UPDATE 3/5/2010: The method described below works for images that you've uploaded to an image hosting service like photobucket.com. An easier method of posting pictures to the forums is described in the first message here.
Here are some instructions for posting images in your forum messages.
- Find a website that lets you upload images and that hosts them for you. Many of our forum members use Photobucket. You'll need to sign up by entering a username and password and then confirming your registration by clicking on a link in an email they will send you.
- After you get signed up and logged in, you should see a box containing "Upload Images & Video". IMPORTANT: If your image is high resolution, in the "Reduce to" select list choose "800x600" (if your image is horizontal) or "1024x768" (if it is vertical). Then click the "Choose files" button in that box.
- A file upload dialog box will open (if you're using Windows, anyway -- don't know about Macs). Select one or more files to upload.
- The files will upload to the Photobucket servers.
- After the upload is complete, you'll see a page that lets you add titles, descriptions, and tags. None of this is necessary. Just click "save and continue" on this page.
- You will be returned to the "Upload Images & Video" page, and you should see a thumbnail of the image you uploaded. Hover your mouse over this thumbnail and a small popup box will appear. Click in the textbox to the right of "IMG Code" and press Ctrl-C on your keyboard to copy the code that's in the textbox to your clipboard.
- Compose your forum message and at the position where you want your image to appear, click the "Picture" icon at the top of the edit box, press Ctrl-V on your keyboard, and click "OK" in the "Picture" popup box.
The code you copied from the Photobucket page should end up inside the img tag in your message. Probably best to leave a blank line above and below this tag for a bit of space. Save your message and you should see your image in it.
The reason for the "Reduce to" thing is that the forum's message windows can only accommodate images 800px wide or narrower. Images wider than that will have the right side cut off.
If you want to test the process before posting a message with a photo, please use the "Test Section" area (at the bottom of the list on the home page). This area will be cleaned out around the first of each month. -bg
* Last updated by: bgordon on 3/5/2010 @ 7:54 AM *