I thought I'd write up a guide on posting images on the forums, for those who're unsure of how it's done.

To display a picture on the forums, the image you want displayed must be hosted on the Internet. You can link to an image by using the IMG tags, as follows: to display this, for example.......



You need to use the IMG tag feature in the posting screen as highlighted in the image below... Click in the IMG link and a set of tags will appear in the posting area...


You then need to paste the address where the image is located between the IMG tags, like so....



That will display the image correctly. That's how you display an Image from the Internet. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'yes, but how do I get a pic from my PC to the forums?!' That's easy! To display an image from your computer, that image must also be hosted on the Internet, but there are easy ways to do this- all for FREE! The following sites all allow free image uploading and hosting; just visit the site and follow the instructions, then, once your image is uploaded, copy and paste the forum code already in IMG tags into your message, (or without the IMG tags, then add them yourself) and you're done! The sites are:

Imageshack, which is requires no registration- but registering for FREE enables you to have access to every image you've ever uploaded!

Photobucket, where registration IS required, but that is also FREE for their basic service.

Tinypic, which, again, is FREE!

The above applies to posting pics in a message, AND in your forum sig!


Avatars

One of the easiest ways to display an Avatar and make sure it is within the filesize and dimension limits is to use either imageshack or tinypic, as both these services have options to automatically resize your picture to within the limits set. Below are step by step instructions of how to prepare your image to get it ready to use as an Avatar, and further down you will find instructions on how to set this image as your Avatar on the forum. If you have a problem at any stage, contact one of the Admin team and they will do their best to help you out.

To resize and upload your chosen picture at Imageshack.

1. Visit the Imageshack website. Click Here...
2. Click on the 'Browse' button and then find the picture on your computer.
3. Click on the box beside 'Resize' to put a tick in this box, and then click on the down arrow button on the right to choose the required size. You need to highlight the '100 x 75 (Avatar)' option.
4. Click on the 'Start Upload' button

After a short time your picture should resized and uploaded to imageshack ready to use as your Avatar. You will be taken to a screen with lots of different links to your now resized picture, you need to copy the 'Direct link' URL and use that link in the 'Link off-site' Avatar option explained below.

To resize and upload your chosen picture at Tinypic.

1. Visit the Tinypic website. Click Here...
2. Click on the 'Browse' button and then find the picture on your computer.
3. Click on the down arrow beside the 'Resize' box and select 'Avatar 100 x 75' option.
4. Click on the 'Upload Now' button

After a short time your picture should resized and uploaded to Tinypic ready to use as your Avatar. You will then see a screen with lots of different links to your now resized picture, you need to copy the 'Direct link for layouts' URL and use that link in the 'Link off-site' Avatar option explained below.

Now you have resized and have the URL link for your chosen image, follow the instructions below to set this up as your Avatar on the forum.

Setting up an Avatar on the forum

To access your User Control Panel click on the the link at the top right of the forum as highlighted below.



This will take you to your Control panel as shown below where you can change various settings to customise how you view the forum and also add things like a signature to all your posts, and avatars. To add an avatar you need to click on the 'Profile' link on the left hand side of the screen.




After clicking on the 'Profile' link you should see a screen similar to the picture below, on this screen you will need to click on 'Edit avatar'





You will now see the Avatar control screen where there are various ways to display your chosen Avatar.



Upload from your machine: This option allows you to upload your chosen picture directly to the forum and store it directly on the forum. Due to the cost of server space and bandwidth we do have to put restrictions on the filesize of the image that we can store for you, so any image has to be no bigger than 10144bytes in size, otherwise the system will not allow you to use your image. To use this option you click on the 'Browse' button to the right of the white box and then navigate your way to where the image is stored on your computer and then click on 'Open'. The system will then upload your picture directly to the site and display it as your Avatar. If your picture exceeds the filesize or dimension limits the system will let you know and you can then make any adjustments as needed and try again.


Upload from a URL: This option is very similar to the option above 'Upload from your machine' except with this one you can put in the URL (website address) of where an image is you want to use, and that image will then be copied to this site and stored here to use as your Avatar. Again as above you will have to make sure that your chosen image is within the filesize and dimension limits.

Link off-site: This option allows you to display an Avatar that is stored on an image hosting site such as imageshack, photobucket, or tinypic as mentioned above earlier. To use your image you need to copy the URL link information that is given to you by your chosen image hosting site.

Once you have entered the required details for your chosen method of displaying your Avatar, just press the 'Submit' button and all being well your Avatar should now appear on all your posts

If you have a problem at any stage, contact a member of the Admin team and they will do their best to help you out