What happened on Oct 21st, 2015 at 11:39 AM?

[Joe4]

there are ways of maintaining high levels of security without blocking downloads.

Its great that your institution has the resources to do that. It is important to realize that not all do. Many don't want to take the chance at all and just block them all. Even with the most stringent security measures, blocking is still safer than allowing it.

My view is personal, of course, but having to jump through extra hoops here by presenting sample data within the post (as a questioner) or by having to reproduce data in Excel (as a respondent) discourages participation.

I think you would be hard pressed to find another Excel site that has more participation.

We have been over this topic many, many times over the years (if you search the forums, you will see), and what it boils down to is that in addition to security, bandwidth is also an issue. In the interest of keeping this a FREE site, the conscious decision has been made to not allow attachments, and they are not planning on changing that anytime soon.

So that is where we are at. As you said, there are other forums that do allow attachments. So if people have a real problem with our policy, they have other options. They are free to do what they want.

 

[AliGW]

We have been over this topic many, many times over the years (if you search the forums, you will see), and what it boils down to is that in addition to security, bandwidth is also an issue. In the interest of keeping this a FREE site, the conscious decision has been made to not allow attachments, and they are not planning on changing that anytime soon.

Whether or not an attachment is downloaded is a participant's choice. I don't think it hurts to raise the issue now and again, whether it's been discussed many times before or not. Anyway, as you say, the policy isn't going to change, which is a shame.

 

[Joe4]

Anyway, as you say, the policy isn't going to change, which is a shame.

We could get into the logistics of security, bandwidth, cost, liability, moderation, etc, but I get the feeling that would be a fruitless discussion.

There are options:
- As Rory stated here, there are tools that allow you to post screen images.
- People can (and often) post files to file sharing sites and provide the links.

If none of these solutions satisfy you, then this may not be the site for you.

 

[AliGW]

If none of these solutions satisfy you, then this may not be the site for you.

I was merely expressing my opinion.

 

[Jerry Sullivan]

Jeez, I go offline to get some sleep and wake up to find that my thread about an unexplained spike in the board's activity has turned into a rehash of the tired attachments debate.

 

[RoryA]

At a guess it may have followed a tweet/FB post by Bill. I know he tweeted a few things linking back here that day.

 

[Jerry Sullivan]

At a guess it may have followed a tweet/FB post by Bill. I know he tweeted a few things linking back here that day.

Ah... that's the type of explanation I was hoping to find. Thanks Rory.