Photo Posting -

[PattayaPete 527]

Including a photo in your post is relatively easy, but it helps if you understand a little about how photos and the internet work.

 

If a photo is to appear in your post, it must be stored somewhere on the internet. If it is just on your computer then other people could not access it. It can not be stored directly in a post. A post is just a collection of words and commands. A photo is a specialized file, so to appear in your post, the board must know where it is on the internet and what sort of file it is.

 

Photos can be stored as many different file types and each type has its strengths and weaknesses. You can tell what type of file it is by the extension to the file name. The extension is the bit that appears after the dot. For example photo.jpg is a jpg file while photo.bmp is a bmp file. If you are using the Windows operating system you can hide file extensions. If this is the case with your computer then you won't see the dot or the bit after it.

 

The reason file extensions are important is because they affect the size of the file. If you have a .bmp file it will be quite large in file size but very good quality. Files with .bmp extensions are not suitable for the internet because of their large file size. The best file types for the internet are .jpg and .gif. This is not a computer manual so I am not going to explain the difference but this forum will only accept .gif or .jpg files. If your picture is in another file format you will have to convert if first. The best choice is .jpg so if you have a conversion program, choose .jpg.

 

The next thing to consider is how big your picture is in terms of height and width. This is measured in pixels. A pixel = 1 dot on your screen. The more pixels an image has, the bigger it will look on a computer screen. Most screens are 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels deep. If your photo is bigger than that, it will not fit on most computer screens and will not look good. A good size for a photo on the internet is not bigger than 600 x 600 pixels.

 

So, if you have a photo from a digital camera or a scanner you may well need to convert it to .jpg and change the size to less than 600x600 pixels. There is one other option with .jpg files which most converters will show and that is the compression rate. The best choice is 50% or in some programs 5.

 

Note:

If you have a scanner or a digital camera, you would have received free software with it that enables you to convert your images. It's worth the effort to learn how to use it.

 

If you have lost the software or it's to complicated for you, you can download a simple converter for free, by clicking this link. It will take you to a page where you can download a file resizer and converter. There are full instructions on how to use it as well.

 

Enough computer babble lets get on with posting a photo to the board. There are 2 methods available to post a photo.

 

METHOD 1

The simplest method is to attach it to your post as a file attachment. This method will work if the picture is on your computer, .jpg or .gif and smaller than 99,000 bytes (99k).

 

1) Open a new post and type in your message.

2) Click browse near the bottom of the screen, opposite the words file attachment.

 

A window will open to your own hard drive. Browse to the photo you want to include in your post.

3) Click on your photos file name in the browser window.

4) Click on Open in the browser window.

 

That's it. Post your message and the picture will appear at the bottom of the post. If you want to you can specify where in the post it appears by positioning your cursor at the appropriate place and clicking on add into post. You can repeat the process for multiple photos.

 

There are a few things you should know about this method. Your photo will be copied and stored on the Pattaya Pages servers. It may be deleted from the server sometime in the future. That's because it is taking up space which we are paying for.

 

METHOD 2

Store your photo on the internet and then link to it.

 

Flickr (www.flickr.com) seems to be a good free storage site and they don't mind naughty photos as long as you keep them private.

 

Photo Bucket (www.photobucket.com) is another free site you might like to check out.

 

To post your picture from another web site to the forum you need to type in the url or web address of the photo with a special command.

 

Get the url or internet address of your photo. You can often see it by right clicking on the photo and looking at properties.

 

Once you know the url, open a post on the forum.

1) Click the IMG button above the posting window.

A new window will open with the instruction to "enter the complete url for your picture" In a text box in this window you will see http://. That is the start of the web address.

 

2) Type in the url of your photo. It should look something like http://www.somewebsite.com/directory/somename/yourphoto.jpg

 

3) Click on OK.

 

4) Some code will appear in your post. This is the code to display the photo.

 

Remember you must type in the url exactly as it is. One misspelling or a wrong capital letter, or a / in the wrong place and instead of your photo, you will get the dreaded red cross

 

 

Show your appreciation

*******************

Everybody enjoys the photos but it can be a lot of work and headaches for members to upload them. Show you appreciation by leaving comments where appropriate.

 

When members get nice comments, they are far more likely to post more.

 

 

Avatars (Personalized ID Photos)

**************************

If you want to have a personal Avatar as opposed to the standard ones provided you can do so. Once again you must store the photo somewhere on the internet. Once it's stored somewhere, get the url.

 

Go to My Controls on the forum and click on "Edit Avatar Settings'.

 

Type or paste the url into the text box entitled 'Enter a URL to an on-line avatar image'.

 

Avatars on the forum default to a size of 140x100 pixels. If your Avatar is a different size, you can enter the width and height below the text box. Photos larger than 140x100 will be automatically reduced to the dimensions you specify or 140x100 if you don't specify anything. It is more efficient to re-size the photo yourself, before uploading.

