Images on Dreamwidth
Nov. 21st, 2022 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
twitter_refugeesSome folks have used Twitter to share links to images, so I wanted to talk about images on Dreamwidth. I am not a computer expert, but I am a longtime Dreamwidth user. I have done my best to describe how various visually oriented things work on this platform.
Images and Posts
Sharing links is easy. In the post making window, there is a little planet with a chain under it near the middle of the menu buttons, that's your link making button. Click it and it will open a window where you can paste the URL. There's also a handy link-breaking button just to the right of it, in case you make a mistake. Highlight a link in text, click the link-breaking button, and it removes the link.
You can link to whatever images online you find interesting. It is totally fine to make a post that just points people to a link. Also popular are "link clouds" or "linkspam" posts that give bunches of links, often though not always on a theme. If you are coming from Twitter and long posts seem daunting, just sharing a fun link or two is a great way to break the ice and get used to posting here. You can even do a whole photo-essay with links if you don't want to hack around trying to make images actually appear in a post. Frex, here's an example on "How to Simplify Fashion" that includes links to discussion articles and links to images.
Actually making images appear in a post is a little trickier. There is a button on the post making window, a little right of center in the menu bar, that looks like a tiny picture frame of a mountain. Click on that and it will let you paste in a URL for an image. I have a tendency to cheat a bit: I upload photos to LiveJournal, make the post there, then copy its code and paste into a Dreamwidth window to create a post here. That's how I made this photo-essay post of my yard.
One thing to know is that Dreamwidth sort of has image hosting, but it sucks: just a photostream, no organization tools really. :/ I tried it once and never bothered again. If you want to explore this, it's in the control menu that you can reach from your Dreamwidth profile and various other ways. Hover over the Create header and it will drop down multiple options including Upload Image.
Icons work well in Dreamwidth. These are 100x100 images that can be a picture of you or any other thing. You can set a single icon or multiple ones. I have a bunch for different topics and some of my series. You get 6 icon slots with a free account. You get a LOT more with a paid (75) or premium (200) account, and this is a leading reason why people choose to pay for an account. This page charts the features available at different account levels. The icon manager has a bunch of really nice tools. It lets you upload not only an icon image, but also its keywords, comments, and description. So you can say who made it, and what it looks like for visually impaired users.
References for Various Visuals
Some other folks have made posts about different visuals in Dreamwidth, or tools to create things you can use in Dreamwidth. A note about tables: these can be created with code, which can be edited in a post (e.g. if you want to mark bingo prompts you have already used); or they can be an image, which cannot be edited.
* Bingo Card Generator
This page automatically generates a bingo table from 2x2 to 7x7 squares, and gives you the HTML code options to display it. To use that code in your blog, open a post making window, click the HTML view tab, and paste your code in that window.
* Dreamwidth Layouts bybluedreaming
The layout is what creates the look of your blog. Some are very artistic, others plain. If you plan to post lots of images, then you probably want a plain layout that won't compete with them. If you plan to post mostly text and links, then the busyness of the layout is less of an issue. There are simple, abstract layouts as well as some with themes like writing, art, or photography.
* How to Make Dreamwidth Mobile-Friendly
If you and/or your audience will be viewing Dreamwidth primarily from a tablet, smartphone, or other portable device then this post can help you make choices that will be more visible in that context.
* Icon Table Generator by Chlor
Instantly generate HTML you can copy and paste to display your icons/graphics in a nice, neat, numbered customizable table in a Dreamwidth post or anywhere.
* Photoset Code for Dreamwidth bymidnightchills
This post is all about using code to create clusters of images on Dreamwidth. Some folks are really good at this, but it is more advanced than just posting images one at a time. Dreamwidth will support some fairly fancy things if you are good with code.
Communities
If what you want to do is find images to view in Dreamwidth, there are plenty of communities for that. There are also individual bloggers who post photos or scans of art, but I don't have lists for them. You can search for those using the Interests search function in the upper left of the top menubar on your Dreamwidth blog.
Follow Friday: Arts and Crafts
This post lists a lot of places where artists hang out, so if you are a visual creator, it's well worth a look. Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them. Others are more how-to or discussion about art.
Follow Friday 7-1-22: Gardening
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday 7-15-22: Graphics
All of these communities are very visually oriented. They include communities about artwork, icons, screencaps, and more.
