Lots of folks have an interest in including images in their forum posts. Images can be shown either full sized, or smaller. A full sized image requires more time for the posting to load. Forum members with slow internet connections wait a long time for images to load up. As a result, they prefer that you place a smaller image on the forum called a thumbnail image. It takes very little time for a small image to load. However, imbedded in that image is a web address that will take you to the bigger image. Click on the thumbnail, and your web browser will take you to it. Its neat!
For those who don't know how to do it, here is a simple set of instructions.
1. Create two images that you have an interest in posting. One is the full sized image. The other is a smaller thumbnail sized image. To make such an image, open the first full scale image in any image editor, resize it to some smaller size (typically below 50 KB in size) and save it under a different name (e.g. - image 1TH), or anything you like.
2. Place both images on a website of your choice. Unfortunately, you cannot copy, paste or place an image directly onto a Celestia forum post. All you can do is post a website address on a post. When the forum software attempts to display your post, it will encounter that web address and will go to that website, read both the thumbnail and fullsized images, and then display the thumbnail on the post.
(sorry - I did not make the rules). Imbedded in that image, however, will be the web address of the bigger one.
3. Copy the webpage addresses of both the full sized image and your thumbnail image somewhere convenient.
4. Insert those two webpage addresses of those images into your post by typing exactly the line below, as follows:
Code: Select all
[url=http://URL_OF_YOUR_IMAGE.jpg][img]http://URL_OF_YOUR_THUMB.jpg[/img][/url]
5. Notice that the punctuation must exactly match the above line. You must have an = sign in the address above, and slash marks, etc. Obviously, please substitute the web address of your image for the above text.
6. Complete the text of your posting as usual, then test everything out by pressing the "Preview" button at the bottom of your posting. All your iimages should work, and clicking on your thumbnail should take you to your bigger image.
There is a neat image hosting site named Imageshack that automates some of this for you. Using it, you place just your main image on the site, and it creates its own thumbnail for you and provides you the text of the line you would use to insert the thumbnail into a forum post. To visit Imageshack, go to:
http://imageshack.us/, and register.
Hope this helps. Enjoy
Frank
