Why am I having a problem uploading pics to attach to my posts?

[Badger]

There are some members who seem to experience site time-outs, or other problems when uploading pics as attachments to their threads and posts. It often starts to be a problem concurrent to an event where members have installed or replaced their computer system, upgraded their computer's operating system to something new, or upgraded (or changed) their Internet browser to a different one.

Check this first !!

What kind of error message (if any) are you seeing on the attachments upload screen. If it appears to look like a red exclamation mark ! as in the pic below, that means that the pic you're trying to upload is too large. To save space on our server, the maximum file size for an individual pic that may be attached to a post is 3Mb (3,000,000 bytes). In order to attach a pic larger than that, you will first have to re-size it on your local computer using one of many free tools available on the Internet.


(Click PIC to Enlarge)


Check this second !!

Make sure you CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE (click here) and try your upload again. In most computer-based web browsers, to open menus used to clear your cache, cookies, and history, press Ctrl-Shift-Delete (Windows) or Command-Shift-Delete (Mac). If doing that it's not obvious how to clear your cache for your specific version or browser, search your browser's Help menu for "clear cache". Also, if you didn't like the first web site on how to clear your browser cache, here's another one you that will show you ... How to Clear Your Browser's Cache (click here). It should be noted that whenever you have any kind of a problem with your Internet browser using any web site, ALWAYS clear your cache first to see if that action fixes the problem. Internet browser caches have a tendency to get corrupt from usage, unless they are cleared from time to time.


As far as troubleshooting other pic attachment issues, we have spent a considerable using 4 different browsers... Safari, FireFox, MS Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, as well as three different computers from two different geographic locations (different ISP providers).

Those tests all worked fine for us, when uploading multiple pics of different types.

The site's Advanced file up-loader software uses Adobe Java Software (click here to check) to handle the uploading process through your Internet browser. You will also need to have Adobe Flash Software (click here to check) installed to fully utilize our site's capabilities.

Everyone should check to ensure these add-on browser modules are current and active (not blocked) on their computer. Sometimes when a user upgrades their computer's operating system, changes or upgrades their Internet browser, these two pieces of Adobe web software don't get upgraded or installed properly.

Here's a bit of a primer on how uploads work on our site..

First, there are two kinds of upload capabilities available, Advanced (select multiple files simultaneously, use drag and drop with mouse etc..) and Basic (select files one at a time, but you can still create a list of several files for a single upload). When you select Manage Attachments to upload files and attach them to any post, you start with the default Advanced screen. Using your personal Edit Options (click here) page, you can set which back and forth as to which method is your personal default.


(Click PIC to Enlarge)

You can also select and switch to the Basic method of uploading from the Advanced screen, even though your default may be set as Advanced.

This is the Advanced screen and you can switch to the Basic method while viewing it.

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

This is what the Basic screen looks like after you've selected that method while viewing the Advanced screen.

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Note: If you keep clicking on the plus + sign, you can add multiple files from your computer to create a complete list, then press the Upload button to transfer them to our site all at once. It's a similar method to the multi-file Advanced method, but avoids using the Adobe Java Software in a way that may be causing some members problems.

As a test to see if it solves your problem, try switching and uploading to our site by selecting and using the Basic screen uploading method. If that WORKS fine, then you have something not working correctly with your Adobe Java Software, as it's used by vBulletin software which runs our site, for Advanced (select multiple files simultaneously) uploads. The solution would be to switch to the Basic file uploading method permanently, or at least until you find out which software component on your computer is not interacting with the Adobe Java Software correctly.

Finally, if using the Basic file uploading method doesn't work for you either, we need a LOT more information to trouble shoot people's issues much further. Please provide a step by step sequence of what you're doing and if you wish, email that to me (with pics of the problem) to badger@milsurps.com.

In your email, it would be helpful if you included the information from the site called "Whats My User Agent?".

Whats My User Agent? (click here)

You will see something that looks like this...

Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.10; rv:33.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/33.0 and an IP address shown below that.

Please copy and paste the User Agent information and the IP address shown that it says you are using, into the email you send me. It would also help me to know if your IP address assigned to your computer by your ISP is Dynamic or Static.

Note: When a computer is assigned a static IP address, it does not change and is permanently assigned. In other words, the computer always has the same IP address. Most computers use dynamic IP addresses, which are assigned by the ISP provider when they connect to the Internet. These IP addresses are temporary, and can change over time.

Hope this helps some of you ..

Regards,
Doug

[Sentryduty]

Hi Doug,
I almost predictably encounter this problem with my "This day in history" uploads, and the next attempt I will screenshot my work as I go, and it if fails I will forward the requested information to you for troubleshooting.

I usually have no troubles with this or any other forums and am respecting the upload file size limits when doing so, but I will try my best to help out with finding the root cause which may lead to a fix.

Wild speculation:

My upload is being interpreted as some sort of "cyber attack" to the site and my IP is being blocked for a timeout period to protect the site.

Crude work arounds include:

1. Using another device on the same network for accomplish the task, (mobile smartphone via tapatalk app)
2. Waiting 1-2 hours until the site responds and allows me to view the site and resume viewing and uploading. (2nd try of the exact same task is always successful)
3. Re-setting my modem, and reconnecting to my ISP. (Allows instant restoration of milsurps site access.)

However I know vague information is useless for troubleshooting. I will try to replicate the error this evening.

[Badger]

However I know vague information is useless for troubleshooting. I will try to replicate the error this evening.

Thanks....

I have considered that, but if that were the case, then it doesn't explain why only a handful of people out of 27,000+ registered members are experiencing this problem. One would think there should be a LOT more?

To save plugging up this thread with beta testing, please send me results via email....

Thanks...

Regards,
Doug

[Badger]

Update ....

I've been working with some members on unrelated issues they've been experiencing and I discovered something that I thought most people doing Internet browsing were aware of.

It has to do with Browser Cache ... Pronounced "browser cash."

Browser Cache Definition: It's a temporary storage area in memory or on disk that holds the most recently downloaded Web pages. As you jump from Web page to Web page, caching those pages in memory lets you quickly go back to a page without having to download it from the Web again.

In order to ensure that the latest page is displayed, the browser compares the dates of the cached page with the current Web page. If the Web page has not changed, the cached page is displayed immediately. If the Web page has changed, it is downloaded, displayed and cached.

When you quit the browser session, the cached pages are stored on disk. Settings in your Web browser let you set the amount of space to use for the cache, which is essentially a disk folder, and the length of time to hold the pages.

What does this mean to you and perhaps helps solves general problems you may be experiencing here, or perhaps on other sites?

Simply put ... make sure you CLEAR YOUR BROWSER CACHE (click here) periodically. In most computer-based web browsers, to open menus used to clear your cache, cookies, and history, press Ctrl-Shift-Delete (Windows) or Command-Shift-Delete (Mac). If doing that it's not obvious how to clear your cache for your specific version or browser, search your browser's Help menu for "clear cache". Also, if you didn't like the first web site on how to clear your browser cache, here's another one you that will show you ... How to Clear Your Browser's Cache (click here). It should be noted that whenever you have any kind of a problem with your Internet browser using any web site, ALWAYS clear your cache first to see if that action fixes the problem. Internet browser caches have a tendency to get corrupt from usage, unless they are cleared from time to time.

I've updated my first post to indicate that perhaps this should be done as part of trying to solve any upload problems you may be experiencing. It wouldn't hurt to do this monthly anyway ..

The moral of the story? After working with many members over the years, I have found that it has fixed many issues they were having. So, clear you cache and you'll find it often solves a LOT of your browsing problems !!!

Regards,
Doug