Hi all,
due to the recent little Photobucket spat, many of our users have been enquiring on how to add images to posts. Since the old reference thread had become obsolete, rather than updating it laboriously, we decided to create a new thread outlining the process on how to add images to a message posting.
Basically, there are two main options for adding images - attachments to posts and linking to external sources.
Legal note:Do note that uploading images to which you do not hold rights (including by attachment and hotlinking/directly embedding an image from an external source to a thread) is essentially a copyright violation under German law and may result in legal proceedings against you, in which case we are obliged to remove the violation as soon as we become aware of it and may, in specific circumstances, be obliged to provide user information.
For this reason, do only add or link to images to which you hold rights or have been authorised by the rights holder, for example by a Creative Commons license (in which case you may have to list credits as required by the license) or by the rights holder enabling sharing functions on the site on which they are hosted. When in doubt, do not directly embed the image, but add a link to the page containing it.File Sizes and TrafficWhen using forum storage options such as the attachment and gallery functions, remember that large images take up storage space and increase traffic volume (i.e. generate costs for the forum). For this reason, please consider resizing and possibly cropping the images prior to uploading to reduce size and improve the "thematic focus" of the image.
Option 1: Using attachmentsThe simplest form of adding images is using the attachment function. This you can find under your message window as you type up your post. Simply click the link "Additional Options".
Next to "Attach", click the "Browse" button and select the image you wish to add. Do note that the maximum image file size per individual image is 1500 KB, or roughly 1.5 MB. You may add up to 8 images to a given post.
Once you have attached your chosen image(s) to the post and have finished composing the text, click the button "Post" below as you would for a regular message. The attached images will be displayed beneath your message. This option is available to all forum users.
Option 2: Embedding image URLs using BBcodeThe other option to include images is to store them at an external source where you can generate an Image URL and add this to posts. The main advantage of this method is that it allows you to intersperse images into a text, say, for a battle report or a lengthy piece on a project or technique you wish to share.
First, you will require an image hosting facility.
- There are various companies who provide such services, but many nowadays disallow hotlinking images in the first place or charge you to hotlink your own. I would invite users to provide links to web services which you can use (for free, maybe advert-funded or for a user fee). Do note that Photobucked and Dropbox have specifically disabled this function, whereas others rule it out in their Terms and Conditions while not inhibiting it in a technical way, so you might be violating the T&Cs if you do so.
Once you have uploaded the image, you will need to get the image URL. For this, open the page where you can access the image in question. Some services may provide a dialog box where you can directly copy the image URL (Photobucket used to do). If not, right-click the image so the context menu opens. Unless disabled by the site, your browser should show an option to "copy image location", "get image URL" or something similar; the screenshot below was made using Firefox.
Next, paste the address into your post and highlight/select it. Then, click the little picture-frame button found above the post you wish to create.
This adds two "image tags" to the start and end of the highlighted text. Make sure the entire URL is included, from "http" to the image extension, usually ".jpg" or another compressed format suitable for web use.
You can check if your images display correctly by clicking the "Preview" button.
Once you are finished, post the completed message and the images should display.
That's it pretty much. The process should be similar, if not identical for most hosting services. The steps for getting the image URLs may be different under other OS and browsers.
If you have specific questions or wish to add information such as content hosting services which allow hotlinking, please reply to this thread.