Just testing how posting works with pix and videos. Sometimes if you want to see 
you have to take a little rain.
Wouldn’t upload mp4. Too bad.
P
That worked fine but took me to Google Photos with the link. I think if it had uploaded the mp4 I would have stayed on Discourse. Is that right?
Certainly works better than GG for this.
P
I also like that I could edit after posting and correct a typo. 
I agree -
I think that if the video was local to you PC, it would have uploaded it. Since it was just a link to your google photos, it just inserted the link. It runs fine. Send that rain down to southern California.
No, it wouldn’t accept the mp4 format so I copied and pasted the Google photos link. That worked but (at least when I click it) it takes me out of Discourse and into GP to view. Then if I click “back” I’m still in GP and I have to manually open Discourse again to return.
I could exit the photo, in a format that was accepted, and remain in the thread.
This may just happen to me because I’m the poster but only someone who isn’t the poster can tell me that.
Yes, fixing typos after I post is a feature that like ( and need). Unfortunately, it is out of step with the idea of using email for posting and replying. You can’t edit emails once they have been sent. ( without some rare SMTP extensions or if you use IMAP for your email )
Also, Email is the source many of the deliverability complaints we experience Google Groups. I’d like to think Discourse “solves” them but I’m pretty sure the only way to escape email deliverability issues is to not use email. This concern is the root of my bait and switch argument. If we sell email as an OK way to post and reply, folks will say “you told me I could use email” and claim Discourse is just as buggy as Google Groups. I’d rather say Discourse supports posting and replying via email, but is best ( and most reliable ) when used as designed with web or app interface. It is true, Discourse was NOT designed to be a listserv… it is a web app with a listserv-like extension.
I’d much rather sell Discourse as a superior solution and encourage everyone to use it as designed.
Which reminds me, we should probably do some testing with the Discourse mobile app. Some of the comments I’ve read imply it isn’t really an app, it just opens your mobile browser and brings you to the Discourse web interface. I’ll give it a whirl and report back.
Onward,
Rob
Paul, when I click on the Google link in your post it opens and a new tab. (same as links in Google Groups ). To return to where I was in Discourse, all I need to do is close the browser tab with the video.
This might be different for different browsers. I’m using Chrome.
Chrome behaves that way for me as well.
I have added mp4 to the list of file types that people can post.
And about bait and switch - the “I will only do email” crowd will, i believe, walk away if they do not have that option. And if they do only use email they will be no worse. If they get what they want, THERE IS NO SWITCH for some in that crowd.
“All i want is to post by email”
“You can”
End of storey.
I have used email mode. It’s fine as far as it goes. And it has a button to go to the topic for the adventurous souls. Everybody else can do much more. Win, win.
I’m using iPad. Once in the video I can select the “back” arrow which returns me to the page where I selected “create link” or I can leave GP and re-select the Discourse icon on my home screen. Not a big deal but I’m sure that the app accepting mp4 will solve it.
Just tried. Basically the same as email. “File is too large”. I tried a 7 second video and same message.
Yea, Sorry to be the grumpy old man, I’m not a sales guy and never wanted to be. I’m a tech guy that evaluates stuff and provides accurate observations… what ends up in the glossy brochure is beyond my pay grade.
Some truths are inconvenient, but that doesn’t make them less true. I think Al Gore made a movie about this… but I digress.
Truth 1 - Individuals that persist in using email to post and reply in Discourse don’t benefit from moving off a listserv like Google Groups. It is likely they will be more frustrated because when they complain, the solution we’ll offer is… don’t use email for posts and replies. How will they feel ?
Truth 2 - You can configure Discourse to accept .mp4 files but our instance isn’t configured that way because we’re using a hosted instance and haven’t investigated the cost of the additional storage. It’s probably better to coach our users to share links to large files as Paul has done. In case anyone is wondering why storage usage needs to be managed, the Diesel Workshop mp4 is 18.67GB hosted on my Google Drive… yes INA is welcome for now. Our standard Discourse plan costs $100/mo and provides 20GB of storage. The next step up is $500/mo. Yes, if you really need lots of storage there are cheaper ways to implement Discourse, if we want to support mp4 files we ought to investigate other hosting arrangements.
I’m happy to leave the marketing to others, but I will continue to provide honest feedback when asked about the capabilities of the Discourse platform… which… FWIW, I actually kinda like from a personal perspective.
As the great Emily Litella once said …. Never mind……
I found the answer to the leaving the site problem. I had forgotten the multi finger swipe on iPad that returns you to the last app you were in. When the video takes me to GP I can just swipe back to Discourse.
Problem solved! 
How large is that file? Currently the maximum image size is set to 4 MB. “Images larger than this will be resized to fit on upload.”
The maximum file attachment size was set to 8 MB. I upped it to 12.
In the standard plan, we get 20GB of storage until we need to pay an upcharge, so keeping very large video files as links may not be a bad idea. If this project goes forward and storage or email limits become an issue, we can look at other hosting options. We started here because it was very cheap and easy to get started and also to walk away if Discourse didn’t work out.
Vintage… Gilda Radner. Big Smile.
1 Like
I got the reference.
BTW there really is a Rickard Fader in Fort Lee NJ.
The original rain video was 87 so obviously too big for storing. Links are the way to go on videos and now I have figured out how to get back easily so no issues.
The email notifications are having trouble preserving font color… Below is a screenshot as seen from my gmail account. In the app the font is all black, but in gmail it turns to purple.
You really want to go there? You are the speaker of truth and presumably I just work for marketing? Are we having this discussion again because there is a new audience? Are we going to do this every time we add a group of people?
Create a separate topic where you express your views and I will express mine and others can add their comments. And lets keep it out of numerous other topics.
-
If users complain about not doing things they insist they don’t want to do (use something other than email) , then you are back to my cousin complaining about not going on the family trip to Italy because he will only travel by car.
-
From the beginning we knew there are other options for hosting should we outgrow our current provider. We are doing a proof of concept. If it’s successful and we find we outgrow our current configuration, we know that we have several choices.
-
There is nothing inherently wrong about using links to video files. Choosing not to will come down to a cost/benefit discussion about whether we need and are willing to pay for one or more TB of storage.
In my outlook account the font does not change color - it stays black
Did you get this while in mailing list mode??
Paul M,
I have seen the rain but where are the rainbows, we need more rainbows.
Brian