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jillius18

Dear Houzz, We're All Having Problems With Photos

Jillius
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

I personally am having near-constant issues with photos refusing to upload. I am seeing all over the forum that others are having a similar issues.

Gardenwebbers, please reply to this thread if you have been problems too, just so the powers-that-be can see the extent of the issue.

Houzz powers-that-be, I sent you an email directly about the photo uploading issue and the issue is still ongoing. Worse, even? Are you working on it? What is the status of that?

Also, while we're at it, the photo uploader that currently isn't working properly is still an inferior version of what we had before the switch to Houzz.

Even when it works, it is pretty inconvenient to upload the image to Houzz or save it locally and then upload it. It takes more data, takes up space in my
hard drive that I then have to clear, and it is just 12 extra steps for
each picture I post. It used to just be a matter of finding a photo
online that illustrates my point and then typing <img src="URL of the
photo"> into my comment. SO SIMPLE.

Why isn't that allowed anymore, and can we have it be allowed anyway? This is a hugely visual forum, and hamstringing our ability to share photos is such a detriment to the discussion.

http://cdn3.image.bored.com/thumbnails/cat-in-need-of-help__big_no.jpg

Comments (49)

  • lisa_a
    8 years ago

    Count me as another who is having problems uploading photos from my computer. It acts like it's going to upload - the little circle thing is going around - but then nothing happens. The circle thing goes away but no photo appears.

    Thanks to other GWers, I have learned a work around - upload the photo first, then add text - but that's a PITA and should not be necessary at all. Please fix this issue.

    Thanks for starting this thread, Jillius.

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago

    I've been having the same issues for more than a week. Also noticed today that when editing for a typo, I lost a few lines of text, and once noticed that when a message posted, it lost the blank line between two paragraphs.

    A few times, when trying to submit a post, I've rec'd a message that there's a problem with post--please refresh the page and try again. Yes, it's very frustrating.

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  • Bunny
    8 years ago

    I don't doubt that many of you are having problems. I just want to say that I am having no issues uploading photos. Uploading from a photo on my Desktop isn't any harder for me than uploading to Flickr and thence to GW. I'm under no illusions of privacy on the internet and I know that once it's there, it remains there in some form.

  • ginny20
    8 years ago

    I thought I just didn't know how to do it, but I kept doing the same thing over and over and it finally worked, so maybe it wasn't me. Same as Lisa, sometimes I'd get the little circle, then nothing.

    Also, why can't I drag and drop highlighted text to move it within a post I'm composing? Am I somehow doing it wrong?

  • ginny20
    8 years ago

    And can someone tell me why I'm not getting all the posts for threads I commented on in my email - and I checked junk mail and they're not there, either. Some come through, so my email is working, but not all by any means. Since some appear, I have not accidentally switched off notifications. What the what?

  • rebunky
    8 years ago

    Yes, please fix.

  • violetwest
    8 years ago

    I don't have any problem uploading my photos from my phone or computer. However, there seems to be no way of deleting them after uploading, in case you decide you don't want that one while writing the post. pain in the butt, because then you have to start all over

  • designsaavy
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    It's hit and miss with me. I usually just upload the photo or screen shot from my phone. The problem is I may have typed a few paragraphs then go to upload and everything vanishes...paragraphs and photo. I either have to start over typing or sometimes I just don't want to type it all over again.

    Guess I need to try to upload photo first.

  • yeonassky
    8 years ago

    I haven't posted many pics. But when I do I seem to be able to. I open the file where the picture is on my computer. Then I choose what to open it with by right clicking my mouse and clicking on open with from the drop down menu. I then choose microsoft office picture manager. Once the picture is open I right click my mouse and click copy. I go to the GW and press photo and then ctrl v or right click my mouse and choose paste. Then I write my reply. If I find the picture online I save image to my computer and then go through the same process. Is that how everyone does it? No missing lines or stuff so far here. Don't know if this helps but there you have it.

