Henry Rifle Forums

Attachment images are not XY scaled properly I couldn't find any info about allowed image sizes. I tried different image widths but all are re-edited by the forum software and distorted. Looks like a problem with how this forum's image attachment software is set. Attached images look fine during a preview but are skewed once the post is saved, just as with the image I attached to this post.

I can't speak as to why images are sometimes distorted but if you right click on it and open it in a new tab it will display properly.

I dunno. I kinda like the looks of it. It would sure draw some attention at a range.

This image skewing should be able to be adjusted within the forum software admin panel.

rfd wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 26, 2025 5:07 pm

Attachment images are not XY scaled properly I couldn't find any info about allowed image sizes. I tried different image widths but all are re-edited by the forum software and distorted. Looks like a problem with how this forum's image attachment software is set. Attached images look fine during a preview but are skewed once the post is saved, just as with the image I attached to this post.

Yes this a well known problem. There are several at length posts about this in years past. It's not uncommon with other forums as well that use phpBB software for their websites. Digging into the admin tools for the SW there aren't any adjustment setting to fix this. I did debug the source code quite a while back and found what what causing it, but phpBB wasn't interested. There is or was a 3rd party patch. But being a 3rd party patch, every time phpBB did a feature or security update the patch would be overwritten and have to be re-installed. The consensus here has been to live with it and use the "right click on it and open it in a new tab" browser function to view the picture correctly.

I'm extremely familiar with forum software and have constructed and run more than a few large forums, one has over 43k members with millions of posts and is quite active.

Not allowing images to be displayed proportionally is beyond ridiculous, it's plain stupid and does a disservice to the forum. Literally, a joke.

phpBB has never been good software, and worse yet since it's not free..

That images can't be displayed in proportion using paid software is, well, you know.

I'd strongly suggest moving the Henry forum over to the free SMF software.

rfd wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 5:43 am

I'm extremely familiar with forum software and have constructed and run more than a few large forums, one has over 43k members with millions of posts and is quite active.

Not allowing images to be displayed proportionally is beyond ridiculous, it's plain stupid and does a disservice to the forum. Literally, a joke.

phpBB has never been good software, and worse yet since it's not free..

That images can't be displayed in proportion using paid software is, well, you know.

I'd strongly suggest moving the Henry forum over to the free SMF software.

This is the only one I knew anything about when I made the forum. I don't know that much about it either. If anyone knows someone who could facilitate a move to something better that won't cost me too much, let me know.

I just registered on the pbpBB website and will look into this image aspect ratio problem.

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 11:25 am

rfd wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 5:43 am

I'm extremely familiar with forum software and have constructed and run more than a few large forums, one has over 43k members with millions of posts and is quite active.

Not allowing images to be displayed proportionally is beyond ridiculous, it's plain stupid and does a disservice to the forum. Literally, a joke.

phpBB has never been good software, and worse yet since it's not free..

That images can't be displayed in proportion using paid software is, well, you know.

I'd strongly suggest moving the Henry forum over to the free SMF software.

This is the only one I knew anything about when I made the forum. I don't know that much about it either. If anyone knows someone who could facilitate a move to something better that won't cost me too much, let me know.

What is the pbpBB release of this forum's software? I'm very surprised it's not listed at the bottom of every page.

As an Admin for this forum, when you enter the Admin control panel and enter the post attachments menu, what are all the switches available to set?

rfd wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 5:43 am

...Not allowing images to be displayed proportionally is beyond ridiculous, it's plain stupid and does a disservice to the forum....

Yup. I tried that 'disservice argument. The member consensus back then was to leave it be. Attached is a copy of the admin guide. For what's it's worth, phpBB uses two different web part image containers between 'preview' and 'post'. In preview the xy aspect ratio in the HTML code is coded to autosize the container to the image. In post, it's coded to force the images to fit the container, stretching and compressing x-y to do so.

Mags wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 12:15 pm

.... For what's it's worth, phpBB uses two different web part image containers between 'preview' and 'post'. In preview the xy aspect ratio in the HTML code is coded to autosize the container to the image. In post, it's coded to force the images to fit the container, stretching and compressing x-y to do so.

That's incredibly hard to believe that any viable forum software wouldn't make sure the aspect ratio of all images is always intact.

