| I think the title is self-explanatory. If it's not, this is a tutorial on how to post pictures in your Xanga entries because, as we all know, pictures spice up your entries and make it a lot prettier. Unfortunately, when people decide to read their subscriptions, they see a lovely <IMAGE HERE> instead of the actual image, but that's okay. They'll see the image when they actually visit your Xanga. This tutorial was mainly written for the crazily-hyper-but-awesome Linda, but there's nothing stopping you from using it, too.
So, first things first. I'll be going through three ways to post pictures on Xanga
One: uploading images to Xanga and posting them.
Two: uploading images to Imageshack and posting them.
Three: uploading images to Photobucket and posting them.
Ready? Get set! Go!
Actually, a little note before we start. As you probably know, people on the Internet are an impatient lot. They don't like waiting. That means they don't like waiting for your huge images to load, so they can see them. If you have Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro or something, you can optimize your images to make the image size smaller - which in turn leads to quicker image loading. If you don't, you could always save your images in GIF format (although this tends to screw up your image because your image loses colors, so it's unadvisable if you're posting color-heavy images, such as photographs). Whatever you do, do not save your images as BMP if you are using Microsoft Paint. BMP image files are ridiculously big. Save them as JPG.
For the less web-savvy, that means if your image URL has .bmp at the end, it will be ridiculously huge. People don't like that. If you use MS Paint, you can save images as JPG by going to File and then Save As. After that, direct your attention to the bottom of the little window that pops up, where it says Save as type:. Currently, mine says "24-bit Bitmap (*.bmp;*.dib)". That's bad. Click on the arrow pointing down and select "JPEG (*.JPG;*.JPEG;*JPE;*JFIF)". Then you can save your image. Got it? Now it's time to start.
Uploading Images to Xanga + Posting Them
Xanga now allows you to upload images, so if you don't want to use Photobucket and/or Imageshack, you can use Xanga. Keep in mind, however, that only 200 MB is/are allowed. Regarding images, that's not really a whole lot of space. I stress again that you don't save images in BMP format.
If you're posting small images (for example, avatars and buttons), Xanga's Photo Manager should work well for you. Of course, you'll have to sign in, but that's all good. Now we'll start getting into the nitty-gritty.
To your right, you should see a menu titled "Photo Manager." Under that, you should see an arrow, followed by the word "All Photos." On the line under, you should see another arrow, followed by the word "Upload." (See picture?) Click on the word "Upload."
This will bring you to a place where you can upload your photos. Under the heading "1. Choose the Photos You Want to Upload", you'll see five blanks, each followed by a button named "Browse." (See picture?) Clicking on "Browse" should bring up a small window, where you can click through your files on your computer and find where your images are located. Generally, images from a digital camera should be under "My Pictures," which is under "My Documents," which is under "Desktop," unless you saved them to somewhere else. Images you saved from the Internet or something are most likely in your own folder, titled whatever you wanted to name it. (See picture?)
After that, press "Open" on the small window. (See picture?) This small window should close, and you'll then see something like "image.jpg is ready to upload!". Hooray. That's good. (Obviously, image.jpg will change, according to whatever your image was named. If whatever is here ends in .bmp, open your image in MS Paint, Photoshop, PSP, or whatever graphic system you use, and save it as either .jpg or .gif. JPG is good for photographs. GIF is good for anything that has solid blocks of color.
After that, you can click on the other "Browse" buttons to upload more images (click on "more photos" to get more blanks, up to ten). After that, scroll down, ignore Section 2 (which can be edited later and is not really needed) and click "Upload," which is all the way at the bottom, next to "Cancel." (See picture?) Ho hum. You wait for the image(s) to upload, and then you're brought to a page that screams at you, "Your photo(s) have been uploaded!" Yay. Now it's time to post the images
Make a new weblog entry (I'm assuming all of you know how to do that). See all those pretty buttons under "Main Entry"? Click on the one labeled "pic". If you have pop-up blocker on your computer, it might block the pop-up that should come up, so hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard (usually located around the spacebar, near the Alt button), and that should override it. The window should be named something like "http://upload.xanga.com - Xanga Photo - Upload" (See picture?)
