How to Post Links and Pictures in General Discussion Boards in Community

To post an image on the boards or in your auction using an outside image host (other than eBay's Picture Services or Picture Manager):

First you need an outside image host. You cannot link to images stored on your computer. The best place to look for image hosting is through your ISP. If they offer space, use it. . . you're already paying for it. If you need a source other than your ISP, here is a list of free/pay image hosts for you to check out.

Things to remember when uploading (storing) images to your host:
- URLs (the address of your image) are case sensitive. Try to use all lower case letters when creating your file names.
- Do not use spaces or special characters when creating your file names.
- If you need to separate words use only the - or _ characters.
- Be sure to save your images with a .jpg or .gif file extension.

To post an image use the following code:
<img src="http://Your Image URL">
If you need more help adding images click here for a more detailed explanation.

Creating links:
Hot links are enabled on the boards which means you can simply type a URL and it will become a clickable link like so:
Link

If you want to create a clickable text link in your listings or

page use the following codes:

A link that opens in the same browser window:
<a href=http://www.zoicks.com/ebaylinks.htm>Click here</a> to see my eBay Tips.
It will look like this:
Click here to see my eBay Tips.

For a link that opens in a new browser window you need to add the TARGET attribute:
<a href=http://www.zoicks.com/ebaylinks.htm target=_blank>Click here</a> to see my eBay Tips open in a new window.
It will look like this:
Click here to see my eBay Tips open in a new window.

To make a picture a link:
<a href=http://Web Page URL><img src=http://Your Image URL border=0></a>
If you do not use the BORDER attribute of 0 your image will have a blue border around it.

Using the example above I'll use my signature gif to link to my eBay Tips:
<a href=http://www.zoicks.com/ebaylinks.htm><img src=http://www.zoicks.com/LesleyHummer.gif border=0></a>
Click on my signature above to see my eBay Tips.

It will look like this. When you click on it you will be directed to my eBay Tips page:

Click on my signature above to see my eBay Tips.

Simple HTML tags to spruce up your listings:
Bold on: Bold off: 
Italics on: Italics off: 
Underline on: Underline off: 
Strike through on: <s> Strike through off: </s>
Fonts on: Fonts off: 

The FONT tag requires that you add attributes to the tag to accomplish formatting. They are added with a space in between each attribute. Here are a few examples:
 - Sets the font size from 1 to 7 or +/-
For example: will make the font size one step bigger
 and will produce the same results - Sets font color using hex value or color name
 - Sets a primary and alternate font
Font faces with spaces in their names must be added with quotation marks: 

To put it all together:
This text will be hot pink Comic Sans MS Size 4
It will look like this:
This text will be hot pink Comic Sans MS Size 4

Here is a more complete list of HTML tags.

Here is a great color chart that includes the color name and hex code.

And if you need a color picker utility, check out this freeware program called ColorMania.

Posting HTML codes that display (and not execute) on the boards:
Less than (<) = <
Greater than (>) = >
Quotation mark (") = "
Ampersand (&) = &

A couple of great places to practice all of the above:
Jay's RanchoWeb Practice Board
PracticeWriter

Have fun!
Lesley

Lesley