Detailed Guide: How to Post Pictures - Detailing and Car Care Forum

I get this question quite a bit, so I decided to make a little tutorial on posting pictures. I'll sticky it for future reference in the Detailing FAQ.

By far, the easiest way to post pictures is to register for an Inner Circle Membership. With an Inner Circle Membership, you can use the little "drop down" box to automatically attach photos from your personal webspace. You also get a lot of other cool benefits like access to exclusive events and contests, hidden IP information, more webspace and non-expiring e-mail access.

Anyway, if you still want to do it the hard way, here's how to do it:

1) Navigate to the e-mail server mail.roadfly.com

You should see this screen:

2) Login to the e-mail server, using your primary username and password (the same info that you use to login to the message board). If you see this error repeatedly:

It means your free account has been archived due to inactivity. Free accounts automatically archive after 90-days of inactivity. We can't reset your account because we buy the e-mail licenses from another company, and they have restrictions on the temporary accounts. You'll need to Upgrade to an Inner Circle Membership to gain access to your account.

3) Once inside your account, locate the "Website" button:

Click it once to get to your webspace directory. Once you're at the directory, locate the "Browse..." button (Mac users might see "Choose File" instead):

4) A little window will pop open, like this:

You'll need to navigate to the location at which you've stored your photos on your computer. If the photos aren't stored on your computer, you'll need to stop what you're doing and store them somewhere on your computer (make sure you can remember where you stored them). Once they're on the computer, resume the upload process.

5) Here's the file I'm looking for:

Click the file name once, then click the "Open" button. The pop-up window will close automatically.

6) Now click the "Upload File" Button, and be patient for a few seconds. Your computer will upload your photo to our webserver. It can take as many as a few minutes, depending on your connection.

7) When the photo has been uploaded, you'll see it listed in your web directory:

You're now ready to "call the file" into your message post, but BE CAREFUL - file names are CasE SenSiTivE. Look closely at this screenshot - I have two files in my account, both with the same name, but with different cases.

The file named "regis.jpg" will call this file.

The file named "Regis.JPG" will call this file. As you can see, they're two completely different photos, despite having the same basic name...

8) Once you're back to the message boards, you can "call" your photos by using some very basic HTML. The basic protocol for calling photos is as follows:

<img src="http://members.roadfly.com/username/filename">

You'll need to change "username" to YOUR login name (i.e. "henry330" or "blkbmw740" or whatever), and you'll need to change "filename" to your file. Remember: File names are CAsE SeNsiTIVe, and you must include the complete file name as it appears in your personal webspace. You must use the < and " marks - they're vital!

Most common mistakes are:

- Filenames with spaces in them. Avoid spaces... use an underscore _ instead.
- Wrong case. DSC0001.JPG is not the same as DSC0001.jpg.
- Personal firewall software interferes with upload. Disable any personal firewall software.

So... if I wanted to call my photo of "Regis," I would type:

<img src="http://members.roadfly.com/admin_example/regis.jpg">

and you'd all see this:

Remember:

- File names are CaSE SenSITIvE. "file.jpg" is NOT the same as "File.JPG"
- Don't use spaces! Use_a_format_like_this_instead.
- Disable any personal firewall software - it interferes with the upload process.
- Be "picture friendly" - resize your photos to 500x375 or 640x480 if possible.
- PRACTICE posting in our Test Forum before posting here.
- For additional HTML help, see Echo Echo's simple HTML tutorials

Hope this helps.

-Steve

GURU REPORTS: Unbiased, independent, practical testing and evaluation of car care products.