Post by zou on Dec 10, 2022 12:41:55 GMT
Here's a handy guide to posting images on the forum. Sincere thanks to eightbittony for allowing us to borrow heavily from the guide he prepared for the AP Forum.
If you are posting with a mobile device, you cannot currently attach files whilst in 'mobile' view, only 'desktop view'. You may find it easier to post via shared BBCode (e.g. from Flickr etc.) - a future software update promises to resolve this.
For images that you have on your computer, and want to embed into a post
1. Prepare your image, i.e. get a JPG ready, on your computer, with the long edge at most 800 pixels long. The size limit ensures the post is viewable on the widest range of devices.
2. Start a new post, or go to the reply box for the thread you want to post your photo to.
3. Click the "add attachment" button, located at the top right hand side of the post editor. You'll get a popup window, click browse, and then find the image on your local computer (i.e. find the directory you put the file into), and select it.
4. Once selected, you'll get a progress bar and the option to "insert" or "delete" the attached file. Click "insert" to add it to your message. It will show as a thumbnail but after posting the original size can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail. These images are uploaded to, and hosted on, the forum site. They are not part of the gallery, they are simply embedded directly into your post.
For images hosted on the web, where you can see the image using a simple URL
1. Start a new post or reply
2. Click the 'Insert Image' button in the toolbar above the post (it's the box with a landscape icon)
3. Paste the URL into the dialog box. You can also add "alt text" which allows screen readers to give a description of the image.
This method is most prone to displaying images at strange sizes, try to link to images which are no more than 800 pixels on the long edge at most. These images remain on the original site, and each user's browser goes and grabs the image when they view the post, which can sometimes lead to inconsistencies.
NB: This only works when the URL shows just an image. It doesn't work where the URL goes to a website which surrounds the image with other stuff. So it works for some sites and not others. That's nothing to do with this forum, that's just how it is. Usually, but not always, this means the URL should end with .jpg or .png or similar, if it doesn't, then this process isn't likely to work.
For images hosted with other image hosted sites
Each of these sites will have their own instructions for sharing images. This is outside the control of this forum, but the forum software allows you to embed images using BBCode. For example, Flickr allows you to use BBCode. If you use the BBCode option on Flickr, ensure you pick a size on the long edge no more than 800 pixels, again, to ensure your image is viewable by as many people as possible. Again, these are links to the image, which are actually grabbed by the browsers of people reading the site, which means if they move or change, the links can become out dated.
It's not possible to describe how to achieve the processing with every single image hosting site, but many of them will fall into the second category above. However, a lot of people use Flickr, so here's a specific example (which is subject to change whenever Flickr change their process)..
Specific Flickr Example
1. Browse to the Flickr image you want to embed.
2. Click on the 'share' icon (it's a right pointing arrow) - if the arrow is not there, the owner of the image has disabled sharing, there's nothing you can do.
3. If the sharing icon is there, you'll get a dialog box with some options, Share / Embed / Email / BBCode. Choose BBCode.
4. You'll now get a dropdown list where you can choose the size of the image, pick one where the longest edge is no more than 800 pixels, and copy the code in the dialog box.
5. Simply paste that code straight into your post, and the image will show up when you save the post.
If you are posting with a mobile device, you cannot currently attach files whilst in 'mobile' view, only 'desktop view'. You may find it easier to post via shared BBCode (e.g. from Flickr etc.) - a future software update promises to resolve this.
For images that you have on your computer, and want to embed into a post
1. Prepare your image, i.e. get a JPG ready, on your computer, with the long edge at most 800 pixels long. The size limit ensures the post is viewable on the widest range of devices.
2. Start a new post, or go to the reply box for the thread you want to post your photo to.
3. Click the "add attachment" button, located at the top right hand side of the post editor. You'll get a popup window, click browse, and then find the image on your local computer (i.e. find the directory you put the file into), and select it.
4. Once selected, you'll get a progress bar and the option to "insert" or "delete" the attached file. Click "insert" to add it to your message. It will show as a thumbnail but after posting the original size can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail. These images are uploaded to, and hosted on, the forum site. They are not part of the gallery, they are simply embedded directly into your post.
For images hosted on the web, where you can see the image using a simple URL
1. Start a new post or reply
2. Click the 'Insert Image' button in the toolbar above the post (it's the box with a landscape icon)
3. Paste the URL into the dialog box. You can also add "alt text" which allows screen readers to give a description of the image.
This method is most prone to displaying images at strange sizes, try to link to images which are no more than 800 pixels on the long edge at most. These images remain on the original site, and each user's browser goes and grabs the image when they view the post, which can sometimes lead to inconsistencies.
NB: This only works when the URL shows just an image. It doesn't work where the URL goes to a website which surrounds the image with other stuff. So it works for some sites and not others. That's nothing to do with this forum, that's just how it is. Usually, but not always, this means the URL should end with .jpg or .png or similar, if it doesn't, then this process isn't likely to work.
For images hosted with other image hosted sites
Each of these sites will have their own instructions for sharing images. This is outside the control of this forum, but the forum software allows you to embed images using BBCode. For example, Flickr allows you to use BBCode. If you use the BBCode option on Flickr, ensure you pick a size on the long edge no more than 800 pixels, again, to ensure your image is viewable by as many people as possible. Again, these are links to the image, which are actually grabbed by the browsers of people reading the site, which means if they move or change, the links can become out dated.
It's not possible to describe how to achieve the processing with every single image hosting site, but many of them will fall into the second category above. However, a lot of people use Flickr, so here's a specific example (which is subject to change whenever Flickr change their process)..
Specific Flickr Example
1. Browse to the Flickr image you want to embed.
2. Click on the 'share' icon (it's a right pointing arrow) - if the arrow is not there, the owner of the image has disabled sharing, there's nothing you can do.
3. If the sharing icon is there, you'll get a dialog box with some options, Share / Embed / Email / BBCode. Choose BBCode.
4. You'll now get a dropdown list where you can choose the size of the image, pick one where the longest edge is no more than 800 pixels, and copy the code in the dialog box.
5. Simply paste that code straight into your post, and the image will show up when you save the post.