Follow Friday 8-5-22: Journaling
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday: Nature
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday 9-23-22: Photography
This list includes both communities about photography itself and ones where people frequently post pictures of things.
Images and Posts
Sharing links is easy. In the post making window, there is a little planet with a chain under it near the middle of the menu buttons, that's your link making button. Click it and it will open a window where you can paste the URL. There's also a handy link-breaking button just to the right of it, in case you make a mistake. Highlight a link in text, click the link-breaking button, and it removes the link.
You can link to whatever images online you find interesting. It is totally fine to make a post that just points people to a link. Also popular are "link clouds" or "linkspam" posts that give bunches of links, often though not always on a theme. If you are coming from Twitter and long posts seem daunting, just sharing a fun link or two is a great way to break the ice and get used to posting here. You can even do a whole photo-essay with links if you don't want to hack around trying to make images actually appear in a post. Frex, here's an example on "How to Simplify Fashion" that includes links to discussion articles and links to images.
Actually making images appear in a post is a little trickier. There is a button on the post making window, a little right of center in the menu bar, that looks like a tiny picture frame of a mountain. Click on that and it will let you paste in a URL for an image. I have a tendency to cheat a bit: I upload photos to LiveJournal, make the post there, then copy its code and paste into a Dreamwidth window to create a post here. That's how I made this photo-essay post of my yard.
One thing to know is that Dreamwidth sort of has image hosting, but it sucks: just a photostream, no organization tools really. :/ I tried it once and never bothered again. If you want to explore this, it's in the control menu that you can reach from your Dreamwidth profile and various other ways. Hover over the Create header and it will drop down multiple options including Upload Image.
Icons work well in Dreamwidth. These are 100x100 images that can be a picture of you or any other thing. You can set a single icon or multiple ones. I have a bunch for different topics and some of my series. You get 6 icon slots with a free account. You get a LOT more with a paid (75) or premium (200) account, and this is a leading reason why people choose to pay for an account. This page charts the features available at different account levels. The icon manager has a bunch of really nice tools. It lets you upload not only an icon image, but also its keywords, comments, and description. So you can say who made it, and what it looks like for visually impaired users.
References for Various Visuals
Some other folks have made posts about different visuals in Dreamwidth, or tools to create things you can use in Dreamwidth. A note about tables: these can be created with code, which can be edited in a post (e.g. if you want to mark bingo prompts you have already used); or they can be an image, which cannot be edited.
* Bingo Card Generator
This page automatically generates a bingo table from 2x2 to 7x7 squares, and gives you the HTML code options to display it. To use that code in your blog, open a post making window, click the HTML view tab, and paste your code in that window.
* Dreamwidth Layouts by
bluedreaming The layout is what creates the look of your blog. Some are very artistic, others plain. If you plan to post lots of images, then you probably want a plain layout that won't compete with them. If you plan to post mostly text and links, then the busyness of the layout is less of an issue. There are simple, abstract layouts as well as some with themes like writing, art, or photography.
* How to Make Dreamwidth Mobile-Friendly
If you and/or your audience will be viewing Dreamwidth primarily from a tablet, smartphone, or other portable device then this post can help you make choices that will be more visible in that context.
* Icon Table Generator by Chlor
Instantly generate HTML you can copy and paste to display your icons/graphics in a nice, neat, numbered customizable table in a Dreamwidth post or anywhere.
* Photoset Code for Dreamwidth by
midnightchillsThis post is all about using code to create clusters of images on Dreamwidth. Some folks are really good at this, but it is more advanced than just posting images one at a time. Dreamwidth will support some fairly fancy things if you are good with code.
Communities
If what you want to do is find images to view in Dreamwidth, there are plenty of communities for that. There are also individual bloggers who post photos or scans of art, but I don't have lists for them. You can search for those using the Interests search function in the upper left of the top menubar on your Dreamwidth blog.
Follow Friday: Arts and Crafts
This post lists a lot of places where artists hang out, so if you are a visual creator, it's well worth a look. Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them. Others are more how-to or discussion about art.
Follow Friday 7-1-22: Gardening
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday 7-15-22: Graphics
All of these communities are very visually oriented. They include communities about artwork, icons, screencaps, and more.
Follow Friday 8-5-22: Journaling
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday: Nature
Some but not all of these communities have lots of posts with images in them.
Follow Friday 9-23-22: Photography
This list includes both communities about photography itself and ones where people frequently post pictures of things.