[MM 6,562]

Since 2004, the interface has changed, so I am making a few corrections to this post (in red)

 

Including a photo in your post is relatively easy, but it helps if you understand a little about how photos and the internet work.

If a photo is to appear in your post, it must be stored somewhere on the internet. If it is just on your computer then other people could not access it. It can not be stored directly in a post. A post is just a collection of words and commands. A photo is a specialized file, so to appear in your post, the board must know where it is on the internet and what sort of file it is.

Photos can be stored as many different file types and each type has its strengths and weaknesses. You can tell what type of file it is by the extension to the file name. The extension is the bit that appears after the dot. For example photo.jpg is a jpg file while photo.bmp is a bmp file. If you are using the Windows operating system you can hide file extensions. If this is the case with your computer then you won't see the dot or the bit after it.

The reason file extensions are important is because they affect the size of the file. If you have a .bmp file it will be quite large in file size but very good quality. Files with .bmp extensions are not suitable for the internet because of their large file size. The best file types for the internet are .jpg and .gif. This is not a computer manual so I am not going to explain the difference but this forum will only accept .gif or .jpg files. If your picture is in another file format you will have to convert if first. The best choice is .jpg so if you have a conversion program, choose .jpg.

The next thing to consider is how big your picture is in terms of height and width. This is measured in pixels. A pixel = 1 dot on your screen. The more pixels an image has, the bigger it will look on a computer screen. Most screens are 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels deep. If your photo is bigger than that, it will not fit on most computer screens and will not look good. A good size for a photo on the internet is not bigger than 600 x 600 pixels.

So, if you have a photo from a digital camera or a scanner you may well need to convert it to .jpg and change the size to less than 600x600 pixels. There is one other option with .jpg files which most converters will show and that is the compression rate. The best choice is 50% or in some programs 5.

Note:
If you have a scanner or a digital camera, you would have received free software with it that enables you to convert your images. It's worth the effort to learn how to use it.

If you have lost the software or it's to complicated for you, you can download a simple converter for free, by clicking this link. It will take you to a page where you can download a file resizer and converter. There are full instructions on how to use it as well.

Enough computer babble lets get on with posting a photo to the board. There are 2 methods available to post a photo.

METHOD 1
The simplest method is to attach it to your post as a file attachment. This method will work if the picture is on your computer, .jpg or .gif and smaller than 99,000 bytes (99k).2 megabytes.

1) Open a new post and type in your message.
2) Click browse near the bottom of the screen, opposite the words file attachment.\

2) Click MORE REPLY OPTIONS at the bottom of your post area. This opens an enhanced reply window with the contents of your post already entered.

3) To "ATTACH" photos, look below the post entry area for the ATTACH FILES label. Click CHOOSE FILES.

A window will open to your own hard drive. Browse to the photo you want to include in your post.
3) Click on your photos file name in the browser window.
4) Click on Open in the browser window.

That's it. Post your message and the picture will appear at the bottom of the post. If you want to you can specify where in the post it appears by positioning your cursor at the appropriate place and clicking on add into post. You can repeat the process for multiple photos.

There are a few things you should know about this method. Your photo will be copied and stored on the Pattaya Talk servers.
METHOD 2
Store your photo on the internet and then link to it.

Flickr (www.flickr.com) seems to be a good free storage site and they don't mind naughty photos as long as you keep them private.

Photo Bucket (www.photobucket.com) is another free site you might like to check out.

To post your picture from another web site to the forum you need to type in the url or web address of the photo with a special command.

Get the url or internet address of your photo. You can often see it by right clicking on the photo and looking at properties.

Once you know the url, open a post on the forum.
1) Click the IMG button above the posting window.
A new window will open with the instruction to "enter the complete url for your picture" In a text box in this window you will see http://. That is the start of the web address.

2) Type in the url of your photo. It should look something like http://www.somewebsite.com/directory/somename/yourphoto.jpg

3) Click on OK.

4) Some code will appear in your post. This is the code to display the photo.

Remember you must type in the url exactly as it is. One misspelling or a wrong capital letter, or a / in the wrong place and instead of your photo, you will get the dreaded red cross


Show your appreciation
*******************
Everybody enjoys the photos but it can be a lot of work and headaches for members to upload them. Show you appreciation by leaving comments where appropriate.

When members get nice comments, they are far more likely to post more.


Avatars (Personalized ID Photos)
**************************
If you want to have a personal Avatar as opposed to the standard ones provided you can do so. Once again you must store the photo somewhere on the internet. Once it's stored somewhere, get the url.

Go to My Controls on the forum and click on "Edit Avatar Settings'.

Type or paste the url into the text box entitled 'Enter a URL to an on-line avatar image'.

Avatars on the forum default to a size of 140x100 pixels. If your Avatar is a different size, you can enter the width and height below the text box. Photos larger than 140x100 will be automatically reduced to the dimensions you specify or 140x100 if you don't specify anything. It is more efficient to re-size the photo yourself, before uploading.