Here’s 3 ways people share images currently. At least we think so…

1. Discussion Forums

Using the forum embed codes, as well as using the direct link combined [img] tags, many people still take part in forum discussions all over the world.

Okay, so how does the process look for the Forum Embedders among you?

So it’s kind of a long process – while someone can essentially do it instantly with [img] tags that forums provide, we can’t rely on that for a good experience. This needs to be simpler.

Here is a mockup of something we might try

This way people never have to leave the upload page to get their main links.

2. Social Networks

More people share images on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit now than ever before. We still don’t rival the popularity of imgur, but it’s flattering to see usage grow either way.

These sites handle image links very well now, Facebook and Twitter have excellent OpenGraph abilities which allow us to define a nice preview image and other details (which we are aiming to include soon) like image Titles, Tags and Authors. More on Tags and Titles later on.

Facebook’s media previews – oh wow and that’s a really cool volcano type thing too

So the way to use these sites is easy, the best way for everyone is the “Sharing Link”. This Link is superior in many ways to the Direct Link as it allows us to provide sites with the OpenGraph meta data and when visited it puts the image front-and-centre but also provides context.

Images are resized to fit the page by default, clicking an image makes it fullsize. When images are nicely contained in a page without the need for scrolling it creates a nicer viewing experience.

they it’s that volcano thing again. look at all that spitting redness and everything. cool man.

In the future by emphasising Sharing Links people can take advantage of everything media sites have to offer. We know at the same time that direct links are important for many of you, so they will never be far away.

3. ???

Most of the time we haven’t got a clue how images are shared. When people use Direct Links we have no good way to detect where an image is used or how often it’s viewed. They’re extremely useful though, they are great for emails, comments online, private chat messaging.

One insight we get is all the messages you lot send us. Every message is read and considered, and it means a lot that you take the time and like the site. Keep on telling us what’s going right/going wrong and we’ll keep on working to make things better.

From a ‘fast upload’ site, to a ‘fast recall’ site.

CubeUpload should be the fastest and simplest way to chuck a few images (usually screenshots, graphics or entertaining GIFs) online and send them to a friend or to the whole world.

When uploading is fast and links are accessible, I’d like to redefine the aim of the site from the ‘fast upload’ site to the ‘fast recall’ site for Registered users – Using more modern approaches Your Image Uploads should be more easily searchable and organised. Tags and Titles will be reintroduced with more meaning. Search via tags, titles, image types and upload dates for example. On Sharing Link pages tags and titles will be used for Twitter and Facebook previews as well as for people to read.

We don’t want to be a social network, we aren’t looking to add comments or ‘sell’ your content by making a gallery area. But by making it an easier tool to use and by giving some control over how your images are presented I think we can make good strides forward.

CubeUpload has grown for 7 years, through iteration into what you see now. The world of image sharing has always been a challenging and complex one – from early coding limitations to the technical complexities faced by users, which has likely played a part in the massive success of platforms like Instagram – where one doesn’t have to know they are ‘uploading’ anything.

One question I constantly ask myself is about the nature of sites like cubeupload, imgur, imageshack etc. Is this approach to image sharing, from the foundations to each specific implementation, irreversibly dated and archaic?

On Image Compression

We never want to compress or resize images on cubeupload. People value their image quality, especially with game screenshots and graphics.

This reluctance to resize does create issues at the same time, generally people can start to get confused about image sizes when they aren’t as computer literate as some – the fact that websites exist purely to resize images is evidence, I think, of a blanketing ignorance among users, for which us developers are completely responsible.

So by choosing not to resize images we, unknowingly at the time, catered towards a more nerdy audience. A subset of users that know what they’re doing and know that the last thing they want is for their image to be messed with. We could definitely be better at promoting our views on compression, and perhaps should even rethink it (Offer it to registered users only?), as currently the most common reaction is that our images load slowly. The quality can be hard to spot unless you’re the author and very passionate about your image.

Sign Up, Down, Left, Right and oops I forgot my password

We’ve never made user registration mandatory for image uploads. And that is basically the only reason we exist at all. Back in 2006 most sites required logins in order to use the site, we were sick of that and thought we could help save people some time.

Essentially we’ve always wanted to save other’s time, by dedicating hours of our own.

A lot of effort has been put into the registered user experience, and a really low amount of people see it. We work with popular short link services like is.gd to provide quick short links for images – great for those on twitter. We’re going to expand this and include it as an option for more links, in more places. All uploaded images are saved in a user accessible area too, so members never have to re-upload lost images, and non-registered users upload duplicate images every day wasting their own time and our resources.

In the future by promoting and streamlining further, the Account Registrations, we could drastically improve the functionality that people see. That said new users are signing up more often every day, so it’s going in the right direction.

What cubeupload is and could be

Cube has always strived to be simple, and as more things become possible, the art is deciding what not to do. Albums and organisation is a big request we get. Currently people seem to use ‘codes’ pages (example http://cubeupload.com/codes/d0f808) to essentially show a group of images to others. Could an album be as simple as this page with less links and large images? Probably, but I want to take the time to do it right.

Another question that Albums brings back up is compression. Some people definitely demand quality, but everyone enjoys speeds, and our servers would also appreciate less strain. Do we compress versions of images just for use in Albums?

-Gabriel M Sharp

Next, I discuss the site structure in more detail, and how people share their images with others.

Hello, I’m Gabriel, I design cubeupload in my spare time and have done so since Euan and I founded it around 2006. Today I thought I’d introduce myself and let you know I’m going to start writing small things about my thoughts and processes as I refine cubeupload, and hopefully learn some new skills in the process of it.

“We’ve had some pretty interesting designs [at cubeupload over the years]“ (blog post)

CubeUpload has been going since 2006, and in that time has amassed an audience of users that continues to grow. Talking to people with ideas, words of advise or problems has become a massively rewarding part of making the site and inspires us all to continue making cube better.

Making  the team is just three blokes living throughout the UK. I’m in charge of front-end coding and design. Euan who does amazing work on the backend, essentially making it all work not not not bad, his world is PHP and MySQL. Finally we have ol’ Tom, who runs the servers and is working more and more with the coding side of life.

Next, I write about the current design of cube, the issues it creates and some ideas for the future.

-Gabriel M Sharp