Maybe someday I'll figure out how to copy pictures quickly...!
This has recently been posted, and the moderating team thought we could post a quick tutorial. Some more refined techniques are discussed in the
Kiva Friends Tips & Tricks-thread.
There are basically two ways of posting images on KF:
1. You can embed images found on the internet into your posts. This means the image file isn't actually stored with your post but, whenever your post is displayed, the image source on the internet is accessed and displayed automatically. To achieve this is easy:
a) Locate the image you want to include in your post on the internet. (e.g. access the page of a Kiva loan you want to post about - for example this one:
http://www.kiva.org/lend/184119?_tpos=11&_tpg=1)
b) Copy the image's (not the page's) URL (= internet address; in this case:
http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w450h360/504906.jpg) to the "clipboard". Usually the best way to do this is to right-click on the image and select "Copy Image Location" (or something like this, depending on the browser you are using) from the menu that's appearing:
c) Return to composing your post on KF and go to the place you want to insert the image in. Click on the image link
above the posting area. This should insert
[img][/img]
into your post, placing the cursor between the two pairs of brackets with "img".
d) Now hold "CTRL" and press "V" or select "Paste" from the Edit menu of your browser. This should insert the content of your clipboard, i.e. the image-URL you copied in step b), between the pairs of brackets with "img":
[img]http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w450h360/504906.jpg[/img]
e) If you posted now, the image of
Felicita Nicolasa would be embedded in your post like this:
f) You can easily resize the image by defining the width of the image like this (this would make it a little smaller by setting the width to 300 pixels - usually widths between 300 and 500 are working nicely):
[img width=300]http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w450h360/504906.jpg[/img]
2. You can attach picture files stored on your computer to a post by entering the file path and name into the "Attach:" box while composing your post. This can easily be done by clicking the "Browse..."-button (where it says "Durchsuchen..." in my screenshot - sorry about that), then locating the image file on your computer and selecting it. "Posting" then uploads not only your post but also the attached image file to the KF servers.
Advantages of this technique:
a) It allows posting image files you have on your computer but that are not located on the internet.
b) It's permanent as the file is stored on the KF server together with your post.
Disadvantages of this technique:
a) All images will be attached to the end of the post so that they might be out of context.
b) The images will usually appear only as small "thumbnails" that need to be clicked on to be enlarged to their original size.
c) You cannot easily adjust this original size (but have to use resize tools like
http://resizr.lord-lance.com/ or
http://www.shrinkpictures.com/ before posting the resized file).
d) The image won't be displayed in the popular "show all recent posts" view of the forum but only when viewing the actual thread containing the post.
and, most importantly,
e) The server has a limited capacity for files attached to posts. Every image you attach using this technique takes up precious server space.That's why we'd kindly ask you to refrain from attaching images to your posts and resort to the embedding-technique (1.) unless the image isn't on the internet and you think it really needs to be posted. In this case, please check how big the image file is and resize biggish files (say > 200 KB) before posting using one of the tools mentioned above. A moderator will be happy to assist you in doing so should you have problems.
We hope this will be of use. Please contact any moderator should you have further questions.
Best wishes,
Wolfgang.
- also on behalf of Diane, Kerry, Natasha, Ramona and Peter -
