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PHOTO POSTING TUTORIAL


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Posting Images on
the McRocks Message Board

There are two ways to post your images on the McRocksNet message board:

1) Image Button (at top of message posting box)

2) Manage Attachments Link (at bottom of message posting box)


1) Image Button

Using the Image Button will produce an image (picture) in your message wherever you want it. To post an image using the Image Button, you have to make sure that your image hosting site is public (does not require a password to get in). If the site is not public, your image will not appear on the board.


Uploading Image Files to Internet

Before you are able to post images on the McRocks message board, you must upload your image files to an image hosting site on the internet. There are services for this on the web. Image Event, a relatively inexpensive image hosting web site, can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

Another option is to learn how to use the web space provided to you as part of your Internet package by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The best part about doing this is that you already pay for it so that it is essentially free.

As part of your internet package by your ISP, you will be provided with a simple quick way to upload your images to the your web space. You just have to spend a little bit of time to learn how to use it.

Perhaps the easiest and most efficient way to upload your image files to web space provided to you as part of your internet package by your ISP is to use an FTP program. An excellent FTP program called AceFTP 3 can be downloaded from the internet and used for FREE by clicking on the following link:

You would do well by learning how to use an FTP program and the web space provided by your ISP to host your images; this will allow you to easily post images anywhere on the NET and it is simpler than you may think! You already pay for the web space, you might just as well use it!

No matter where you host your images on the NET, you will need to make sure that no password is required for others to access them or they won't be properly displayed on the message board or elsewhere.

The easiest way to insert your image's URL (web address) into the graphic box (as shown above) is to cut and paste it. To obtain the address of the image, right click on your image, and then left click on "Properties" (for Internet Explorer) or "View Image Info" (for Mozilla Firefox), you will get a box that shows the internet link (web address or location) of the image. For example, if you right click on the agates coral image below and then left click on Properties or View Image Info, you will see that its web link is as follows:

http://www.mcrocks.com/images/AgatizedCoralHoneyMoon-2Thumb.jpg

Cut and paste your image's web link into the box that comes up when you click on the image button. To cut and paste your image's address, first scroll over the address while holding down the left click button - this will highlight the address. Then, right click and choose copy. You should know that your computer will remember that last thing that you copied even if go from one internet site to another or in and out of different programs. To paste the address, left click on the image button in McRocksNet and then right click and choose Paste. Your image address will be pasted in the box. Then just click the OK button and your picture will appear in the message. You can repeat this process to for additional pictures.

Make sure that your address is correct. If your image address is not PERFECT, an small empty box will appear instead of your image.


2) Attach Files Link

The Attach files Link allows you to upload an image directly from your computer's hard drive to the McRocks Message Board site so that thumbnail of your image will appear in your message and all one has to do is click on it to see the enlarged version.

To add a thumbnail link for an image in your message, click on Attach files as indicated above. This link will open a directory on your computer's hard drive. Go to the appropriate folder that contains the image file you would like to include in your message, highlight it and click on the open button.

As shown above, a thumbnail of the thumbnail that you wish to add to your message appear at the bottom of the message box. Click on Add to Post to insert the image thumbnail into your message, as shown below for my example.

You can add one or more additional images by clicking on the Attach another file as shown below.

Be advised that the set file size limit for attached images is 128 kb and the file format may be any one of the following: bmp gif jpe jpeg jpg png. If you are unable to attach an image file, chances are it is greater than 128 kb, so you will have to reduce its size to less than this in order for it to work on the board.


Image File Size

Please limit the image files sizes of your images to around 128 kb and the maximum width to around 650 pixels. Images that are too wide for a monitor (average about 800 pix) requires the viewer to have to scroll from side to side to see the entire screen and this affects the entire message thread. Also, too many large images could bog down the message board making it slow to download. File size for downloading is important to the relatively few among us who continue to be stuck with regular phone modems. If you want to post larger images, just include a link for people to click on or use thumbnails.

You can use just about any editing program to resize your images or there are free web based programs on the NET such as at www.picresize.com (Version 2.0 is the easiest).

Another good free photo editing program is irfanview.com


In Closing . . .

Some of the above directions may seem complicated at first, but they are all really quite simple once you have done them a few times. Please feel free to test away on the message board if you prefer - we won't mind. Whatever you do, keep posting your images!

Click on the little miner dude below to
go to the McRocksNet Message board