Photobucket Drops Free Image Display, Outside Their Website

One of the most popular third party image hosting services, for Blogger blogs, recently changed their photo hosting service.

Photobcket no longer allows embedding of their hosted photos on third party websites, for free accounts. They now require a $399 / year membership, for accounts with photos shared outside their website.

Some Blogger blog owners, publishing blogs which use third party templates that feature images - decorations, illustrations, and wallpaper - hosted by Photobucket - now see their blogs decorated by various demands.

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT TO ENABLE THIRD PARTY HOSTING



This is (was) a small image, tiled (repeated horizontally and vertically), to fill a larger space. It's now a PhotoBucket ad, similarly tiled.

In many cases, this is simply a third party supplied template, using wallpaper designed by the template publisher. The template publisher used PhotoBucket, to host the image.

The blog owner, and others, now face the need to pay dearly, to publish their blogs using their current templates.

Whether the template objects were created by you - or by the supplier of a shiny third party template - if the images are hosted by Photobucket, they are now unusable, on your blog.

Photobucket, a US-based image and video-hosting website founded in 2003, quietly changed its policy late last month to prevent users from hosting their content on third-party websites unless they pay a $US400 ($526) annual fee.

Photobucket published a brief blog post, on June 26, referring to the service change - buried deep in their website.

We have updated our Terms of Service, effective June 20, 2017. Please take a moment to review our updated terms and policies as they may affect your account.

If your blog uses a third party template with PhotoBucket hosted images, the account in question won't be yours - but your blog will still be affected. You're going to have to find out how your template designer is going to support their product.

Third party template publishers now need to convert their templates, to use images hosted by other services. And Blogger blog owners may need to find other image hosting.

Blogger blog owners, who use third party templates in their blogs, may need different templates. Not all third party template publishers may be able to support their templates, and this change.

The simplest solution is to switch back to a Blogger standard and supported template, using the dashboard Theme page. If you've had your current template for a while, you may not know what possibilities have been added, to the Blogger template selections.

---

Photobucket, a popular third party image hosting service used by many #Blogger blogs, originally allowed their hosted images to be embedded or hot linked on Blogger and many other websites. They recently started requiring a $400 USD / year membership, for images to be displayed outside their website.

Many Blogger blogs, with third party templates that use Photobucket hosted images, now have broken templates.

Blogger Resolves The FaceBook Photo Sharing Issue

Blogger Engineers recently added Blogger template code, to provide images in shares to FaceBook.

The added code is included in the standard template header. If you have a custom template, you may need to verify template header content.

If you have added the previously recommended Open Graph Code to your blog, to allow Open Graph based post / photo sharing - and you use the FaceBook Developers Debugger tool, you may see a new diagnostic suggestion.

Given newly added template code, blogs with added OG code may generate ominous warnings in the FaceBook Developers Debugger tool.

Looking at my blog, and the blog main page.

Object at URL 'http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/' of type 'article' is invalid because it specifies multiple 'og:url' values: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/, http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/.

Looking at my blog, and a FaceBook Debug log, for this post.

Object at URL 'http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html' of type 'article' is invalid because it specifies multiple 'og:url' values: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html, http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html.

With Blogger now providing a properly resized image, automatically, from each post, the image provided in the previously suggested Open Graph code is now redundant - and causes duplication.

The browser source listing, for this post.

The FaceBook Debugger log, for this post.



Here's what I see now, in the standard template header.

<meta content='Blogger recently added template code, to properly share content to FaceBook. Learn how this affects your blog.' name='description'/>
<meta content='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html' property='og:url'/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBb17rkStDcQMf4ySxb5DdvxHQM51ZwDHKE1fpfLBsh4uYuz2XEKgs6Do0mySLXLrQB7j1N-GiquUrzKWMNo3I4GRL-KR79KB0HxBisfjUkYSNW9hSytOiTR3rJmGTOo1c1Hl0j6XjtWv/w1200-h630-p-nu/Screenshot+2016-03-13+at+14.35.32.png' property='og:image'/>

So, what do we have?

<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBb17rkStDcQMf4ySxb5DdvxHQM51ZwDHKE1fpfLBsh4uYuz2XEKgs6Do0mySLXLrQB7j1N-GiquUrzKWMNo3I4GRL-KR79KB0HxBisfjUkYSNW9hSytOiTR3rJmGTOo1c1Hl0j6XjtWv/w1200-h630-p-nu/Screenshot%2B2016-03-13%2Bat%2B14.35.32.png' property='og:image'/>

The chosen image - resized to 1200 x 630, to suit the FaceBook recommended 1.9 aspect ratio - and large, to suit the FaceBook recommended size.

Now, 3 data elements (2 Open Graph) may be redundant.