  • lisa_a
    8 years ago

    Ginny, I'm not receiving emails that there have been new comments on threads I've started. About a month ago, I set it up so that I'd receive email notices whenever a thread I commented on had new posts, not just notices when new comments were made to threads I started. After getting overwhelmed with email notices, I stopped that but now I'm not getting email notices for comments on my threads. It's either all or nothing. Very frustrating.

    I miss the ability to select an individual thread to receive email notices like we had on the old GW. That was so handy.

  • lisa_a
    8 years ago

    Photo posting ... I wonder if it could be a PC vs Apple issue. That's happened before.

    I'm on a PC. Curious to know if there's a pattern.

  • stir_fryi SE Mich
    8 years ago

    I was having the same problem. I noticed I had better luck when I uploaded the picture first and then added text below it -- not text first, then picture.

  • Bunny
    8 years ago

    On a Mac. Initially we had problems uploading photos from certain sources (I can't remember anymore). I can upload photos before or after text, and delete as well.

    Not trying to minimize others' problems, but not all of us are having problems.

  • AvatarWalt
    8 years ago

    Add me to the list (on a MacBook). A week ago photos would appear in my draft message, but whenever I tried to submit it, I'd get an Error 15 message, "request blocked by security rules." Remove the photos and it posted fine. I uploaded photos to a Houzz Ideabook and got the same result. I emailed support and never heard back, though it eventually resolved itself somehow.

  • Jillius
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    On a PC and sometimes a Chromebook. Not sure if the latter is functionally different from a PC in this respect.

  • blfenton
    8 years ago

    ginny - the ability to drag and drop highlighted text was lost in the move from GW to Houzz. The only way around it that I have figured out is to highlight it, drag it to the top of the page, then use Ctrl C and Ctrl V to move it. A real nuisance.

  • AnnKH
    8 years ago

    Initially I didn't have any trouble adding photos - from a Mac, from a PC, from the computer, from Photobucket.

    Recently, however, I've had the problem Lisa_a described - a spinning circle that diappears, followed by no photo. I also discovered her trick - upload the photo first, then add text. That's OK, I guess, if one doesn't want to add more than one photo to a post.

    I've had this trouble on a Mac, a PC, from the computer, and from Photobucket. I have definitely changed my posting habits as a result. And on this site, a picture is worth a thousand words!

  • engrgirl
    8 years ago

    I've had problems too. Sometimes it has worked, but sometimes it doesn't. I get the same "circle thing looks like it's processing" when I click to upload it, but then no photo. Since it works sometimes (on the same computer, with me doing the same process, in the same browser) I think the problem is on the Houzz server side of things.

  • Jillius
    Original Author
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Just adding that my issue is also the spinning circle and then nothing.

  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I was having problems until I started using the "Houzz Photo" option instead of the "Photo" option. I do one of the following:

    If the photo is on my computer:

    1. Using Windows Explorer on my computer, I navigate to where the picture is that I want to upload
    2. Next, in the Message/Comment box where I'm posting, I select the "Houzz Photo" option (below the box)
    3. The "Insert Photo" box appears
    4. I then drag the picture from my computer to the "drag & drop" box on Houzz (see picture below)
    5. I wait for the picture to appear in the "drag & drop" box
    6. Then, I select the "Insert" button
    7. The photo appears in the Message/Comment box.

    .

    If the photo is in my Photobucket account:

    1. I navigate to the picture in my Photobucket album
    2. I copy the "Direct" URL for the picture
    3. Next, in the Message/Comment box where I'm posting, I select the "Houzz Photo" option (below the box)
    4. The "Insert Photo" box appears
    5. Next, I select the "Browse" button in the "drag & drop" box
    6. The normal "Open" window opens showing folders from my computer.
    7. I then paste the picture's URL I just copied into the "Filename" box of the Open box (see picture below)
    8. Then, I select the "Open" button (see picture below where the arrow is pointing)
    9. I wait for the picture to appear in the "drag & drop" box (this can take awhile - be patient!)
    10. Then, I select the "Insert" button
    11. The photo appears in the Message/Comment box.

