BGC posting tips: Graphics & long URLs

[Mark Barnes]

We've all seen (and probably been annoyed by) threads where you have to scroll laterally across the board to be able to read all the text. This happens as the result of the thread containing either: (1) a large graphic posted inline ("hotlinked"); or (2) a long URL (website address) or other unbroken text string.

Graphics. Posters should use their best judgment in determining how their graphic is presented. Sometimes it makes more sense to post a link to the graphic rather than to hotlink it and make the entire thread difficult to read for everyone. At some point, we hope to have a board modification to address this but, in the meantime, the burden is on us.

Long URLs. Several times a day, I'll end up fixing the ones I find by adding a small bit of code that reduces the long URL to a single work (usually "Link").

For those who haven't yet picked up on this code to use in their own posts, I want to demonstrate how it works.

Example 1:

Below is a simple typed URL, which is "clickable" by default (just run your mouse over it and see).

http://www.frontiernet.net/~campuscomm/johncarp.jpg

Example 2:

Now, here's the code we want to use to shorten this up so that, instead of this long URL, only the word "photo" is displayed in the form of a link. Here's what the code looks like:

Code:

[url=http://www.frontiernet.net/~campuscomm/johncarp.jpg]Photo[/url]

Using the code above produces a one-word link to the photo (which doesn't wreck the formatting of the page! ):

Photo

This bit of code will work with any URL (doesn't have to be a picture). You can even practice using the code on this thread, using the "preview" function to see if you're getting it right.

Again, if everyone who posts links here on the BGC would kindly take a minute to learn this simple and very useful code, it will save me some time each day and make the board easier to read for your fellow BGC members.

Thanks!

Last edited by Mark Barnes on Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:51 am, edited 3 times in total.

[dauntless9]

Mark, can you make this a "Sticky"?

I know I have been guilty of posting long URLs and have been frustrated having to scroll across to read all posts. 15" monitor doesn't go a long way.

Thanks Mark!

Deke

[voxmiester]

Yea when I post pictures I always try to do my best to m ake sure they're less then 800 pixels wide (most peoples browser)

Maybe there could be an html code for resizing the pics like you'd do in an html editor for a website.

[blckout420]

this is good information. Thanks.

[Jamie]

Thanks Mark. I was wondering how to shorten those url's to just 'link'. Cool I just fixed my puppy pictures AND link! neato woohoo

[jimi43]

Another tip is that if you hover over the URL or IMG buttons a help tip comes up below it.

Can someone let me know what "CODE" does please?

Thanks

Jimi

[Mark Barnes]

jimi -- the "code" tag preserves the formatting of your post. Check my example above -- if I hadn't placed it in a "code" box, the board software would've displayed the link instead of the URL surrounded by tags. The "code" tag is also useful for posting "tab," where you want your text to be spaced very precisely.

[jimi43]

Thanks Mark.

I understand the first bit to preserve code but not sure about the "tab" bit

Can you explain further please?

Cheers

Jim

[Mark Barnes]

jimi -- "tab" meaning "tabulature," where you have to have precisely-spaced characters. Here's an example:

Code:

          A      E       F#m   A7/G 
There are places I'll remember . . .

       D    Dm           A
All my li----fe, though some have changed.


Looks OK, right?

Here's the same pasted text, without the "code" tags:

A E F#m A7/G
There are places I'll remember . . .

D Dm A
All my li----fe, though some have changed.

Yikes -- not so good!

This is what I mean about preserving the formatting.

[jimi43]

ok gottit now mate -thanks for the clear update.

Cheers

Jimi

[gingerly]

Wow Mark... thanks. What a guy, eh? Didn't you also used to have a career in law, or something?

[Mark Barnes]

gingerly wrote:

Didn't you also used to have a career in law, or something?

I'm completely open to other offers.

[Al Steen]

Groovy man, just fixed my sig ....

[NickD]

The way you avoid long lines of text that stretch across the screen
necessitating scrolling is to hit "Enter" (a manual carriage return) at the
end of each line of text as you type it into the box, instead of letting the
entry box automatically wrap the lines for you.

Short text lines are always easier read on a screen than long ones.

This post was written by hitting "Enter" as I reached the right edge of the
entry box while typing each sentence.

Here's what happens if you let the board program wrap the text for you:

The way you can avoid long lines of text that stretch across the screen necessitating scrolling is to hit "Enter" at the end of each line of text as you type it into the box, instead of letting the entry box automatically wrap the lines for you.

Not good. If I had posted a large photo, the text would have stretched
all the way the length of the photo making it infuriating to read.

The default line length is always the widest object in a thread. So if the
widest object in a thread is the page width, the text will be the length
of the page width. If I post a photo which is twice the width of the
default page, all of the text in the thread (including other people's posts)
will be stretched out to that width.

So use manual carriage returns when entering text, so that your text will
always appear the width of the text entry box, which is a nice comfortable
line length to read.

[Mark Barnes]

Great tip, Nick . . .

[Voxman 4120]

Here is another tip:

Since the subject of long URL's was mentioned. Here is a site that will take a long URL
and chop it down and reshape it into something much shorter
so you can send it or do whatever to it that you want.
I hope this helps.

http://tinyurl.com/

[NickD]

It's a good idea in theory, but I wouldn't use that site, because they are in
the business of harvesting information about you and your computer for
spam marketing.

Every time you use their service to shorten an url, it puts you in their
database.

You'll notice that the new "tiny url" they make out of your url always starts
with the address of their website.