Best practices for managing image uploads in product-heavy community discussions

[vedansh_industries]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask for some guidance on handling image uploads efficiently in communities where users frequently share product-related images.

In some industries, discussions involve multiple images such as surface textures, material finishes, or usage examples. Over time, this can increase storage usage and also impact page load performance if not managed properly.

I’m interested in understanding:
• Recommended image size and compression settings
• Whether external image hosting is preferred over local uploads
• Best practices to maintain performance without limiting discussion quality
• Any moderation tips for handling large numbers of attachments

Would love to hear how other community managers or Discourse admins handle uploads in image-heavy discussions.

Thanks in advance.

[pfaffman (Jay Pfaffman)]

@vedansh_industries

• Recommended image size and compression settings

The defaults should work.

@vedansh_industries

• Whether external image hosting is preferred over local uploads

If you’re going to have lots of uploads and/or have a competent technical person to set up S3, then that’s recommended.

@vedansh_industries

• Best practices to maintain performance without limiting discussion quality

You shouldn’t need to do anything.

@vedansh_industries

• Any moderation tips for handling large numbers of attachments

Until you see actual problems, I’d not try to solve them.