    Note: This works for any URL, not just a Photobucket URL

    .

    Sometimes, the picture is inserted in a random location within the Message box. If it's not where I want it, I either cut & paste the text around to correct the issue -or- I delete the photo and re-insert it.

    To delete the photo, simply select above the picture and the picture and select the "Delete" button on your keyboard. You cannot select just the picture, you have to select from the end of the line above the picture and drag down to select the picture as well.

    .

    There are quite a few issues with Houzz posting. We've also lost a lot of functionality that we used to have for text formatting. It's too bad we went backward when Houzz took over. I know everyone used to complain that GW was behind the times, but Houzz is even more primitive!

    I also occassionally lose the line spacing b/w lines - just put two blank lines there and it re-appears. This works for regular text and bulleted (unordered) lists. It does not work for numbered (ordered) lists - the list starts over at "1" if you try it.

  • badgergal
    8 years ago

    I have had no issues with posting photos. I use an iPad exclusively when cruising about on gardenweb. If the photo is from the Internet I just temporarily copy it to my iPad. If the picture is in photobucket or Flicker, I just hit those sites download button to place it on my iPad. Once a picture is on my iPad I use the photo button below the message box. When I touch that button, I pick the choose existing box and find the picture I want from my camera roll or photo library. Occasionally, the photo will be posted above my text but the I just delete it by hitting the back button. Then I go back to the end of my message and use the photo button again. It almost always posts the picture in the correct spot on the second try if it didn't on the first attempt. After I am done posting a picture I usually just delete it from my photo library.

  • mudhouse
    8 years ago

    Just documenting the same problem here, on my PC, using the Photo icon gives me a spinning circle, and then no photo. It finally loaded the image on the third try. Something is wonky...


    Thanks for the very helpful step-by-step info above, buehl.

  • practigal
    8 years ago

    Is it just me? Each page seems to take forever to load...I am not experiencing this difficulty on other websites.

  • scrappy25
    8 years ago

    Spinning circle here too on iphone

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    8 years ago

    I use a Mac and had some problems loading photos; it took three tries.

  • beth09
    8 years ago


    I am on a PC and just posted both a Houzz pic and one saved in my pics with no problem. Another way to delete is to highlight and hit the backspace key.

    Sorry for all those having issues. Hope this gets fixed soon, pics are really important here.



  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I'm typing this text first, then using buehl's Houzz photo/browse method:

    Et voila! Thank you, buehl! This one is from my pics--if I want to post a pic from another site, I will have to save to my computer, then browse, correct?

  • Jillius
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    I am still wondering why they are forcing us to save photos from other sites to our computers first and then upload, rather than being able to directly embed the photo directly in a comment using that photo's existing URL as we used to do. I would really like to skip the whole saving-it-to-your-computer-and-then-deleting-it-after. It's a total pain in the tuchus, especially when I'm on my phone and using data.

  • funkycamper
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Just in the last week, I have sometimes had problems with photos. Not all the time, just sometimes. Odd. I either get the constantly spinning green circle with the photo never loading or I get a message saying something like "reload page to post". It's about 50/50 whether it works or not.

    When it's working, I much prefer the way to add photos here to having to use a photosite like Photobucket. It's a lot quicker, imho.

    Can delete photos by highlighting and hitting Delete key or by putting cursor after photo and hitting the backspace/delete key.

    Jillius, I never save photos from other sites to my computer to share on here. I use the Houzz photo-grabber add-on to my browser to save it to a Houzz idea book and then use the Houzz Photo button.

    The exception to that is when I copy/paste a floorplan into my drawing program to edit. I then save it but I use the same name for all of them, just over-writing previous ones I did, so I'm not saving tons of new stuff to my computer, just over-writing old ones. Since the ones that have already been posted to GW stay there, I don't muck up other posts by doing this and don't waste hard-drive space.

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago

    funkycamper, I use the same process to replace the old floorplan with the new one--'1a' puts it at the top of my desktop list, so it's easy to find.

