can someone tell me how to post pictures
thanks
        mike

www.ar15.com/content/help/help.html?id=6

The biggest problem with posting pictures to ARFcom is image file hosting.  This is something I just can't understand.  People are constantly invoking the dreaded "Red-X" by using stupid, bandwidth limited services like PhotoBucket and ImageShack.  Once you exceed a certain number of hits (something VERY easy to do on a popular board like ARFcom) your image gets deleted.

Even stupider are those who try and hotlink off other hosts that specifically prohibit it like Geocities or FortuneCity.  With the image loading from their own browser cache instead of the web server, it looks just fine on their computer, but the rest of us get nothing but a Red-X or a substitute image, and the poster doesn't understand what the problem is.  "Hey, it looks ok for me, so it should work for everyone."  Sorry, the internet doesn't work that way.

What makes all this really, really stupid is every ARFcomer already has all the unlimited bandwidth, hotlinking allowed picture hosting they need - and it's free!!!  Unless you're actually stealing internet access from your neighbor's unsecured router or are a homeless turd stuck using the free PCs in the local public library, you probably connect to the internet at home through a commercial Internet Service Provider, or ISP.  And every ISP in the world gives you free "web space" as part of your monthly service package.  And guess what you use to post pictures to the web?  That's right, "web space."  And while most ISPs only give you 5 MB or 10 MB, that's more than enough to host dozens of typical web-formatted images.

All you have to do is look through the support pages of your ISP and they'll tell you exactly how to do it.  Usually it will require you to install an FTP Client (FTP = File Transfer Protocol).  Most ISPs will offer a free one.  Or you can search the web and find one.  I use WS-FTP and DirectFTP, both I got from FOSI's.  With it you'll log into the ISP's server. After that it's pretty much just Clicking&Dragging between windows in the FTP to upload the images to your ISP's web space.

Now let's say your email address is [email protected], and the image name is SeeingEyeCat.jpg.  The URL for the image will be something like:

http://www.isp.com/~arfcomer/SeeingEyeCat.jpg

--- or maybe something like this:

http://home.isp.com/arfcomer/SeeingEyeCat.jpg

And that's what you put between the "img" tags you read about in this link.  It varies a little between ISPs.  But if you read the easy-to-follow instructions on your ISP's Help or Support Pages, then you'll find out that it's not that difficult after all.  Plus you can always call your ISP's Tech Support Line for help setting up your FTP Client and web space.  After all, that's what they get paid for, and you're the one paying for it, so you should at least get your money's worth.

So as you can see, there is absolutely no reason that you can't successfully post images to ARFcom using your free web space and avoid nasty hotlinking warnings, bandwidth limits, or the dreaded Red-X.  No reason whatsoever.