posting morningstar charts

[Jerilynn]

I know it's been mentioned a zillion times, but I can't find it.

What's the procedure for posting a M* growth of chart?

[Barry Barnitz]

Hi:

How to use Morningstar growth charts - Bogleheads

regards,

[Jerilynn]

Hi:

How to use Morningstar growth charts - Bogleheads

regards,

Hi Barry, I read that, but I don't see where it says how to POST it? What am I missing?

[Barry Barnitz]

Hi:

This may help: Posting images in the Bogleheads forum - Bogleheads.

Nisi will likely weigh in with specifics.

regards,

[Jerilynn]

Hi:

This may help: Posting images in the Bogleheads forum - Bogleheads.

Nisi will likely weigh in with specifics.

regards,

I read that too, but couldn't figure it out, it says that the image is too large or some such thing. Oh well, someone will post the exact method sooner or later.

[nisiprius]

I put everything I knew into the Wiki article. Yes, there's a limit on image size. I note that "Many images will need simple editing. Images posted to the Bogleheads forum, for example, probably should be less than about 640 pixels wide or they create annoying effects for people with smaller screens. So you need to have a tool that does simple cropping and scaling."

I personally compress Morningstar charts by 70% but only in the horizontal direction. I use a Mac and my editing tool of choice is GraphicConverter, which costs $40; I can't recommend it too highly, I've used for about a decade, I love it, this is one of these labor-of-love small-developer gems. I'm not familiar with what's available for Windows.

I guess I need to find out whether you can use an oversized image just by using the IMG_resize= tab. I'm not sure the forum had that feature when I wrote the article.



Yes, it does. If your image is rejected as being too large, use that feature:

Code: Select all

[img_resize=40]http://i45.tinypic.com/2w6ia11.jpg[/img_resize]

Note that the number after "resize" is a percentage, not a pixel width--but you type it without the percent sign.

[Jerilynn]

Thanks, Nisi.

It kinda worked but instead of the graph I just see a small 'picture' icon in the middle of the box.
Thus..




Maybe it's one of my browser/board settings?

[nisiprius]

That is not a link to an image. That's Morningstar's live chart link. You just copy and paste that bare into your posting, with no tags at all, and then it will show up like this:

http://quote.morningstar.com/ETF/chart. ... 2279%22%7D

When people click on the link it will take them to the chart.

[Jerilynn]

That is not a link to an image. That's Morningstar's live chart link. You just copy and paste that bare into your posting, with no tags at all, and then it will show up like this:

http://quote.morningstar.com/ETF/chart. ... 2279%22%7D

When people click on the link it will take them to the chart.

Ok, thanks. Now how do I make it display in the post so it doesn't have to be clicked on?

[livesoft]

One must upload the file to a service on the internet that stores files for you. Nisiprius showed that he uploads to http://www.tinypic.com. So upload the image you have to tinypic.com first.

First create the image file to upload. An image file is like a photograph that you take of your display or a region of your display like a window.

There are many ways to capture images of your computer display. On a Mac, I use Grab and then just open the image which uses Preview to display the image. Preview can be used to edit and resize the image before uploading to tinypic.com

[Jerilynn]

One must upload the file to a service on the internet that stores files for you. Nisiprius showed that he uploads to http://www.tinypic.com. So upload the image you have to tinypic.com first.

First create the image file to upload. An image file is like a photograph that you take of your display or a region of your display like a window.

There are many ways to capture images of your computer display. On a Mac, I use Grab and then just open the image which uses Preview to display the image. Preview can be used to edit and resize the image before uploading to tinypic.com

Ok. Right now I'm staring at a M* chart. [i have a pc] what do I click on to 'capture' the image of the chart? Do I use the 'share this chart' link on the M* page somehow?

[livesoft]

I'd click on Internet Explorer and go to www.google.com and ask the question: "what do I click on to 'capture' the image "

[Jerilynn]

I'd click on Internet Explorer and go to http://www.google.com and ask the question: "what do I click on to 'capture' the image "

Been there, tried that. It seems to refer to a screen capture which is not what Nisi is doing (at least I dont think he is).

[livesoft]

You must keep trying. Nisi is doing a screen capture as he described in the wiki page. You must've missed it.

