Short answers for the most common Orbit Captures questions: uploading, browsing, profiles, rewards, tickets, and downloads.
vyseroy
Quick Start
Find the answer, then get back to the gallery.
Orbit Captures is built around shared screenshots, creator profiles, collections, achievements, and member rewards. Use the quick actions below if you already know where you want to go.
Current VersionVersion 0.9.2
Members5
Approved Uploads74
Public Collections2
Achievements25
What's New
Version 0.9.2 - 13 June 2026
- Added optional Capture Briefings so uploads can include a scene vibe, location, light, weather, and camera style without crowding the main upload flow.
- Added a dedicated Star Citizen discovery hub with capture-type sections, manufacturer logo cards, and manufacturer ship pages.
- Added delete controls for support tickets so old test tickets and resolved clutter can be removed from Admin.
Read Change Log
Choose A Help Path
Start here
Upload images
File types, size limits, batch uploads, 4K handling, and watermarks.
Find things
Browse and collect
Categories, filters, Star Citizen details, and collections.
Your account
Profile and settings
Public profile details, achievements, notifications, and privacy.
Progress
Points and rewards
How activity becomes points, ranks, member levels, and perks.
Need help
Tickets
What to send, how to choose priority, and what happens next.
Latest
Change Log
Recent site improvements written in plain English.
Create
Uploads
Everything you need before choosing files: supported formats, limits, batch uploads, 4K handling, and watermarks.
Files and Limits
You can upload JPG, PNG, and WEBP images. Single upload is best for one finished image; batch upload is best when several images share the same category or description.
3 MBStarting upload limit
8 MBLarger upload reward
12 MBLargest upload reward
5Images per batch
4K Handling
4K images are accepted. Depending on your reward level, they either keep their original size or are resized to 1440p for the gallery.
The upload page shows what will happen before you submit.
Watermarks
When uploading, choose whether to use a text watermark, avatar watermark, or no watermark. Availability can depend on your account and site settings.
Tip: Read the upload preview before submitting. It flags missing details, large files, and anything likely to need review.
Discovery
Browsing, Categories, and Collections
Use these tools to find images faster and group favourites into public or private sets.
Categories
Categories keep the gallery tidy and make browsing easier. If a category is missing, send a request from the upload page.
Star Citizen Details
Star Citizen uploads can include image type, manufacturer, and ship details. Adding them helps other members filter and discover your images.
9Image types
181Ships listed
Collections
Collections let you group images, choose a cover, and set visibility. Public collections can appear on profiles and collection pages.
Identity
Profiles, Achievements, and Settings
Control how you appear on the site and where to check your own progress.
Profiles
Your profile brings together your uploads, collections, bio, social links, rank, reward badges, and achievement progress. You can choose what to show publicly.
Achievements
Achievements update as you upload, receive likes, comment, and take part in the gallery. Your profile shows a preview; the full page shows more detail.
User Settings
Use Settings to manage notifications, date and time display, and remembered login devices.
Progression
Points and Ranks
Points reward participation. Ranks show how much appreciation your approved uploads have received.
Points
+5Approved upload
+2Comment posted
+1Like given
+3Like received on your upload
+4Follower gained
If content or interactions are removed, totals may change.
Ranks
| Rank | Likes Received |
|---|
| CITIZEN |
0+ |
| FREELANCER |
10+ |
| PATHFINDER |
50+ |
| EXPLORER |
100+ |
| COMMANDANT |
250+ |
| ADMIRAL |
500+ |
| LEGEND |
1000+ |
Ranks are based on likes received across your approved uploads.
Access
Member Levels and Rewards
As your points grow, member levels can unlock larger uploads, faster publishing, profile extras, and community perks.
Member Levels
| Level | Points | Description | Unlocked Rewards |
|---|
| RECRUIT |
0+ |
Standard access |
Standard access |
| ORIBTAL SUPPORT |
25+ |
Community badge |
|
| LOGISTICS OFFICER |
75+ |
Uploads skip moderation |
Skip moderation |
| STATION COMMANDER |
150+ |
Priority visibility |
Skip moderationTier 2 upload limit4K original uploadsFeatured priority |
| SECTOR OVERSEER |
300+ |
Elite profile flair |
Skip moderationTier 3 upload limit4K original uploadsFeatured priorityProfile flair |
Uploads can publish faster once your account reaches the trusted threshold of 75 points.
