This is a primer for posting pictures at KTOG.
 
The ability to post photos on a site like KTOG can greatly enhance your experience on the site.  It is useful in helping people with gun issues, getting help, or sharing information about accessories.  Posting and viewing photos also makes the site more fun and interesting.  You can display an avatar next to your posts thereby adding a touch of personality to your KTOG experience.  On the other hand, inappropriate or improperly posted pics can be a source of stress when navigating the site.  Please post only pics that are appropriate to the site.  When you post a pic, always check to see that it has displayed properly.
 
You cannot post photos directly on the KTOG bulletin board as this system is NOT set up for storing images on our server.  Therefore, you must utilize the services of a photo Image Hosting Service.  There are scores of free image hosting sites.  
 
 
Steps for Posting Photos on KTOG:
 
 
I.  If you don't have one, register and open an account at an image hosting site such as:
 
ImageShack
 
TinyPic
 
Free Image Hosting
 
Picasa
 
Photobucket
 
Or any of these 50+ other image hosting sites:  Free Image Hosting
 
 
II.  Assuming you took photos with your camera, upload the pics from your camera to your computer.  If copying a pic from somewhere on the internet, save it to your computer.  Then follow the instructions on the photo hosting site of your choice to get the pictures in your on-line album.  On most sites, you can have multiple albums.  Consider having one album for your guns stuff or whatever you may wish to share here.  I have an album entitled KTOG where I host most of the pics I post here.  
NOTE:  Consider how to set up your albums before doing so.  You may want one for friends and family, guns, other hobbies, etc.  I say this because once you post a pic here, if you later decide to organize your pics and move them to a different album, the link here will be broken and they will no longer display.
 
 
III.  When you are ready to post a pic here, hit the reply button to the thread where you are posting.  Above all the smiley faces is a row of various buttons for posting.  One looks like a framed photo (3rd from left).  That is the picture icon.  When you click that button, in your reply you will see a set of image tags.  They look like this:   [img][/img]
 
On your photo hosting site, go to the pic that you wish to post.  Copy the url (web address to that pic).  Paste that url between the pair of image tags in your reply here on KTOG.  Note that on many sites, you can select a url that already has the image tags attached.  In that case, you do not need to use the picture icon mentioned above.  Just copy the url (with image tags) and paste it into your post wherever you want the pic to appear.  
 
 
IV.  Personalized Avatars
You can use one of the site's built in avatars but you can also use your image hosting site to display a custom avatar.  An avatar is a small thumbnail-sized photo that you choose to represent your screen name or to show some image that represents you.  To post an avatar, sign on to KTOG.  Click Profile - then Modify - then enter your password.  Next click Options.  Place a check mark where it says, "I have my own pic."  In the space to the right, enter the url for the pic you have chosen.  Note:  Do not use image tags there.  It "knows" you are posting a pic.  
 
 
V.  Sizing of Pics
Something in the size range of 600 - 800 pixel is what you want to post.   All photos are automatically resized by the yabb software that runs this site.  However, posting giant sized pics slows the page loads and forces everyone to download a lot of data that they will never see.  You may notice that due to this auto-resizing, some photos may not appear exactly as they did on your computer.
 
Choose a much smaller, thumbnail-size for an avatar.  It will be automatically resized to something like 100 x 100 by the forum software, but again using a ridiculously large photo as an avatar needlessly slows page loads.
   
If you are new to posting on forums, I hope this was helpful.  We want to make your time here at KTOG pleasant and useful.  Posting pics can enhance your surfing experience.  Note that we have a Test Area for Members thread in the Feedback/Announcements Forum if you would like to experiment with posting a pic.  Give it a try.
 
Happy KTOGing,
TxCajun    
 
 
 
 

Yes CB3, those "appropriate codes" are called image tags.  There are actually three other ways to do it.  You can:
 
1)  Click the photo icon in the post toolbar.  This will place the image tags on the screen.  Then place the cursor between the image tags and paste in the url to your photo (assuming you have copied it).
 
2)  You can simply type in the image tags before and after the url to your photo.
 
3)  In Photobucket, at least, you can copy a url to your photo that already has the image tags in place (bottom box above your photo).
 
Image tags look like this: [ img ] * [/ img ]  
except that I had to put in extra spaces between "img" and the brackets or they would work.  Since there is no photo url, you would see an image holder (white box with red X) and not the tags themselves.
NOTE:  The url for the photo must be between the markers where I placed the asterists.