Using This Board's Image Hosting

Using this board's IMAGE HOSTING is not as easy as some other hosting services out there, but it has two advantages. First, it is free. Second, the images will always be here for as long as the board itself is here. Some have tried to use it and have found that it is problematic. I think this is because they did not properly follow the correct procedure. There is one step (#10 below) that is easy to forget or miss and if that step is not done, the image will not be saved or they may disappear after an hour or so. So, it is important to do ALL the steps. One more thing, I know many of you will not like this. So be it. Please save me the comments about how hard this is and how easy whatever you currently use is. First, I do use this board's hosting and it is NOT that difficult. I got accustomed to it very quickly. Second, I am posting this for those who may want to try it, not to argue with those who don't. So lighten up, please.

For those of you who don't like lengthy procedures, I will add a "Short Strokes" version at the end.

I very strongly recommend that any pictures that are larger than 800 x 600 pixels be reduced to that size. That is about as large as can be displayed on most monitors of this day. Another reason to do this is because the board's software will reject any photos that are larger than a certain size and it will not tell you why. So the upload fails and you are scratching your head. Photobucket automatically did this rescaling and it was a great boon for web posts as you did not have to scroll and pan to see the full picture. This rescaling can be done with Microsoft Paint, which is free with all versions of Windows and many other programs. I am sure Apple and other operating systems have something similar.

So, I start with "Step 0":

0: Use Microsoft Paint or your favorite image program to resize your photos to a width of 800 pixels or not much more than that.


Now, in the PM site:

1. Select your Profile by clicking your user name (at the top of every page).



2. Scroll down to Albums (at the left) and click on the Albums Button



3. The Albums page appears. You can do two things here:
a. Create a new album. (marked with a circle) This is straight forward as only a name needs to be entered.
or
b. Select an existing album to work with. (marked with an X)



4. In the selected album, select Upload Photos (center of the bar above the thumbnails)

5. Click on the Add Files button (upper right)



6. The Upload Files from Your Computer window appears. It is a small window.
Click on the Browse button



7. A Browser window for your computer appears. Select the desired picture on your computer. There is no drag-and-drop available, you must select it. It is a standard Windows Browser window so I did not include a photo of it. You are returned to the PM page. You can only select one photo at a time, but you can select more before saving the upload below.

8. Back in the PM software click the Upload button.



The file is uploaded but not saved yet. You can add more photos to the upload at this point by going back to step 5, above. I uploaded nine photos for this post in one group and it took less than a minute. These files appear in the Attachment section of the page.

9. When you are finished adding files, click the Done button. (at the botton-right)



We are NOT done so do not stop here. NOTHING is saved. Step 10 is essential: it must be performed to save the upload.

10. We are NOT really done and the files can disappear if you don't finish. So, you MUST click the Save Changes button (at the left, just above the thumbnails)



Now your uploaded photos are saved in the album and they can be used in posts.

USING THE PHOTOS IN YOUR POSTS:

11. In an album, click on the desired thumbnail. That photo is shown on a separate page. The codes that you need are under the photo so you must scroll down to see them. Click on the BB code at the bottom of the list and use Ctrl-C on the keyboard to copy it.



I suggest using the BB code because it displays the photo right in your post. Other codes will require the viewer to click on the code and then view the photo in a separate browser tab, which is not as nice.

I promised a Short Strokes version and here it is:

The SHORT STROKES:

0. Resize photo to 800 pixels wide with Paint or whatever
1. My Profile - (very top)
2. Scroll down to Albums - (left)
. Click on the Albums button
3. On the Albums page:
. To get a link from an existing upload select the album and go to #10 below
. To add a new album click More - (left)
. or you can Create New Album - (right)
4. In the selected album Upload Photos - (center)
5. Add Files - (upper-right)
6. Browse button - (left in small window)
7. Select desired file
. (no Drag and Drop, you must select)
8. Upload button - (bottom/right in small window)
9. Done button - (bottom right)
10. File shows but is not saved yet. YOU MUST:
. Save Changes - (left)
. Now it is saved in an album and usable

11. In an album: Select a thumbnail
. BBCode - (BELOW the photo at bottom of list)
. Ctrl-C to copy the link - (keyboard)
12. Use Ctrl-V to paste the link in your post. - (keyboard)

Yes, it is a bit complicated. Don't forget step #10 or the file may not be uploaded. That's about as short as I dare make the Short Strokes procedure for others to copy. You may want to cut it down some after using it a bit. I probably will. Anyway, you can copy and paste it into any word processor or plain text program and print it on two sticky notes or one large one.