Reward Library
These are the reward types currently available through member levels.
Adds a visible community status badge on profile.
Skip moderation
Uploads can be approved automatically.
Tier 2 upload limit
Allows larger image uploads.
Tier 3 upload limit
Allows the largest image uploads.
4K original uploads
Allows original 4K uploads without automatic downscaling.
Featured priority
Marks users as eligible for priority featuring.
Profile flair
Shows perk and level details on profile.
Support
Ticket System
Use tickets when something is broken, confusing, or worth improving.
What to send
Keep it short, but include enough detail to find the problem.
- Use a clear title.
- Mention the page, image, or profile involved.
- Explain what happened and what you expected.
- Add a screenshot if it helps show the problem.
Open Ticket Form
Priority guide
LowSmall display issues, suggestions, or nice-to-have changes.
NormalGeneral questions or bugs that do not stop you using the site.
HighSomething important is not working, such as uploads, profiles, or gallery actions.
UrgentYou cannot access something important, or the problem affects security or saved content.
After sending
Your ticket is saved so it can be reviewed. If the issue is unclear, you may be asked for more detail.
For urgent account or security problems, choose Urgent and include the affected page or profile.
Files
Downloads and Browser Behaviour
Most downloads are straightforward, but your browser may decide how certain image types open or save.
Downloads
Download buttons ask the browser to save the image. If a file opens in a new tab instead, check your browser's file handling settings.
Save PromptMost images save through the normal browser download flow.
WebPIf WebP opens in a tab, set your browser to save or ask what to do with WebP files.
Image FileThe download is the stored gallery image for that upload.
Updates
Change Log
Recent Orbit Captures updates, grouped into short release notes. Current Version 0.9.2.
Current VersionVersion 0.9.2
Public Releases11
Latest Notes43
Latest first. The current release stays expanded. Older versions are folded away so you can skim the story of the site without the page turning into a wall of notes.
Version 0.9.2 - 13 June 2026
Latest Update
New
- Added optional Capture Briefings so uploads can include a scene vibe, location, light, weather, and camera style without crowding the main upload flow.
- Added a dedicated Star Citizen discovery hub with capture-type sections, manufacturer logo cards, and manufacturer ship pages.
- Added delete controls for support tickets so old test tickets and resolved clutter can be removed from Admin.
- Added un-feature controls for weekly picks so featured gallery items can be promoted or stepped back without extra database work.
- Added richer achievement cards on member profiles, including earned dates without needing a second list view.
- Added the hidden foundation for future Community Missions, ready for themed photo challenges when the community is more active.
- Added project-local PHPStan and Playwright smoke-test setup so release checks can catch PHP and public-page issues before upload.
Improved
- Improved image detail pages with a compact Capture Briefing card for extra context when an image has it.
- Improved Capture Briefings with preset suggestions for location, light, weather, and camera style while still allowing custom text.
- Improved gallery browsing with Capture Vibe badges, lightbox vibe details, and a compact Vibe filter.
- Improved the lightbox edit modal so Capture Briefing details can be edited without leaving the gallery.
- Improved Capture Briefing presets so Location, Light, Weather, and Camera use clear dropdowns, and vibe names are searchable from the gallery search box.
- Improved Capture Briefing wording and preset choices so the feature works naturally across many game genres, not only space or ship-focused uploads.
- Improved the main gallery first load so it requests a fuller initial set of images before lighter follow-up batches.
- Improved main gallery image loading so the first desktop grid view actively preloads and fills multiple rows instead of stopping at the first visible row.
- Improved Admin content review with Capture Briefing status markers so images missing discovery context are easier to spot.
- Improved Admin content review with Capture Briefing filters and a bulk Capture Vibe action for faster backfilling.
- Improved Admin maintainability by moving content-review query preparation into its own include alongside the content panel.