• description
• og:image
• og:url

This makes the immediately previous advice unnecessary.

If one wishes to provide author information, that also becomes slightly simpler.

<!-- BEGIN Open Graph tags -->
<meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description' property='og:description'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageTitle' name='keywords'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<meta content='article' property='og:type'/>
<meta content='https://plus.google.com/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/about' property='article:author'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageName' property='og:title'/>
<b:else/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.title' property='og:title'/>
<meta content='blog' property='og:type'/>
</b:if>
<meta expr:content='"en_US"' property='og:locale'/>
<!-- END Open Graph tags -->

If you truly want to share author details, you still have some work to do - but photos should now be shared, automatically, if your blog has a template with a standard header.

---

Recently, Blogger Engineering added OG code to the standard template header, to allow us to share posts with images to FaceBook, without having to add special code. This should help, for owners of blogs which have standard headers.

Blog Owners, Using Older Versions Of Internet Explorer, Unable To Upload Photos

We have a small but vocal group of blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, who report that they are unable to use Post Editor, to upload photos.

When trying, they get an error

Do you want to open or save resumable (1.61kb) from www.blogger.com?

Right now, it appears that the problem is common to older versions of Internet Explorer.

The blog owners willing to provide details, about their browser, appear to be using Internet Explorer V8 or V9.

It is possible that the owners having a problem with IE V9 are using Blogger with Compatibility View enabled - which effectively gives them IE V8. Noting that Internet Explorer V8 is considerably out of date - and is now not supported by Blogger - it's possible that the primary cause of the problem simply involves use of IE V8 (or V9 with "Compatibility View").

We have a Problem Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting details from everybody who is experiencing this problem.

While we wait for action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.

Alternately, you might consider upgrading Internet Explorer - or disabling "Compatibility View", for "blogger.com".

Diagnostic Improvements With Photos And Picasa

For some time, blog owners would note mysterious problems with photos on their blogs, in various ways - depending upon the browser in use.

Some blog owners and readers would report a mysterious red "X", others a big, blank space - and still others would see nothing at all, not even a space. The only common symptom would be

My pictures have vanished!

Recently, photos hosted under Picasa changed that vague symptom, by displaying two "place holder" icons, depending upon either of two commonly diagnosed problems which had caused the missing photos.

Photos hosted under Picasa, and subsequently being either deleted or made private, are now being replaced by either of two diagnostic icons when referenced.

This improvement will go a long way to resolving much confusion about missing photos (including photos uploaded to the blog using the "Insert image" wizard in post editor), which has long been a source of despair in the Blogger community.

If your photo has been deleted, you will see this icon - an exclamation point inside a triangle.



If your photo is now private, you will see this icon - a dash inside a circle.



These icons are simply the new symptoms of a problem - they are not the problem itself.

• If you just made your Picasa photo album private, maybe when setting up your Google+ account, you can correct the problem easily enough. Just login to Google, use Picasa, and make the photos public, again.
• If you just deleted the photo album, when setting up your Google+ account - or maybe trying to save storage space on your camera / phone, you may be able to recover the deleted photos.
• If you just deleted the Picasa photo album, by having deleted the Google account, however, you are out of luck. Picasa does not provide any un deletion options.
• If these are not your photos, and you are linking them from somebody else's Picasa album, you are likewise out of luck.

However, at least you can now detect - and diagnose - the problem, when your photos are hosted by Picasa.

Incorrect Orientation Of Photos Uploaded In Post Editor

We see occasional reports of problems with photo orientation, from various blog owners posting in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Why are my photos displayed horizontal, when they should be vertical?

Presumably, if someone's photo was taken with her standing, the blog owner does not want the photo showing her lying on her side.

Modern cameras store meta data with each photo, recording information about how the photo was taken.

This information is called "Exchangeable Image File format", or EXIF, data. Along with the information about date / time / exposure ("aperture" / "F stop" / "shutter speed"), some cameras store whether the photo was taken, with the camera held horizontal or vertical.

Some cameras store the "horizontal" / "vertical" information - then, the Blogger post editor "Upload image" wizard picks up on the orientation, and re orients the photo, depending upon it having been taken "horizontal" or "vertical". If the photo was intentionally rotated, the blog owner does not want the photo rotated again.

There are several possible resolutions for this problem.

• Use a different camera. Some cameras do not contribute to this problem.
• Per the comment below, see if the camera has a setting to disable autorotation.
• Use a photo editor such as IrfanView, and strip out the EXIF data, before uploading. Without the EXIF data, the "Add image" wizard won't reorient the photos.
• Use a photo editor such as IrfanView, and rotate the photo again, before uploading.
• Log in to http://www.picasaweb.com, using your Blogger username and password. Find the album, then the picture, that is rotated and open it. Edit the picture - rotate the image, then save it.

