One of my Classmates, Brian Haynes, seems to be having trouble loading images to my Notice Board (What's New) or to other Profile posts. Whatever I say to him he still manages to load multiple copies of the same image and they all appear under 'Photos' on his Profile page.

At least one copy of what he wants will appear somewhere on the website and needs to remain there. How do I know which of those that appear under his 'Photos' is the original that should appear with what he's posted so that I can delete the others?

No one's come back to me on this yet so I thought I'd say more.

When I view this Classmate's 'Photos' on his Profile using 'Manage Classmates' I can see 50+ images yet when he views them or I view them just by going straight to his Profile we can only see half a dozen. Why is this?

I'd be grateful for a response as both of us seeing different things is causing problems when it comes to trying to explain what's happening and find a solution.

Mark, I'd guess that many of the photos in his Profile's photo gallery ended up there because he posted a comment (plus photo) in your Notice Board or with a comment/message (plus photo) in someone else's profile. Those photos have to be stored somewhere, and the get stored in the profile of the person posting the comment or message - but without the green check mark.

When you use Manage Classmates to edit his profile and click on the Photo's thumbnail to see all the photos, I'd bet that many of them do not have the green check mark since they were not directly uploaded there - and those don't show up when viewing his profile normally. They only show up in the Notice Board post or profile message where they were posted.

Thanks, John.

I'm sure you're correct but as he's not able to see them unless I check them so it's almost impossible trying to explain to him. It's also not just a case of one copy of each showing when I view his Profile using Manage Classmates. I've checked a couple more now to give him a better idea of what I'm seeing but I counted something like 59 images when there should only be around 7 or 8. Either he's made multiple failed attempts at posting some of them and they've ended up there or there's a fault somewhere. Yes, they have to be stored somewhere but it would help if he could see them as well as I, otherwise we're talking at cross purposes.

Sounds like I'd better let one of the 'experts' chime in here. Your member should be able to see all the photos in his profile photo gallery - whether they have a green check mark or not.

But that's only if he's actually looking at his gallery, and not just telling you what he sees when he views his profile.

He assures me he's referring to what he sees when he opens up the 'Photos' on his Profile but I've got my doubts. I'll just have to take his word for it.

If I view his Profile as just another Classmate I immediately see all the photos I know have been checked to allow for viewing by all Classmates. If I go to his Profile as Administrator using Manage Classmates I have to click on 'Photos' to view all the photos I'm referring to. Confirmation of there being more images there than the (6) currently showing comes when they take quite a while to load.

Brian has a ton of images in his gallery. Many many duplicates as well that should be deleted to allow the gallery to load faster. For each of the images that are loaded but not appearing in the gallery, the ones that do not show DO NOT have a green check mark in the upper left corner of the preview image. If he clicks the image in that upper right corner (compare to one that does have a check mark) the image will turn on and the preview will display the green check mark. He can do this or you can do this for him.

I'd be careful with those deletes.

I tested on my test site by adding a message in What's New with a photo, adding a message in someone's profile with the same photo, and a message in another profile, again with the same photo. As expected, I ended up with three copies of that photo in my profile photo gallery - all without a check mark.

When I deleted the first photo in my profile gallery - which would have been the one entered with the What's New message, there was no longer any photo shown with the What's New message. I expected that, but was thinking that after the fact, it would be impossible for someone to know which copy of the photo was being referenced in various places. What I did not expect is that that the messages in the two other profiles no longer showed the photo either - although the other two photos were still there in my profile photo gallery.

I gave up and cleaned up after the test by deleting all the new messages and the two 'extra' photos in my profile gallery - which by the way, ended up showing my profile as having been updated today. I changed the Last Updated date back to where it was.

This is what I have been saying, Scott. I think I'd better do that for him because he appears not to be seeing all the images that I see (and you can see) when I look at his Profile using Manage Classmates. As I said, I've explained where he should be looking but I'm not sure he fully understands.

What I was concerned about was deleting images that he's posted elsewhere on the website which need to remain posted.

I've now started deleting some of his images but it must surely have been some kind of bug that allowed multiple copies of the same image to load? I can't imagine that it was his fault alone as there are far too many duplicates of every image he's loaded for it to have been an accident.

Now 3.30am in the UK and I'm still up trying to clear these duplicates whilst it's quiet. I swear they're multiplying!

Tiredness setting in now which is making me even more confused so I'm going to call it a day for a while.

Bottom line is that I don't think things are working as they're meant to.

PS - Can you please devise a way to allow for images to be deleted from a Profile Gallery other than one at a time. I've been at this for hours now.

No promises but I will talk to the programmer.

Also, I see that you completed the management (removing) of his extra images.

Scott,

Yes, I did delete all the duplicates but today he's emailed me to say that one of the photos he posted on site many moons ago and which I had left among his Profile Photos has mysteriously duplicated itself a number of times!

If you look, you'll see it's the one of the newspaper with the 'Destiny Day' headline. He can't recall when and where it was originally posted and I can't find it.

This is getting a little silly.

Strange. I have reported this to the programmer and I have deleted the extras. Very odd.

Thanks, Scott.