- Improved image sharing metadata so social previews and structured data can include creator credit plus relevant Capture Briefing terms.
- Improved gallery browsing with built-in starter filter presets for featured, cinematic 4K, peaceful, and discussed images.
- Added a Discover gallery sort that rotates a richer mix of featured, active, and Capture Briefing-enhanced images.
- Added quiet Admin controls for drafting, publishing, and archiving future Community Missions.
- Improved Community Missions with richer draft fields, manual entry curation, winner/shortlist states, and more polished public mission pages.
- Retired the older Directives prompt system so Community Missions are now the single home for themed capture challenges.
- Improved Community Missions Admin with mission overview cards, searchable image ID pickers, cover/winner previews, and visual entry curation.
- Improved sitemap coverage with Change Log indexing and category dates based on the newest approved image in each category.
- Improved category landing pages with category stats, popular vibes, top creators, and standout captures before the gallery.
- Improved lightbox motion with a smoother thumbnail opening effect and cleaner swipe-style movement between images.
- Improved profile lightbox actions so saving to collections and reporting images match the main gallery lightbox.
- Improved gallery cinematic view so large-screen browsing gives images more room when the wider view is selected.
- Improved member cards with accent-colour hover highlights, making member lists feel more personal and easier to scan.
- Improved Members page loading and activity page performance so busy areas of the site respond more quickly.
- Improved Members page discoverability with leaner data loading, member-list structured data, and better database indexes for follower counts.
- Improved Admin organisation by splitting heavy dashboard code into smaller shared files and dedicated CSS/JavaScript assets.
- Improved Admin maintainability further by moving the Users and Recent Comments panels into dedicated include files.
- Improved MariaDB-only housekeeping by removing the old local SQLite dependency from the active site workflow.
- Improved discoverability with cleaner gallery and image URLs, richer structured data, better category landing copy, and stronger sitemap coverage.
Fixed
- Fixed the lightbox transition flash that could make moving between images feel like a brief thump to black.
- Fixed the profile-thumbnail lightbox path so it uses the same improved opening effect as gallery thumbnails.
- Restored the previous lightbox image quality behaviour after testing the higher-quality loading option.
- Cleaned up redundant code and shared repeated Admin rendering where practical, reducing the amount of code loaded through the main Admin page.
- Tightened image and avatar alt text across gallery, profile, collection, member, and comment areas.
- Fixed early PHPStan findings in local tooling, including a duplicate migration-array key and a UTF-8 BOM in an Admin include.
Version 0.9.1 - 9 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added a historical release timeline so visitors can see the major stages of the site from the first gallery build to the current release.
- Added an Admin release publisher preview so public release notes can be checked before they are published.
- Added a Change Log file status check in Admin so it is clear whether the server can publish release notes.
Improved
- Improved the Help page Change Log by keeping the latest release open and folding older versions into readable sections.
- Improved the Admin release-note form with separate New, Improved, and Fixed fields plus short guidance for each section.
- Improved release version guidance so patch, feature, and milestone updates are easier to choose.
- Improved the Admin experience on smaller laptop screens so dense panels, filters, forms, and action buttons have more room to breathe.
- Made Admin feel calmer by softening repeated panel shadows and heavy visual markers.
- Added a clearer upload ready-check panel so members can see whether they still need a category, files, or fixes before uploading.
- Moved category requests into their own Upload page tab with clearer guidance and an existing-category reference list.
- Made the upload screen use its wider space better with a top upload-rules band, richer category guidance, clearer queue summaries, and larger file previews.
- Made upload completion clearer with a next-step summary showing what is live, what is waiting for review, and whether anything was resized.
- Improved Admin category request cards with requester notes, possible duplicate signals, and separate add options for standard categories or ship-metadata categories.
- Added a Change Log summary on the Help page so visitors can quickly see the current version, release count, and latest-note count.
Fixed
- The release publish button now stays disabled when the public Change Log file is not writable.
- Release notes now show a cleaner date preview while they are being written in Admin.
- Empty unsaved-change indicators no longer appear around Admin before a form has actually changed.
