Hi You'll probably get lots of advice, but I upload my pictures to Shutterfly.com and post from there. I can tell you how if you wish. I know a lot of people use Photobucket on the Gardenweb, but I seem to do ok with what I use. I store my photos in Picasa to start with. THat's where my pics go directly from my camera.
Where do you live? Maybe I could phone you...not trying to get fresh here!!!! Marge

I use Photobucket (photobucket.com). There's lots of them, just make sure the site allows direct linking.

If you choose Photobucket: After you set up an account (free), upload photos from your computer to Photobucket. Large photos will be automatically resized. Go to Account Options and in the album options section, where it says "Make Account Public" make sure 'yes' is chosen.

After the photos are uploaded, you can resize them so that they don't end up being huge on the Garden Web page. How much you scale them down depends on how big they were when they uploaded. I usually scale to 75% but sometimes I don't need to scale at all. You have to double click the photo first in Photobucket, to see how big it is on the screen.

If you have a browser with tabs then open Photobucket in one tab and Gardenweb in the other (if no tabs, then use two windows). In your Gardenweb text, everywhere you want to add a picture you jump over to the Photobucket page, copy the TAG line (second box underneath the Photobucket picture you want to embed) into the text. When you preview your message, your photos should appear. If they don't then something is amiss, back up and try again.

Someone (Ian?) recently gave instructions on how to post thumbnails instead of big photos so that the threads don't take so long to open, but I can't get that to work for me so I can't advise you on that.

I use flickr.com

Once you upload your pictures and click on "all sizes", it gives you the code to cut and paste into your posts to insert either thumbnails or a variety of sizes.

I use Photobucket too. I have never had to resize my pictures, they don't stretch the screen.

About the use of thumbnails, I have mixed feelings. I know pics are slow to load for some but I have to admit (guiltily) that I am sometimes too lazy to open them and look. It seems like a lot of trouble. Sounds awful but it's true.

To make a thumbnail, check the photo you want, then click on Generate IMG code right at the bottom right corner.

Copy and paste the first code where it says HTML clickable thumbnails for Ebay, Livejournal, MySpace, etc.
I usually cut out the center code out so that your photo will be on the left side of the page.

Also, we should be keeping the file size of our pics at 60kb or less as per GardenWeb instructions. That should help with loading times if you don't want to do thumbnails.

I've always wanted to know, Sharon: how do you frame your photos? You always seem to have matching borders, and they make your pictures even lovelier. Is there a framing option on Photobucket, or do you add the border on your computer?

Doris

Thanks Doris, no Photobucket doesn't have the border/frame feature, I use Paint Shop Pro7 for this ;)

Sharon

here goes

Wow Stanly what a beautiful cottage border!!! So colourful and dense!

Thanks very much. The front of my yard turned our really nice this year. Since I'm such a "pro" at downloading, I'm going to try some more pictures. Longiflorum lily Triumphator

Those are beautiful too (love the longiflorum)- just one tip - you have text and pictures bunched up on the same line. To avoid this, give each picture its own line... like this:

Type some text here... this is my lily... whatever

(put the contents of your TAG box here - to link the photo)

Then keep typing here. This lily did really well this year. Not so well last year.

This will make it easy to see :) Hope you don't mind the advice.

Bravo Stanly, love your Jack and Trumpet Lilies, beautiful!

Your flowerbed is exactly what I keep trying to get mine to look like! I love it...

Northspruce, thank you for your advice, I certainly don't mind. It's one of the reasons we are all here to share our knowledge. Next time I upload some pictures, I'll try doing what you said. After a couple of days of rain, the flower beds look pretty sad but there are still some very nice plants in there and since we're supposed to have some nice weather in the next few days, I'll take some more pictures.

How do you post a link or URL to show your web site?

Sask girl, as you're typing in the "Post a Follow-Up" section, it's the "Optional Link URL:" at the bottom of the page. You have to type something in "Name of Link", or it won't work.

So what you do is open another window with your website, then copy the contents of your "address" bar in your Internet Explorer window (assuming you are using IE), and then go back to your Garden Web message and paste that into the "Optional Link" place.

If you start a new thread, there is a similar area to insert the URL.

test run
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg112/aprilscott12/June25th2007flowers030.jpg

Close, use the contents of the HTML code box, not the diect link. :)

So, since I also have never done this...

Gil, here is the address for my photobucket site... but what if I wanted people to just click on the link at the bottom of the message to get into my whole photobucket site not just a specific picture?

http://valleyrimgirl.thenewtonfamily.ca/

but here goes trying to post a specific picture as a link at the bottom of a message ...

Okay, I typed the message above and then tried and tried...and the FN kept rejecting it...so by trial and error (many errors) ...

-I opened up my photobucket album I wanted to share with everyone in a separate page
-saw that under each picture is 4 options of sharing the picture.
-I usually use the HTML code when posting a picture right in my message like I do when posting into the gallery.
-the first option worked! It is called...Email and IM
-So, I copied and pasted the EMail and IM code from my photobucket site to the Optional Link URL just below the message I am typing.
-gave the 'Name of the Link' a description...Barbara Mitchell Daylily'
-When I went to preview my message the link came up.

Learned something today!

Now how do I give the link to my whole album and not just one picture???
Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi Brenda. When I copied http://valleyrimgirl.thenewtonfamily.ca/ into my browser bar, I was taken to your photobucket site without a problem.

So then I put the same link into the Optional Link URL at the bottom of this message and also didn't have a problem.

Maybe you just caught GW having a bad day.

I'd like to know how you got http://valleyrimgirl.thenewtonfamily.ca/ to turn into photobucket? When I paste my photobucket string it's about a mile long and isn't something simple with a .ca at the end. Is there somewhere in photobucket I can set this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Brenda's photobucket site

Pudge, a nephew of mine works for a computer company and he (on his own without me asking) did the 'magic'. I have no idea how he did what he did to redirect it to Photobucket.

I love the ability to be able to give out an address without having to explain to someone who has never heard of photobucket how to find my albums.

So, let me try this whole album link 'thing-a-ma-doey'...

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Brenda's photobucket site

Yup, what Pudge did worked for me too.

An interesting note for people interested in internet privacy, if you name your photobucket account anything to do with your real name it will quite often end up visible to all & sundry. I called mine "northspruce" because you never know where it will be visible. Not that I care who sees it on GW, most of you know my name and address anyway. ;)

wow! you folks are amazing. Just as I was thinking of how to post new pictures, there is the old thread. I can't believe it was 2005. Time flies and Thank you again everyone!

Stan