    (I just posted two pics in one post on another thread.**Happy dance.**)

  • Bunny
    8 years ago

    funkycamper, thanks for the tip about the Houzz photo-grabber add-on. I installed it and it works! I'm using Chrome browser on a Mac.

    I had no luck finding it directly at Houzz, but a simple Google search located it for me.

    Photo grabber

  • Emily H
    8 years ago

    Hi all, For those of you having trouble uploading a photo onto a post, are you experiencing the same problem if you try to upload a new profile or cover photo from your computer? Any further information is very helpful. We've been trying to track this down and have been having a tough time pinpointing the issue.

  • Jillius
    Original Author
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I have never uploaded a new profile or cover photo. It's always just saving an image to my desktop or downloads folder --> clicking "photo" at the bottom of my comment and selecting the saved photo to insert into my comment --> turning circle --> nothing.

    And it's been sporadic that photo uploading doesn't work for about two weeks now, but in the past week, it is almost constantly not working.

  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    mama goose_gw zn6OH...No, you can also use the URL. See the second option - at least a URL from Photobucket, and, I suspect, from any photo hosting site. I don't know about URLs from other types of sites - I haven't tried.

  • Russ Barnard
    8 years ago

    yep.. stopped having a photo issue when I switched to the houzz photo.


    Russ


  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Emily - there are several issues described in this thread. I suggest troubleshooting with various platforms (e.g,, Mac, Windows PC, etc.)

    Then, I would try uploading pictures from your local computer using both the "Photo" and "Houzz Photo" options. You will need to do it several times as it is an intermittent issue - photos load sometimes, sometimes they don't, and sometimes the end up in random locations within the message (i.e., not where you initiated the Photo/Houzz Photo function)

    Repeat using

    • Drag & Drop
    • Browse
    • URL

    The only issue I've had with the "Houzz Photo" option is the random placing of the picture - and it only happens every 15 times or so.

    I was having issues with the "Photo" option frequently, that's why I switched to "Houzz Photo".

    I tried a couple of times to load Profile and Cover photos, but the constraints were too limiting to make it worth my time. (I was not uploading a portrait.)

  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    The "random picture placement" just happened again! (In case it helps, it happened on SegBrown's thread, "Any bright ideas to improve this layout?". I fixed it b/f I submitted it, though.)

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Emily Hurley, I was able to change my Cover Photo with no problem.


    buehl, when the problem first started I tried the urls from other sites, and that didn't work. I just copied and pasted this pic from another site in the file name box, using the photo icon, and it worked, even after I had typed the text.


    For this one I clicked on the Houzz photo option, hit browse, and pasted the url in my file box. Pasting the url in the box on the left side of the page (Houzz photo url box) did not work.

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Random placement: I haven't had that problem, but I always make sure my curser is at the bottom of the page when I start to upload a photo. If you've clicked outside the message box, the curser sends the photo (or link) to the top of the message (or where ever the curser is in the message.)

  • slk7e7
    8 years ago

    Just tried to upload a photo in a new thread and couldn't


  • MizLizzie
    8 years ago

    My first fail was Saturday on the Roses Forum. Third time was the charm.

  • Debbie Csughlin
    6 years ago

    I, too am having the same issues of pictures not uploading. If I delete the App and reinstall, will I lose my saved boards?

  • PRO
    Komandor Canada Closets & Doors Inc.
    2 years ago

    I agree having the same issues! Very frustrating!

  • julieste
    2 years ago

    I have basically given up with photos unless they have a Houzz URL. I can't figure out how to do it (and I have tried many different times and things).

  • garagebroker
    2 years ago

    I save them to my Photos (iPad) and the Share them to Houzz from there. It’s hit and miss though and sometimes takes several tries.

  • PRO
  • caflowerluver
    10 months ago

    Can't  post pictures or text for 9 months.

  • garagebroker
    10 months ago

    Yes...I've started to switch over to Pinterest now. Save Houzz pictures just to Houzz but Pinterest for everything else. Hope to move everything to Pinterest eventually.

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