User Albums
 

Guys -

You'll forgive me if this question seems too basic - but I've done a bunch of searches on the topic, understand what the controls are, but am still confused, and need some clairification on the issue.

I just updated to 3.8.1 some time ago, and was not aware of the new 'User Album' feature. My users found it, and began using it - which is fine, they like it, more power to them, etc.

The issues I have with it are two:

1. It seems that the albums they've been loading are ok at first - you can see them, etc. Then, after a short period, they disappear, and no one can see other's albums - only that which they've posted to their own accounts. I've check the settings, and they are set to 'public' - but we (other users) still cannot see them. Can you please provide a nice overview of the album framework - how it works and is controlled. I know the UserCP sets the controls (which, I feel is somewhat crazy - as the Admin should be able to over ride these settings - without having to login as the user).
2. I've noticed that all these images are going into the database. Two years ago, I went to great pains to pull all the attachment images OUT of our database to reduce the load on it. Now I notice you don't permit this option on the User Albums - is this correct or am I missing something?

As usual - thanks.

//sse