Blocked Images and Browser "Not secure" Warning

[rjdankert]

Images in posts containing HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) links are not currently being displayed in posts and instead will display a "Red X". Also, If these images are highlighted by a logged in member or a member clicks on reply (to that post), their browser shows a warning icon and "Not secure".


Example of a post with HTTP image links:

Vintage Knife Catalogs & Ads (Images & Links Only)

This thread is strictly for the submission of reproductions of Vintage Knife Catalogs. Please feel free to add pages which you have either posted previously in this sub-forum or new pages which you have not as yet posted. Please limit this thread to the pages themselves and any necessary...

www.bladeforums.com

Here is the original link for the first image in the post shown above (note HTTP):

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886720.jpg

Clicking the above link will open a new window, change the HTTP link "on the fly" to HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) and display the image. The "new" link will be shown in the browser and the browser will remain secure.


Example of HTTP image links in another Xenforo based forum:

"This request was automatically upgraded to HTTPS"
The image is displayed and the browser remains secure.


Bob

 

[rjdankert]

Sentiments expressed about images on BF in one recent thread:

This forum lives on pictures

This forum is built on, lives on, and dies on pictures...it's why most people spend time here.

Our pictures are why people come here.

pictures of knives that can't be found anywhere else in the world. This is truly a special place...

For those of us who have been members for a decade or more, the loss of a lot of older pics would be tragic. There is a history to this forum that shouldn't be lost, imo.

I'm here for the sharing, the knowledge, the community, and, yeah, especially the pics--they're kinda the glue that holds it all together here.

And my bigger concern is loss of what has already been contributed, and the legacy and knowledge of this place, not all of which is simply text.

The forum and the community benefit from the pictures.

losing photos in the Old Knives thread for example will cause us to lose an important source of research and history of knives and companies 100 plus years old,

Immediately renders the usefulness of this website moot if you can’t see historic photos.

I would have no interest in a Forum without photos. I

go to the early days of the "Old Knives" thread in the Traditional Forum just as an example, many one of a kind vintage knife pictures lost.

Probably wouldn't be good for research oriented threads.

Bob

 

[rjdankert]

There are many legacy posts on BF with blocked images. These posts will display a "Red X" (mixed content) instead of the image originally posted. These older posts include catalog scans, tutorials, rare/seldom seen items, etc.

Mixed content became an issue when the internet began to migrate from HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) 30 years ago.

This issue has nothing to do with evil hosting sites wacking pictures.

Fixing this issue will not use up disk space.

Currently the mixed content issue has been eliminated by the vast majority of internet sites.


HTTPS History:

"Main article: Transport Layer Security § History and development
Netscape Communications created HTTPS in 1994 for its Netscape Navigator web browser.[48] Originally, HTTPS was used with the SSL protocol. As SSL evolved into Transport Layer Security (TLS), HTTPS was formally specified by RFC 2818 in May 2000. Google announced in February 2018 that its Chrome browser would mark HTTP sites as "Not Secure" after July 2018.[49] This move was to encourage website owners to implement HTTPS, as an effort to make the World Wide Web more secure."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS

Bob

 

[rjdankert]

Existing images currently blocked in BF can be made viewable again. To view them their addresses (URLs) need to be upgraded from HTTP to HTTPS. This can be done in a couple of ways. It can be done automatically when a request for the image is made or by upgrading all of the hard coded URLs in all the individual posts. Changing the hard coded URLs accross the site could be done by a program or by manual editing.


For anyone who might be interested, here is how they can update their links when a server was updated, and the image still exists:


Post with blocked image:

---

---

Edit the post and "Toggle BB code" if necessary
(click "[]" icon to go back and fourth)

Result:

Bob

 

[Jack Black]

Existing images currently blocked in BF can be made viewable again. To view them their addresses (URLs) need to be upgraded from HTTP to HTTPS. This can be done in a couple of ways. It can be done automatically when a request for the image is made or by upgrading all of the hard coded URLs in all the individual posts. Changing the hard coded URLs accross the site could be done by a program or by manual editing.


For anyone who might be interested, here is how they can update their links when a server was updated, and the image still exists:

Edit the post and "Toggle BB code" if necessary
(click "[]" icon to go back and fourth)

Result:

Bob

Thanks for this information It's above my pay-grade, but I think that the various software updates were far more damaging to the old threads than the PB fiasco I wish they could be restored

 

[eveled]

It’s depressing because people contribute thinking they are preserving history. But it all can be lost in an instant.

 

[GusSharp68]

By design it seems the original plan was always to have limits, I’m kind of shocked it didn’t become an issue a long long time ago. Will be interesting to watch how this gets eventually resolved.

 

[Blues]

Interesting that it was an old post and thread of mine from back in the day which is featured above. This isn't my first rodeo with images either going missing or no longer hosted etc.

It's disappointing, and sometimes I've been able to redo or restore them...but it's not worth losing one's mind over. We will get through this.

Take it in stride. No one intended to rain on anyone's parade here.

 

[rjdankert]

Interesting that it was an old post and thread of mine from back in the day which is featured above.

Thank you for posting the catalog scans. I appreciate the effort that went into that.

The images in your old post that I used in my example are still available for viewing (as of today 3/8/2024).

If you want to unblock the images in that post go to:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/vintage-knife-catalogs-ads-images-links-only.755317/post-8398379

Below is a copy of the post but with upgraded links.

---

Spencer & Bartlett, 1886[/b] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886720.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886710.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886709.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886702.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886696.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/HSB1886693.jpg[/IMG] [b]Maher & Grosh, 1887[/b] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/MG2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/lambertiana/Cutlery%20Catalogs/MG1-1.jpg[/IMG]

---

Copy the above and paste over the original to unblock the images.

I would be glad to redo any other posts you might want upgraded.


Bob

 

[rjdankert]

If anyone has older posts that show a "Red X" instead of an original image, I would be glad to help you as best I can to make that image viewable again.


Bob

 

[Kbrasmodeler]

 

[Kbrasmodeler]

Kewl. It works.