Scott, I checked a few more Profiles today of people who occasionally post images on the website, and found another image that appears to have multiplies among the Photos on Profile of David Mitchell.

My member who first raised the problem, Brian Haynes, now tells me that he remembers posting another photo (title unknown)a while ago and that seems to have disappeared altogether.

I will forward that report though I am not sure if there will be a resolution on that particular one. I will also have the programmer look at David's profile.

Thanks again, Scott. I hope something can be done.

Scott, it occurred to me that I should ask why you doubt there will be a "resolution on that particular one"?

I have had another email today from Brian Haynes to say that he believes there must be a problem as he is as sure as can can be that not only are some photos he's posted on the Notice Board now no longer to be found, thus rendering the text that refers to them pointless, but he can recall at least one posting he made where the photo and the text are no longer to be seen.

Is there a way that I can temporarily revert to my Legacy design to see whether I can trace the missing text and photos there without losing what I have done on the Responsive design I now use? Or perhaps CC can take a look.

One more before I go!

Another Classmate, Stefan Bremner-Morris, tells me there are photo duplicates among the Photos on his Profile and some of them are no longer to be found where he posted them, on my Notice Board. Some of them were posted for Brian Haynes to see and he remembers viewing them but can't find them now.

Do we need more evidence that something is not quite right?

It would be very interesting if someone who has FTP or similar access to those photos on Amazon could see the date created for those duplicates.

Any progress on this problem yet, please? Has the problem been recognised? It's now around 8 weeks since I first raised the subject, the photos are still duplicating and I'm fed up having to delete the excess.

I don't know whether it will be of any use to you but I've taken another look at the Profiles of members who have posted photos on my Notice Board (What's New). There aren't many of us who do but of those who have,duplicates of the photos are showing on my Profile and the Profiles of David Mitchell, Stefan Bremner-Morris and Brian Haynes. Three others posted photos during the period I looked at (Michael Gurling, Keith Grey and Miroslav Demajo) but their photos have not duplicated themselves on their Profiles - yet.

Of the photos that have reproduced, all appear to have been posted directly to the Notice Board and not to someone's Profile directly.

I also believe that some of those I already deleted on Brian Haynes' Profile have returned to haunt him and me.

Further to the above post #22, Brian Haynes has, in the last few hours of today (08 September), posted a photo along with a comment on the Notice Board in response to a message posted on Alexander Durie's Profile by Peter Steptoe on 1st September.

There are now 9 copies of the photo showing in Brian's 'Photos' on his Profile.

Classmate Bob Johnson is the latest member to report multiple photos on his Profile. 52 copies of one!

Incidentally, will these duplicated photos be having an effect on my file vault storage space allocation?

The number of photos mentioned in the posts above are now multiplying fourfold and more and at will.

One thing that Brian Haynes said to me in passing today was that he has been dragging and dropping some (so obviously not all) of the photos he's been posting on my Notice Board (What's New)instead of using the 'Add Photo' route. I wasn't aware this method was possible on the website so presumably the 'Add Photos' button is only necessary if you want to play around with the image you're posting,

So 'drag and drop' or 'Add Photos', the problem of disappearing photos remains as does the problem of duplicating photos.

I would appreciate it if someone at CC would at least confirm that the problems are recognised and something is being done about them. This has been going on for far too long without even an acknowledgement and I don't really think that's acceptable.

Some progress which should help!

I took a look at my own Profile photos and was surprised to find that many have appeared on there that are nothing to do with anything I've uploaded to the website but are actually photos of members of my family that are stored on my computer and on Picasa!!

One of my website members said the same thing happened to him a few days ago but I dismissed it as fantasy and something that was impossible, It seems I was wrong!

Please respond to this post as I believe it may be an important development.

That does sound a bit odd. Are those pictures still there? If so, which one did you not post.

Do you have another system where you can look and see if it displays the same thing?

Might get more CC attention by posting in "bugs"?

Thanks for your response Jack.

Wherever and whatever I post these days seems to be ignored by CC.

The photos I'm referring to are 30 family photos that are stored on my computer and on Picasa. They have suddenly found their way into the photos stored on my Profile and one of them (only the one, so far...) has reproduced 24 times.

I've reported similar goings on for the last few months and apart from the occasional "I've referred it to the programmers" comment, I've either been ignored or heard nothing further.

I only have the one home based 'system' which includes a desktop receiving Virgin Broadband and a laptop I use wirelessly and the problem is visible on both.

On your profile I see 30 photos (not the ones added in comments by others). They all look OK (not duplicated). Could be something on your system that is giving different results for you.

Move the cursor over photos, right click (in FF anyway) and select View Image. For example this one IMAGE

See what the URL is for "duplicate photos" or photos that should not be there. They should all start with https://s3.amazonaws ...

If they do not, that tells you where they are coming from and also that it's not actually CC.

I’ve been intrigued by this thread, and have continued to test, trying to find a way to reproduce multiplying (or disappearing) photos. In post #7 above, I documented how I created duplicate photos in a profile photo gallery (without the green check mark), and what happened when I tried to delete one.

