Photobucket changes

[LA_CA_GAL]

......

 

One question about adding the pictures to the review... usually when I insert images into posts I copy the image address then add that address where it says "Please enter the URL of your image:" rather than pasting in the image from "Copy Image".

Like this. Works for me but if you don't see a HAL ship above let me know. I've had cases where posts looked fine for me but not for others.

 

See post #4 in this thread on posting a picture from Shutterfly.

[Cuizer2]

I was over on the digital photo board, and saw that Photobucket is making changes.

 

Looks like they are going to eliminate the ability to have our photos posted here.:mad:

 

Really?

 

Then I go over to my pix there yesterday and today, and the website is all screwed up, I cannot even access my photos.

 

Looks like I will be using Shutterfly for all of my on-line photo needs.

 

 

I have a paid account with Photobucket. I pay about $36 to $40 per year. I am not going to upgrade to $400 per year. I don't seem to have the same problems those with free accounts. I have no trouble accessing my photographs or linking to them. However, video that used to work do not work any longer. So I guess that soon I'll be switching to another site.

[Cuizer2]

I did post that question (the one you asked and I hi-lighted in red) on the other board (Photo and Camera Discussions) inquiring if anyone knew if those who upgraded for more storage BEFORE Photobucket made their decision would be "grandfathered" and the answer was "no". Unless you pay for the premium package for the $400, then your account will eventually be "reset" and third party hosting will be restricted. This also goes for all past 3rd party hosting, like picture reviews here in CC, that had been completed before Photobucket initiated this change.

 

Here is what Photobucket has to say ...

 

What users are affected by the changes to our 3rd Party Hosting

policies?

Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party

hosting available.

If you were a Plus Account subscriber in good standing as of June 1, 2017,

you will continue to have all the privileges you have enjoyed including 3rd

Party Hosting until December 31, 2018 as long as you maintain your

subscription.

Non Plus 500 Account subscribers that purchased after June 1, 2017 will not

have access to 3rd Party Hosting.

[Cuizer2]

Looks like a little boat! I'm using the CC app on my smart phone.

 

Get a bigger smart phone. It is a HAL ship.

[pghsteelerfan]

Here is what Photobucket has to say ...

 

What users are affected by the changes to our 3rd Party Hosting

policies?

Moving forward, new and legacy free account users will NOT have third party

hosting available.

If you were a Plus Account subscriber in good standing as of June 1, 2017,

you will continue to have all the privileges you have enjoyed including 3rd

Party Hosting until December 31, 2018 as long as you maintain your

subscription.

Non Plus 500 Account subscribers that purchased after June 1, 2017 will not

have access to 3rd Party Hosting.

 

I did get your reply on the "Photo and Camera" boards, but just wanted to thank you again here. I thought Photobucket just hadn't gotten to me and a few others yet, so your information has been helpful and explains why pictures are still showing in some reviews (including mine) while not in others. I did pay for the lowest tier upgrade in order to do my third review since I was close to exceeding the free storage limit. It's such a shame though. There are reviews by others that I have really enjoyed over the years and find myself rereading and they have been a big help to me when getting ideas for when we cruise.

[ldubs]

Kind of a shame. Previously posted images will disappear unless the poster agrees to pay Photobucket's new fees to enable third party hosting. Of course that doesn't apply if you have already opted to pay for PB's service. Unfortunately, a lot of people used PB just as a way to post photos. There will be a number of threads on this and all other forums that will lose the photos previously posted.

[herbanrenewal]

Kind of a shame. Previously posted images will disappear unless the poster agrees to pay Photobucket's new fees to enable third party hosting. .

 

I had a similar experience about 10-15 years ago - I was posting for several years all my photos on a site (senior brain - i can't remember the name of the site... maybe web shots??) with free storage , When they changed their policy and started charging a fee. If you didn't pay what I considered a ransom fee your photos disappeared. Not just the link for third party posting but all photos on their originally "free" service. Although I had all of my favorites, the majority of other shots were lost forever. I learned to keep my back up - and update the storage device. Some of the memory devices from years ago aren't easy to access if you don't update to newer storage devices.

[Cuizer2]

Kind of a shame. Previously posted images will disappear unless the poster agrees to pay Photobucket's new fees to enable third party hosting. Of course that doesn't apply if you have already opted to pay for PB's service. Unfortunately, a lot of people used PB just as a way to post photos. There will be a number of threads on this and all other forums that will lose the photos previously posted.

