Welcome to another edition of MHR Tech Tips!

In the third installment of the series, we will learn how to make your post look good by learning how to put pictures in your posts!

Note how I have a picture at the top of my article. I'm not an artist. MHR staff member Sirsam (our resident artistic/graphics professional) designed it. But how did I get it on my post? How do I get pictures of players or illustrations of football formations on a post?

It's not a secret. I'm a computer illiterate, and I can do it. I'm going to help you be able to do it to. If you get stuck, or have problems, this is the place to experiment and ask questions. All of the members here are glad to help anyone who wants it. Let's get started!

Click the button that invites you to read more of the story so you can read the rest...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This may sound like a long process, but that's because I wrote everything out in detail. Each method below takes about ten seconds to one minute once you know what you're doing.

First, there are several methods. I'm not an expert, so I don't know why some work sometimes, and other work other times. But let's look at the methods together and find one that works best for you.

Let's say you want to post a picture of John Elway. Do a yahoo or google search for Elway (under "images") and pick a picture you like. Now, click on that picture and bring up the picture by itsself. Go to the menu bar, left click your mouse and shade the URL address. Now right click on the shaded address, and when the box appears select "copy".

Then, act like you are going to write a fanpost by going to the area on the front page that invites you to write a fanpost.

At this point there are several methods you can try.

First, write a couple of sentences to simulate writing a fan post. Good! At the top of the box you type your fanpost in, there is an icon that looks like a framed picture. If you put your cursor over it, the words "image_asset" come up. Left click on it. A box comes up asking for the URL (address). Left click in the box (to get your cursor there). Now right click. A box open with some choices. Left click "paste". Now the URL address you got from you search is in the URL box. Left click "import", and you should be done.

Depending on if you are using WYSIWYG or HTML (a choice in the upper right corner of you fanpost box), you will either see the picture or some jibberish. Now click on the preview button (at the bottom) and see if your attempt worked.

Don't be discouraged if it didn't. We have other tricks up our sleeves. Don't give up before trying something else, or asking for help in the comments section.

~~~~~~~~~~

Try this one. "Copy" the URL address of the picture you want again. (Odds are you don't even have to "copy" it again). Follow these instructions carefully. At no time should you use the quotation marks I'm going to be using. I'm using them so the program won't think that I AM the one trying to make a picture. If the program thinks I'm making a picture, it won't display the instructions I'm giving you.

Type the "<" sign, followed by the letters "img". Now leave one empty space, then type the letters "src" and the the "=" sign. Next, left click your cursor so it is flashing on the right side of the "=" sign. Now right click there. You get a box with choices, and you left click "paste". The URL address appears to the immediate right of the "=" sign. At the end of the jibberish, type a ">" sign.

Preview that by clicking the "preview" button. Odds are good this worked.

~~~~~~~~~~

Still no luck? Sometimes images don't load well. Sometimes they aren't the right kind of files. We can fix that. This one take a little bit of time the first time you try it, but it almost always works.

Go to a site called photobucket.com It is free to use, and will help you out when you get into more advanced techniques for making great posts. For now, sign up for a free account.

Next, get a URL address for a picture (perhaps by going to Yahoo image search and picking a topic and searching through pictures you like). Sometimes you can jost move your cursor over a picture and the URL appears! Whether this happens or not, right click the picture. The box appears. Left click "save picture as".

A new box should open. It is your "my pictures" file. In the box that says "file name", type something. (If it is a picture of Elway, you could just type Elway). Here's the part where we make the file work for us. Under "file name" is a second box called "save as type". Click the down arrow on the right side of the box and look at your choices. When I have a picture that doesn't work, I always select any choice that has "JPEG" or ".jpg" in it.

We're almost done! Now go back to your new photobucket account. You see, to get a picture or image to get on your post it has to be on the internet somewhere, and it has to have the right kind of file name. Go to photobucket.com, and select "my album to get on your own page. Go to the upload box near the center/top of the page.

Click on a browse button (if you don't see one, make sure you have selected the older uploader). Your "my pictures" file comes up again! Click on "my recent documents" and look for "Elway" (or whatever your picture is called). Left click the title twice and fast (called double clicking).

Now your title appears in the upload box window. Click "upload". In a few seconds (even on a slow computer), the image is saved. You will have some choices at this point, but we are in a hurry to write our wonderful post, so skip the choices this time by clicking "skip this time". Your picture appears on a page, and you have four titles for the image. See the one that says "direct link"? Highlight the jibberish in that box (all of it) and right click "copy" like we did before in the other steps.

By the way, don't erase any of your old images off of this site in the future. If you do, any articles you've ever written will no longer show the image you put there.

Next, do this step back on the page where you write your fanpost (we tried the following part earlier, but now we've fixed the file)...

At no time should you use the quotation marks I'm going to be using. I'm using them so the program won't think that I AM the one trying to make a picture. If the program thinks I'm making a picture, it won't display the instructions I'm giving you.

Type the "<" sign, followed by the letters "img". Now leave one empty space, then type the letters "src" and the the "=" sign. Next, left click your cursor so it is flashing on the right side of the "=" sign. Now right click there. You get a box with choices, and you left click "paste". The URL address appears to the immediate right of the "=" sign. At the end of the jibberish, type a ">" sign.

Hit the preview button and see if your new found skill worked. If it did, CONGRATULATIONS! Your next assignment is to read the other MHR Tech Tips found in the MHR Tech Tips section in the left panel of the main page. Look for the words "MHR Tech Tips" listed amongst several sections. Then, go write a Fanpost. You can do it!

If these steps didn't work, do NOT get discouraged. Use the comments section to ask for help. Your MHR family is here and ready to help. Someone will read your comment and get back to you within the day at the very latest. If this article is an old archived story, feel free to ask for help in the newest story on the front page. That's what we're here for.

Here's a picture for all of your hard work!

Best of luck, and know that everyone is looking forward to your comments and fanposts / fanshots at MHR!