Going through the list of file types Squirrelstar made:

.png, .jpg, .gif, .bmp: As Squirrelstar noted, we already have image hosting so these aren't strictly necessary. You can use a project too.

.pdn, .mdp, .xcf: These would be very difficult to moderate as the Scratch Team would need special program(s) to view them. It's pretty easy to just convert to a .png or share elsewhere.

.mp3, .wav, .ogg, .flac, .m4a: These are easy to upload in a project and there's already a bunch of stuff coded to make things easier for the ST (eg. you can play the file without downloading it, file size limits). They aren't strictly necessary.

.doc, .docx, .odt, (and pdf): As mentioned above, these can contain viruses. They can also contain images. For text, its easy to just copy paste the contents onto the forum, or if it has other stuff, take a screenshot. Tip, on Windows, press Win + print screen to save a screenshot (win is the logo) or Press Win + Shift + S to open the snipping tool.

.txt, .log: Even easier to copy paste than the above. If they are really long, put them inside [code] blocks.

.zip: These would be very difficult to moderate. It's not easy to automatically check the contents of a zip file and attempting to do so would put a lot of load on the server. To check a zip, the ST would have to download, extract, and look at each file. Zip files would have to be banned.

.exe: Like Squirrelstar said, these would be banned. It is not easy to check a file for viruses. Virus scanners are wrong all the time and there is no easy way to tell for sure if a file is safe.

Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

imfh wrote:

Going through the list of file types Squirrelstar made:

.png, .jpg, .gif, .bmp: As Squirrelstar noted, we already have image hosting so these aren't strictly necessary. You can use a project too.

.pdn, .mdp, .xcf: These would be very difficult to moderate as the Scratch Team would need special program(s) to view them. It's pretty easy to just convert to a .png or share elsewhere.

.mp3, .wav, .ogg, .flac, .m4a: These are easy to upload in a project and there's already a bunch of stuff coded to make things easier for the ST (eg. you can play the file without downloading it, file size limits). They aren't strictly necessary.

.doc, .docx, .odt, (and pdf): As mentioned above, these can contain viruses. They can also contain images. For text, its easy to just copy paste the contents onto the forum, or if it has other stuff, take a screenshot. Tip, on Windows, press Win + print screen to save a screenshot (win is the logo) or Press Win + Shift + S to open the snipping tool.

.txt, .log: Even easier to copy paste than the above. If they are really long, put them inside [code] blocks.

.zip: These would be very difficult to moderate. It's not easy to automatically check the contents of a zip file and attempting to do so would put a lot of load on the server. To check a zip, the ST would have to download, extract, and look at each file. Zip files would have to be banned.

.exe: Like Squirrelstar said, these would be banned. It is not easy to check a file for viruses. Virus scanners are wrong all the time and there is no easy way to tell for sure if a file is safe.

Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

well the problem with only allowing specific file types is that on some computers it's harder to upload say, a .txt than a .log file.
the suggestion is to allow users to upload a file, meaning any file (except .exe) in general. only allowing one kind of file for every type would kinda contradict the suggestion

{offtopic}

chrdagos wrote:

Vercte wrote:

.sb3, .sb2, .sb, .svg because that's the best image format ever

o.k but try and stay on topic

Speaking of .sb s.b2 .sb3 files on forums, you should check this out {/offtopic}

gosoccerboy5 wrote:

chrdagos wrote:

Vercte wrote:

.sb3, .sb2, .sb, .svg because that's the best image format ever

o.k but try and stay on topic

Speaking of .sb s.b2 .sb3 files on forums, you should check this out

please stay on topic

chrdagos wrote:

imfh wrote:

-snip-
Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

well the problem with only allowing specific file types is that on some computers it's harder to upload say, a .txt than a .log file.
the suggestion is to allow users to upload a file, meaning any file (except .exe) in general. only allowing one kind of file for every type would kinda contradict the suggestion

A lot of the files are still difficult to moderate though. You can't just ban files with a .exe extension as there are other executable filenames too (.msi, .scr). You could ban all of those, but someone will always find a way around it.

My main point is that most file types which would feasible for the ST to moderate have a fairly easy workaround. It makes it much more difficult to moderate something if you have to download it rather than viewing it on the web.

imfh wrote:

Going through the list of file types Squirrelstar made:

.png, .jpg, .gif, .bmp: As Squirrelstar noted, we already have image hosting so these aren't strictly necessary. You can use a project too.

