Yes, if the forum can integrate an image preprocessor is the best choice, no matter how big the image, you can set the final upload size. Too bad I'm not a programmer.
I think this is a common misunderstanding. You are not the only one who thinks a simple programming effort could add an image preprocessor to the forum software.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Our forum is built on the Xenforo Forum Software Platform. This forum software package is designed to run on a Unix Server. Unix Servers are the backbone of the entire global World Wide Web.
When you upload a picture to the forum, you don't actually upload it to the forum software, you upload it to a file directory on the server. The server sets the size limit it will accept not Xenforo or our admin team.
As everyone can appreciate, large files are the primary speed and usage bottle neck of the internet itself, but also for our hosting server. To control total disk storage space as well as throughput speed, our Hosting Server Provider has placed a file size limit on our service. This was recently reduced to 2Mb after the last system crash. This is also why we can't host videos - they are simply too big.
Quite frankly, 2Mb is plenty big enough for high quality photos. Sure, higher resolution is possible, but we are not a high resolution photo service. Higher resolution photos also directly affect the performance of the forum itself. Every time anyone looks at a photo, the photo has to be downloaded to the viewer.
Selfishly speaking, I am glad our file size was reduced. Large photos were a huge speed bottleneck on my slow rural internet service. Under the old size limits, I often couldn't see photos at all unless I went and got a coffee while they downloaded. 2Mb seems to be a reasonable compromise.
Note - if you choose "thumbnail" after you upload a photo, the overall performance of the forum for all users will improve, and users can still see the full resolution by opening the image.
The only practical solution to this problem that is totally within our control and totally doable is to limit our own image file size to 2Mb before uploading.
This can be done in one of 3 ways.
1. Set the resolution of your camera to a setting that results in a file size less than 2Mb.
2. Use image editing software on your phone, camera, or computer to reduce the image file size to less than 2Mb before uploading.
3. Use an upload/transfer utility to limit the size of uploads during the upload itself. As far as I know, only the latest Apple systems provide this capability.
I am in the process of creating a special help forum for us. It will include tips on how to participate in the forum more flexibly, how to use forum features, and of course, how to resize photos. Everyone will be able to contribute to this forum which will allow everyone to benefit from the advice of other members just like we all do now for metal working. Please remember that I have a life other than the forum too, so it won't happen tomorrow but it will happen! So stay tuned.
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