Announcements Flash Uploader Disabled (for now at least)

Kevin

Kevin

Code Monkey
Staff member
Due to the recent security issues with Adobe Flash we have turned off the 'Flash Uploader' option. This will impact when adding attachments to a post or when uploading files to the Media Gallery.

The Flash Uploader was used for attaching/uploading multiple files at once instead of having to select individual files one at a time.

One point of emphasis is that there are no known security issues with the forum software that powers our site, just the third-party Flash Uploader component done in Adobe Flash. For now, until Adobe Flash is updated, it is best to err on the side of caution and disable the component. :tinfoilhat:
 
Yeah, I have been disabling it on every web site I have been visiting for months.

I'm also a fan of Stumbleupon, and have made it a fact to disable it as a setting in there. Flash, while being pretty, has had a long history of really slowing my computer down so the benefit of running it wasn't worth it.

Worse, it's been feeling like a 'fishing' mechanism, with no consideration of the user's computer.

I suspect it's an intelligent life probing us, and it's getting to know us, but it has to find different and more conducive ways to interact with us.
 
I'm just hoping that at some point web developers come to understand that the number of people using old browsers that don't support HTML5 is so miniscule these days that the security risks of using a flash uploader far outweighs the inconvenience of some people who might not be able to use an HTML5 alternative.
 
Sorry, but there's no comparison.

Flash has - for years - has been a thorn in my side and taxed my CPU and had a constant list of 'upgrades' and features which provide me absolutely no benefit. It's abuse in ads and web pages in general has been horrible, freezing my web pages and my entire system with a great degree of predictability so I found ways to block it from everything I do.

HTML5 and the likes are far more conducive to developers - and to the general public who actually wants their machines to run like they were meant to and have features which aren't going to kill their machines..
 
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Q The First Timelord said:
Sorry, but there's no comparison.
Click to expand...
I'm agreeing with you! :P The excuse that some devs continue to give for using flash uploaders is compatibility but in this day & age it just makes no sense to keep that line of thinking. It is the reasoning behind why IE6 was allowed to stay alive well past the time it should've been killed off cleanly instead of lingering for years.
 
Oh you were? lol. I'm in combat mode, playing too much Everquest. soloing Lower Guk.

As for IE6 - to defend that 'practice' of it's long lasting effect - the truth was - back in the day - alternative browsers just sucked once IE leapfrogged Netscape technologically. Mozilla/Netscape/Firefox/whaddevayawannacallit nearly gave up after Microsoft did that.

Now as a corporate developer (at the time) - all I was looking for and recommending was the most stable internet applications which didn't crash my customer's machines - as let's face it - prior to IE6 there was no real stability to internet browsing but enough people like me were jazzed about the technology we just trudged right on through the problems until IE6 came along.

Stable browsing. Well documented. Corporate friendly. Perfecto.

I'd say this gave the competition time to catch up - and to some degree - surpass Microsoft here.

If we're not careful. We're going to see the same thing happen with Virtual Reality where a former corporate type like oh myself might introduce VR that is light years ahead of any competition leaving everyone scratching their heads crying 'its a monopoly' when the real challenge to competition is to actually compete with like offering but innovating in their own way. not cry like children trying to cannibalize the market I may have gotten from the early release ;-)
 
UPDATE: HTML5 multi-file uploads are now supported! :cool:

When uploading files, if your browser supports it, can you select multiple files at the same to upload in one batch.

In Windows 10, for example, you can either press & hold CTRL while clicking on the files to upload or you can hover over the file and check the little checkbox that appears in the upper-left corner.
 
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