Those tests were done as a user probably would have added a photo – clicking on the Add Photo button in a comment or message. But later I was reminded that users might be more apt to try copy/paste or click-and-drag like they might have used on their PC.

Sooo.... I went back to my test site, logging in as a normal (not admin) user. I found it would not allow me to copy/paste a photo in a profile message or comment, or in a What's New message. The Paste option is grayed out - as if I'd never done the copy.

The system actually did let me click-and-drag a photo to a new message being added on the What's New page. The "uploading" graphic spun until it hit 100% - and then kept spinning. I waited a minute and finally clicked on "Post". The text I'd entered posted, but not the photo. So I logged out, logged back in as admin, checked the vault (not there) and the user's profile gallery (not there either). Checking again the next day, that photo was still nowhere to be found.

One more interesting tidbit... The user I'd signed in as was the one I'd used in my earlier attach-a-photo-to-a-message testing several weeks ago. I’d tried adding the same photo to a message in a profile, a What's New message, and a message in a second profile - all using the same photo. When I was done, I confirmed that there were three copies of that photo in the user's profile photo gallery as expected, all without the green check mark. I then deleted the first one, expecting it to be gone from where I'd posted it. It was indeed no longer there – AND it was also gone in the other two places as well. So, shaking my head, I cleaned it all up, deleting the new messages and deleting the other two new photos in the profile photo gallery.

Long story, but here's the end... when I looked in that photo gallery after my latest test, there were 5 copies of the photo I'd used for testing weeks ago. My memory may not be what it used to be, but my testing notes insist that there should have been no duplicate photos still in that profile gallery – or at most no more than two. And I'm kinda OCD about cleaning up after I test so there won't be any confusion the next time from left over testing stuff.

In summary, I found four bugs:
(1) Deleting the first of three duplicate photos in a profile photo gallery removed that photo in all three places that photo had been added. Does Amazon ‘know’ it’s the same photo and only save one copy – even though you see three copies in the profile?
(2) Deleting a photo in a profile photo gallery creates a “Profile Update” in the home page’s Profile Updated box – although there’s nothing updated there to be seen.
(3) Using click-and-drag to add a photo to a What’s New message appeared to work – but then didn’t after all.
(4) Several weeks later, I found five duplicate photos in the profile photo gallery where there should have been none (or definitely no more than two).

Definitely something is amiss with how files are maintained. Highly suspect Amazon cloud code. (I just pointed out a bug in their cart system - they fixed it - pretty amazing considering how BIG an outfit they are and how many people shop there.)

Once again I 'deleted' a file and then uploaded a new version (because of $%^& replacement 'bug' IMO).

The new file was there when I used my test pages to verify (I also flush the cache to make sure I'm getting fresh copies - plus the display is different because of the change).

Everything looked fine. About 20 minutes later I started testing in the various browsers. Guess what? The NEW file was no longer there. Poof.

Will check tomorrow to make sure all the files are still there.

Clearly there is a buffering system here that delays actions to the "cloud". The "delete" I did earlier actually did it TWICE. First to the original version I wanted to delete. And then later to the NEW version that I wanted to keep.

I think the only reason this is not a bigger problem is that most people always add NEW files and seldom delete existing files.

Still looking at this. It is still an open issue on our end. I have re-documented all the duplicate images that appear in Mr Haynes profile as well. John - your comments here are very helpful and I am going to need to test again as you noted that your tests did not initially produce duplicates but that when reviewed at a later date, the duplicates appeared.

The programmer reports that this has been addressed.

That's good news, Scott. Does that mean it won't be happening again? Duplicate photos are still sitting on my Profile and those of others. Do we have to remove the duplicates ourselves and run the risk of deleting the original and therefore making the post it applied to invalid?

I've only just noticed your 19th December response to this subject. Why am I not receiving notification of any Forum posts?

"Does that mean it won't be happening again?" - Well, I cannot promise that it won't happen again. I was told by the programmer that this has been resolved. It is not an issue that I can easily test as I have never been able to get my test sites to produce these symptoms. If you see it continue or start happening again, let me know and I will take it back to the programmer. I do not know why you did not see the notification other than to think that my last post was during the period of time that we were having some other email issues.

Thanks Scott but I didn't receive a notification of your #36 Response either. I don't appear to be receiving any and your address is certainly whitelisted.

Just to confirm, is it best to leave the duplicates where they are and hope there are no more?

Mark,
From as far back as I remember, the forums have been notorious for not consistently sending notify emails for new posts in groups or threads that you're following. I compensate for that by checking the forums often using the What's New tab at the top to see what's changed since the last time I looked.

As far as deleting duplicates, in #7 above I found that deleting one of the duplicates (or the original) also removed that photo in other comments or posts where it was used. Since I can't be sure what will disappear when a duplicate is removed, I tend to leave them there.

Thanks, Jon. Yes. that's what I intend doing. It just looks a little messy, that's all. Guess I'll just have to hope the problem has been solved.

Mark- I wish that was something I could explain, but I do not know the answer. I too sometimes miss notifications but is seems random and inconsistent.

Thanks, Scott. "Random and inconsistent", yes, but certainly not ideal or what CC intended, I'm sure.