How to Use Photobucket for Better Pictures on Your Craigslist Ad

Craig Newmark founded Craigslist as an easy-to-use classified ad service.

Turbocharge your Craigslist ads by illustrating them with high-quality pictures hosted on Photobucket. Photobucket gives Internet users free online storage. Use that storage to upload pictures from your hard drive. Next, use simple HTML “img” tags to insert those pictures into any Craigslist posting. By linking to externally hosted images, you have the power to place them anywhere within the body section of your ad.

Instructions

Upload Pictures to PhotoBucket

1. Visit the Photobucket website and click "Sign up" to sign up for a new account. A sign-up page appears.

2. Enter the requested information and then click "Sign Me Up." Your Photobucket home page appears. Bookmark this page, because you may need to return to it later if you need to use Photobucket again to host Craigslist images.

3. Click the "Upload Now" button at the top of the page and then click "Select Photos and Videos." A file selection window opens that shows your computer's files and folders.

4. Hold down the "Ctrl" key and click the pictures you wish to use on your Craigslist ad. Click "Open." The site uploads them to Photobucket.

5. Click the "My Albums" button at the top of the page. Your uploaded photos appear on that page.

Add Pictures to Craigslist

1. Open a new browser or tab window and navigate to Craigslist.

2. Log in to your account and create a new ad. If you have an existing one, open that one.

3. Return to the tab or browser window that displays your Photobucket pictures.

4. Hold your mouse cursor over a picture you would like to insert into your ad. A menu appears.

5. Click the "Direct Link" button. The site copies the image's URL to the Windows clipboard.

6. Return to your Craigslist ad. Paste the following text to create an HTML img tag where you would like the picture to appear:

   <img src = " " />

   Browsers display any image URL you place between the two quotes.

7. Right-click inside the two quotes to display a drop-down menu. Click "Paste." Windows pastes the image URL you copied inside the quotes. After doing that, the “img” tag looks similar to this example:

   <img src = "http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3321/ imagexyz.jpg" />

   The value you see between the quotes will differ depending on your picture's URL.

8. Click the "Continue" button at the bottom of the Craigslist page to preview your add. The picture appears in the ad.

9. Click "Edit Again" to return to your ad. Return to the tab or window containing your Photobucket pictures if you have more to include. Insert them into the ad using the steps described above.

Tips & Warnings

• By placing your img tags creatively around your text, you can create compelling ads that look like Web pages. Experiment with different looks by moving img tags to different locations within the ad, and then clicking "Continue" to preview your ad. To place one image below another one, add "<br />" (without the quotes) between the two img tags.

References

• Craigslist: Craigslist | About > Help > Html in Craigslist Postings > Details

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Photobucket: Image Hosting, Free Photo Sharing & Video Sharing At Photobucket