There are three options for you to choose from. The first is to get an image from your computer. You already did this, through your Photo Manager, so unless you want to add more pictures now, ignore it. The next choice is how you're going to post your images when using Photobucket and/or Imageshack, so ignore that, too. The third one, labeled "Image already uploaded:" is what you need. You'll see a dropdown menu of the images you have uploaded. Pick one that you want to show and then click "Submit." (If you wanted to see the image you picked, click "View" next to the menu.) (See image?)
Your image should appear in your weblog entry now. (See picture?) Xanga automatically resizes your images, so if your image was huge (for example, 800 pixels in width, 600 pixels in height), you'll see a smaller version of your image. Not to worry; it's not permanent. Your visitors can always click on the image to get the full version. After that, you can upload more images the same way and then Submit your post.
Regarding the first choice in the pop-up that appears when you click on "pic", you could also use this to upload your images, because it's more or less the same thing. Pick whichever one suits you and use that for your image posting needs.
Uploading Images to Imageshack + Posting Them on Xanga
To do this, you must go to Imageshack.us. Imageshack is a very popular image hosting service. The good thing about it is that you don't have to register to use their services. They also have unlimited bandwidth, which means people can look at your images all they want, and the image will never - in a sense - "expire." Unfortunately, you can only upload one image at a time and each image cannot exceed 1.5 MB (which really shouldn't be a problem, actually). The concept of uploading images is more or less the same as using Xanga, but posting them involves actual URLs. If you didn't understand that, ignore it; it's not really that important.
Imageshack's index page already has the image uploading thing there for you, so you don't have to click on any other links. Like you did with Xanga's Photo Manager, click on "Browse" and locate your image. Refer back to my descriptions and pictures in the Xanga Photo Manager section if you need help. (See picture?)
After finding your picture, click "Open." In the blank space next to "Browse," you should now see something like C:\Folder\Folder\image.jpg. Once again, if this thing ends in .bmp, go back to your image editor and save your image in JPG or GIF. Underneath this, you should see two choices. One says "resize image?" with a dropdown menu next to it; the other says "remove size/resolution bar from thumbnail"?
The first one allows you to resize your images, which makes your images smaller in height and width, and also smaller in terms of its size in kilobytes. However, I wouldn't suggest resizing your images this way because there are fixed heights and widths, which could make your image look rather distorted. For example, let's take the first choice in the dropdown menu: 100x75 avatar. What if you had a 100x100 avatar and wanted to resize to 75x75? Imageshack would allow you to change the height to 75, but not the width, which would look sort of funny. The last choice on the dropdown menu is "optimize without resizing," which would make the file size of your image smaller. I've never used it, so I don't know how to good it is. You can try it if you want, since you can always upload your image again if it turns out looking screwy.
The second one (remove size/resolution bar from thumbnail?) refers to the fact that Imageshack automatically makes thumbnails for you. (Much like what Xanga does.) In these thumbnails, they have a black strip at the top, which tells people the size of the image. It's actually quite useful, so I'd keep it if I were you. It does, however, look a little ugly, so if you don't want it, I'll understand.
Once that's done with it, click on "host it!" (See picture?) This will bring you to a new page, where you'll see a lot of URLs (website addresses) provided for you. (See picture? I got rid of the ads between them to save space.)
If you wanted to use a thumbnail (a smaller version of your picture) on your Xanga, so people could click on the thumbnail and see your full-sized image, pick the first (next to "Thumbnail for Websites"). (See picture?) If you just wanted your full-sized picture, pick the last (next to "Direct link to image") (See picture?). When you've picked the right one, highlight the URL with your mouse, press Ctrl on your keyboard and then C while holding down on Ctrl. This will "copy" the URL, so you can later "paste" it.
Now create a new weblog entry (again, I'm assuming you know how). If you picked "Direct link to image," then you can click on the "pic" button (See picture?). After that, choose the second choice on the pop-up window (Image from a remote site), (See picture?) and highlight the blank where it says http://. Press Ctrl and then P while holding down on Ctrl. This should "paste" the URL of your image. Then press Submit. Your image should appear. (See picture?)
