How to post pictures in thread.

Rovi

This is something that gets asked pretty regularly, so here's my quick and dirty guide to posting pictures in thread:



Firstly, your chosen picture must be available somewhere on the Internet so that the forum software can find it to display it.


It is considered very poor netiquette to link directly to images on other sites (‘hotlinking’), and many sites are specifically set up to prevent it; that’s why you’ll sometimes see a ‘blank’ picture with some text scolding the poster for hotlinking or ’leeching’.
Something like this-

The host site’s server software has detected the attempted direct link and has substituted the scolding message picture for the one the poster thought they were posting. Some sites even use substitute pictures that are extremely unsafe for the workplace.



A very popular free image hosting site is http://imageshack.us/, and these instructions are based on using their service; there are many other free hosting sites available, and the details of using them may vary somewhat.



First, you have to place your image on ImageShack.
Go to their homepage, and click the ‘Browse’ button:




Browse to and select your picture, and click the ‘Open’ button:




Click the ‘host it!’ button:




You’ll be presented with a page something like this (advertising removed), with lots of options of code to use the picture in a variety of ways and places:

Highlight and copy the text in one of the ‘Hotlink for forums’ boxes.



Paste the text into your Boards.ie message:




Click the 'Preview Post' button, and you should get something like this:



Replace the above with pictures of your chosen subject, and you're good to go.

ImageShack has some pretty cool tools for resizing images and for lifting images directly from other websites, and it integrates nicely into Firefox and Internet Explorer too, so have a rummage around there when you get the chance.
If you register on the site (free), it'll keep track of all the images you upload for future use too.

I hope that's of some use and is reasonably understandable, feel free to suggest changes or edits to improve it.

johngalway

Quick guide on starting a Photobucket account and putting pictures into your posts.



Navigate your way to http://photobucket.com/



Enter your username and other required details in the boxes provided. Prompts appear as you click in each box. When you finish inputting your details click "Sign me up".

When writing this, after I clicked "Sign me up", the next screen presented me with an option to spend money on a better account... I settled for a standard account so I clicked the very small "No thanks" button.



For hunting and shooting images I would always chose the private album option. You can always change this setting later on.



And this is what your shiny new Photobucket account should look like.



Uploading photos from your computer to your account is very easy. Click the green "Upload Videos and Images" button. You will be asked to select the file you wish to upload. You now need to first navigate your way to the folder in which the picture you want to upload is located, then select that picture and click "Open".



You will see a progress bar moving left to right indicating how much of your picture has uploaded.



When the photo is uploaded your screen will change and you should now "Save" the photo to your album.



Now you will be back at your album. Move your mouse pointer over the photo you have just uploaded. A box will drop out beneath it. Left click in the IMG Code box to highlight the text within that box. Keep your mouse pointer over the highlighted text and right click, select Copy from the drop down menu.

When you get back to boards.ie, whether replying in a thread or starting a new one of your own all you need to do is right click into where you're typing your message and select "Paste" from the drop down menu. This will paste the IMG Code into your message and your photo will appear there in your post.

ssl

I’m using an Iphone but the Photobucket app is available for most Smartphones.

Download the app from the app store.


Open the app and enter your login details or click "Join now, It's free" to open a new account, it only takes a minute to do so.


click "Choose existing".


You will now see a list of your photos from your phones album. Click on one and it will then upload.


Then click "My albums" at the bottom of the screen. You will see your photo there. (Please note that albums created using the app are for public viewing. If you wish your album to be private you must use the browser and the Photobucket website to change this)


Click on the photo you wish to post. You will then see an “i” symbol on the bottom right corner.


Click on the "i" and then click on the text in the IMG bar which contains a long line of letters and symbols.


The link is now copied.


Finally go to Boards and paste the link diretly into your post.


Enjoy

Sparks

You don't even need the photo bucket account (thought you really ought to read the excellent thread on posting photos that way by Rovi, johngalway and ssl); if you attach a photo to a post, you can show that image in the post as well.

For example, I click on
I write my post, and attach an image to it, then I click on "Preview Post".
This shows me the link to the picture. I right-click on that link and choose "Copy Link Address" (it might be something similar if you're using a different browser), and then I put that link in between [img]tags like so:[/img]

And done. There are limits to how much you can post this way, but if you're posting enough to hit those limits, you really ought to go read that thread I mentioned earlier and open a photobucket account anyway!