Why does Imgur no longer work when I try to use it?

October 6, 2014 11:58 AM

Have used the photo site Imgur, as thousands do..Lately, though, it no longer works for me, though it does for many others. I am told, via search on net, to empty cache, to close down addons, etc but that has not helped. Have written Imgur for help but no answer...Many others seem also to have this problem too but not everyone..Is there a quick and simple fix (I have no tech background) that might get Imgur working again for me?
posted by Postroad to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Are you using Windows? Might be a problem with your hosts file. Try the fix on this page.
posted by alex1965 at 12:01 PM on October 6, 2014

Is it the computer or your home network? Did you shut off all security programs and try? (I am having issues with Avast and Petapixel.com) There is a hosts file equivalent on Mac, but it is harder to access and seems less likely to be the culprit. Need some more info here.
posted by caddis at 12:10 PM on October 6, 2014

Desktop or mobile?
What OS?
What browser?
How is it "not working"? You can't view the front page, or can't upload?
posted by I am the Walrus at 12:28 PM on October 6, 2014

Response by poster: sorry for lack of details: using Mac, latest firefox browser...have used Imgur for long time and it is just this past two weeks it is causing problems. Can upload but then it does not yield code and says try again. I know others also have this problem, but most seem not to.
posted by Postroad at 1:57 PM on October 6, 2014

Are you using an employer's computer? They might have added it to the list of blocked websites.

(Among nonsensical blocks at my employer: Google Docs. Why?)
posted by tckma at 2:32 PM on October 6, 2014

Easiest thing to do is to try other browsers besides Firefox. If other browsers work, then it's not a firewall issue (or similar). If none of the browsers work, then something is probably blocking access to part of Imgur.
posted by alex1965 at 3:07 PM on October 6, 2014

Response by poster: Using my own desktop...with firefox, uploaded imgur so that clicking on pic automatically sends it to imgur for code and resizing...with other browsers I do not think there is this browser/mouse option...will try on safari
posted by Postroad at 3:10 PM on October 6, 2014

Are they gifs? I have an imgur add-on for Firefox (osx 10.6.8) and it works well except for animated gifs, which imgur doesn't support.
posted by rubah at 9:30 PM on October 6, 2014

I think you need to expand your description of "no longer works" quite a bit.

1. Can you view the website? If you go to http://imgur.com what do you see?

2. If the website does load, does everything appear normal? Is there missing pictures?

3. Can you try a different browser? Can you launch the Safari web browser (which should be in your applications folder) and try to use the website with that? What happens? If that doesn't work, download Chrome and try using the website with that.

4. An earlier comment indicated it may just be the uploading of photos that's broken. Are you always trying to upload the same photo? Can you try to upload a different photo - perhaps one which you downloaded off the internet? Sometimes specific photos will cause issues because they're corrupted or too big.
posted by leo_r at 3:48 AM on October 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Using my own desktop...with firefox, uploaded imgur so that clicking on pic automatically sends it to imgur for code and resizing...with other browsers I do not think there is this browser/mouse option...will try on safari

If you're using a firefox add-on, there's an extremely good chance that it's broken, not imgur. Just go to imgur.com, click the upload images button and upload it the normal way and see if that works.
posted by empath at 9:45 AM on October 7, 2014