Thanks for the tutorial.
Many probably know this, but if you view this forum from a phone or iPad, using tapatalk app, it’s only a couple clicks to post a pic. You can resize as you upload it. Super easy, you can even upload a pic you are about to take


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

EPAIII said:

So lighten up, please.

Click to expand...

"lighten up" is that it will show a person its OWN menus and graphics.

All one needs is the sequence to invoke those.

1) Presume one is already IN a (new) post "edit" window, else why would you care about a foto?

2) Go Advanced
3) Manage Attachments
4) Add Files
5) Browse
6) Upload
7) .. now tick the box on the (ones) you want ELSE "All"
8) Insert inline
9) Done

10) Save

And have a look at the results.

Depending on where you had left the cursor, the link(s) created may need relocated within the message body from top line, and/or to have explanatory text inserted before or after.

Those alterations can be done in the "ordinary" editor.

Hey EPAIII, thanks for posting the instructions. Do you know a way around the images disappearing from a thread if you aren't signed in? I detailed the issue here...http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...view-images-hosted-pm-when-signed-out-345353/.

Thermite, Many have complained that the upload process on this and other similar BBs (VBulletin software) does not work. I suspect that this is because some of the steps are a bit confusing. I definitely would have made the process a lot easier to follow, but I was not on the team that wrote the BB software so I can't help that.

Anyway, I tried to show the steps in a painstakingly complete series, with screen shots for clarity. Your short list may work for you, but it omits any reference to the one step that I think is the easiest to skip over. This is the one I called Step 10 above. As far as I can tell, it is essential and the box that must be clicked is not that obvious, at least not to all of us. So I made an effort to emphasize that step as well as all of the other ones.

I did include a short list which can be printed on a Sticky Note, but that list is also a bit out of date with the latest changes in the BB software. Please forgive me if I do not update this with every iteration of that software, that should be something that the programmers SHOULD do. I have other things to do with my limited time. It is Tuesday already and I have only put in about 45 minutes on my shop projects this week. I will be in the shop and painting soon.

thermite said:

"lighten up" is that it will show a person its OWN menus and graphics.

All one needs is the sequence to invoke those.

1) Presume one is already IN a (new) post "edit" window, else why would you care about a foto?

2) Go Advanced
3) Manage Attachments
4) Add Files
5) Browse
6) Upload
7) .. now tick the box on the (ones) you want ELSE "All"
8) Insert inline
9) Done

10) Save

And have a look at the results.

Depending on where you had left the cursor, the link(s) created may need relocated within the message body from top line, and/or to have explanatory text inserted before or after.

Those alterations can be done in the "ordinary" editor.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I just noticed this.

No, I do not know anything about that. I do know that I have been on other boards that use the same BB software, perhaps different revisions of it, and the photos do show up even though I am not a member of that group. But then, I have been on a few where they did not. Perhaps it is a setting in the BB software when it is installed.

I think it could be brought to the attention of the moderator or to the attention of the people who write the BB software:

vBulletin 5 Connect, The World's Leading Community Software

BugRobotics said:

Hey EPAIII, thanks for posting the instructions. Do you know a way around the images disappearing from a thread if you aren't signed in? I detailed the issue here...Can't View Images Hosted by PM when Signed Out.

Click to expand...

In reviewing this older post I have noticed that there is a discrepancy in step #2. I originally said to click on the "Albums" button. When I tried to do this today, that was no longer functioning as a button. Perhaps that was only true when there were no pre-existing albums.

Instead I had to click on one of the individual albums. Once an existing album is displayed, you can backtrack to the "Albums" page where all the existing albums are available for you to chose.

The remainder of the procedure seems to be the same.

Further note: I have not tried this on my cell phone but I would assume that it works there as well.