How to post thumbnails correctly! (1 Viewer)

[MacNara]

When the new forum design came out, and then again last week, I posted about my annoyance with the new thumbnails. Most people are posting square thumbnails with a title such as dsc-2818.jpg, and this is a crop of the actual photo, so sometimes the bird is visible, but sometimes not.

I have now realised that almost all of us are doing it wrongly!

In the old forum design, you clicked 'attach photo', selected a photo on your computer, and then it appeared as a thumbnail the same shape as the original photo. You posted, and when someone clicked on it it expanded.

Most posters using the new forum (including me, up to now) are treating the upload system as though it was the same as this old system, so once we click 'attach photos' and the square thumbnails appear we leave finish the uploading process. If you do this, the square thumbnails appear with your post.

BUT - the new system is actually a two-stage process. AFTER uploading the photos via 'Attach photos' so the square thumbnails appear, and before actually posting your thread or reply, you should click on 'Insert' which appears on top of the square thumbnail. If you do this you are given two options 'Fullsize' or 'Thumbnail'. If you click on 'Thumbnail' a proper thumbnail in the same proportion as the original photo or photos appears (it may be inside the text if you have the cursor there - in which case, backspace to delete, move the cursor to the end, and click 'Thumbnail' again). If you now post, it is these proper thumbnails which appear with your post, and the square ones do not. But if you omit the choice of 'Thumbnail', then the square thumbnails appear with your post. The reason it's confusing is that when you choose 'Thumbnail', the proper thumbnails apppear in your preview, but the square thumbnails are still visible. But they will not appear when you actually post if you have chosen 'Thumbnail' (or equally, if you choose 'Fullsize').

Example: Have a look at the thread 3 Species / Africa Most of the posts contain the square thumbnails. One post of mine has a fullsize picture. My post at the end of the thread has five 'proper thumbnails' inserted as described here.

Threee clicks, not one: Attach - Insert - Thumbail

I think these proper thumbnails are much nicer to look at and more useful than the square ones.

I hope this helps.

 

[KC Foggin]

If you are talking about a photo in a thread, a single click on the original upload will give you a choice of thumbnail or full image. Just click one of them.

 

[RafaelMatias]

When the new forum design came out, and then again last week, I posted about my annoyance with the new thumbnails. Most people are posting square thumbnails with a title such as dsc-2818.jpg, and this is a crop of the actual photo, so sometimes the bird is visible, but sometimes not.

I have now realised that almost all of us are doing it wrongly!

In the old forum design, you clicked 'attach photo', selected a photo on your computer, and then it appeared as a thumbnail the same shape as the original photo. You posted, and when someone clicked on it it expanded.

Most posters using the new forum (including me, up to now) are treating the upload system as though it was the same as this old system, so once we click 'attach photos' and the square thumbnails appear we leave finish the uploading process. If you do this, the square thumbnails appear with your post.

BUT - the new system is actually a two-stage process. AFTER uploading the photos via 'Attach photos' so the square thumbnails appear, and before actually posting your thread or reply, you should click on 'Insert' which appears on top of the square thumbnail. If you do this you are given two options 'Fullsize' or 'Thumbnail'. If you click on 'Thumbnail' a proper thumbnail in the same proportion as the original photo or photos appears (it may be inside the text if you have the cursor there - in which case, backspace to delete, move the cursor to the end, and click 'Thumbnail' again). If you now post, it is these proper thumbnails which appear with your post, and the square ones do not. But if you omit the choice of 'Thumbnail', then the square thumbnails appear with your post. The reason it's confusing is that when you choose 'Thumbnail', the proper thumbnails apppear in your preview, but the square thumbnails are still visible. But they will not appear when you actually post if you have chosen 'Thumbnail' (or equally, if you choose 'Fullsize').

Example: Have a look at the thread 3 Species / Africa Most of the posts contain the square thumbnails. One post of mine has a fullsize picture. My post at the end of the thread has five 'proper thumbnails' inserted as described here.

Threee clicks, not one: Attach - Insert - Thumbail

I think these proper thumbnails are much nicer to look at and more useful than the square ones.

I hope this helps.

Nice one MacNara!

 

[MacNara]

Nice one MacNara!

Thank you. But since I've been complaining about it so much, I feel a bit of a fool for not having worked this out sooner. On the other hand, most other people don't seem to have done so, either.

One problem is that the link that says 'Attach files' should really say, 'Upload files'. The separate 'Insert' button is not so obvious because it overlays the square thumbnail. And I think a lot of people may be clicking insert, but failing to then choose one of the options 'Thumbnail' or 'Fullsize'. And the fact that the square thumbnails remain visible on the compose page even if you choose Insert>Thumbnail confuses people.