still be available in years to come; unlike youtube,facebook, and all those other here today, gone tomorrow internet services. However, I do not have a bottomless pocket and have no choice but to restrict the maximum size of images in order to allow everyone a chance to post.Images posted on the forum need to be relatively small, those placed in your own gallery have much fewer restrictions. Since I integrated the forum and gallery, members have found how to create their own gallery, I must thank Richard and others for taking the time to explain the details.Richard; what a pleasant surprise, that I have provided a conduit through which you can keep in touch with 'your' rotary owners. I hope it's a recompense for all the help you've given me over the years :-) All of you: Please do keep telling me what to do next. I'll always try to enthuse as many rotary owners as possible. As webmaster I'm still learning, work with me and we will eventually have the best website on the 'net.Graham

[Wayne]

Its fare too easy to criticise, we must remember that we are a small group who are not going to get much bigger unless Norton start making rotarys again so its unlikely the site can be subsidised by advertisers. We need to document as much info as possible relating to any make of rotary as much as possible, because the people who were originally involved in development are not getting any younger . This website is good way of providing this service, with ought grahams forsight and dosh out of his own pocket (who said Yorkshire men only do out for nowt and only for them selves) where would most of us be, er stuck. Regards Wayne

[Interpol2471]

I think you have done a great job Graham and the site has developed well over the short time I have been a Rotary owner compared to you old souls out there

[Richard Negus]

In my naivety, it hadn't occured to me that there are costs involved in running this site and, more importantly, that Graham is paying out of his own pocket. It's very humbling to realise another person's hidden generosity.If there are 300 (?) members of the ROC, 150 registered users of this site, and 20 or so are regular contributors, it seems there ought to be a more equitable way of paying for the facility of keeping in touch with other members and discussing 'rotary' subjects. If, for example, putting bigger / more photos results in Graham subsidising the site even more, then clearly that is not fair.On the other hand, to ask all members to pay by means of an increase in subs is clearly unfair to those who are not registered users or don't have internet access; I presume there are no users who are not also members ???I guess that the NOC, if they ever get their new site up and running, will face the same problem of how it is financed.Graham, can you give us an idea of the scale of costs involved please ?

[kanonkopdrinker]

Hi all,Graham's generosity in funding this site is much appreciated; I have before offered funding from the ROC but he has always said it was his way of supporting the club and the rotary community and for this I am very grateful.The ROC has, at present, a little over 200 paid up members; sadly, not every subscriber to the forum is also a ROC bod .... one thought he was simply by contributing to the forum (!) but has yet to return the membership form he was sent; another's response was, 'What do I get out of it?' .... well, this forum for a start!! (but clearly this isn't enough because he too has not joined ...)And on that subject, I think that 2010 will probably be the final year that we hold the subs at £10 p.a. Overseas members pay the same as those in the UK (but cannot attend (m)any of the meetings) however, their subs are pretty well swallowed up 100% with postage charges. Many members are very generous and add a little extra to their subs, but I think that from 2011 we will probably be looking at £15 or so across the board.DC

[jpsrob]

I did not realise the website was run externally (so to speak) from the club. The forum is there to be used,if members do not have access to a PC they surely know someone who has(otherwise how come Bill Gates is a billionaire). We are lucky, another bike club I was a member of does not have a message board and you cannot upload a pic if you want, so I should think we are lucky that Graham is prepared to put the effort in.Not everything in life is perfectGuitars,Cadillacs and Hillbilly music

[rogerdodger]

Well I am sorry if I have upset people by saying its outdated, and it must cost a bit to run as I had my own web page for a couple of years and know the expense but again I am sorry but I cannot navigate to a point where it says upload your photographs as I would like to put my pics on of my F1 with the modifications that Richard Negus done recently. But I cannot so if there bis someone out there pray do tell.

[Interpol2471]

rogerdodger you could always email the pictures to myself, Richard or Graham and we could upload them for you, I am sure any of us would be happy to create a gallery for you I am happy to do so if you want.

