Posting Guidelines

Since this is all so new and there is so much overlap between the Blog and the Photo Forum there was a need to help us decide where to post any particular bit of information that we'd like to share. 

To submit to the Blog you will have to be an active club member. This is not the case for the "Photo Forum", sorry it is just the way the system is setup, it is a security issue.

Here are some guidelines that might help. First off what should you post where?

When to Post to the Blog

1) Any post that requires the display of a single photo such as:

The showing of a photo (that you own or  that you have permission to show)

2) How-Tos

3) Suggested website or blogs

4) An announcement of an event

5) Any tip at all related to the field/business of photography

6) Reviews and summaries of books, other blogs, podcasts and sites

7) Meeting dates and times should they change from what is expected

When to Post to the Forum

 1) Any post that might generate a lot of comments, that might be open ended such as:

Mentee/Mentor questions and answers

Questions about anything relating to Photography

Opinion on any aspect of Photography

Philosophical statements and discussions

When to Post to the Gallery

1) Post to a Gallery when you have two or more photos to show and not much commentary about them.

2) Please try to resize your photographs according to these guidelines.

You should change the DPI  to 72 which is best for displaying the photograph to the screen, this works great for web.  Make the widest side about 1000 pixels and when you save it out as JPGs reduce the quality to something close to 70%. Both Lightroom and Thumbs Plus, for example,  talk about quality in % terms,  it reduces the file size  to around 100k to 200k in size.

Most 1000 X 750 size down to less then 100,000 (100k) bytes in size. Way smaller then the 6 or 7 mega bytes that they started out as.  That is a 60 times reduction in size?

You'll have to experiment in how this is all done by trial and error.... Export and see what happens.

Working with the Blog and Critique It

Posting a photograph by logging in.

When placing a photograph in a blog entry resize your desired photograph to a maximum width of 700 pixels, unless you are going to create an icon for it as explained below. You only have a little bit over 700 pixels in the blog area to work with. This will prevent it from having the right side cropped off.

1. “Post new entry” to open up the blog editor. Place the cursor where you want the photograph to be be within the blog entry.  Then 'add:' a picture by selecting  the "Photograph Icon" at the top of the editor window.  It is next to the menu item 'add:', the second icon in.

2. When the new window opens select "upload an image" and browse to your desired photo. Pick it and then tell it to "upload file". It is easy to forget this!

3. After it is finished uploading select 'Resize', if desired, and make sure the check box to save the oringinal file is checked.  This will create an icon sized version of the photo, if this is what you want, that when clicked on by the user will display it to what ever size the original was uploaded as.

4. Then select Alignment and tell the editor where you want the photograph placed, right, left or somewhere in the middle.

5. You can select 'options' to add a caption but this is not necessary.  Save it all and you should be set.  This will create a thumbnail and when clicked in the blog entry will expand to a larger size for the reader to see.

Posting a photograph in the Blog by sending it in via email.

All club members that have been setup in the system can submit blog entries via email.

Create an email like you normally do.  Have the text of the email discribe the photograph should that be appropriate for the blog entry.  Attach your desired photograph to the email and send it to the email address that was given to you for this process.  If you do not know that it is the Contact Us for it.

Make sure your photograph is no wider then 700 pixels. This will prevent it from being cropped on the right side.  You only have a little over 700 pixels of width in the blog area. Submitting by email does not give you any option to resize the photograph.

All blog entries entered in this way are held as Drafts until they are released... OKed. Anyone in the club can release it by logging in. If you just leave it for what ever reason anyone logging in can release it for you and will assume that is what you want done. If you release an entry check the date and time. Blog entries can be scheduled for release in the future and should be left alone. It will not be the end of the world should an entry be prematurely release!

To release a blog entry, login and MODIFY the entry... Make sure that the PUBLISH "check off box" is check and then SAVE the entry.  It will then be posted. You can reverse the process and UNPUBLISH an entry should you so desire.

Posting a Video to the Blog (commonly known as embedding it)

1. Log into the club's website and navigate to the blog if you are not already there

2. “Post new entry” to open up the blog editor

3. Title the entry and them move to the text area... tab there.

4. Under FORMAT go to TEXT ALIGNMENT and CENTER the cursor

5. 'Add:' a video entry, the third icon over, click it to open.

6. Open a completely different browser window and go to Youtube or to the site that has the video embedded (a Youtube video used on their site).

7. Click on the 'Embed' button to find the code t embed.

8. Enter in the Custom Size Windows (blue) 500 pixels for the maxium width, it will determine the height.

9. Click in the code box to highlight the code and block copy it.

10. Return to the browser window, the blog entry window and paste the HTML code to the window, use the CNTRL-V key combinations if you are a Windows user...... MAC users do there own thing.

11. Save it, which will close the “Insert Video” code editor.

12. You are now back in the blog editor.

13. Write any text that you want in the entry. You might have to 'outdent' the cursor back to the left margin.

14. Hightlight everthing you've done, the text and the icon for the video and then go to the 'FORMAT' button on top, hit the down arrow and select "Text Alignment" and then 'Center'. This will center everything that you have done in the blog.

15.  "Save & Close" and you are done.