If you wanted to use thumbnails, you're going to have to use HTML to do it. Create a new weblog entry, and then click on the "Edit HTML" button on top of the textarea. (See picture?) After that, press Ctrl and then P while holding down on Ctrl. As Imageshack already generated the code for you, all you have to do is Submit your post, and you'll have a pretty picture in your post. You can always unclick the "Edit HTML" button to go back if you want to type text or something.
I think that concludes it for the Imageshack section. You can create an Imageshack account, but few people bother doing it. If you want an account, I suggest using Photobucket, which is more widely used. Scroll down for more.
Uploading Images to Photobucket + Posting Them on Xanga
Photobucket, like Imageshack, is an image hosting service. (Although it can apparently also host movies or something. I'm not really sure.) However, you have to register for an account. The upside is that you can upload multiple images at a time. Unfortunately, you also have a bandwidth limit and images that are too large will automatically be resized. For the purposes of displaying stock images or something, this usually isn't a bad thing. You also have 1 GB of image space, so that's good.
Photobucket's website is Photobucket.Com. The majority of people I know use Photobucket, as it also allows you to create albums, and sub-albums and such. In fact, I'm using Photobucket right now to upload the sample images.
On Photobucket's main page, you'll see a section at the left labeled "member login." If you already have an account, sign in. If not, click on the big red button labeled "Register Now." (See picture?)
First off, you have to choose a username. Pick your Xanga username or the name you usually use for online stuff like this. Then type in your password, re-type it, and click "Submit." (See picture?) If you picked a username somebody already claimed, you'll get a notice saying the username is unavailable, as well as a (usually, stupid) suggestion as to what you can change your username to. (See picture?) In this case, pick a different username.
After you pick a username that is available, you'll reach a page that says "Enter account information for username:". Obviously, "username" will change, depending on what username you picked. (See picture?) Fill in all the information (for the record, I'm not sure why they ask for your education level). Be sure to fill in a valid E-mail address and to click the box next to "Terms of Service," which means you agree to their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Then click Submit.
I'm not exactly sure, but I think you'll have to wait to receive a confirmation E-mail in your E-mail inbox. This E-mail should contain a link for you to click, which will activate your account. As I have no wishes to create a new Photobucket account, I'm not sure of this, but I'll assume that's how it works. Click on the link provided for you in the E-mail, which should lead you to a page that then leads you to log in. Log in.
This will bring you to your Photobucket album. Right at the top is where you can upload your images. (See picture?) If you want to upload more than one image at a time, click the dropdown menu next to "Submit Multiple Images" and click the number that you want. (See picture?)
After that, it's the same thing. Click the "Browse" button (See picture?) and find the image you're looking for. After finding the image, click "Open" in the small window that pops up, and then "Submit" to submit your image to Photobucket. (See picture?) Typing a description of the image is completely optional, and most don't do it.
You should be brought to a new page. Scroll down past the image upload area, where you should see a resized thumbnail of your image. Underneath the image, you should see the name of your image, followed by more URLs. Photobucket apparently doesn't allow you the benefit of thumbnails, so you can only directly post your image. Pick the first URL. (See picture?) Highlight it, press Ctrl and C while holding on to Ctrl to "copy" it, and then head back to Xanga.
Create a new weblog entry. Click on the "pic" button (See picture?) and choose the second choice (labeled "Image from a remote site" - See picture?). Highlight the http:// and then press Ctrl and P while holding down on Ctrl to paste the URL of your image. Press "Submit" and your image should appear. (See picture?) After that, you can add more images using the same process, or you can post your image. Hooray!
Questions & Comments?
If you're having problems with this and/or have questions, just comment, and I'll reply. I know I'm really good at confusing people, so yeah. Ask away, and I hope this helped. I changed the font and increased the line-height just for you, so it'd be easier to read, too. =D I apologize, however, for the ridiculous length of this tutorial. I didn't know it'd be that long. |
