Use of Images & Media

[Gloriousnse]

One of the big advantages of a forum over a Yahoo group is the ability to have images (or other media, such as video) with your text, this post should give you a little more info on what is involved and how to do that.

Firstly, a couple of definitions:

This is a link to an image elsewhere on the internet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28702406@N06/6098907159/

This is the same image embedded inline in a thread.

Southern Pacific cab forward on RS Tower by GloriousNSE, on Flickr
(Brian Moore image shot on RS Tower, 2011)

Linking takes you to the website where the image is hosted to view the image, embedding it inline means the image is still hosted on the website it's on, but appears within the thread.

There is a third way where the image would be uploaded to this website and hosted here, but that is presently not enabled on this site. If that changes I will let you know.

Important Legal Stuff...

Under UK law images, video or other 'creative media' are inherently classed as copyright material, with their creator being the copyright holder, that applies to all such media unless they have signed the right over to another party and is irrespective of whether the person who created it will get upset or not.

Please do not embed images inline if the copyright holder has not given you permission to use the image, that is illegal. You may link to a website where such an image is already hosted however - make sure you link to the website page (as above) and not directly to the image.

Some websites (such as Flickr or YouTube) have user settings where the owner of the image can decide whether to allow their images to be shared in such a way as it provides a credit and link, in which case you may assume they allow that use of their image without specifically asking.

If it's hosted on another website please do not embed it inline unless the site in question allows you to do so - that is regarded as 'bandwidth theft' - basically their website is being charged the costs of their image appearing here. If the website has a mechanism allowing it to be shared (as Flickr and YouTube do) then you may assume the website allows that action.

Stay tuned for a 'how to'...

[Gloriousnse]

So how do I add my own photo's and video's to the forum?

Firstly you need to have your media online somewhere where you can link to.
For photo's http://www.flickr.com/ is free to use and is probably the largest image resource in the world at present.
For video http://www.youtube.com/ is also free to use and similarly high profile.

Embedding a photo from Flickr:

1. Find the image you want to post, such as: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28702406@N ... 4021759499
2. Click on 'share' above the image
3. Select 'Grab the HTML/BBCode' - at the bottom of that box select the size you want it to appear (please use no larger than 800 wide on here) and select BBCode.
4. Copy the code in the box - the code will look something like:

Code: Select all

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/28702406@N06/4241028870/][img]http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4028/4241028870_2993a8ae26_m.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/28702406@N06/4241028870/]GTW5951 on street track[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/28702406@N06/]GloriousNSE[/url], on Flickr

5. Paste the code onto a new line in your post. That's it!

GTW5951 on street track by GloriousNSE, on Flickr

Use 'preview' if you want to see whether that has worked.
NOTE - If you get a message on Flickr saying that sharing is disabled then the image owner has selected that setting - use a link to the image instead of trying to embed it.

Embedding a photo from other websites:

1. Find the URL of the image (not of the page the image is on) - you may need to right-click on the image itself and look in it's properties. You are looking for something that probably finishes in .jpg
2. Copy that URL.
3. Click the box marked "Img" to open the tag and [ img ][ /img ] will appear.
4. Paste the URL between the two tags, the resulting line should look like:
[ Img ] http://websiteaddress.com/image.jpg [ /img ] minus the spaces.
When you submit your post it should include the image - use the preview button if you want to check if it's worked.

Embedding a Video from Youtube:

1. Under the video there is a 'share' button. Click on that and a box will appear, copy the link to the video there, which will look something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHupFh1nhCY
2. Click on the 'youtube' button above the post you are writing and [ youtube ][ /youtube ] should appear.
3. Paste the link into the middle of the two tags - it should look like:
[ youtube ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHupFh1nhCY [ /youtube ] without the spaces.
4. When you submit your post the video should show (use preview if you want to check it first)


NOTE - if it says that sharing is not permitted then the user has not allowed the video to be shared, and you will need to put a link into your post and not embed.

If you want to test, please feel free to use a reply to this thread.

[torikoos]

Flickr has been updated a few times since Martyn posted the original tutorial.

However sharing a picture is still as easy. If from within your picture library you double click on your image, you'll find an 'arrow' pointing to the right, to 'share' the image somwhere in the bottom right below the picture. Clicking on this will open a dialog: Select BBcode from the options at the top of the dialog, and select a photo size. The text in the middle should be copied in it's entirety (it probably is already highlighted, so just press control-C (or option-C on a Mac).
Then in your post, paste the code and your image will be embedded with your post once you save/submit it.