Owners Of Blogs, With Images In The Header, Report Changes In Header Appearance

During the past few days, we're seeing a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from owners of blogs that use an image in the header, instead of or in addition to, plain text, claiming changes in the appearance of the header. The exact problem report varies - that the image has been resized, has shifted in position, has become pixelated, or has simply disappeared.

We have a rollup discussion, where we are requesting details from each person observing this problem in their blog.

1. What is the URL of the blog?
2. What exact symptom are you observing, that's a problem?
3. Does the blog use a Blogger or third party template?
4. Does the blog use a Designer or Layout template?
5. Has the blog been configured for a Dynamic template?
6. How did you setup the image, that is in use on your blog? Did you use the Layout "Configure Header" wizard, did you upload the image using the post editor "Insert image" wizard, or other?
7. If you used the "Configure Header" wizard, which Image / Placement options did you select?
   • From your computer.
   • From the web.
   • Behind title and description
   • Instead of title and description
   • Have description placed after the image
   • Shrink to fit
8. Can you find the image on your computer? If so, what is the name of the file, as uploaded? Is it a .bmp, .jpg, .png, what?
9. When you setup / uploaded the image, what browser (name and version) was used?
10. What browser (name, and version) are you using, right now, where the problem is visible?

If you can provide details, please do so as best as you are able, either here or in the rollup discussion.

In cases where the URL of the image in use can be edited, you may be able to work around your problem, by editing the precise URL. It appears that images hosted by Picasa, which are currently stored in a variety of sizes (which you may see when you use "Insert image", for instance), are now selected in a different way, when you do not explicitly select the right size for your purpose.

Look at the image at the top of the screen. If you were to look at it's URL, you would see:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2C5RmwbU8URBRB_n_HzNYhK2r3KBzHNIRCjjnOPDDcP5FSddfRh9bKZ3Qyxg10CU24Pr9Zx7j8IJzq1rlptTB_NtJpltts4jm3Hfsi3E2Ovt3QqFXnT-NavhPRoaVUQJJcQZRyjgn2_s8/s1600-r/RBS+Header+4a.gif

If that image had been uploaded using the current "Insert image" wizard (in post editor), or the "Configure Header" wizard (in "Page Elements"), it might have the URL

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif

If the latter URL was correct, there would be 4 aliases available:

• Small: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S160/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
• Medium: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S320/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
• Large: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S640/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
• Full Size: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S1600/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif

If I had this problem with my header image, I would edit the URL, in the template, and I would replace:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif

with

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S1600/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif

If your blog has this problem, you may be able to similarly edit your blog - using "Configure Header" or "Edit HTML" - and work around your problem. If you use "Edit HTML", I suggest, as usual, that you backup the template - before and after making this tweak.

>> Top

Auto Pagination Being Triggered By Post Images Encoded In Base64 - Redux

The problem of auto pagination, triggering display page segmentation, has been with us since early 2010.

Even in the beginning, auto pagination was not 100% popular with blog owners. As more blog owners got used to the inevitability of auto pagination, more scenarios were discovered, where it critically affected blogs.

The most recently identified scenario, where auto pagination was involved, was with images hosted as Base64 content - first discovered a year after the initial opposition started.

Having examined enough cases of Base64 hosted photos during the past year, we now see that the problem appears to be related to installation technique.

Both the drag and drop technique, or the "From the web" option in the "Insert image" wizard in post editor, when adding photos to blog posts, appear to consistently add images hosted as Base64 content, into blog posts.

With the causative scenario identified, we can now recommend a technique for resolution. Hoping that any blog showing the problem of critical display page segmentation does not have an unacceptably large number of images / photos hosted as Base64 content, each image or photo has to be identified and removed, and a properly installed image / photo replacing it.

1. Find the original of each photo installed, using drag and drop or "From the web".
2. Copy each photo to your computer.
3. Edit each post containing each photo. Remove each photo, as previously added.
4. Add each photo again, using "Insert image", and selecting the copy on your computer.
5. Re publish each post, so edited.

If the blog in question contains too many images or photos hosted as Base64 content, a possible alternative might be to change the blog to display using a dynamic template. This may provide a solution because dynamic templates, with the content rendered on the client computers, do not appear to be susceptible to display page segmentation.

>> Top

The DMCA Violation Form May Have A Just Use, After All

The MPAA / RIAA stranglehold, in the USA, on the electronic consumer, may have reached a peak with their ability to coerce the US Congress to pass the DMCA. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, thought by some to be the most noxious bit of legislation since the British Tea Act of 1773, may have a valid use, though.

It's possible that the DMCA Violation Form, which Blogger / Google provides, may be useful in reporting content that's been pirated, personally, from you. If you believe that your pictures, and / or articles, are being unjustly copied within Blogger / Google hosting space, you may get some relief from reporting this as a DMCA Violation.

