Hi Folks:

Quite a few people have expressed an interest in how to post pictures in this forum - enough that I think it would be helpful to have a tutorial. The next three posts in this thread will each illustrate a different way to post a picture on this forum. They will include:

1. Posting a picture here that you already have on a web site devoted to storing images - like Photobucket or Flikr.

2. Posting a picture here that you have stored on your computer at home.

3. Posting a picture here that is already posted on a web page that is not a photo-storing site.

Please feel free to clarify or correct any points I make or suggest other ways. However, for the sake of continuity, please don't reply until I have all three tutorials posted.

Thanks,
Scott

1. Posting a pic that you have stored on Photobucket

Just like Soundclick is a web site that you can upload mp3s to, Photobucket is a site that you can upload your photographs to. There are other similar sites (e.g. Flikr) - Photobucket just happens to be the one I use. I expect the instructions given here will be similar for other sites. If not, I'll add tutorials as needed.

So if you want to post a picture here that you have on Photobucket, follow these steps:

First, it is helpful to have two tabs open - one to Photobucket and one to the post you are preparing in this forum.

Now go to your photobucket album. As an example, here is part of one of my pages on Photobucket:







Suppose I want to post the second picture from the left on the second row. I move my cursor over that image and a box of codes comes up:







Now, I move my cursor over the code in the box that says "IMG Code" and I copy the code.

Then I come back to the post I am preparing in the JPF forum and simply right click and select "paste". My post looks like this:







Notice that the photo doesn't show up in the post - just the code. However, if you click the "Preview Post" button, you will see that the photo appears:







Of course, you will probably want to add some text before you post it. Just do so and hit the "Preview Post" button until the text and photo are arranged the way you like them. Then, just click on submit. That's all there is to it.

Maybe the site you are using doesn't provide the Img Code but just the direct code. What can you do then?

Let's go back to this slide:







Suppose the IMG Code isn't there but you have a direct link given. Copy the code in the direct link box and then paste it into your JPF post. The click on "Preview Post":







Notice that when you click "submit" or "Preview Post" you won't see the picture - just a hyperlink like shown at the bottom of the screen shot above. The hyperlink will work but it will open a new window. If you want your pic to show up directly in your post, it's pretty simple to fix: Just go to your post and type [img] right before the code you copied and type [/img] right after the code. Make sure there is no space between the brackets and your code at either the beginning or end. If you do that, it will look just like the IMG code shown earlier. In other words, the only difference between the direct code and the IMG code is the [img] and [/img] at the beginning and end.


Next up: How to post a photo that is on your computer at home.

2. How to upload a photo directly from your computer

Let's assume that you have a picture on your hard drive that you would like to post in this forum. You don't need to use a photo hosting service - it turns out that you can upload your photo directly to JPF. Here is how:

First, start a post in this forum. Type some text into it - could be anything but probably a description of your picture. In this example, I just typed "See attachment below".








Now look at the screen shot above. Below the box in which you type your post there is another box that says "Post Options" and a link that says "File Manager". Click on File Manager and you will get a dialog box that looks like this:









Click on "browse" to find the picture on your hard drive that you want to post. I'm not positive what files are supported but gif and jpeg are for sure. Below, I have found the file (view.gif) on my hard drive of the pic I want to post:









Now I click "add file" and see the following:









Note that my file has been named 141-view.gif.


If I only want to upload one picture I click "Done adding files". Otherwise I just add more pics as described above. When I click "Done adding files", I'm returned to my post. It looks like nothing has happened even if I hit "Preview Post". But if I submit my post, it looks like this:









(Make sure that you have some text in your post or the post won't be accepted - that's why I said earlier to start with some text).

Now, readers can click on your attachment and your photo will open in a new window. This is fine but you might want your photo to show up directly in your post. If so, you can do the following:

First, note the name of your attachement. In this example, it is 141-view.gif. Now look at the third icon from the left just above the posting window. This is the "Enter an image" icon. It's in a red box in the picture below:









Click on that icon and you will get the following dialog box:









Now type the following up to and including the slash (/) after "uploads". After that, type the name of your attachment. In this example it is 141-view.gif:









Click OK and the post should look like this:









Then, if you submit, it will look like this:









One more to do - how to grab one of your pics from an existing web site and post it here.

