[The Geek]

Hi Shiva - I guess a low down on how the image system works in GAS is needed for clarification.

There are 4 different ways to have an image appear at the top of the article.

1. The posters avatar. To get the posters avatar to appear in the article - the following settings must be - er, set:
   • Use first attachment thumbnail as avatar - no
   • Allow users to upload an image for the Article Display? - no
   I would also suggest setting Use the legacy forumdisplay template? - yes
2. Use the first attachment thumbnail. This way, the first thumbnail in the article will appear as the image at the top of the article instead of the users avatar. If choosing this option - I would STRONGLY advise that you use the Legacy Forumdisply. Why? Because in vB, each attachment is a dynamic image that requires a query to be run. In other words, if you have 30 threads diaplying in your forumdisplay - there will be 30 additional queries. Remember - this is how vB does attachments!
   
   To use this option, set the following:
   • Use first attachment thumbnail as avatar - yes
   • Allow users to upload an image for the Article Display? - no
   • STRONGLY urged: Use the legacy forumdisplay template? - yes
3. Allow users to upload their own Article header image. This option displays an 'image' button when creating/editing and article. Clicking it will pop open a global gallery window and an upload box (this is controlled by usergroup settings in GAS). This will allow users to upload an image from their computer and it will then be resized to the maximum dimensions that you sepcify in your settings. The system discards the original and keeps the thumbnailed image for the header. It places the thumbnail in gas/images/(userid split by '/'). If your userid is 357 than your images will be in gas/images/3/5/7.
   
   To use this option:
   • Use first attachment thumbnail as avatar - no
   • Allow users to upload an image for the Article Display - yes
   • Comma seperated list of usergroup id's that can upload image headers - put in comma seperated list of usergroupid's or 0 for all.
4. Use a gallery image. The gallery is a collection of images that are pre loaded by yourself that allows users to choose from a variety of images that you allow. This is a great option if you want to have some standard defaults that go with your style, or if you ONLY want a certain set to be chosen from (as you can turn off the upload feature and only let them choose from the gallery).
   
   The gallery appears when the user clicks the image button when creating or editing an article (as long as you have enabled it). The gallery displays all images from the gas/images folder combinded with all images (if any) from the gas/images/forums/(current forumid) folder.
   When a user selects a gallery image - it is then copies to their gas/images/(userid split by '/') folder. This is to allow you to remove or change gallery images without breaking existing links. I am looking at adding an option to link direct to the gallery image (primarily for those with safemode enabled) however this wont be for a little while longer.
   To use this option:
   • Use first attachment thumbnail as avatar - no

Hope this helps clear up some question about how the Image system works.

nJoy