Master screenshot post

[psychoadept]

If your image link does not end in .jpg, .png, .gif, or another image format extension it will not show up in img tags.

There have been several good how-tos on posting screenshots. This post compiles all of them so that we can have one sticky topic on screenshots. Links to the original posts are provided, but the posts have been locked. If we need to update these methods, leave a comment here or contact a moderator.

This one is easy and no "enrolling":

1.  Take a screenshot of what you want others to see;  you can use the built-in Windows "Snipping Tool", Irfanview's Options/Capture Screenshot, or a zillion other apps.

2.  Go to https://imgur.com/upload

3.  Browse to or drag image, upload

4.  When image appears on the site, you can either:

  a)  Right-click it and choose "Copy link/file/image location (exact dialog will depend on your browser)";  be sure this gives a link to the image file itself--in other words, the link should end in an image extension like *.jpg.  You can then use the MusicBee forum's "Insert Image" dialog button and insert the link, which will embed the image itself in the post.

  b)  Or, click on the Imgur "Copy" button they provide there, which will produce a no-extension link you can insert into a post using the "Insert Hyperlink" button.  This provides a LINK to the image in your post instead of embedding it as in a), which is preferable if you want to use a huge image that otherwise would take up too much real estate in the forum, which can be annoying.

Be sure you check your post first using "Preview" to be sure it's what you want before hitting "Post" (note the difference between using "Insert Image" and "Insert HyperLink").

Other sites/methods abound, but as I said, this is the one that works easiest for me.

ShareX is a free and open-source screenshotting and screencasting program, which has a possibly rather overwhelming set of features and settings.

But without going through all the options, it can be a very easy to use tool for just making a simple screenshot and creating a shortcut link that can be used for adding a screenshot to your forum post.

This is a quick and short tutorial to accomplish just that.

Start ShareX, select 'Capture', and then from the underlying menu select your required method of capturing.
For this example you could use 'Region'.
That will allow you to select the area of the screen you want to capture.



When that area has been captured, you will see the filename of that capture appearing in the main panel.
Right-click on that filename, select 'Copy', and then 'Forum (BBCode) linked image'.
That will place a shortcut into your clipboard, which you can directly paste into your forum message.



That's it.

You can also set ShareX up, so that when you right-click on an existing image file, and then select 'Upload with ShareX', you get presented this panel, from where you can also quickly create a working link.

To add an image to a post:

1. Create the image by taking a screenshot with the PrtScn button and paste the image into an application such as Paint. Save the image. Alternatively, you can use another application such as Windows Snip to create the image.

2. Crop the image to show what you want to display and possibly add markings to highlight certain areas. You can use Paint for this.

3. Upload the image to an image hosting site such as MediaFire or ImageShack. These are both free image hosting sites.

4. Get the direct link to the image and copy it. This link cannot be a page which has the image on it, but must be the actual address of the page. It should end in .jpg, .bmp, or .png if it is the address of the image, such as http://www.example.com/screenshot.jpg.

5. In the post that you want to add the image to, you can simply paste the link and post it.

(Advanced) To make the image actually appear in the post
6. Surround the direct link with these tags to make the actual image appear:

Code

[img][/img]

7. You can make the image link somewhere by adding these tags:

Code

[url=http://www.example.com/link][/url]

So the full link would look like

Code

[url=http://www.example.com/link][img]http://www.example.com/screenshot.jpg[/img][/url]

8. Now, you can center your image by adding these tags:

Code

[center][/center]

9. Finally, you can resize the image so it doesn't take up the whole page by adding 'width=' or 'height=' in the img tag, so it would look like:

Code

[center][url=http://www.example.com/link][img width=200]http://www.example.com/screenshot.jpg[/img][/url][/center]

So, as you can see, it can get complicated. But of course, the final steps are not entirely necessary.

For additional tags, please see this page. I am not sure if they are all implemented here.

