Mike Posted October 17, 2015 Posted October 17, 2015 Due to the security issues that attaching images in the forums poses, we don't allow attachments, but you can still post your images within any forum thread by linking to an image that's already online, using the Insert Image button marked (1) in the Post toolbar, as shown below: If the image isn't already online, you will need to make it available online so that you can link it to the post you're making. To do that, you'll either need your own webspace (and if you have that, you'll probably not be reading this anyway), or one of the common online photo or cloud service sites that have sprung up to allow people to store their photos on the web for just such purposes. There are many sites that are available out there, but Photobucket seems to be the most ubiquitous, so this guide has been written with Photobucket in mind, but if you already have an account with another provider, they're all broadly similar, so read on. You'll need to register & provide a little information about yourself first, which is moderately painless. You'll then have to ignore the advances of Photobucket's sponsors (or not - your choice). Then you'll be free to log in to your account. To post an image, you'll see the screen below, and you should then browse to the folder where your picture is, by clicking the "Choose Photos & Videos" button, or use some of the other options in the tabs at the top of the area. Give the photo a descriptive name if you like, and press the "Submit" button. Your image will be uploaded, and will appear as a thumbnail in your library screen. Now you have uploaded, you want to embed the image into your post. Click on the three parallel lines marked (1) below, and up pops the menu also shown. Choose "Share", which is marked as (2) below: This brings up the Share dialog, as seen below: Don't be fooled by the IMG option, as that copies some rather ungainly code into your clipboard that isn't properly compatible with modern forum software. Instead, go for the "Direct" option, which is marked (1) in the picture above. Clicking on the text or anywhere in the box will copy this to your clipboard.Now, you just need to paste that where you want it in your post by clicking on the "Image" button in your post, after positioning your cursor where you want it within the forum's posting window. Press the button with the tree on it marked (1) in the picture below: If you're using the Rich Text editor, you'll see your image immediately, but if you're oldskool or hardcore and sometimes use the raw editor, you'll need to add the IMG tag around your code so it looks like this: That's as simple as adding the opening square bracket ([) and IMG at the beginning, and a closing square bracket (]) at the end of your image URL, and you'll see the picture itself only when you Preview or Post your missive.Useful Tips Try to keep the size of any images you're posting to (or below) 1280 x 850 pixels. That way, you're pretty sure that most people will be able to see the whole picture on their screen without scrolling, as most people have screen resolutions of 1920x1080 or more these days. Some laptops are running at less than this, but in general, even your smartphone should be able to show this size without removing any of the screen furniture that comes with most browsers. If you have photo editing software, check out the software's help files and find out how to optimise your pictures for display on the web. Just running them through your software to compress them down a bit can save loads of kilobytes of space, which all takes time to download when someone views your pictures. Also, a cropped picture can often look better, as it cuts out all the dead space around the subject matter. It has the added benefit of loading quicker too, as your picture isn't bloated by all that sky or grass in the shot. If you have a free hosting package from Photobucket or similar, make sure that you don't move or remove your pictures in the future, or they'll also disappear from your thread here. If you post something massively popular, you might exceed your bandwidth allowance, and end up showing nothing but a "look who's popular" message instead of your photos. The only option there is to get a more fully-featured account, which usually costs money, or spread your photos around several accounts with different providers. Time consuming, but it'll help you avoid costs. NOTE: There are other ways of accomplishing the same task using other options within Photobucket and the forum software, but these are the simplest to help novices to gain confidence. Clearly, if you've not done any of these before, it'll be a case of learning one thing at a time. Hopefully this guide will set you on your first step towards bringing all your pics to the forums... The finished article! 2
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