[Plugin: BuddyPress Activity Plus] Copying images from URL directly to server

Hey there!

That workflow would be the same as actually uploading it and adding the link via the media menu, which is already possible. ??

Unfortunately we cannot take the image from a url and add it via plugin to the media library regardless, liability and copywright issues.

Sorry!

Kimberly

While your response is appreciated, it is absolutely ridiculous. What do you think Pinterest, a $7.7 billion company does? Not to mention that the image would still be referencing the original source and linking directly to it. In fact, most sites would rather you don’t just steal their bandwidth by hotlinking to their image. The potential copyright issues are the responsibility of the site using your plugin, it has nothing to do with the plugin developers. At least give the plugin users the option please.

The way your plugin currently handles linked images is not ideal because of issues with resizing and if the original source goes offline then the linked post is useless.

“Actually uploading it” is an inconvenient process that isn’t as user-friendly as simply copying and pasting a link.

With all due respect, and with the intention of only making this plugin better, why not just say you don’t know how to do it instead of a copyright cop-out?

I appreciate your thoughts. However I do wish you would not misquote me. I didn’t say that it was not possible. I said that we don’t offer it. And there is a good chance that we will not. Scraping is not an accepted practice. And what you are describing is akin to scraping. Taking content from another blog and posting it on your own as local information is the basic idea behind scraping.

If you want to violate the terms of etiquette across the internet that’s your prerogative and best served by actually saving the photo and uploading as I suggested. That way you are initiating the behavior, we are not enabling you to do so

https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-preventing-blog-content-scraping-in-wordpress/

Also, I would imagine Pinterest would be very upset with you mis-characterizing what they do. They do not scrape content, they actually generate thumbnails based on links. Incredibly similar to what Activity Plus does.

https://www.quora.com/Pinterest/How-are-Pinterest-thumbnails-generated-methodology-and-technology-wise

Best,

Kimberly

Hi Kimberly, thanks so much for replying to this feature request. Your plugin is most excellent!

Pinterest does not only create a thumbnail based on links. They use the full images but resize them to their deign needs of 554px max width. All you have to do is go to Pinterest and click view image to see that the actual image is indeed hosted on their server – this is way beyond a thumbnail.

Moving forward, could you guys possibly add a feature to generate a 554px thumbnail based on image data from the links that would be stored on the local server the same way Pinterest does? It seems that this would follow your suggested terms of etiquette and would still make it easier for users rather than having to upload each image.

Thanks!

(Note: Pinterest was not mis-characterized here. In the Quora link you provided, the Pinterest engineer said it herself: “A pin image can either be uploaded or scraped from a URL. Once we have the image data, we use PIL to generate the thumbnails.” And to further prove this, pin something from WPMUDEV and then delete the original image. It will still remain on Pinterest and not be deleted there because it has been scraped.)

(Note: This feature does not promote improper scraping. For example, Buddypress users that are active on Instagram would use it to share their own Instagram images on the Buddypress site. This is well within their right. Or for sharing creative commons images, also well within users’ rights. Yet, when depending solely on linking, it is bad for the Buddypress site because if any of the linked sites are having connection errors, then the linked images would not work.)

(Note: Also, it is regarded as equally bad etiquette to hotlink images from other sites effectively stealing bandwith. Yet, even with the very valid arguments, it’s clear that you are the God of Activity Plus and will deny this request perhaps out of spite because of this discussion. Thanks anyways for the consideration.)

PS-you were not misquoted anywhere in this thread =)

Actually you are right! They DO Scrape content, and it is not looking to be accepted as good practice from them either…

https://riskyinternet.com/pinterest-com-yet-another-content-duplication-site/

hmmmm…

So you are the God of Internet Etiquette then? I am not God of anything. And I clearly am not fit to be the footstool for your Highness either, as per your standards it seems. So I will defer to your Majesty and bow out.

You can make an official feature request via our contact email contact (at) wpmudev.org. Or you can join our community premium.wpmudev.org and submit a Feature Request Ticket there.

I will send a note to the developer, but he may not even pay attention to little ole’ me.

I was misquoted:

Unfortunately we cannot take the image from a url and add it via plugin to the media library regardless, liability and copywright issues.

My statement included a reason why we could not do so and it had nothing to do with the capbability of code. Or perhaps you are the God of Syntax as well?

You’ll catch more flies, and feature requests, with sugar than with vinegar.

Hi,

The reason why the feature isn’t already built-in is pretty much outlined in previous posts. I would rather not go into what Pinterest, an n amount of money (where n tends to be huge) company does or doesn’t do, as that’s entirely beside the point, and being snide is rarely the best method of bringing a point across – but let me assure you that there’s no Gods of Activity Plus.

I was being quite nice and respectful, but sadly you found a way to misinterpret the tone and replied with a bad attitude. It’s unfortunate that this feature will never be added to Activity Plus.

I thank you both for your responses and input and will continue to use Activity Plus as is. Pay for premium WPMUDEV support? Unlikely, based on this experience.

The tone of your response could be easily surmised by your own words…

With all due respect, and with the intention of only making this plugin better, why not just say you don’t know how to do it instead of a copyright cop-out?

That said, WPMU DEV are some of the very best developers on the WordPress scene and they most certainly know how to scrape content. But it’s totally reasonable why they wouldn’t provide that as a feature.

However, any avid developer can easily pickup a copy of the plugin and add that type of functionality themselves. WPMU DEV kindly provides the code under the same license that WordPress is under, so it’s totally possible to expand on their already excellent work.