Images in your posts - Links to how to use attachments, and image host services

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Quoting an answer from deep in a thread about buses, as it merits its own thread in "Help and Assistance"

The current version of the forum software does not include image hosting for use within a post - members who embed posts upload them to various image hosting services or to their own web space.  How to include an image you have uploaded elsewhere is described in the first of the following links, with specifics about certain hosting services in the following links.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18408.0
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19774.0
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=20623.0

Should you wish when posting, you can select "additional options" and add up to 4 attachment to your post, which will be stored on our server.   Images will appear at the end of your post, as thumbnails, and reader can click on them to see them full size if they wish.  Note that display tools such as "recent posts" do not show the attachment thumbnails at all and unless you comment in your thread, people may overlook them.

[grahame]

Quoting an answer from deep in a thread about buses, as it merits its own thread in "Help and Assistance"

The current version of the forum software does not include image hosting for use within a post - members who embed posts upload them to various image hosting services or to their own web space.  How to include an image you have uploaded elsewhere is described in the first of the following links, with specifics about certain hosting services in the following links.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=18408.0
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19774.0
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=20623.0

Should you wish when posting, you can select "additional options" and add up to 4 attachment to your post, which will be stored on our server.   Images will appear at the end of your post, as thumbnails, and reader can click on them to see them full size if they wish.  Note that display tools such as "recent posts" do not show the attachment thumbnails at all and unless you comment in your thread, people may overlook them.

A confirmation / clarification ...

1.  You may add attachments in our web space to your posts on the forum - under "additional options" - including images.
- They will appear as thumbnails at the base of your post for members to click on and view / download
- They will not be visible to forum guests or members browsing as guests
- They will not be visible in composite pages (e.g. recent posts, latest posts of a specific member)
This is a limited capability to left members share documents and graphics with other members using our server. We do not provide within the forum software a mechanism for sharing images in public such that they can be included within your posts (including public posts)

2. You may upload your images to other web space then include their urls within [img] to [/img] tags in your posts.
- In such cases the images will be displayed at full size to all visitors and will be included in composite pages.
- It is your responsibly to choose where you host such images, and to ensure their URLs will work embedded
- Please resize images before you upload to that other web space to ensure they are the right size on our pages
- Please note that it's up to you to check copyright, model release, decency, etc on image you insert into your post

The post quoted above gives you some links to potential hosting sites for images if you wish to use the more flexible option (2).

I'm making this post sticky as the question keeps coming up 

Illustrations - two pictures I took at Swindon Station yesterday

In other web space - you should always see this:



Below - you might see this attachment in our space if you're logged on and viewing the thread:

[grahame]

1.  You may add attachments in our web space to your posts on the forum - under "additional options" - including images.

2. You may upload your images to other web space then include their urls within [img] to [/img] tags in your posts.

For Data Managers only, I have added a rudimentary image upload page so that images in posts that will be in our "window display" for a significant time ay have embedded images.  Separate instructions in the Staff Canteen. The capacity and facilities offered by this facility are limited, so it would not work as a general image tool; advise above remains for other images.

[stuving]

For completeness, shouldn't there be something on image sizes? Here's my take in the subject, but do correct any of this I've got wrong or left out. And if it is all covered already, maybe a link would do.

Both of Graham's images above are 800 px wide, which looks about right to me. Anything bigger than 1000 px wide is likely to need scrolling, which is annoying (and the extra resolution isn't needed anyway).

Images uploaded as attachments have to be resized before uploading; they always display actual size. The upload imposes a file size limit, and images greater than 2K x 1.5K px can even break the server (as documented elsewhere), so large images usually need to be resized first in any case.  I crop images as well as thinning the samples as a matter of course - most have unimportant bits round the edges. Attachments never show in the preview; you only get to see how they look after posting.

Images shown via an [img]url[/img] link can be a different size on the screen. You have to work out the right width and/or height and edit them into the post thusly: [img height=400 width=800]url[/img]. Do you need to set both height and width? I don't think so, but I'm not 100% sure for all images. It helps to look at "image info" (right click on the source image or equivalent), but these pictures do show in the preview, so you can try it and then make adjustments. It's best to avoid linking to huge images scaled down on-screen - the whole image gets sent to the (client) device, and all those MB can take several seconds to download even on a generally adequate connection.

[grahame]

For completeness, shouldn't there be something on image sizes? Here's my take in the subject, but do correct any of this I've got wrong or left out. And if it is all covered already, maybe a link would do.

There is, I fear, a danger of instructions about images getting too long to be easily followed; original posts in this thread are something of a summary, and the extra data you provide fills it in well.

yes, a width=800 without any height=.... will cause the height to be adjusted in proportion.  If images aren't hugely bigger on (your) server, this is a good way to reduce their size a little, but if they are very high resolution then, yes, resize them for goodness sake - otherwise anyone who views your post will do a big download and resize most of the data that was downloaded out of the image.  We have had a couple of instances of multiple large images in posts giving performance issues to users on slow connections.

[SandTEngineer]

Thanks for those updated instructions.  I've modified a couple of my previous posts accordingly, using only the width= and it worked OK.

[grahame]

1.  You may add attachments in our web space to your posts on the forum - under "additional options" - including images.

2. You may upload your images to other web space then include their urls within [img] to [/img] tags in your posts.

For Data Managers only, I have added a rudimentary image upload page so that images in posts that will be in our "window display" for a significant time ay have embedded images.  Separate instructions in the Staff Canteen. The capacity and facilities offered by this facility are limited, so it would not work as a general image tool; advise above remains for other images.

Bumping this - http://www.passenger.chat/23158 for instructions for Data Managers.

Should any more well established members wish to help with managing particular boards (such as keeping the sticky topics up to date), please let me know.  One of the bonuses provide by taking on that role is the ability to upload and include images hosted on our server - and it's good fun to do too.