Image Posting Guide

[s0nspark]

Due to software changes on the CZ Forum and IMGUR, these 2017 instructions have been updated as of Jan 2024.

• You will need an image hosting site to post images or image links on the CZ Forum (CZF).

• The best image manipulation and posting results are always obtained by using a home computer. If you experience difficulty posting images, then stop using your phone.

• There are numerous image hosting sites, but one site that works well for most users is IMGUR. ( http://imgur.com/ ) An IMGUR account is free, it works equally well with computers or phones, it allows hundreds of images, your images do not have an expiration date or time limit, IMGUR does not add a watermark, and limited image editing is available. To post photos of firearms, you must set up your IMGUR account as "Private".

• Google Photos is decidedly not a good image hosting site. Only about 20% of your CZF viewers will be able to see your image(s). And there's no rhyme or reason as to who can or can't view the image. New CZF members, who have not read these instructions, may be inclined to blame the Moderators for "stealing their images". Things always go downhill from there. Please don't use Google Photos on CZF.

Uploading Images

• Once logged into IMGUR, click on your User Name in the upper RH corner and enter the pull-down menu "Images" section to upload your graphics.

• Select the green Add Images button in the upper RH corner. You will be presented with a screen similar to the one below...

• Upload one or more cropped and edited images by dragging them to the window or using the Browse button to find them on your computer. Once the image(s) have uploaded you can arrange them into folders of your choosing for easier management.




• Once "hosted" your images can be posted as pictures or hyperlinks. Instructions for actually showing (displaying) your images on the CZ Forum are in the next post.

[Wobbly]

Image Posting Instructions

• The best image manipulation and posting results are always obtained by using a home computer. Do not expect good results doing this job on a tablet or phone.

• Open CZF in one window (aka screen or tab), and in a second window open your IMGUR account. Then...

Within IMGUR
Once logged-on to IMGUR, click on your User Name in the upper RH screen and release on the pull-down menu "Images" section to upload your graphics.

Hint: After up-loading multiple images, it may be wise to sort those into Folders. For example, you may wish to have one folder for CZ Handguns and another for CZ Rifles, and yet another for CZ Targets.

Images stored in IMGUR should have already been "cropped" and edited to eliminate excessive empty space. If you do not know how to Edit and Crop your images, then you really don't need to be posting images.

• Once in the IMGUR "Images" section, you'll be presented with ALL of your existing graphics. You can click on the pull down menu "All Images" and be taken to your IMGUR image folder of choice. This is shown as Step 1 in the following graphic.

• Then select your image from your folder, as shown in Step 2.



• The partial image will come forward in a new sub-window which will present you with both Size and Coding choices. Select your image display size by selecting "Medium Thumbnail" or "Large Thumbnail", shown as Step 3. These 2 sizes work best on this forum, and keep the reader from having to scroll Left/Right or Up/Down to view your graphic. Giant images are very inconsiderate and a RPIA for readers. Giant images may be deleted by the Moderators.

• Then select the blue "Copy" button next to the "BBCode" section, shown as Step 4. This will Save the correctly sized and formatted image into your computer's memory. That screen looks like this...




Within CZ Forum
Last, initiate a new forum message, or go back to your in-process message you are writing on the CZ Forum. Strike the Enter key twice so that your graphic will be placed on a line by itself. Then enter a Paste command (Control-V from the keyboard) and the address of your formatted IMGUR graphic will be entered into the text of your message. Follow that with another 2 strikes on the "Enter" key so that follow-on text does not get jammed up against the graphic.

Examples
An example of a "Medium Thumbnail" image...


An example of a "Large Thumbnail" image...


IMGUR sizes the image and writes all the HTML code. All you need to do is select the image, choose a presentation size, then Copy it. And finally Paste the provided code into a line of text within your CZ Forum post. That's it, quick and simple.


Hyperlink Posting Instructions
You may also wish to post your image as a "Link". This has big advantages in that the image automatically adapts to the size of the viewer's screen. To post a link using IMGUR do this....

