How to post pictures to a thread

I have asked a few questions about this topic recently and received some great answers from 'Steinjr' and 'Cudaken' and others. I was actually able to understand their advise well enough to make it work! However, I received an e-mail from 'Cedarwoodron' asking me to try to document everything I went through in my learning curve because he suggested that there were others out there who could use a more detailed description. These instructions are a direct takeoff of 'Steinjr's and 'Cudaken's responses to my first enquiry on how to post pictures to a thread. There are other ways to do this.

One word of caution - now that I have learned to post pics I am looking at my models through the eye of the camera. You will be suprised at how many deficiencies pop out from that view. I have a lot of work to do!

General Overview. There are 3 parts to the process of posting your pictures:

1. Moving your pictures from your camera to your computer and organizing them

2. Moving your pictures into Photobucket

3. Moving your pictures from Photobucket to your posts to MRR

First, open a Photobucket account

1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com

2. Click on 'sign up' in the upper right hand corner

3. On the registration page enter a user name and password and answer the other questions. Make a note of your user name and password because you may need them later. Click on 'sign me up'

4. On the next screen you will be asked to sign up for the 'pro' version. According to Stein there is no reason to spend your money but you might want to read the small print. Stein's suggestion is to click 'no thanks'.

5. Next screen, accept the default setting 'public' for albums. You are now ready to post pics to Photobucket. Keep in mind that anyone will be able to view your 'public' pictures.

Next, download your pictures from your camera and organize them if you haven't done so already.

I use Olympus Camedia Master but you should be able to use whatever program came with your camera or the generic Microsoft stuff. Your goal here is to organize your pictures in the 'My Pictures' folder of your computer so that they can easily be found when you want to post them. I recommend using separate folders for each subject. Just be careful when you are setting up new folders within 'My Pictures' that you have selected 'Pictures' as the primary folder into which the album will be filed before you move any pictures. That means that on the list of folders the word 'Pictures' should be highlighted in blue or outlined in dotted lines. If a sub-folder is selected (outlined in dotted lines) when you are downloading from the camera the pictures will be filed under that sub-folder which may make them hard to find. Sub-folders are fine once you develop a sorting system for your pictures.

Open your browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) to start a post or respond to one.

1. Go to MRR forums. You will have to sign in to be able to post pictures.

2. Select your forum and either start a new thread or select the 'reply' in an existing thread to which you would like to post.

3. Enter your subject if you are starting a new thread.

4. Write your message to the point where you want to insert your picture(s).

Open a second browser window to work with Photobucket.

1. To open a second browser window, there should be a small icon on the bottom left of your screen representing your browser. (Internet Explorer looks like an 'e' with a orbiting band.) Click on it. Alternately, click on the minus sign on the upper right of your screen to minimize the current browser, and then click on the browser icon on your desktop to open the second browser window. In windows 7, right click on the browser icon and click on "open new tab". 

2. In the second browser, go to Photobucket and sign in (you may still be signed in from your registration). If you put Photobucket into your 'favourites' it will be easy to find.

3. You may want to organize your pictures in Photobucket in a similar manner to what you did in 'My Pictures' so click on 'create an album' and follow the directions on the screen.

4. To upload pictures to Photobucket from 'My Pictures' click on the green image that says"upload images and videos".

5. A pop up window will appear which will allow you to search your computer to locate the 'My Pictures' folder. When the pop up first appears it may not show the full listing of all the folders on your computer. If so, to the right of the top box there will be an icon showing a folder with an arrow pointing up. Click on that icon and you should get a list of all the folders on your computer. You may have to click on it a few times to reach the main menu.

6.Scroll down to the folder that contains the pictures you want to post. If the listing shows 'Pictures' with no subfolders showing, click on 'Pictures' and the list of subfolders should appear.

7. Click on the subfolder that contains your desired pictures. Your pictures should appear.

8. Double click on the picture that you want to post. The picture will then be posted to Photobucket.

9. Repeat the procedure to move as many pictures as you want by alternating between Photobucket and the 'My Pictures' browser windows. To alternate between browsers, click on the appropriate browser listing at the bottom of your screen. Set up as many albums as you will need in Photobucket as you move the pictures from 'My Pictures'. (There is a 'bulk' uploader option which I haven't explored yet. Maybe others can elaborate).

Posting your pictures to the MRR thread.

1. Go to the browser window where Photobucket is open. Click on the picture you want to post. You should get a larger view of the picture.

2. To the lower left of the image there will appear a box with 4 lines in it, one of which is 'Direct Link'.

3. Click on the text immediately to the right of the words 'Direct Link'. The box should highlight in blue and the word 'copied' should appear briefly highlighted in yellow to the left of the text .

4. Go to the bottom of the screen and click on the browser window that contains your post to the MRR forum. Your draft posting should appear.

5. Move the cursor to where you want the picture to appear.

6. Above the message box there will be a line of icons. Click on the one that looks like a piece of camera film. A window will appear labelled 'Insert Media'.(Edit March 2013 -  the camera film icon is actually for videos. It will work for single pictures but there is a single picture icon with a green "+" sign to the immediate left of the camera film icon that is intended for single pictures).

7. Move the cursor to the top box in the window that pops up, and right click the mouse. A menu will appear.

8. Click on 'Paste'. The URL (address in Photobucket) for that picture will appear in the box.

9. Click on' Insert'. The image should appear in the message box of your draft posting. Don't worry if the image is too big in the draft. It seems to come out OK when you post.

10. Continue adding pictures and/or text as you wish. (Edit March 2013 - adding a second picture to a post is a pain in the butt with the new Photobucket software. You have to move the cursor to the next line below the first picture to add the second picture and/or text relating to it. The cursor will not be visible (it is off screen at the bottom left of the picture). You need to hit 'end' and then 'return' (enter) to move the cursor to the next line below the first picture. This is ridiculously complicated but unless you get the cursor in the right place for the next picture the picture will not post. 

11. Click on 'Preview' at the bottom of the message to see your posting.

12. If happy, click on 'Post' !

Dave