How to Put an Image on the World Wide Web
by Dave (Felt) Feltenberger

If you have the luxury of having a web authoring tool, such as MS Front Page or Dreamweaver,  the process of getting your pictures to the web is pretty easy. Those tools have a menu item that lets you simply click and go. Those  packages are expensive and, if you already owned them, you would probably not need this little tutorial

There is a standard tool for moving stuff around the network called FTP. The FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.  It is a visual tool that presents the source directory (the place where you stored your .jpg file on your computer) on one side and the target directory (your Personal Web Space on the server) on the other.

To find hundreds of products that will FTP your files around, Google the web searching for FTP. Many FTP software packages are free. Many of the free ones are safe and will do you no harm. I cannot tell you which ones are safe and which ones will take over your computer and empty your bank account. I can tell you that the RH webmaster recommends the following FTP packages:

for the PC version visit http://www.ipswitch.com
for the Mac version visit http://fetchsoftworks.com

If I wanted an FTP tool, I would buy one from a reputable dealer like those listed above.  It might cost you ten bucks. Maybe less. I cannot, knowledgably, recommend one. In a previous life, before my "inner mule" could no longer be repressed, I used the FTP tools published by a group called FTP Planet. As I recall, the product was user friendly, easy to use, and cheap but not free, and it did what I needed without installing any bad stuff on my computer. For example, it did not deplete my bank account. My kids took care of that.

Once you have moved your file and your picture to your Personal Web Space, you can bring it up in your browser and look at it. For example, this is a file that lives at:

http://www.hillcountrycarriage.com/images/bluewagon.jpg

If I wanted to share this file with the folks on the front porch, I would include this address in my Front Porch message. The Front Porch moderator then does the magic that makes my picture available to all the friends I have out there, but have never met.

If you do not have Personal Web Space associated with your ISP account, you are pretty much dependent on getting your image on someone else's space.  Lin, a regular on the Porch has volunteered to post pictures for Porch friends on her server. Just send Lin an , attach your picture to your message, and ask her to kindly post the picture on her website and send you the picture's address so you can include it in your Porch message. Do Lin a favor and make sure your picture is in .jpg format and no more than 500 pixels wide (as discussed in How to Capture an Image; click here to see what my above blue wagon looks like in a file too big for the web—not only does it take up extra server space, but it's pretty annoying, huh?)

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