Unusual conversation with Meetup support regarding profile image uploads

welly
2019-10-21T14:19:52Z

I had a problem uploading a profile photo to Meetup today and so contacted support:

I can't upload a profile photo so am unable to join a number of groups. The photo just fails to upload and have tried a number of different sizes (from 400x400 to over 2000 x 1000) and formats - jpg and png. Something seems to be failing!

I got a fairly quick reply:

What problem do you see when you try to upload a photo? Are you seeing any error messages?

The first thing to check when uploading a photo is the size and format of the image.

Images should be .jpg, .gif, or .png format.
The file size limit is 10MB. (If your file size is already below 10MB, try reducing the size further.)

If your image meets these specifications, send the photo to me as an attachment and I'll take a look. I'll also need the link to the page where you're having trouble uploading the photo.

So I sent the image I was trying to photograph (a photo of me with a camera wearing my Refused tshirt) and received this reply:

Profile photos can't have text in them at all (even words written on clothing). It's one of the most common reasons you might have trouble uploading a profile photo. If your photo has any text or lettering, try uploading a different photo.

If that still doesn't work, the next things to check when uploading a photo are the size and format of the image.

Images should be .jpg, .gif, or .png format.

The file size limit is 10MB. (If your file size is already below 10MB, try reducing the size further.)

If your image meets those technical specifications and is free of text, send the photo to me as an attachment and I'll take a look. It's also helpful if you can send the link to the page where you're having trouble uploading the photo.

What? "Profile photos can't have text in them at all (even words written on clothing)"

I pixelated the word "Refused" from the photo and sure enough after uploading the edited photo, it uploaded.

Confused, I sent a reply:

I've pixelated out the text on my tshirt and that seemed to resolve it. It seems to be strange policy? Any reason for this?

And got this bizarre explanation:

To keep our design consistent across all devices, rich text formatting, embedded images, and embedded videos are not supported.

I've replied back to see if the support person can explain what they mean.

Comments URL: https://tildes.net/~tech/ime/unusual_conversation_with_meetup_support_regarding_profile_image_uploads

Votes: 10

Comments: 1