Linking and Uploading Images onto the Forum

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Updated image uploading and linking instructions.

A picture tells a thousand words.  The FE-FC Holden Car Clubs of Australia Forum welcomes the attachment of images to posts by all users, whether club members or not.

These instructions have been completely rewritten to cover developments within the forum and elsewhere.  There are a number of ways in which images can be attached to posts, and the most appropriate of these depends upon the source of the image, its size and whether it is a one-off image, or part of a collection you wish to include.

The instructions are broken down into five groups:

• Linking images already on the internet
• Uploading a single image from your computer (for Club Members)
• Uploading a single image from your computer (other registered users)
• Uploading and linking to a gallery of images from your computer
• Additional useful resources.

You might find it useful to keep these instructions open when trying this for the first time, or print them out.

The following links will open pages in new windows.  Having multiple windows open is the easiest way to identify image addresses and copy them into a message here.

• To open a new FE-FC forum window to post a message with an image attached, click here.
• To open another window at imgur, click here.
• To open another window at TinyPic, click here.
• To open another window at PhotoBucket, click here.
• To open a blank window to go to another image hosting site or a page you've bookmarked (such as a page with a photo on it you'd like to link to), click here (if this link doesn't work with your browser, choose File/New/New Window from the menu).

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Linking to image(s) found elsewhere on the internet.

1) Open two new browser windows, one for your forum post and one to identify the image you wish to link to (see links at top of thread).
2) In the "forum" window, start a new thread or reply to an existing one, as appropriate.  Type some or all of the message pertaining to the image(s) to be linked.
3) In the "image" window, navigate to the page containing the picture you wish to link to.  When the image appears, right-click (PC) or ctrl-click (Mac) on it, and choose "Open Image in New Window".  The picture will reappear in a window by itself (without the rest of the web-page that previously surrounded it).  The address-bar of that window will show the physical address of the image, such as http://somewhere.com/mywebpages/images/fc-chop-top.jpg (just a made-up example, don't click it!)
4) Highlight the address in the address-bar and copy it (Ctrl-C, Apple-C or Edit/Copy from the menu).
5) Switch back to the forum window.  Position the cursor in the message box where the image is to appear, and click the picture link icon (4th from left on bottom row of "YABBC Tags" group immediately above the message box.  It looks like a framed print.)  The text "[ img ]URL[ /img ]" will appear in your message.  These are called "tags", and tell the forum software that this is the start and end of an image's location (its "URL") to be displayed.
6) Highlight the "URL" text between the tags, and replace it with the image's address by pasting it (Ctrl-V, Apple-V or Edit/Paste from the menu).
7) Repeat steps 3-6 as necessary to link all the images required.  You can close the additional image windows being created at step 3 as you go.  This method of attaching images will allow you to "Preview" your post and ensure that the images appear successfully.  When you're happy with it, click "Post" and you're done!

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Uploading a single image from your computer (Club Members)

Club Members are able to link a single image or collection of images to a post directly from the forum.  There are a few limitations on files attached to posts in this way:

[*]Permitted file types are JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG, PSD or TIFF.[*]Files must be less than 5MB in size, but there's very little to be gained from uploading anything larger than 600K for a web-page.  In order to ensure the file is the right type and size, you can use one of the programs listed in the "Additional Resources" message below, if you do not already have software for this task.[*]File uploaded are stored at imageshack.us, and you will have no control to remove them from that site. If you wish to keep galleries of images under your control, use PhotoBucket as documented below.[/list]

Instructions.

