Audio file hosting

[BillyPee]

Would it be possible to allow audio files to be hosted by the WSCC forum so they could be linked to posts? I want to link a sound file (.wav) to a Tech Talk thread. Tried the gallery but it does not permit this file type to be uploaded.

[Captain Colonial]

Not really that easy, I'm afraid.  Hosting is set up for a limited number of photos in the Gallery, and Admins and AOs can attach certain file formats (.doc, .xls, etc) to posts to assist them with their duties, but Members do not have permissions to attach files other than photos.

 

My suggestions:

 

> Upload the WAV file to YouTube - it can be done as a Slideshow - and add the link to your post

 

> Upload the WAV file to your personal webspace - almost everyone has an ISP account that has several GB of free space - and add the link to your post

 

> Send me the WAV file by email - I'll host it for a couple of weeks

[Dibby]

You could always use something like Soundcloud to host it and post a link, or whether the website can display soundcloud links like a lot of music forums with a big play button?

[BillyPee]

Thanks for the responses Scott and Dibby.

 

In the end, I got around the issue by creating a "movie" that combined a photo with the sound file and uploaded that to Flickr (as I already have an account there and I'd rather not set up an account on say YouTube just for that purpose). Ultimately, this solution is unsatisfactory as the resultant sound quality is poor compared to the original. I think the sound loss is partly in me creating the mp4 but mostly how Flickr then process the file. A quick Google suggests that I would not have faired better on YouTube either. Sound quality is likely to be important for members as a diagnostic tool when attached to a Tech Talk post.

 

I don't use my personal hosting space with my ISP for anything else and don't use them for e-mail etc. so I'd have to work out where to go and what username and password and so forth but that clearly is the ultimate solution to this problem.

 

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On a more general note, I think that the Gallery should support larger (say 800--1200 pixels on the long side) and implement less compression as I find the quality to be quite poor so I tend to use alternatives, e.g. Flickr. I have used Photobucket in the past and I am sure that members have their own pet favourites. Encouraging members to then use the Gallery would minimise the number of threads that have missing photos because the member no longer uses that photo hosting site. I fully appreciate that the WSCC isn't a hosting company and you don't want your servers to become a dumping ground for massive image files or members to backup their unrelated documents to. I just feel that the rules could be relaxed somewhat to make the Gallery useful for its intended purpose.