How to Include Images in your Reviews
Pictures can add a lot of life and interest to your reviews and articles and we encourage you to use them wherever relevant. Indeed the standard format we use for reviews on this site requires the use of a thumbnail screenshot of each product recommended.
Including images in your article is a two stage process. First you must upload the image from your computer to this website. Second you must insert the uploaded image into your article or review. Happily both these steps can be carried out at the same time.
To upload an image open your article for editing and move the cursor to the position where you want to insert the image. If the image is large make sure you have the cursor on a blank line and, additionally, there is a blank line above and below.
Now click the Insert/Edit image icon
in the online HTML editor toolbar. When the next screen loads click on the Browse Server button.
At the bottom of the next screen select Upload Images and then browse to the image on your PC you want to upload. Make sure you have used a descriptive file name. If not, then change it. Then press Upload to transfer the image from your PC to the server.
Once uploaded you will see a thumbnail of the uploaded image. Click that image to insert it, then press OK.
You are not quite finished as you need to enter the alternate text box for the image. This text is important as it is displayed instead of the image in browsers with grahics turned off.
Just use a few words that describe your image. Here are some examples:
- RegSeeker main screen
- Statistics page Comodo firewall
- Configuration options for Opera browser
Now click OK and your image should now be inserted in your article.
That's it!
Images in Reviews
The software category reviews on this site use thumbnail images of each product recommended. The thumnails are linked to a larger image so that when a user clicks on the thumbnail the large image is displayed.
We use thumbnails that are 200 pixels wide. The large images that are linked to the thumbnail should be 500 pixels wide.
Our online html editor can be used to reduce your screenshots to these standard sizes but we recommend that you resize your screenshots on your own PC using a product like IrfanView or Photoshop as the quality will be much better.
Once you have uploaded both images you can edit your review. Place the cursor where you want to insert the image, click on the image button in the FCKEditor menu bar (yellow, with mountains and sun). The Image Properties windows pops up. Click on 'Browse Server', another window opens, listing the images in the image folder.
Now select the thumbnail image you uploaded earlier, and then on the far right click on the 'add' word to insert the image into the Image Properties window. Back in that window you should add an Alternate Text (text that is shown in case the image itself cannot be found for some reason). In the 'Align' drop-down list select 'left' or 'right', depending on what side of the paragraph you want the thumbnail to float. I also recommend to cofigure a few pixels horizontal spacing (HSpace) for better readability. I use 8. Before you click OK now to insert the image into your text select and copy the URL string at the top. We need it later.
Select the image in your text now (just click on it) and click on the weblink button of the FCKEditor (Globe symbol with chain at bottom). Place your cursor in the URL textbox and paste the string you've copied earlier. Now change the image name so it points to the larger version of it. Next, select the Target tab in the Link window. In there drop down the target list and select New Window (_blank). Click ok.
Now preview your changes and see how it works.


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nice thing. Worked fine..
I was thinking the same thing as Philip. I too think it would be useful to offer directory creation to keep the images organized. What I did in the meantime was naming my images according to my category using a prefix (vista_...). However, the list is not sorted by file name either - duh!
Regards,
George
The Drupal IMCE module we use to upload images doesn't offer the option to allow users to create directories. Maybe in the next version :>)
However I can do it for you manually. Just email me with the name of the folder you want to create
Gizmo
There is no easy fix for this guys as we are limited by the features available in the Drupal FCKEditor and IMCE modules.
Basically there are only two options offered for users to upload images:
1. Allocate each user a unique image folder based on their Drupal user ID. Users can only view their own folder.
2. Allow users to use a common image folder.
Now I use option 1. for registered site users and option 2 for Category Editors.
Using option 1 for Category Editors would solve the problem of the common image folder becoming cluttered but it creates another problem. When a software category changes editor the new editor won't be able to access the old editor's images. This would be a real problem.
While there is no elegant solution there is a kludge.
If you are going to upload images for your reviews email me and I'll use FTP to create a separate folder for that review category. You can then upload your images there.
Gizmo
I must be missing something. I see a few sub-directories in the images directory, but I don't see any way to create more. It sees to me that we'll soon have a mess if everyone uploads files to communal directories.
Cheers ~ Philip Spohn
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