[psychoadept]

A further note if you're embedding the image: if the URL you use doesn't end in an image file extension like .jpg or .png, the image will not show up in the final post. Often imgur and other sites provide a link for the image that points to a "holder" page on their own site and you have to dig a little to find the direct link.

[MeH]

Good post  

[Mauser69]

I do not know if things are different now than back in 2019, but my initial attempts to follow the first example (for the imgur site) did NOT work.  Copying the link from their page never had the right stuff.  

But what DID work is to click on the "..." button (next to their "Copy link" button), then select "Get share links".  Now just copy the "BBCode (Forums)" link shown on the Share Options window and paste it directly into a forum post here WITHOUT using any Insert Image function from this site.

[phred]

Now just copy the "BBCode (Forums)" link shown on the Share Options window and paste it directly into a forum post here WITHOUT using any Insert Image function from this site.

Yeah, that "insert image" icon on the post a reply window has never worked and probably should be removed. Although it may be part of the forum software over which we have no control. But I'll post something on the website issues thread to see what can be done.

[Mauser69]

OK, a bit more testing with the imgur site, and this DOES work with the "Insert Image" button here:

1.  Upload an image to imgur.com (I used the W10 screen snip tool).
2.  Hoover the mouse over the image now on imgur.com and click on the "Copy link" button.
3.  Back on this forum, click on the "Insert Image" button and past the link, but at the end of the pasted information ADD the file extension(".png" for me).  No other change is needed.
4.  Now when you click OK, the correct link will be inserted in your post to embed the image.

[phred]

After some fiddling around, I've determined that the "insert image" icon does indeed work. You just need to enter the correct URL
The screenshot below was posted using the "insert image" with the URL as shown in the second screenshot.

[Mauser69]

Yup, the problem I had is not with the "Insert Image" button at all, it was the incomplete link that the imgur.com site gives you (as noted in post #5 above).  So EITHER the instructions from post #3 or #5 work with that site.

[frankz]

1. Right-click the uploaded image on IMGUR
2. Select (in Chrome) Copy Image Address.  In Edge, it's Copy Image Link.  I'm sure there's an identical option in Firefox or the browser of anyone's choice.
3. Paste into the "Insert Image" box in the forum

It is supremely uncomplicated.

[Mauser69]

Ouch, that hurt frankz.  Such public shaming demands that I either slink away and hide in shame, or do more testing in a feeble effort to defend myself.

While I am undoubtedly incompetent at many things, I never considered that Right Clicking was one of my abject failures.  And I will swear seven times on seven stacks of pancakes that what you described as "supremely uncomplicated" is EXACTLY what I tried the very first time I attempted to insert a screenshot yesterday.  And since I only use Firefox, I felt certain that something special there would be my saving grace.

So of course I rushed right out to re-test it today in order to "prove" that I wasn't really that dumb.  Can you see me slinking away in shame now?

Of course it works exactly as you describe - it is just that simple.  Even with Firefox.

[frankz]

Don't sweat it man it's just a picture 🙂

[phred]

Here's a really simple way to attach an image to a post here on the forum

- Create your screenshot
- To to https://gifyu.com/
- Drag your screenshot to the place that says "Drag and drop or paste images here to upload"
- Click "upload"
- Click on "embed codes"
- Scroll to the second group of codes (Thumbnail image)
- Click inside the box that says "BBCode" and click "copy"
- Paste the copied URL into your post

PLEASE ALWAYS USE THE THUMBNAIL CODE AS IT WILL POST A SMALLER IMAGE WHICH WHEN POSTED CAN THEN BE ENLARGED BY CLICKING ON IT.

[hiccup]

Here's a really simply way to attach an image to a post here on the forum

Good find phred!
(spelling is not so good ;-)

[phred]

Good find phred!
(spelling is not so good ;-)

It was your find, hiccup. Credit where credit is due.

I had to read my post three times just now before I saw the typo. Even with your quoting it.  <sigh>

[hiccup]

Please don't hate the vile side of my personality ;-)