Note, however, that a DMCA Violation report is a serious complaint, and can have repercussions both upon the source and target of the complaint.

Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Indeed, in a recent case (please see http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/legpolicy/opg_v_diebold/ for more information), a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

Don't use the DMCA Violation Complaint as a casual harassment technique - only use it where you are extremely certain that your legal rights are being violated. If the Fair Use Doctrine might transcend your personal rights, or if you are unsure here what your rights provide to you, protect yourself and contact a lawyer.

If you receive a DMCA Notice, and you believe yourself to be innocent of any wrongdoing, file a Counter Claim.

The administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When we receive a counter notification, we may reinstate the material in question.

>> Top

Blogger Magic - Securing My Pictures From Being Copied

Every week, we see the naive query

How do I prevent my pictures from being copied?

and this, I regret to say, is a magic trick that has yet to be perfected. Others ask

Why does Google let people publish blogs with pictures stolen from other blogs?

and here, we have to note that Google has no interest in controlling blog content, beyond the limits of their own TOS regulations.

Each of us is responsible for ensuring that our content - that we own - remains ours.

Google doesn't do this for us. They aren't legally, morally, or socially responsible for controlling duplication of blog / website content, until the owner of any blog or website reports a problem. And even when a problem is reported, they have to consider both sides of the story.

Protecting our blog content is our responsibility.

Some well meaning helpers will tell you of free software that blocks context menu (right mouse click) "Save Image As". That software is written as JavaScript. Many folks, like me, explicitly block JavaScript from "BlogSpot.com" and other untrusted domains, using Firefox and NoScript, for personal security. Blocking scripts from untrusted domains is a normal component in layered security, on our computers.

Besides the fact that you can't effectively block the context menu "Save Image As" command, you can't control what's stored on my computer.

If your blog is viewed on my computer, it's my content.

I've written about cache, here and there. Cache is a basic feature in Internet design. It lets us view the same web site (blog) repeatedly, without requiring that the same content be downloaded from the server repeatedly. If you're viewing this article using your browser, it's cached in your browser.

If your computer is on a large network, it's possible that your computer connects to the Internet through a caching proxy server. If your ISP offers enhanced bandwidth, it's possible that they cache content too.

If I added a picture to this article, it would be cached, along with the text that you are reading. The right software can search and retrieve any cached content, from any cache. Anybody who needs to "steal" your pictures just needs the right software, and he can steal them right out of cache.

Anybody can make a screen print.

Besides blocking the "Save Image As" wizard, and from prohibiting caching, you'll face a third challenge. What's on my screen can be copied. Screen printing is very popular software. Print the screen, crop everything but the picture of interest, and there it is. Save it, and you have it. Display the picture full size, print that, and you have the full size copy.

How about watermarking the pictures? Put the URL of the web site in the corner. You can do this using IrfanView, PhotoShop, and a few more image processing programs. But watermarks are just bits. What you can take out, I can put back, with more software. And watermarks make the pictures ugly. They are as bad as the broadcast TV commercials at the bottom of the screen.

You can copyright your pictures - but can you enforce the copyright?

Finally, you are entitled to copyright your content. There are some free copyright "protection" services too. Register your content, and it's protected. But no, the Internet reaches all over the world.

Can you afford the lawyers, that will practice in every nation worldwide, and enforce your copyright? If your content / pictures are being pirated on a Blogger / Google hosted web site, you may be able to get action from a DMCA Complaint - but note the warnings, carefully.

Face it - once you publish a picture in your blog, it too is like a dandelion. It's out of your control.

Sorry. Magic only goes so far.

Cannot Upload Picture - Internal Error

For our third wildfire this month (and today being the 4th of the month yet!), we have a problem with Blogger, and Post Editor. When trying to upload a picture, the blogger sees

This image could not be uploaded due to an internal error.

One blogger reported seeing this error after installing a Pyzam template. From the volume of the posts in the forums, I don't think that's the only defining factor.

Some questions might be relevant, though. Answer as much as you can manage, please.

• Does the blog have a Blogger standard, or third party, template?
• Does the blog have a Classic or Layouts template?
• Are you in Draft (Blue), or Standard (Orange) Blogger, when you see the error?
• Has this blog ever been customised using Draft (Blue) Blogger? If so, what changes were made?
• Are you using Page Elements, or Post Editor, when you are trying to upload?
• What browser (name and version) are you using?
• What operating system (name and version) are you using?
• What security programs or devices (anti-virus, for instance) do you use to protect yourself?

>> (Update 8/4 20:00): Blogger Employee Gatsby reports that they are working on the problem.

>> Forum thread links: bX-*00081

>> Copy this tag: bX-*00081

>> Top