In the 20+ year past, and during my quest for viable forum software, pphBB was the worst .... and clearly still is.

rfd wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 12:26 pm

Mags wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 12:15 pm

.... For what's it's worth, phpBB uses two different web part image containers between 'preview' and 'post'. In preview the xy aspect ratio in the HTML code is coded to autosize the container to the image. In post, it's coded to force the images to fit the container, stretching and compressing x-y to do so.

That's incredibly hard to believe that any viable forum software wouldn't make sure the aspect ratio of all images is always intact.

In the 20+ year past, and during my quest for viable forum software, pphBB was the worst .... and clearly still is.

I think you and I are in circular argument/agreement.

phpBB will not even entertain talking to me about the issue ...

Re: Post Image Attachment Aspect Ratio
Post by HiFiKabin » Thu Feb 27, 2025 1:04 pm
I assume that you are not the admin for this board. They are the only person who can help track down whats happening so please ask them to post on phpBB so that the issue can be investigated further

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 11:25 am

This is the only one I knew anything about when I made the forum. I don't know that much about it either. If anyone knows someone who could facilitate a move to something better that won't cost me too much, let me know.

Check out the Simple Machines Forum (SMF) - https://www.simplemachines.org/ - download the forum software. Register at their forum community and get forum conversion assistance if need be. They have a whole board dedicated to converting an existing phpBB forum over to SMF. I'm happy to help if need be. None of this involves a monetary cost.

rfd wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 2:54 pm

daytime dave wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 11:25 am

This is the only one I knew anything about when I made the forum. I don't know that much about it either. If anyone knows someone who could facilitate a move to something better that won't cost me too much, let me know.

Check out the Simple Machines Forum (SMF) - https://www.simplemachines.org/ - download the forum software. Register at their forum community and get forum conversion assistance if need be. They have a whole board dedicated to converting an existing phpBB forum over to SMF. I'm happy to help if need be. None of this involves a monetary cost.

Thank you. I'll look at it.

Here's a test - the skewed image is 800x259 and the aspect ratio preserved image is 800x800 ... which proves that the phpBB image attachment software will accurately render images that have the same XY dimensions.

On a scale of what is wrong with the world this seems like a very minor problem. There is something wrong with every forum I’ve belonged too and this is about the least inconvenient. Posting pictures here is about as easy as it gets.

I’m guessing moving will cause more problems than it will fix. I belong to a teardrop forum and they changed software and it took six months to resolve all the issues.

Sir Henry wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 28, 2025 8:28 am

On a scale of what is wrong with the world this seems like a very minor problem. There is something wrong with every forum I’ve belonged too and this is about the least inconvenient. Posting pictures here is about as easy as it gets.

I’m guessing moving will cause more problems than it will fix. I belong to a teardrop forum and they changed software and it took six months to resolve all the issues.

Your analogy of misfit image aspect ratios compared to world issues is like comparing apples and oranges.

Posted forum images are extremely important to the viability and professionalism of any forum, particularly to a forum that's associated with a very popular firearm manufacturer.

There are NO viable forums of any kind that will display skewed aspect ratio images.

Migrating phpBB to SMF is not the goal, it's just a suggestion if phpBB can't fix their software.

I can't converse with phpBB tech support as they've made it quite clear that they will only recognize and entertain a Henry forum admin who brings to them a problem with phpBB forum software.

I can't be of any other help in rectifying this egregious Henry forum problem, but if it comes down to a software migration, I can be of assistance.

rfd wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 28, 2025 6:21 am

Here's a test - the skewed image is 800x259 and the aspect ratio preserved image is 800x800 ... which proves that the phpBB image attachment software will accurately render images that have the same XY dimensions.

Thanks for your willingness to help with the forum software. How his forum came to be is quite an interesting story. You might enjoy exploring some of the first posts for a little background. Those of us that have been here since the beginning know the issues with posting images. It's been a concern since the beginning. Most of us have adapted to it's quirks.

It's almost certain that images in 4:3 ratio are not an issue. Even those that are not, like your example, will display properly if the long edge is vertical.

I'm a very happy owner of three Henry rifles and my only interest in seeing this forum image posting anomaly getting fixed is to offer a better public presentation and view of all Henry firearm offerings.