Isn't this going to result in a lot of lower-quality photos being added to the DB? (I know I post a lot of photos of veggies in forums that I wouldn't even think of adding to the database, so I assume other people do too?) Or at least result in a lot of work in terms of reviewing the photos before they get added?

Good questions! I have seen some pretty tiny photos in the database that really should be larger. This could be messy.

The lesser quality photos can still have some value. If it's the only picture for a plant I think it's worthwhile to have at least one image, and if there are already six or so, it usually ends up in the bottom spot. I'd say add all pics!

Yes, and the images are shown by order of thumbs. So lesser quality images will appear further down the page. Admins even have the power to move the worst down to a "page 2" that requires users to click to access.

And please check to make sure the photo you're "associating" isn't already in the database. I've just had to decline several that were already there.

Good point, Zuzu. I often upload a photo to an initial post directly from my computer so it will appear as a thumbnail to the thread. I do this because It's my understanding (?) that if I upload the same photo directly from the database, it doesn't show up as a thumbnail to the thread.

But, on that note, could a message pop up that the photo is already in the database? I know I get this when I try to upload a picture from my computer which is already in the database...?

First, you're mistaken about the database photo not showing up as a thumbnail. If you write the first post in a new thread and then add the ATP BB Code of a database photo to the post, that photo will be the thumbnail of the thread.

A message does pop up if the image is exactly like the one already in the database, but sometimes subtle enhancements have been made (in sharpness, contrast, brightness, etc.), and those changes keep the system from recognizing the photo.

Thanks for the clarification, that will make things much easier for me. I always like to have a thumbnail photo associated with a thread. Heck, I just like photos associated with everything!

I agree, and I think threads with thumbnails attract more attention and are more likely to be read.

zuzu said:And please check to make sure the photo you're "associating" isn't already in the database. I've just had to decline several that were already there.

I too just had to decline 10-15 of them because they were already in the database. Maybe Dave can add that note to the original post, that one needs to open the entry and check it first.

I think part of the problem was that you suddenly had three different people proposing daylily image imports, and some may have proposed the same images before the initial proposals were approved.

Yes, and there is a note to check the entry first when the user clicks. It's a big warning that appears if the image owner has already posted 1 least one photo to the plant in question.

Could be Zuzu, but for most of them, the photo owners had already submitted them and it looked like someone was going through older threads.

That's too bad. I guess I was bending over backwards to provide a reasonable explanation.

I do know I have accidentally sent a couple duplicates. I am trying to be more careful now but did make another goof today. I do feel sorry for you guys having to go thru all of request!

But what if people are putting your images in the database and you don't want them added? is this really fair to the owner of the images?

@floota you can disable this in your preferences. From the announcement:

One final note: If you are a person who would rather that your photos do not be associated with plants in the database, then you can opt out. Go to your preferences area and find the part that says "Allow your forum photos to be associated with plants in the database?" Set that to "No" and save your changes, and then nobody will be able to do this to your photos.

If I do that, will I be able to add my own photos as I choose to?

I would think you wouldn't be able to import them from a thread but you can add them directly from your files.

I too had several images just added that I had originally decided not to add as I already had several better ones in the entry. Some entries have 10-30 images and I think it may be overkill to add more, especially from members who already have numerous images submitted.
You can always propose to remove an image if you really don't want it in an entry.