[juner]

It is 2019 and no one uses attachments in posts for anything useful. The vast majority are one-post drivebys from people too dumb to embed an image or link a document. BBC handles streamlining media into posts just fine, so the redundancy is pointless. Removing attachments may even curb the mouthiest of mouth breathers from shitposting since they lack the capacity to learn to use the [img] tag.

If it is universal and also potentially affects avatars then we can notify people to switch to using a link instead of an upload/attachment. I don't know if this is the case in SMF.

[xasop]

If it is universal and also potentially affects avatars then we can notify people to switch to using a link instead of an upload/attachment. I don't know if this is the case in SMF.

It should be straightforward to disable attachments without disabling avatar uploads (I haven't looked, but even if this isn't an option already we can add it to SMF).

I'm interested in hearing what our users think of this change before I give my opinion.

[Jeppspace]

If nobody uses it much what then is its impact on the system?

Maybe I'm side tracking, but for instance pdf's and other docs could be shared more directly.

It doesn't impact my experience though, so do what you think is right.

[Pete Svarrior]

As an added concern, the way SMF handles attachments is hilariously broken from a security standpoint. It's on my list of things to fix, but perhaps just disabling it is a better way to go.

I agree that it hardly ever gets used for anything other than old memes posted by school kids. But I also see Jeppspace's point about PDFs and other documents (though, again, mild cybersecurity concern since pdf and docx files are common attack vectors). We could just stop accepting *image* attachments.

Another possible approach would be to restrict privileges for low post-counts. Members with, say, less than 50 posts could belong to a special member group that disallows them from doing most abusable stuff.

Obviously, these three approaches solve three different problems, but personally I think the post count based restrictions might be best for us, combined with continued work to make attachments less terrible.

[Jeppspace]

Post count privileges are always a good thing. I used to be an administrator for a free forum host and I can tell you there are uncountable ways of incorporating benefits for veteran posters.

Depends on the forum's vision though and what they think they can create with the infrastructure.

[TomFoolery]

I really like the ability to attach a diagram. It is easier than first uploading to imgur or whatever, and doesn't go away if imgur goes away.

But on the other hand I can imagine it's a nightmare for the forum admins from a security standpoint, and I suppose most users don't submit original content in their images but rather just link to someone else's pre-existing diagrams so I suspect attachments are sort of on the way out.

I support whatever the administration wants to do -- running a forum (and trying to keep it secure) is already a tedious thankless payless task - and  we should make it as easy as possible for the hard working volunteers.

[juner]

Another possible approach would be to restrict privileges for low post-counts. Members with, say, less than 50 posts could belong to a special member group that disallows them from doing most abusable stuff.

I think this would be a good place to start.

[Cain]

Another possible approach would be to restrict privileges for low post-counts. Members with, say, less than 50 posts could belong to a special member group that disallows them from doing most abusable stuff.

I think this would be a good place to start.

Indeed. The number required will probably need some adjusting, though.

[juner]

Another possible approach would be to restrict privileges for low post-counts. Members with, say, less than 50 posts could belong to a special member group that disallows them from doing most abusable stuff.

I think this would be a good place to start.

Indeed. The number required will probably need some adjusting, though.

Good point. It should be 69 instead of 50. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[Cain]

I'm tempted to use alts to rig the poll. I'm not going to, but I'm still tempted.

[TomInAustin]

I came late to this discussion but I suggest people use snaggy or some such web service to post images and stop attaching




https://snag.gy/