posting pics
ok once the pics are on your pc, go to www.Imagecave.Com and make a free account.
Once you fill in your username, password, email and country it will offer you some advertising - click "no thanks" in the top right (unless you go for that stuff lol).
Next page you log in with the details you just registered (yup - it's that quick)
bear with me because I have never used imagecave so I am making an account as I type, so I can give you the walkthrough
next click "create album" in the bottom left.
You can't use spaces here, so something like album_1 for example.
Then click "add pictures to this album".
It will give you a page with "buttons" saying "browse".
Click the top "browse" and up will pop a "dialogue box" (i'm assuming you're a windows user at this point because I have no idea about macs i'm afraid lol).
The dialogue box is like windows explorer - you navigate to where your required pic is - for example - c:/my documents/my pictures/belly/belly_01.Jpg
you can fill each line with images (ie you can upload more than one at a time).
Once you have either filled the list or entered as many as you want, then click "upload pictures" just below the last "browse".
If all goes well, you get a page telling you that you have uploaded "x files"
click on the link to view your album (or upload more picturs if you wish).
When you view your album it gives you 4 lines of code next to each image.
Copy the "ezcode" and paste it into your message on here.
Below each image you also have the option to "modify image".
This will let you resize large images.
A good size for forums is to not have the longest side any bigger than 400-450.
Leave the "maintain aspect ratio" and "compression" as default.
Click "create new jpg image".
This will be added to your album and leave the original untouched.
Again just copy the ezcode from next to any image you wish to use.

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avatars
lol avatars are funny things.
100x100pixels and no more than 6kb in other words a postage stamp lol
actually I think ehealth is generous and gives quite a large kb size allowance. Yup, just checked 26kb - that's generous.
In most instances if you want to use a photo as an avatar you are going to need to use some form of graphic program to "crop" the image (remove non essential parts of the image) and then "resize" the image and "compress" it.
Ok that sounds scary.
I'm willing to crop/resize and compress pretty much anything - i'm a graphics addict lol and am familiar with stuff like paint shop and photo shop.
If the image you want to use for your avatar is in your imagecave then you can copy the "html" code from next to the required image and paste it into the "upload avatar from url" space under "my settings" on here.