• In place of Steps 3 & 4 of image posting (above), select a size as shown in Step 3a, and then the blue "Copy" button next to the "Direct Link" section, shown as Step 4a. This will Save the correctly sized and formatted image hyperlink into your computer's memory. That screen looks like this...



Last, initiate a new forum message, or go back to your in-process message you are writing on the CZ Forum. Strike the Enter key twice so that your link will be placed on a line by itself. Then enter a Paste command (Control-V from the keyboard) and the hyperlink to your formatted IMGUR graphic will be entered into the text of your message. Follow that with another 2 strikes on the "Enter" key so that follow-on text does not get jammed up against the image.

An example of an image Hyperlink looks like this...

https://i.imgur.com/X9DITtc.jpg


Hope this helps.

[Wobbly]

Image Rules and Tips Regardless of Host

Image Display Size
• Bigger is not better. If your image runs off the screen when viewed on a 2560 pixel width monitor, then we believe the image is not only too large, but disrespectful to those who have to scroll left/right and up/down to view the whole. Making your audience suffer in order to see the idea you're trying to convey just doesn't work.

- The multiple YouTube videos you'll see scattered around the forum are set at about 640 pixels wide. Therefore, since no one complains about YouTube, asking members to limit the width of their submissions to a maximum of 650 pixels shouldn't be a problem.

- If you insist on larger images, then we respectfully ask that you paste Hyperlinks to the images, and not the images themselves.

- Overly large images may be deleted at the Moderator's discretion.


Controlling Image Size
• Regardless of the hosting site you choose, the HTML code you are Pasting into your forum post can usually be controlled with a Width command embedded into the HTML code. This can be especially helpful if you are "borrowing" a graphic from another forum, for which you do not control the original hosting. Or, suppose you have multiple cropped images that have all turned out to be different widths. You might wish them to all display at the same width, and so adding this command will do just that. It doesn't work with every image from every host, but it's worth a try.

- The HTML Width command specifies an image width in pixels which you control. Widths between 400 and 650 work best on this forum. The width command is simply inserted alongside the first IMG, inside the brackets. If we use the example from above, the IMGUR code looks like this...
(img]https://i.imgur.com/dSes2Q2m.jpg[/img)

- When edited to add the Width command turns into...
(img width=150]https://i.imgur.com/dSes2Q2m.jpg[/img)

- And results in this...



Results May Vary
• What you see on your screen depends on whether you use a home computer, tablet or phone to view this web site. There are also differences between Microsoft and Apple products. It is your Browser, and not this web site that has the greatest effect on image viewing. Luckily, graphics display has become more standardized across the industry since ~2018.

• When experiencing image posting or manipulation issues, the first step is stop using your phone and use a home computer. Reading posts from your phone is fine, but we highly suggest you post and manipulate images using a home computer. Moderators will judge your results using a home computer.

• A second suggestion is to check is your software updates. Phones and Chromebook computers update with every shutdown. Apple products should be set to download the latest system updates automatically. The biggest issues are with Windows computers. Users of Windows 7 and 8 can still get the FREE update to Windows 10. Although updates within Windows 10/11 supposedly happen automatically, it sometimes helps to go into Settings/ Update & Security and manually click the Check For Updates button. No matter what type device you use, software updates do not take effect until you Shutdown or Restart your device.


Hope this helps.

[Wobbly]

Posting Videos
Posting videos is simple, easy and straightforward. No special functions of the CZ Forum software are required.

Posting Videos from Any Online Source
1. While watching a video (YouTube, Rumble, etc) that you would like to share, simply swipe over the URL in the Address Bar to Select it, then use a Copy command (Control-C from the keyboard), as seen below...



2. Begin your CZ Forum post in the appropriate sub-forum. While you are in the text entry mode, hit the Enter key twice, then use a Paste command (Control-V from the keyboard). This will place the URL of the video into the text of your message. (None of the forum's Image or Hyperlink buttons are needed.)

NOTE: The video will not appear in the text Entry/Edit or in PREVIEW modes.

3. SAVE your message and the video will appear at an appropriate size. If you go back into Edit mode, your video will once again appear only as a simple URL hyperlink.


Hope this helps.