how to show games/art?

[michaK]

Hello, I'm sorry if this question has already been answered but I was wondering how to add images to a post, or show games I've made.

I'm not very familiar with the internet besides navigating.

Anyway, do I need to have a website to showcase things or do you upload them here? And then how do you do that?

Any help would be apreciated.
Thanks.

[Mene-Mene]

You have to have to upload them off site and then link to them. You can do this via a free service or use your own website.

[bugala]

Ever since Samw3 showed dropbox link here in Forum, i have been using it and found it to be very handy.

Heres my referral link that gives extra 250 Mb for both you and me if you use it to join:
https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTMzNzU0Njg5

Shortly it gives you 2.0 Gb + 250 Mb Webstorage space that you can use to sync with your computer.

That in practice means that you can simply copy for example picture to a folder called "Mydropbox/public" in your own computer, and then you right click on that pictures name in tha folder and choose from menu "Copy public link" and then you just paste that to here in forum and everyone can check that picture.

For the idea is, that when you copied that picture to your "mydropbox/public" folder, it will also automatically make copy of it to that fropbox filespace in internet, that everyone can access.

Hope i was clear enough on how it works, since i understood from your post that you dont have any experience from hosting files at internet.

[michaK]

Heres my referral link that gives extra 250 Mb for both you and me if you use it to join:
https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTMzNzU0Njg5

Shortly it gives you 2.0 Gb + 250 Mb Webstorage space that you can use to sync with your computer.

Thanks!
I'll have to ask my parents about dropbox, if I can use it I'll probably take you up on that offer.

Unfortunately because we live in the country we only have satelite internet, and there are enforced download and upload limits.

[bugala]

To avoid accidental overusage of your connection, i suggest you dont install fropbox to your computer, but only use it online. For you can upload and download stuff to dropbox storage base of yours.

It just makes it very easy system to use when you synchronise dropbox filespace with your computers dropbox folder.

[JeTSpice]

michaK, I use imageShack to upload images.

http://imageshack.us/

whatever you sign up for, you will go through an upload process.
there will be a button like "upload image" and when you click it, it will open a menu
in the menu, you'll see your computer's files. navigate to the image you want to upload.
after that, it will whir away a while and upload the image from your computer to the site.
when it is done, it will probably give you the location of the image you just uploaded.
this is called a URL -- it is the image's URL.

it might look like this:

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1807/imga4120.jpg


if you click on that link, it will open a new tab in your browser and show you the image (a christmas tree)

if you want to embed the image in your post on these forums, you can click the button called "Img". Whenever you type a post to these forums, you'll see several buttons above where you type. There is a B button and a Quote button. Find the Img button and click it. it will create something that looks like this:


[ img ][ / img ]


in between the two img's, put the URL, like this:

[ img ] http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1807/imga4120.jpg [ / img ]


and when you do, it will show up like this:

[bugala]

Havent used imageshack personally ever, but by guess i would say that if oyu are not planning to sync your computer with dropbox (which might be wise thing in your case), Imageshack is proapbly easier way to host Pictures if its pictures only you are planning to host.

For after all, Image shack was designed as easy way to host images, unlike dropbox, thats main idea was to be easy way to share files through internet and between computers when computer is synced with dropbox.

For main idea with dropbox is that you would sync more than 1 computer with it. Say you had laptop and desktop. So if you make folder "my dropbox" to both your laptop and your desktop computer and then you sync these both to your dropbox user account, it means that whenever you copy some file to your dropbox folder at your sdesktop computer, dropbox would make copy of that file both to your dreopbox storage base, as well as t o your laptops "my dropbox" folder.

And same way if you copied file to your laptops "my dropbox" folder it would appear in your desktop computers too.

So if you are planning to host images only, although i have no experience from imageshack (so i might be wrong about its ease of use), i would advice you to go for imageshack instead of dropbox to make it easiest possible for you.

[michaK]

Do either of them work for programs?

If not then that's alright at least it'll do pictures.

[JeTSpice]

this forum doesn't have anything for programs yet.

at one point, a flash program could be embedded, but i don't think it's available as a button.

usually, for programs, people just have a link to either a download, or another place where it is hosted.

[michaK]

Sorry, I guess I should've been more clear.
I know that I cant embed a game into the post itself like a picture.

What I meant was, theoretically if I were to use Imageshack or Drop box, would I be able to upload a game in .exe format to their site. And then use the URL as a link so that others could try it?

Thanks.

[bugala]

I dont think you can do that in Imageshack, since its for pictures only, but thats exactly what you can do in dropbox, when you put your files to that "public" folder in either the internet storage space or if you hav synced your computer, to your computers "my dropbox" folders "public" folder.

If you sync with your computer folder, then you just go to that folder of yours and rightclick on that file and choose from rightmousebutton menu that appears "dropbox/copy public link" and paste that in your forum message, and its downloadable to anyone, example my last months speedcoder entry:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3375468/Wanderi ... be-win.exe

i dont know how to get those links if you dont sync your computer with your dropbox webfilespace, but basically you can figure out the links yourself if names are short.

ie, if i upload a file name: myfile.exe, link to it would be:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3375468/myfile.exe

so point is, every files public link constis this beginning of:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/

then comes your user ID, which in my case is:
3375468/

then comes the name of the file, in this case:
myfile.exe

but if name is longer, then to my understandning it will add something like it added on that example link of mine: %20

So even if you dont sync your computer folder with dropbox webspace of yours, as long as you use short file names, its not hard to figure out what that public link for them is and you can post them here.

[samw3]

%20 means "space". It is hexadecimal ASCII.

[michaK]

Thankyou all for your help.

I asked my Mom about dropbox (since that looked like it might do more) and she explained to me how I could use something called Bluehost which she was already using and paying for. (at least for pictures, I haven't figured out game links yet )

I greatly appreciate all the advice and assistance thanks again.

Here's my first attempt at a picture...

[Mene-Mene]

Bluehost is a web hosting service, you can put anything up there.

I have my own domain but I still use dropbox... But anyway.

[JeTSpice]

nicely done uploading of the picture, michaK

[michaK]

Thanks

Bluehost is a web hosting service, you can put anything up there.

Excellent, that's nice to know.

So for games would I upload them to the same place I put images on Bluehost?

[bugala]

Well, it depends on how many files you plan to put there in time.

I mean, basically if its hosting service, you put them in the same place.

But if theres going to be los of files, i would suggest bit better organising.

First of all i would suggest you make folder "MichaK" where you put all your files, so that your own stuff doesnt get mixed with your moms stuff.

Secondly i would suggest you make folders "Pictures" and "Games" under that "MichaK" folder, so you can easily locate game files and picture files when you need to.

That way they stay nicely organised.

But otherwise it doesnt matter where in the bluehost you put them as long as theyre under "Public_HTML" folder (if there is such) since if you put stuff on parent folders of "Public_HTML" then they might not be accessible to anyone but someone with admin rights to your server.

[michaK]

Okay, I think I've got it working now.

Thanks for all your help.