3. How to post pictures that are already on another web site

One thing you could do is just save the picture to your hard drive and then follow 2.

But if it's already on the web anyway, you can save some steps by doing the following. I'll use myself as an example again. I have a page on our engineering server that has some of my photos on it. The top of the page looks like this:










Suppose I want to post that portrait in a JPF post. Again, it's convenient to have two tabs open - one to your JPF post and one to the page with the photo you want to snag. In this example, I right-click on the portrait I want to snag:











Now I click on "Properties" at the very bottom and this shows up:











Notice where it says Address (URL) that I have selected with my mouse everything to the right of the http://

Once that part of the URL is selected, I right-click and copy it. Then go to my JPF post:











Notice the row of icons above the post box. I click on the third icon from the left (boxed in red on the above photo)and get get a dialog box like this:











I then right-click and select "paste" to paste my URL into the dialog box:









I click OK and my post now looks like this:









Note again that the picture does not show up - only the code. However, if I "Preview Post" (or submit), I can see the picture show up:











Those are the methods I've used to post photos in this forum. There may be better ways or other ways. If so, feel free to post them.


Scott

Scott thank you for taking so much of your valuable time and for very clearly outlining the process to post pictures to JPF in 3 different ways. You did a great job!! I like how you used visual aides also. I will come back to this and hopefully post a picture beyond just as an attachment and give you the credit because if I can do it, anybody can do it! I'm sure everyone will appreciate your time and expertise in this area, I do! Thanks again.

Thanks Lynn - it was fun.

Let me know if there are bugs in the instructions and I'll fix them.

Scott

Scott--- this is amazing!! Thanks for sharing it... I'll know exactly where to come now, when I'm ready to post some pics!


--Jen

Okay here goes the test.....

Hey Scott need your help. Again I have the part where the Attachment works but as you can see the picture didn't come up unless you hit the X. I'm sure it's because the picture is too big. Now I have to try and change the pixel of the picture and I think then it will work. What is the limit of pixels allowed?

Testing....

Testing again...

Hmmmm also when I do the final click, at the top of my tool bar I get a message that flashes "This website is using a scripted window to ask you information. Click here to allow scripted window" I then click and it says temporarily allow scripted window which I allow. Wondering if that has anything to do with not getting picture to open onto post.

post right above, the picture of our sweet dog Isabella is an appropriate size so I'm alittle confused???

I'm pretty sure I'm following your directions correctly so maybe it's our computer?? I tried to photocopy your tutorial but the pages with the pictures of the screens didn't print so I just copied your instructions, and wrote them carefully, and it did have the img before and after like you said it would???

Hey Lynn:

Click on "edit" of the post where your picture is shown to see what I did.

The name of the photo is 151-004.jpg. That's what I changed it to.

In your first post you had it in your [ing] code as 004.jpg. In the post I edited it was in your [img] code as 004.copy.jpg.

Just have to use the same exact name that is listed under "attachments".

You're getting real close

Scott

P.S. Cute dog

Thanks Jen

Scott

Hey Scott-
The JPF's trading post forum doesn't have a file manager???
Any reason why?
I want to post pics of my item.

Cal

Using method #2 which I didn't know you could do

Sorry for the delayed reply, Cal. Looks like you put in a link to Craigslist.

I don't know the answer to your question anyway - maybe the forums are set up differently.

In any case, methods 1 and 3 described in the first post would still work.

Scott

That's a cool shot Nige - how did you take it?

Scott

Wow! I somehow never saw this until now. Thank you so much Scott! This is excellent! I am pinning it to the top!

Brian

I don't get a "File Manager" option.

Hey Scott,

I think this version of the board has an improved photo gallery. Have you checked it out Scott?

Brian

Hey folks... especially Scott:

Just wanted to thank you for taking all the time and trouble to educate us on how to share our photos. Quite professional, my friend.

Regards... and "Thanks Again".... ----Dave