[rogerdodger]

But why can't I do it myself, I go on Face Book so simple a matter on minutes and its done and it guides you to it. Simple

[graham]

Thanks for pointing it out. I can see how it's possible to get 'stuck' in the forum without a link to the gallery. I will add a 'home' link as soon as possTo create a gallery album I suggest going to http://www.rotaryownersclub.co.uk. Log in, then click on members gallery ... create/modify my albums... click on 'new album' and edit the text to your new album nameFor your information, the Forum and gallery are two completely separate programs with only a common login and database. Integrating them is quite difficult for me Have fun.Site admin

[Interpol2471]

You beat me to it Graham

[graham]

Richard, re:Cost of the website.A little bit of history;I quickly realised that professional web designers consider themselves worth a small fortune! So being a mechanic at heart, I started 'dismantling' websites to see how they worked,then I went to night school, studied web design, started work on my own site for Startrights and eventually created the current design http://www.startright.co.uk not perfect, but it works.As my understanding increased, other local businesses asked me to create websites for them too so now the Rotary Owners Club site shares space on the Startright server along with several others. This makes the server costs of about £800 a year affordable. The software I use is coppermine and phpbb3 embedded in Joomla all are open source programs. This is the first time I've created such a site with a common login. Earning a living has to be my first priority so it may well be the Christmas break before I implement any new ideas. This time last year, I wasn't even sure anyone would add content at all. When there are faults with the site, I make time immediately, less pressing problems I leave until I feel like diving into the code again :-)Roger, you haven't upset me at all saying it's outdated. If working in the motorcycle trade for over 33 years has taught me anything, it's to ignore the exact words and try to extract the real meaning from them instead. You're quite rightly telling me it's difficult to use. I'll take that on board, can't guarantee I won't mess up but I'll enjoy trying to improve it. Good instructions are probably worth starting a thread for. (You are all classed as moderators which means you can create new threads. )I will check the maximum image size uploadable for the gallery. Programs like facebook and ebay resize images 'on the fly' as coppermine does but there is still a maximum file size (Facebook size limit 4mb, picture maximum after resize by Facebook 600 pixels by 600 pixels. Ebay maximum file size 2mb )Thanks to all for being so pro-active and posting a response. Must go...Graham.

[rogerdodger]

Hi GrahamSimple when you know how, thanks

[Richard Negus]

'Morning Graham,Thanks for your reply - I didn't appreciate how much up-to-the-elbows you are in the site. Careful though, don't become a geek ! There's one on the yachting forum who has (mostly) objectionable views on life, the universe, etc., and isn't afraid to share them.I note that rogerdodger's last upload seems to be around 1.5Mb whereas my original was 500kb ; can that be correct and, if so, any idea how that happens ?Some NOC areas have regular meetings for exchange of views (with no Forum, perhaps they have to !) ; we only have the Forum and, quarterly, Epitrochoid. C'mon guys, let's have some fresh contributors and contributions to both - don't be shy !R.

[Malc]

I have tried to put a couple of pictures on, they come up with 'forbidden file extension' and another, which is only a black and white cartoon comes up with file size too big, any ideas?Malc

[site admin]

The maximum dimension, either height or width of an uploaded image is 1000 pixels, ie approximately the full width of the screen for all but the widest monitor. If I increase this size, anyone with a 'normal' monitor would have to scroll from side to side to see the image. The maximum file size you can upload is 2500 KB (2.5mb).There are many allowed formats, the most common is .jpg If you have a file in an unusual format and can't convert it to a jpg, try uploading it. The imagemagick software on the server will try to convert it to the required size and standard for you. (That's what happens when you upload to Facebook, Ebay, Flickr etc).If after upload you have a 'Forbidden file extension' message open the image on your own computer and try to save it in a more common format like .jpg or .gifGraham

[graham]

Just tested out the gallery software; all is working as it should.If you upload a large jpeg image of any dimensions but no bigger than 2.5mb, the software will resize it for you so it's longest dimension is 1000 pixels.Same applies if you upload a gif.tiff and bmp files are not suppoprted because the file sizes for a given dimension are huge (They are uncompressed formats). Hope it helps,Graham

[MrB]