1) Open a new browser window for the forum, and make sure you're logged in.
2) Start a new thread or reply to an existing one, as appropriate.  Type all of the message pertaining to the image to be linked.
3) Above the Message box, there is an "• Add image to post" link.  When you click this a separate browser window will open like this:



4) Click the "Choose File" button, and a standard "File Open" dialog box will appear.  Navigate to wherever you have the file stored on your computer, and select it.  You will notice its name appears next to the button now.
5) In the "Resize" pull-down, choose 640x480. (This ensures the picture isn't too big for the forum.)
6) Click the "FAMILY Safe" button (ADULT images aren't suitable for this forum!)
7) Click "Upload It!"
The image will be uploaded to imageshack.us, the PostImage pop-up will close and the necessary code embedded into your post for the image to appear. (If you click Preview you'll be able see it.)
8) (Advanced) Images posted using this method are always links back to PostImage. If you want to stop that, remove the [url =http://www.postimage.org/] and [/url] from either end of the image code. This will leave just the [img width=xxx height=xxx]http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/xxx/nnnnn.jpg[/img]

To post a series of images, choose the "Many Images" tag in the PostImage.org pop-up. This allows you to upload a batch of images in a single task. As mentioned prior, you should use the instructions for "Uploading and linking to a gallery of images from your computer" below if you wish to retain control of your images.

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Uploading images from your computer (other registered users)

The easiest, no-fuss way to get a single image onto the forum (or anywhere else for that matter) is to use imgur.  This is a free image-hosting service, and by far the easiest to use. If you are a registered imgur user, you can also use this service to create galleries and manage your images.

Using imgur is pretty much a combination of the two methods already described.  You upload your picture to their site, and then link to it on ours.

Instructions.
1) Open two new browser windows, one for your forum post and one at imgur.
2) In the "forum" window, start a new thread or reply to an existing one, as appropriate.  Type some or all of the message pertaining to the image(s) to be linked.
3) Switch to the other "imgur" browser window.  Now, either:
    a) Click the "Upload images from Computer" button.  Find your local file(s), using the standard dialog box and select it/them -or-
    b) Drag your images from the folder on your computer they're saved in straight onto the imgur page
4) Click the "Start Upload" button. Once the image(s) uploads, the page will refresh to let you know. If you only had one image, you'll go straight to the image page. (If there were multiple images, you can click on the thumbnail of each in turn to do  the next step.) In the table to the left of the image, you'll see an entry labelled "Message Boards".  Hover over the text below it (which should look like [ IMG ]http://imgur.com/XxXxx[ /IMG ] ) and copy it.
5) Switch back to your FE-FC Forum browser window.  Position the cursor in your message where you want the image to appear, and paste the link in.

Repeat steps 4-5 for each image.  You can click the Preview button to make sure the images appear correctly before finally posting the message permanently.

Note
You should try to keep your images to less than 400 pixels wide.  Images bigger than this are often too big for most users' screens to view all at once, and tend to mess up the layout of the forum.  Note also that TinyPic will 'silently' reduce the size of files larger than 250KB, although you should be able to make your images much smaller than that, using the software mentioned in the "Additional Resources" part of this thread.

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Uploading and linking to a gallery of images from your computer

If you have a collection of photos that you wish to link on the forum, the best way to manage them is to create a gallery on PhotoBucket.  This is a free (registration required) image-hosting service, that gives you full control over folders of images that you upload and categorise to suit yourself. The following instructions presume you are using PhotoBucket.  There is a PhotoBucket Tutuorial that you may also find useful.

Like TinyPic, this is a combination of other methods already described.  You upload your pictures to their site, arranging them in albums (folders) as you go, and then link to them on ours.  Before you start uploading pictures, it is a good idea to collate the images into a single folder on your computer, and give them short names.  Avoid spaces and special characters, and you can ensure they appear in the correct order in your album if you name them P0001.jpg, P0002.jpg and so on.  Unlike Members-Only uploading described above, the shorter you can keep the name, the less hassle you'll have linking it on our forum.