 

I have a paid account with Photobucket. Since I'm home now I checked, it is $30/year. In order for me to continue to use Photobucket for hosting photographs that I post here, I will have to pay $400 per year. I don't mind a small increase (say $20 per year to make it $50 per year to me) but I draw the line at a $370 increase. I'll have to find a new image hosting site.

[Cuizer2]

I had a similar experience about 10-15 years ago - I was posting for several years all my photos on a site (senior brain - i can't remember the name of the site... maybe web shots??) with free storage , When they changed their policy and started charging a fee. If you didn't pay what I considered a ransom fee your photos disappeared. Not just the link for third party posting but all photos on their originally "free" service. Although I had all of my favorites, the majority of other shots were lost forever. I learned to keep my back up - and update the storage device. Some of the memory devices from years ago aren't easy to access if you don't update to newer storage devices.

 

Yes, it was Webshots. But I was still using the service in 2009, so it was less than ten years ago.

[ldubs]

I have a paid account with Photobucket. Since I'm home now I checked, it is $30/year. In order for me to continue to use Photobucket for hosting photographs that I post here, I will have to pay $400 per year. I don't mind a small increase (say $20 per year to make it $50 per year to me) but I draw the line at a $370 increase. I'll have to find a new image hosting site.

 

I belong to another forum that has a lot of detailed info. A lot of valuable technical info will be made almost useless when the supporting images are removed. Getting photos back to the articles is going to be an almost impossible task. If you had been to PB before you know the ads were brutal, so it isn't like PB was giving anything for free. OK, rant over. :)

[Cuizer2]

I belong to another forum that has a lot of detailed info. A lot of valuable technical info will be made almost useless when the supporting images are removed. Getting photos back to the articles is going to be an almost impossible task. If you had been to PB before you know the ads were brutal, so it isn't like PB was giving anything for free. OK, rant over. :)

 

I am not going to try to restore the photographs. My last cruise was in December 2016. That means my review will be two years old when it loses its photos. The ship will have been to dry dock before then also. I'll find a new photo hosing site before I do my next review.

[Stinger-pr]

I did get your reply on the "Photo and Camera" boards, but just wanted to thank you again here. I thought Photobucket just hadn't gotten to me and a few others yet, so your information has been helpful and explains why pictures are still showing in some reviews (including mine) while not in others. I did pay for the lowest tier upgrade in order to do my third review since I was close to exceeding the free storage limit. It's such a shame though. There are reviews by others that I have really enjoyed over the years and find myself rereading and they have been a big help to me when getting ideas for when we cruise.

Well I'm screwed for sure!! I have just been made aware of this c*#p a few minutes ago and it turned my stomach upside down. I still had over 50% of useable space at PB so I hadn't had the need to upgrade before sooo....all my three reviews are now picture less!! Still debating between re-posting the reviews (the ones on the Valor and Liberty out of San Juan mostly because of the info about tours and the islands). The Fascination one from 2016 is the one that would make the most sense since it's the current ship on that route but I don't know.....

[Cuizer2]

My paid subscription to PB comes up for renewal on Aug 16. I've already told PB to non-renew me. I've switched to SmugMug. I sent an email to Cruise Critic asking if I could add a note to the front of my reviews explaining what happened and that the photos could now be found at the end of the thread, after all the comments. I have not received a reply from Cruise Critic yet.

[LHT28]

I also cancelled my PB account

I use smugmug so why pay for 2 accounts ;)

 

My friend was billed twice by PB & they will not reply to her so she can get a refund on at least one charge

[Cuizer2]

I also cancelled my PB account

I use smugmug so why pay for 2 accounts ;)

 

My friend was billed twice by PB & they will not reply to her so she can get a refund on at least one charge

 

I kept my emails in case I have to dispute the charge. If your friend used a credit card, tell her to dispute the charge.

[LHT28]

I kept my emails in case I have to dispute the charge. If your friend used a credit card, tell her to dispute the charge.

Yep

 

did that

[pghsteelerfan]

Well I'm screwed for sure!! I have just been made aware of this c*#p a few minutes ago and it turned my stomach upside down. I still had over 50% of useable space at PB so I hadn't had the need to upgrade before sooo....all my three reviews are now picture less!! Still debating between re-posting the reviews (the ones on the Valor and Liberty out of San Juan mostly because of the info about tours and the islands). The Fascination one from 2016 is the one that would make the most sense since it's the current ship on that route but I don't know.....

 

I feel the same way you do. As of right now, my pictures are still showing but they won't be for long. When I did my Valor review in 2013 and my first Liberty review in 2014, that was through Photobucket and using the free space. When I did my third review (Liberty, 2015), I had to upgrade since I maxed out my "free space", so I upgraded to the lowest tier, the "Plus 50" plan, and didn't mind paying each year since I thought it was reasonable.

