Earlier this week Bryan removed the IMB button from the tools available when you are making a post.
It was discussed among the Admin Team, (or part of them/us, I don’t recall who all was in on the discussion), a few days ago.
The reason for the removal is that many members, for whatever reason, post their pictures from image hosting services like InkFrog, ImageShack, PhotoBucket, etc. Invariably when folks leave AAPK, or change image hosting services, or cancel their account the pictures are lost and no longer show up in AAPK. This is a problem when someone is using AAPK to research knives, knife patterns or other information about a knife.
AAPK has always hosted our own images. Bryan assures us that he has plenty of storage space for all the images, so he has disabled the IMG button.
I do miss the extra emoticons as I think they add humor and emotion to posts, but I would rather have knife pics than emoticons.
AAPK is rather special in several ways:
-We do not require a paid membership for you to be able to post images directly to the forums.
-We don’t even HAVE paid memberships; everything is free on AAPK except for the stores.
-We do not kick people off the forum for posting links to ebay auctions that are still in progress. We know people are looking for rare knives and we share info on auctions among members when we see one for sale.
-We allow trades betweens members and provide a forum for that and don’t get our skivvies in a wad if someone would rather pay money than trade for a knife. Though we have had to put the brakes on a couple newly enrolled members who thought the Trading & Advertising forum was their personal store.
-We do not censure members of they get a bit off topic in a thread, some of the threads are just too doggone funny!
-I am sure our members could add more to this list, but I think you get the point. AAPK is a bit different in a good way than most other knife forums.
Bryan has provided us with a free (cost wise) knife forum and given us a lot of freedom within that forum, but probably the most unique thing about AAPK is the people who are members. They are some of the friendliest most caring people I have met and they have a lot of knowledge about knives and are willing to share it! They are patient with new members when they ask a question and are willing to give them answers or direct them to the right person or place to find that answer. I think AAPK is the best forum on the web for encouraging new collectors in the hobby of knife collecting!
Yes, Bryan has provided us with a unique place to play with sharp instruments, but it is YOU, THE AAPK MEMBERS, that make AAPK the unique forum that it is.
So, I will miss the little extra emoticons that JerryD, myself & others love to add to some of our posts, but I think it is important for research purposes for all knife collectors to have the pictures available to future generations of collectors.
Thank you all for being the BEST KNIFE FORUM MEMBERS on the web!
LOLOLOLOL