Instructions.
1) Open two new browser windows, one for your forum post and one at PhotoBucket.  (See links in the top-most message).  Start a new topic or reply to an existing one as appropriate in the "forum" window, and write your message that will have the pictures attached.
2) You will need to log in and/or register with PhotoBucket if you have not done this already.  The registration process is straightforward - very like the process here.  Enter your username, a password, an email address and a few other details.  You'll receive an email with a link that will activate your new PhotoBucket account.  Once the account is activated, log in and follow the links until you arrive at the "Add Pictures" page.
3) Create a new Album.  Albums allow you to organise your images into groups, rather than just one huge mess of pictures.  For best results, keep album names short and avoid spaces and special characters. Click the Album name to select it.
4) Click the "Choose File" button.  Find your local file, using the standard dialog box and select it.  If you are uploading a batch of files, you can choose how many from the pull-down menu and select them all in the same manner.
5) Click the "Submit" button. Once the image(s) complete(s) uploading, the page will refresh to let you know, and the message "* pictures added!" will appear.
6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 as necessary.  Once you've finished uploading, scroll down the page to see your image(s).
7) Below each image, you'll see a box labelled "Img".  Select all the text in that box (which should look like [ IMG ]http://photobucket.com/XxXx/yourname/youralbum/yourpic.jpg[ /IMG ] ) and copy it.
8) Switch back to your FE-FC Forum browser window.  Position the cursor in your message where you want the image to appear, and paste it in.

Repeat steps 7 & 8 for each image.  You can click the Preview button to make sure the images appear correctly before finally posting the message permanently.

Note
You should try to keep your images to less than 400 pixels wide.  Images bigger than this are often too big for most users' screens to view all at once, and tend to mess up the layout of the forum.

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Image Hosting
If you find you're using TinyPic a lot, we recommend registering with PhotoBucket, which gives you much better control over your images, allowing you to move them around, categorise them and delete them when no longer required.

Image Manipulation and Size-Reduction Software
If you have Photoshop, its "Save For Web" option is the best way to reduce a file and ensure that it is still crisp and clear.

PC Users.
Most recommended is IrfanView, which is a free download.
Other software can be found at NoNags.

Mac users:
If you use iPhoto, Downsize is a handy add-on for this task.
For general image processing, GraphicConverter is a powerful shareware application.
Another quick and powerful method is Pixture's QuickImageCM and PhotoToolCM (OSX only).  These are context-menu (right-click) extensions that you can use by right-clicking on a selection of images and resizing them straight from the menu that appears.
Of course, saving any existing JPEG file (in MacOSX 10.3 onward) gives you an Options button to determine the file-quality and size.  The other tools listed above are excellent when you are resizing batches of images.

Hope all of this information helps you to get more use out of the forum.  We look forward to seeing your FE and FC happy snaps!

cheers
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Site Administrator

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NOTE: These are some older instructions for using the TinyPic service. You may find the Imgur service described above easier

Uploading a single image from your computer (other registered users)

Another way to get a single image onto the forum (or anywhere else for that matter) is photobucket.com's little brother, TinyPic.  This is a free and very basic image-hosting service, but it gives you no control over the image once uploaded.  For creation of image galleries, PhotoBucket is a better option.

Using TinyPic is pretty much a combination of the two methods already described.  You upload your picture to their site, and then link to it on ours.

Instructions.
1) Open two new browser windows, one for your forum post and one at TinyPic.  (See links in the top-most message).
2) In the "forum" window, start a new thread or reply to an existing one, as appropriate.  Type some or all of the message pertaining to the image(s) to be linked.
3) Switch to the other "TinyPic" browser window.  Click the "Choose File" button.  Find your local file, using the standard dialog box and select it.
4) Click the "Host It" button. Once the image completes uploading, the page will refresh to let you know, and the message "* Successfully hosted!" will appear.  Below that message, you'll see a box labelled "Img".  Select all the text in that box (which should look like [ IMG ]http://tinyurl.com/XxXxx[ /IMG ] ) and copy it.
5) Switch back to your FE-FC Forum browser window.  Position the cursor in your message where you want the image to appear, and paste the Img link in.

Repeat steps 3-5 for each image.  You can click the Preview button to make sure the images appear correctly before finally posting the message permanently.

Note
You should try to keep your images to less than 400 pixels wide.  Images bigger than this are often too big for most users' screens to view all at once, and tend to mess up the layout of the forum.  Note also that TinyPic will 'silently' reduce the size of files larger than 250KB, although you should be able to make your images much smaller than that, using the software mentioned in the "Additional Resources" part of this thread.