 

 

On Photobucket's website, they stated that those who had "Plus accounts in good standing on June 1, 2017 would continue to enjoy 3rd Party Hosting until December 31, 2018". Then I received an email on the evening of 7/24/2017 that stated "All of our Plus Members are grandfathered in for 3rd Party Hosting until the end of your current subscription", which in my case is November 8, 2017. That's conflicting information, so I contacted Photobucket since I wanted to know if my 3rd party hosting would be disabled on November 8, 2017 or December 31, 2018. If it was December 31, 2018, I'd probably have renewed my subscription to the Plus 50 Plan for one more year just to keep the pictures in my reviews for another year. I did get an answer back from Photobucket a few days later and copied/pasted from email for accuracy:

 

 

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us, we really do value your feedback. Upon reviewing your account I have determined that the Plus50 subscription is active on a yearly recurring payment plan and is set to expire on 11/08/17. At that time an upgrade will be required on a new payment plan. If an upgrade is not applied on or after 11/08/17 the account will automatically revert to a free account, at which point only storage will be available (linking and 3rd party hosting will be disabled).

If you have questions regarding free accounts please check out the following article for more information: http://support.photobucket.com/entri...-free-accounts

To upgrade your account, click here. Please note, your photos are safe and can always be accessed and downloaded when you are logged into your account.

Please reply back to this email if you have any questions."

I will not be upgrading my Photobucket account when my current subscription expires, so November 8, 2017 is when my pictures will go "poof". Nice how they post one thing on their website when that isn't true....

When going through "cruise withdrawal", I love reading current reviews but I also love to go back and rereadin my favorites, and yours are among my favorites. I'm really sickened by this and I know I'm not the only one. There are many of us who put a lot of time into the reviews and the pictures are a big part of them. I just wish Cruise Critic would allow the original posters to go back to edit past reviews. If we could, then I'd go back and remove pictures from Photobucket and add the same ones with Shutterfly. But since my my most recent review was two years ago I really see no point in redoing them, too much work.

[Cuizer2]

I feel the same way you do. As of right now, my pictures are still showing but they won't be for long. When I did my Valor review in 2013 and my first Liberty review in 2014, that was through Photobucket and using the free space. When I did my third review (Liberty, 2015), I had to upgrade since I maxed out my "free space", so I upgraded to the lowest tier, the "Plus 50" plan, and didn't mind paying each year since I thought it was reasonable. On Photobucket's website, they stated that those who had "Plus accounts in good standing on June 1, 2017 would continue to enjoy 3rd Party Hosting until December 31, 2018". Then I received an email on the evening of 7/24/2017 that stated "All of our Plus Members are grandfathered in for 3rd Party Hosting until the end of your current subscription", which in my case is November 8, 2017. That's conflicting information, so I contacted Photobucket since I wanted to know if my 3rd party hosting would be disabled on November 8, 2017 or December 31, 2018. If it was December 31, 2018, I'd probably have renewed my subscription to the Plus 50 Plan for one more year just to keep the pictures in my reviews for another year. I did get an answer back from Photobucket a few days later and copied/pasted from email for accuracy: "Thank you for taking the time to contact us, we really do value your feedback. Upon reviewing your account I have determined that the Plus50 subscription is active on a yearly recurring payment plan and is set to expire on 11/08/17. At that time an upgrade will be required on a new payment plan. If an upgrade is not applied on or after 11/08/17 the account will automatically revert to a free account, at which point only storage will be available (linking and 3rd party hosting will be disabled). If you have questions regarding free accounts please check out the following article for more information: http://support.photobucket.com/entri...-free-accounts To upgrade your account, click here. Please note, your photos are safe and can always be accessed and downloaded when you are logged into your account. Please reply back to this email if you have any questions." I will not be upgrading my Photobucket account when my current subscription expires, so November 8, 2017 is when my pictures will go "poof". Nice how they post one thing on their website when that isn't true.... When going through "cruise withdrawal", I love reading current reviews but I also love to go back and rereadin my favorites, and yours are among my favorites. I'm really sickened by this and I know I'm not the only one. There are many of us who put a lot of time into the reviews and the pictures are a big part of them. I just wish Cruise Critic would allow the original posters to go back to edit past reviews. If we could, then I'd go back and remove pictures from Photobucket and add the same ones with Shutterfly. But since my my most recent review was two years ago I really see no point in redoing them, too much work.