Version 0.9.0 - 9 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added this Change Log so site updates are easier to follow.
- Added a site version label so it is clear which release is currently live.
- Added search to member collection pages so collections are easier to browse.
- Added separate notification actions for marking everything as read and clearing old notifications.
- Added admin controls for removing Creator Pulse posts that are waiting for review.
- Added admin controls for the current public version and release-note drafts.
Improved
- Improved the upload page on smaller screens, including the Star Citizen manufacturer and ship selection fields.
- Polished profile pages, image detail pages, content review, collections, login, signup, password recovery, and notifications.
- Made gallery filters, Save to Collection messages, and image lightbox loading states clearer.
- Made Save to Collection easier to understand when a member has not created any collections yet.
- Made warning messages clearer before actions that permanently remove content, files, users, or Creator Pulse posts.
- Made the Help page a clearer home for version information and recent updates.
Fixed
- Confirmed the hosted site works from its new hosting folder when the main domain points directly at that folder.
- When an admin removes a Creator Pulse post, its replies, reactions, poll votes, reports, and edit history are now removed as well.
Version 0.8.0 - 8 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added mobile-focused gallery, upload, image detail, profile, collection, admin, help, notification, login, signup, and settings layouts.
- Added a slide-out mobile navigation drawer so the site works better on phones and smaller tablets.
- Added branded error pages for restricted, missing, and server-error pages.
Improved
- Made the upload page clearer on smaller screens, especially the Star Citizen image type, manufacturer, and ship fields.
- Made the gallery load more comfortably on phones by using smaller batches and smoother lazy image loading.
- Improved admin tables and action rows so busy review screens remain usable on narrow screens.
Fixed
- Improved protected-folder error handling so restricted paths show a proper site-styled page.
- Confirmed the site could be moved into a dedicated hosting folder without changing public URLs.
Version 0.7.0 - 7 June 2026
View notes
New
- Rebranded the public gallery as Orbit Captures while keeping VYS-OS as the platform and admin identity.
- Added a fuller support-ticket workflow with reporter updates, private admin notes, ticket history, filters, and preview emails.
- Added a diagnostics page for checking runtime, writable folders, upload paths, and mail setup.
- Added reusable share panels for lightbox, image detail, and collection views.
Improved
- Improved mobile image viewing with clearer close controls, collapsible details, better comment placement, and safer scrolling.
- Improved gallery filters on mobile with a compact category picker, visible search/sort controls, and a More Filters toggle.
- Refined the public brand, favicon, watermark text, signup emails, sidebar lockup, and page metadata.
Fixed
- Restored the stronger desktop lightbox layout after the mobile pass so larger screens kept the richer image-review experience.
Version 0.6.0 - 6 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added MariaDB support alongside the existing local SQLite setup, including migration notes and shared-hosting guidance.
- Added upload performance controls for shared hosting, including faster upload responses and optional image optimisation.
- Added 4K upload handling with admin controls, member perks, resize guidance, and storage wording.
- Added better backup reminders for MariaDB hosts where phpMyAdmin exports are handled outside the site.
Improved
- Made gallery loading more resilient for older or damaged image records.
- Made upload results clearer by showing stored type, dimensions, resize details, watermark processing, and direct Open Image actions.
- Improved Admin Content with live-refresh moderation actions, status cards, damaged-media filtering, and clearer file-type badges.
Fixed
- Fixed several MariaDB compatibility issues around gallery loading, schema checks, and achievement calculations.
- Fixed WebP download behaviour so download buttons save the image instead of opening it in the browser.
- Fixed watermark processing so selected text or avatar watermarks always process the image correctly.
Version 0.5.0 - 4 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added an admin-configurable achievement library with badge names, icons, descriptions, thresholds, categories, sorting, and active/inactive states.
- Added a full achievements page showing unlocked and locked badges with progress toward the next unlock.
- Added a configurable Star Citizen image type library, including admin tools for labels, sorting, safe deletion, and usage checks.
- Added collection collaborators so collection saving and management can support more than just the owner.
Improved
- Made profile achievement previews cleaner and capped earned-badge progress so completed badges read naturally.