I too had wondered how the funding for this site worked, but not being a geek at all I had no idea what it may be so it just remained as a thought. Now I know I take my hat off to you Graham for your generosity in both cash and time for creating and supporting this board - I've got loads out of it in the past two or three months I'd be more than happy to contibute towards the running costs but I understand you may not want to set a sub, so would you consider setting up a virtual bucket on your shop site with a link from here? No obligation to anyone but those who felt so inclined could chuck in an electronic fiver every now and again.As for comments on the site, I can't say I find the links to things like the photos site easy to find - Richard puts a comment in some text saying have a look at blah blah blah - can I ever find where to look?? Thanks for your continuing support in keeping Mr B running.Johnny

[graham]

Really don't want to be accused of being a computer nerd but here's a bit more info.If you want to add a link to a particular image within your post, click on the url button at the top of the text box.Make the image in the gallery full size and copy the image url (uniform resource locator aka internet address) and paste it between the tags that appear.You can use the same system to link to any web address you like, As in my next paragraph :Very good idea about donations and many thanks for your kind words MrB. Any amount large or small, please donate to:http://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/donate/secure/These wonderful people have saved more than one of our customers who have a taste for dry stone walls in the Yorkshire Dales....That's all for now, it's back to the degreaser for me. (Cleaning a Classic engine)Have fun.Graham

[Richard Negus]

As for comments on the site, I can't say I find the links to things like the photos site easy to find - Richard puts a comment in some text saying have a look at blah blah blah - can I ever find where to look??

This is how I do it :On the home page, top centre ; click on 'Members Gallery'New page appears ; left side, click 'Members Albums'New page appears with thumbnails & members name under; if not on 1st page, go to next page by clicking at lower right cornerClick on appropriate Member's thumbnail. New page appears ; click on thumbnail again and new page of Member's photos appears Click lower right for page 2, 3 etc..There may be a quicker way of accessing a particular photo - any advice from others ?R.

[MrB]

That's interesting - where is the HOME PAGE? When I go to the highest level I can I see BOARD INDEX on its own to the left of a blue banner, then another blue banner below that with USER CONTROL PANEL / 0 NEW MESSAGES / VIEW YOUR POSTS on the left and FAQ / MEMBERS / LOGOUT on the right. Below that there are the six main links in blue banners to LOGIN...etc. I can't see a button marked HOME anywhere on the site.I can't see MEMBERS GALLERY anywhere either, not in the middle of the page nor anywhere else. I came across it once when I clicked on a link in a posting text, never found it since though! Am I on the right site? Have I only got access to the Forum pages? Is there a whole new world round the corner that I am missing? Am I just being a bit thick?J.

[TRL]

That's interesting - where is the HOME PAGE? When I go to the highest level I can I see BOARD INDEX on its own to the left of a blue banner, ..Am I on the right site? Have I only got access to the Forum pages? Is there a whole new world round the corner that I am missing? Am I just being a bit thick?J.

You appear to be accessing the forum directly through the index page like I do sometimes. the advantage is that I don't have to scroll within the forum "window" on the home page and the forum fills my web page.thrapp/index.phpThe Gallery etc links are on the home page, but then the forum needs more scrolling to read the items.http://www.rotaryownersclub.co.uk/It might be useful if Graham could add a link on the index page back to the home page.I hope this is useful.BTW Graham thanks for this website and the mine of information it is for us Rotary owners.

[Richard Negus]

I assumed (stupid, I know) that everyone found the web site by using http://www.rotaryownersclub.co.uk, 'cos that's all I know.Accessing the site that way gets the home page that I was talking about earlier.R.

[graham]

Yes, I agree there should be a link to the home page from every area. At the moment I'm learning how to add a text only link in the header. I understand html but this site is database driven, each page is created 'on the fly' by calling data from the database along with a set of rules created in a stylesheet and a whole series of files. I have already ended up with a blank screen because of a syntax error :-(Just be pleased for me when you see the link appear, it may take some time .....Graham.

[MrB]

Keep going Graham, keep going... think of the sense of achievement!J

[MrB]

Oh yes, should have said thanks for the links chaps. Lesson learned. I'll keep both links though, the forum is easier to use outside the main site.J.