.pdn, .mdp, .xcf: These would be very difficult to moderate as the Scratch Team would need special program(s) to view them. It's pretty easy to just convert to a .png or share elsewhere.

.mp3, .wav, .ogg, .flac, .m4a: These are easy to upload in a project and there's already a bunch of stuff coded to make things easier for the ST (eg. you can play the file without downloading it, file size limits). They aren't strictly necessary.

.doc, .docx, .odt, (and pdf): As mentioned above, these can contain viruses. They can also contain images. For text, its easy to just copy paste the contents onto the forum, or if it has other stuff, take a screenshot. Tip, on Windows, press Win + print screen to save a screenshot (win is the logo) or Press Win + Shift + S to open the snipping tool.

.txt, .log: Even easier to copy paste than the above. If they are really long, put them inside [code] blocks.

.zip: These would be very difficult to moderate. It's not easy to automatically check the contents of a zip file and attempting to do so would put a lot of load on the server. To check a zip, the ST would have to download, extract, and look at each file. Zip files would have to be banned.

.exe: Like Squirrelstar said, these would be banned. It is not easy to check a file for viruses. Virus scanners are wrong all the time and there is no easy way to tell for sure if a file is safe.

Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

yeah those are some good points, i really just thought of several file types and put them down

imfh wrote:

chrdagos wrote:

imfh wrote:

-snip-
Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

well the problem with only allowing specific file types is that on some computers it's harder to upload say, a .txt than a .log file.
the suggestion is to allow users to upload a file, meaning any file (except .exe) in general. only allowing one kind of file for every type would kinda contradict the suggestion

A lot of the files are still difficult to moderate though. You can't just ban files with a .exe extension as there are other executable filenames too (.msi, .scr). You could ban all of those, but someone will always find a way around it.

My main point is that most file types which would feasible for the ST to moderate have a fairly easy workaround. It makes it much more difficult to moderate something if you have to download it rather than viewing it on the web.

and?

chrdagos wrote:

imfh wrote:

chrdagos wrote:

imfh wrote:

-snip-
Of the files which wouldn't make moderation difficult, there are some workarounds that aren't too bad. I think it would make things harder for the ST than it would make things easier for us. It might be easier to allow uploading a more specific file type, though.

well the problem with only allowing specific file types is that on some computers it's harder to upload say, a .txt than a .log file.
the suggestion is to allow users to upload a file, meaning any file (except .exe) in general. only allowing one kind of file for every type would kinda contradict the suggestion

A lot of the files are still difficult to moderate though. You can't just ban files with a .exe extension as there are other executable filenames too (.msi, .scr). You could ban all of those, but someone will always find a way around it.

My main point is that most file types which would feasible for the ST to moderate have a fairly easy workaround. It makes it much more difficult to moderate something if you have to download it rather than viewing it on the web.

and?

And that's my point. I'm just noting that it would make moderation more difficult, which is a tradeoff.

ThatOneWeirdDude wrote:

*sigh* there are thousands of file hosting websites that would be allowed on scratch, why not use those instead of wasting the ST's resources that could be used for actually making the website better?

He has the point. Scratch has not the resources to moderate and store files for forums.

electro-test wrote:

ThatOneWeirdDude wrote:

*sigh* there are thousands of file hosting websites that would be allowed on scratch, why not use those instead of wasting the ST's resources that could be used for actually making the website better?

He has the point. Scratch has not the resources to moderate and store files for forums.

to answer ThatOneWeirdDude, most file hosting sites seem to be blocked on school computers, which is a problem for users who can only access scratch on a school computer (i'm typing this on one). because of this they would not be able to use a file hosting website.

bump

bump

electro-test wrote:

Consider that scratch hasn’t enough space for allow more than 10 cloud variables per project (I don’t think for the size), why they should add something like this with files that can reach 1Gb? Another point: imagine how many mean files will be added to the the forums.

These are the major points, I think. We have to pay for storage - so we really don't want to be paying for storage beyond what we need to for projects and other Scratch stuff. It would also require more moderation work - an area that is already pretty stressed with the Covid-19 traffic. So, sorry, it's not something I can see us doing.