- Improved Admin Achievements, ranks, perks, directives, and Star Citizen library screens with clearer grouped editing panels.
- Added safety checks for broken achievement category/type scopes and Star Citizen image type links.
Fixed
- Fixed achievement image-type logic so it follows each category's metadata support instead of relying on a hard-coded Star Citizen category.
- Fixed Admin Achievement saves, activation changes, and deletes so the page updates without needing a manual refresh.
Version 0.4.0 - 2 June 2026
View notes
New
- Added a public Activity Feed with recent uploads, comments, featured items, collection activity, signal counts, and achievement highlights.
- Added gallery filter presets that members can save, apply, and delete in their browser.
- Added related image cards on image detail pages based on ship, category, or uploader.
- Added sitemap generation, robots rules, canonical URLs, and richer image-page sharing metadata.
Improved
- Improved notifications with typed icons, richer cards, a clearer notification panel, and better unread-state handling.
- Polished collection pages with stronger headers, empty states, metadata pills, cover status, and smoother remove/cover feedback.
- Improved profile pages with recent activity cards and clearer collection previews.
- Made lightbox actions easier with Copy Link, clearer loading/error states, and better Save to Collection messages.
Fixed
- Fixed report actions so admin report cards disappear in place and counts update without a full page reload.
- Removed fragile collection image Up/Down controls and replaced them with clearer collection sorting.
Version 0.3.0 - 31 May 2026
View notes
New
- Added richer collection management, including edit, privacy, cover, remove-image, profile previews, and collection detail pages.
- Added advanced gallery filters for resolution, liked-by-me, uploader, dates, manufacturer, and ship.
- Added admin storage tools, quota meters, backup pruning, missing-file checks, and deployment safety checks.
- Added the shared sidebar shell across the main gallery, upload, admin, members, help, profile, and settings pages.
Improved
- Improved the upload flow with single and batch upload modes, drag and drop, per-image overrides, batch defaults, previews, and remove controls.
- Improved Admin Content with pagination, better thumbnails, clearer pending/reported states, and faster AJAX actions.
- Improved category management with icons, colours, help text, archive/restore, merge tools, requests, and usage counts.
- Improved profile and collection layouts so galleries, stats, and collections are easier to scan.
Fixed
- Fixed upload metadata preservation when the queue redraws after category changes.
- Fixed collection cover updates so setting a cover cannot accidentally navigate away if JavaScript loads late.
- Fixed backup ordering so the newest generated backup appears first.
Version 0.2.0 - 28 May 2026
View notes
New
- Added timed featured images with admin-selected durations and automatic expiry.
- Added user notification settings and a notification panel in the sidebar account area.
- Added watermark controls, including text/avatar opacity and upload-time watermark choices.
- Added category requests and admin handling for suggested new categories.
- Added Star Citizen ship database management grouped by manufacturer.
Improved
- Changed public wording from commend to like while keeping the existing internal data stable.
- Replaced browser popups with site-styled confirmation dialogs across gallery, image, profile, and admin actions.
- Made Star Citizen ship selection optional for non-ship image types.
- Improved profile social links with icons, accent colours, and responsive labels.
Fixed
- Moved the local database into the protected data folder and added web-server protection for sensitive runtime files.
- Added external-link validation for profile and social links.
Version 0.1.0 - 27 May 2026
View notes
New
- Built the first working gallery with approved image browsing, categories, search, sorting, and infinite loading.
- Added uploads with titles, descriptions, directives, thumbnails, file limits, and moderation.
- Added user accounts, profiles, avatars, banners, bios, social links, privacy settings, and account settings.
- Added comments, likes, follows, notifications, reports, points, ranks, trust levels, and admin moderation tools.
- Added featured images, image detail pages, profile image browsing, and admin preview thumbnails.
- Added the first Help page explaining uploads, points, ranks, and community features.
Improved
- Made featured image cards open in the same lightbox experience as regular gallery images.
- Added owner/admin image metadata editing from the gallery lightbox, profile lightbox, and image detail page.
- Cleaned up gallery card metadata so long titles, avatars, ranks, and like counts display more consistently.