The kind of editing you suggest would be very time consuming and possibly not easily done via the software. What I have suggested it to have the administrator add a new post as the first post that says, "Due to a change in the terms of use at Photobucket, the photographs for this thread can be found beginning at post # xxx." Then I'll just add the photographs at the end. But if a new reader does not know where to find the photographs, then I am not going to take the time to add them to the end of my old reviews. My subscription ends on August 16. I've already told Photobucket I am not going to renew. I now have an account at SmugMug which offers a better slideshow, third party linking, and unlimited storage for $48 / year (except the first year is only costing me $38.40). Other plans are available for those that are interested in selling their photographs. I've already reposted my Panama Canal photographs via the slide show feature. That is working well. My next review will show up in December on the Princess forum.

 

Well, I just got hit with the are you human security check, so I might have to repost this. Well, looks like I didn't lose the post this time. But the formatting in the quote doesn't look right (or left).

[pghsteelerfan]

The kind of editing you suggest would be very time consuming and possibly not easily done via the software. What I have suggested it to have the administrator add a new post as the first post that says, "Due to a change in the terms of use at Photobucket, the photographs for this thread can be found beginning at post # xxx." Then I'll just add the photographs at the end. But if a new reader does not know where to find the photographs, then I am not going to take the time to add them to the end of my old reviews. My subscription ends on August 16. I've already told Photobucket I am not going to renew. I now have an account at SmugMug which offers a better slideshow, third party linking, and unlimited storage for $48 / year (except the first year is only costing me $38.40). Other plans are available for those that are interested in selling their photographs. I've already reposted my Panama Canal photographs via the slide show feature. That is working well. My next review will show up in December on the Princess forum.

 

Well, I just got hit with the are you human security check, so I might have to repost this. Well, looks like I didn't lose the post this time. But the formatting in the quote doesn't look right (or left).

 

Even better, much easier. Please let us know if you hear anything back from CC regarding adding a new post as the first. I would probably not go back and edit myself but if we could add a new post at the beginning to let readers know where they can see the pictures, I would do that.

[Azure Moon]

Thanks for the heads up. Groan, I'm not looking forward to changing services. :-(

[luckybecky]

Even better, much easier. Please let us know if you hear anything back from CC regarding adding a new post as the first. I would probably not go back and edit myself but if we could add a new post at the beginning to let readers know where they can see the pictures, I would do that.

 

Agreed. I hope that CC will work with us to try to mitigate this problem. I definitely would put some time into updating my photos if CC made that possible, or as suggested, at least added an explanatory note at the beginning of reviews. This problem must be affecting thousands of reviews and posts and isn't good for CC or anyone.

[Cuizer2]

Even better, much easier. Please let us know if you hear anything back from CC regarding adding a new post as the first. I would probably not go back and edit myself but if we could add a new post at the beginning to let readers know where they can see the pictures, I would do that.

 

Agreed. I hope that CC will work with us to try to mitigate this problem. I definitely would put some time into updating my photos if CC made that possible, or as suggested, at least added an explanatory note at the beginning of reviews. This problem must be affecting thousands of reviews and posts and isn't good for CC or anyone.

 

Here is the reply I received from cc.help. In my opinion, it is just as good ...

If you want to email the new paragraph I can put it at the top of your post 1. There is no way I could find to make a new post 1 so that may be our best option

Let me know if that works for you

Jenn K

Senior Community Support

IndependentTraveler.com / CruiseCritic.com / FamilyVacationCritic.com

 

[Cuizer2]

I have an email from Photobucket that my account has expired (does that mean it is dead ). I checked one of my reviews and the photographs were still visible.

[Strophic]

I emailed CC about allowing a couple of additional image hosts that currently get auto-blocked, and I...sort of got given the runaround? She mostly focused on why I wasn't using Flickr (because that's not what I asked about?) and sort of gave a vague response about how some image hosts "gave them serious problems in the past". Well...okay. It's just a site to upload your images, one can't really "cause problems" more than another one as long as the images people choose to upload aren't rule-breaking.

 

I asked for some clarification but didn't get a response. I really am not a fan of Flickr and I'm not going out of my way to make an account on there just for one site. With Photobucket functionally useless and Imgur and Gyazo not allowed by the forum, I am kind of grasping for alternatives over here.

[LHT28]

I would probably not go back and edit myself but if we could add a new post at the beginning to let readers know where they can see the pictures, I would do that.

Maybe put a note in your signature to the location of new photos ..it will not help for individual one you have posted but if you have albums for each cruise it may help

 

 

just a thought

 

I also use Smug mug it is not free but works fine for my needs