Stasia t'Andrei
Aes Sedai
Since I’ve seen lots of people ask about how to post GIFs and other images on the boards, I decided to write up this post with some instructions and suggestions.
How to find GIFs:
- On mobile, the only app I have had consistent luck with is Giphy. YMMV but that is what I’ll provide instructions for in this post.
- On PC/Mac, you have a lot more options. A quick Google Image Search will do the trick in a pinch!
- You can always upload and host your own! But if you know how to do that you probably don’t need this guide.
***
How to get your GIF or Image link:
To post a GIF or other image, you’ll need to have a direct image link. Instructions are different depending on the device you’re using (note that depending on your browser/app, the exact words might be different as well, but the general process is the same). If the image is saved on your phone or computer, you’ll have to host it yourself. I use Imgur, but there are a lot of other hosting sites available- just don’t use Photobucket or other similar paid sites, it will result in an ugly watermark on your image.
On PC:
On Mac:
On iOS Giphy app:
On iOS Imgur app:
[Android instructions coming soon]
***
How to actually write your post:
Congrats, you made it this far! You have a link and now you’re wondering what to actually do with it. Here’s how to get that picture into your post.
Option 1: Click the Image button in Rich Text Edit mode, paste in your link, and click insert.
Option 2: Use the IMG BB code tags.
Either way will result in the image showing up in your post!
***
Troubleshooting:
Still having issues? Here are some common things to look for:
- Does your link end in a file format (.gif, .png, .jpg, etc.)? If it doesn’t, you probably grabbed an album link, not the direct link. You can post album links if you’d like but only as regular URLs, not images.
- Some sites don’t allow hotlinking, which means you could follow these instructions exactly and the image still wouldn’t show. Of the most popular GIF sites, I know Tenor doesn’t, so don’t bother with them!
- Different sites are blocked by different employers, browser extensions, and even countries. If you follow these instructions and your images still aren’t working, that may be your issue. For example, I use a Facebook blocker so any images linked from Facebook don’t show for me, but they do for other people.
***
If you’re still having trouble, feel free to post here and I or others can try to assist you. However, we can’t help if you don’t show us what you were trying to post! So please be sure to copy it over when you ask for help.
Happy GIFing!
How to find GIFs:
- On mobile, the only app I have had consistent luck with is Giphy. YMMV but that is what I’ll provide instructions for in this post.
- On PC/Mac, you have a lot more options. A quick Google Image Search will do the trick in a pinch!
- You can always upload and host your own! But if you know how to do that you probably don’t need this guide.
***
How to get your GIF or Image link:
To post a GIF or other image, you’ll need to have a direct image link. Instructions are different depending on the device you’re using (note that depending on your browser/app, the exact words might be different as well, but the general process is the same). If the image is saved on your phone or computer, you’ll have to host it yourself. I use Imgur, but there are a lot of other hosting sites available- just don’t use Photobucket or other similar paid sites, it will result in an ugly watermark on your image.
On PC:
Right click on the image, then select “Copy Image Location”. Paste into your post.
On Mac:
Ctrl+click on image, then select “Copy Image Address”. Paste into your post.
On iOS Giphy app:
Select the gif you want, then click the share button (paper airplane).
Next select “Copy GIF link” (not “Copy GIF”!).
You’ll get a “Link Copied!” message if you did it correctly.
Paste into your post.
Next select “Copy GIF link” (not “Copy GIF”!).
You’ll get a “Link Copied!” message if you did it correctly.
Paste into your post.
On iOS Imgur app:
Select the post containing the image you’d like to share.
Next select the individual image you’d like to share.
Click the share button at the bottom of the screen.
Select “Copy Link”.
Paste into your post.
Next select the individual image you’d like to share.
Click the share button at the bottom of the screen.
Select “Copy Link”.
Paste into your post.
[Android instructions coming soon]
***
How to actually write your post:
Congrats, you made it this far! You have a link and now you’re wondering what to actually do with it. Here’s how to get that picture into your post.
Option 1: Click the Image button in Rich Text Edit mode, paste in your link, and click insert.
Option 2: Use the IMG BB code tags.
Code:
[img]your link goes here[/img]
Either way will result in the image showing up in your post!
***
Troubleshooting:
Still having issues? Here are some common things to look for:
- Does your link end in a file format (.gif, .png, .jpg, etc.)? If it doesn’t, you probably grabbed an album link, not the direct link. You can post album links if you’d like but only as regular URLs, not images.
The imgur album I have for all the pics in this post is https://imgur.com/a/ZqOR81N. If I try to post that in image tags it does not result in any images:
However if I use the image links from within that album, you get all the pictures you've seen throughout this post!
However if I use the image links from within that album, you get all the pictures you've seen throughout this post!
- Some sites don’t allow hotlinking, which means you could follow these instructions exactly and the image still wouldn’t show. Of the most popular GIF sites, I know Tenor doesn’t, so don’t bother with them!
- Different sites are blocked by different employers, browser extensions, and even countries. If you follow these instructions and your images still aren’t working, that may be your issue. For example, I use a Facebook blocker so any images linked from Facebook don’t show for me, but they do for other people.
***
If you’re still having trouble, feel free to post here and I or others can try to assist you. However, we can’t help if you don’t show us what you were trying to post! So please be sure to copy it over when you ask for help.
Happy GIFing!
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