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Graphics and Photographs

Photographs and other graphics take up a lot of space on computers and servers. If you have a hosting service that only allows you a certain amount of space, and you have a lot of photos for your site, this can become a problem. You will almost certainly run out of space. One way to get around this problem is to store your graphics at a different place than you have your Web site.

Many people don't realize that you don't have to store your graphics at the same place, on the Net, that you have your Web site. Have you ever started a photo Web site, or just uploaded your photos to the Web for safe keeping, and then decided to start a regular Web site? You can do this!

The first thing you need to remember is that the Internet is made up of thousands of computers, and servers, that are all connected. Linking to a file on the Internet is like placing a "shortcut", to a program, on your computer's "desktop". All you have to know is where the file is located, then you can link to it.

Linking to a photo, or other graphic, that is located elsewhere on the Internet, is similar to linking to a photo, or graphic, that is located in the same place. The only real difference is that you have to use the entire URL. You can not use shortcuts, or it won't work.

For instance, if you where to link to a graphic, that is on the same service as your Web site, but in a graphic file (so you can find it easier), the code may look like this:

<img src="graphics/graphic.gif" align="left" border="0">

When you link to a graphic that is elsewhere, on the Net, you can not use the shortcut, but must use the entire URL. The code will then look like this:

<img src="http://homepages.host.com/yourname/graphics/graphic.gif" align="left" border="0">

Finding the URL for the graphic can be done by going to the "file manager" and clicking on the link to the graphic. You would then copy the URL from the address line in your browser.
Web Pages

Not only can you link to graphics that you have located elsewhere, you can also link to other Web pages that you have elsewhere. A lot of people create Web sites only to learn that they don't have enough space to finish their site. Or they decide that they want to move their site, but don't want to move all the pages because it would be too much work.

You don't have to move the whole site. What you can do, instead, is to just start creating your new pages at the new site and link to your old pages from there. Just as with the links to the graphics, you will have to use the entire URL, to link to your old pages.

When you link to a page within a site your URL can look like this:

<a href="webpage.htm">Text for link.</a>

You can not use this shortcut when you link to your old pages that are located on another site, though. You will have to use the entire URL. The code for this will look this way:

<a href="http://homepages.host.com/yourname/webpage.htm">Text for link.</a>

Finding the URL for the Web page you want to link to is easy and can be done two ways. You can go to the page and copy the URL from the address line in your browser. Or you can go to the "file manager" at the hosting service and find it from there.

*Before storing your photos at a hosting service or opening another site at the same service, check with the hosting services rules to make sure they will allow this.