First the disclaimer: I’m not an expert at this – I succeeded in getting it to work just yesterday after contacting several other Townhall bloggers for help. None of them had been successful using images and didn’t know exactly how to do it.
I was given some useful tips by Chris (at Townhall) and finally, by trial and error, I was able to get three images in a post. So, thinking that others might want to utilize this new capability, I thought that I’d write some (minimal) instructions.
Finally, realize that I too am a rookie at this and while I’ll do what I can to help, I’m unlikely to have many answers for anything outside of my own experiences.
This method apparently works on any of the prominent image types you’re likely to run across – GIF, BMP, and JPG. I have one of each in my post and each displays correctly.
If you want to see the post referred to in this document, here it is:
Trust MeStep One. The first and most important step is that the image must be hosted.
Apparently, you can’t just cut/copy the image from its source and paste it into the Townhall post editor. That’s what I tried and I couldn’t make it work. If anyone has found a way to use a simple copy/paste, please enlighten us all, ‘cause I was not successful doing that. It did look like it allocated space for an image – but the image never displayed.
So, again, you must upload the image to a hosting site. I used Photobucket.com but I’m told that Flickr.com also works. The hosting is free; you just have to sign up as a member. Since I used Photobucket, all of the following comments refer to how it was done using that site’s link code – I don’t know what/how Flickr provides to support image hosting – but probably something similar.
Once the image is in place on Photobucket, you link to it using the HTML they provide.
After the initial session, when you return to Photobucket, you’ll have to click on “My Albums,” then “Albums and Upload” to get to your images. Once the image(s) display, double-click the one you want to use and when it expands into a new window. You’ll copy the “Image Link Code” in the lower right part of the window into your post.
They provide four sets of link code - use the HTML code for “websites and blogs.” Simply copy the entire line of code by clicking in the box and CTRL “C”. Make sure you get it all since there is more code than can be shown in the size of the display field.
Now comes Step Two - the other shoe drops – kerTHUD.
Now you’ve got to paste the HTML code you picked up from Photobucket into the HTML generated by your Townhall post. To do that, you’ve got to switch the editor display from “Normal” (the default) to “HTML.” Do that by clicking HTML down at the lower left corner of the editor.
You’ll see the normal text display change to Etruscan or Sanskrit or something practically unreadable. You can actually make out your English words intermingled with assorted special characters (>, <, /, etc.). You’re on your own when it comes to locating the exact spot to paste in your HTML, but it will probably follow an end of paragraph (</p>) – and insert before the next new paragraph (<p>).
In my post, I just located the sentence that said, “Here is a graphic illustration of the “shovel-ready” contents of the democrat’s “stimulus bill” and pasted the Photobucket HTML immediately following that point (with a CTRL “V”).
Once your HTML image link is pasted into your post, you can Publish it and verify that all is ok. Returning to “Normal” before Publishing or leaving the edit display in “HTML” doesn’t seem to affect the outcome.
So, that is what worked for me – I hope it works for you as well. Good luck!
Thanx to Chris Regal who read over these instructions and “blessed” them, he was a big help.