[Munir]

(Slightly off topic- my apologies)

Don't forget that these "growth" charts can show different results depending on what the starting date is. I don't find them that helpful unless one is very clear as to what period is being covered.

[nisiprius]

You do need to do a screen capture, and yes, that is what I am doing. The relevant sections of the Wiki page are:

"If the image seems to be on a Web page, but you cannot seem to get a URL for it, or your URL does not work"

and, if you are using Windows,

"Capturing a screen and cropping using Windows and Paint."

Yes, it's a multistep process. You see the chart on the screen. You capture the screen. You crop the image. You upload it to Tinypic. You copy the place that says "grab your code" for the Forum code. Then you paste that code into the posting. Oh, and if it's too big, you change the IMG tag to IMG_resize tags. Sorry for the complexity.

There are various inexpensive Windows software tools that make capturing and editing screen images easier, but they all work differently and I don't know them and can't give directions for all of them.

You have to do a screen capture with Morningstar charts, or if any image you're looking that's dynamic, or changes, because then it's the result of some software running actively within your browser.

You only can skip the step of doing the screen capture if you're looking at a static image. For example--this works a little differently in every browser, I'm afraid--if I look at the page

http://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2009/10 ... /index.xml

there is a picture on that page that is a static image. I can hover my mouse over it and right-click, and one of the choices offered is copy image address. I choose it. Now I paste it into this posting, and it looks like this:

Code: Select all

http://paw.princeton.edu/_internal/cimg!0/b2ef9mm7a7q1txeysdehxfvpl32szqu

Now I select the whole address and click the img tab and it looks like this:

Code: Select all

[img]http://paw.princeton.edu/_internal/cimg!0/b2ef9mm7a7q1txeysdehxfvpl32szqu[/img]

And then finally I submit the posting and lo and behold it looks like this:

[Jerilynn]

So you don't ever use that "share this chart" link in Morningstar?

Back to the drawing board...

[nisiprius]

So you don't ever use that "share this chart" link in Morningstar?

I frequently do, because of the "endpoint problem" mentioned by Munir. When I want to invite people to explore different starting points, I'll post both the screenshot and the link to the live chart.

[Jerilynn]

Ok, I think it's starting to come together. [I didn't realize it took that many steps.]

Thanks to all for input.

[ps56k]

I just stumbled across this problem again -
I think there are two major points that are overlooked...

the M* charts are actually TWO web elements -
#1 - the chart graphic is in PNG format with a linkable URL
#2 - the chart legend is plain text layered above the image and NOT included with the linkable URL

ALSO -
all of the forum info and wiki pointers don't highlight or bold one major drawback compared to other venues,
and that is -
You can't directly paste a graphic/chart into the text editng window
and therefore MUST use an external hosting URL site.

[earlyout]

If you are using Windows, there is a MS program called "Snipping Tool" that will very neatly copy just the part of any screen you want. You can then store it as an image file. If you can't find Snipping Tool on your PC with Start/All Programs, google "MS Snipping Tool" and download it and install it on your PC. It works well.

[ps56k]

If you are using Windows, there is a MS program called "Snipping Tool"

As I mentioned in the posting just above - it's not getting the image, that's the simple part -
it's having to host it externally since the forum editing software doesn't handle a direct PASTE of the image itself.

[nisiprius]

If you are using Windows, there is a MS program called "Snipping Tool"

As I mentioned in the posting just above - it's not getting the image, that's the simple part -
it's having to host it externally since the forum editing software doesn't handle a direct PASTE of the image itself.

Well, I thought I made it clear enough in the Wiki article:

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Posting_images

If the image needs no editing, but it is not yet on a Web page

For every other image, then, the task is how to get it into the Internet--how to "host" it and obtain a URL for it. There are many "free image hosting" services. One example is tinypic . These free image hosting sites are usually supported by advertising. Moderate caution is advisable as in any Internet situation where you appear to be getting something for nothing. Once you have the finished image in a file, in one of the standard formats such as .jpg or .png, you go to the free hosting site, upload the image, and the site will give you the address of the place where it's hosted the image. Tinypic is an example of one that helpfully formats the complete "IMG code"--the url surrounded by the two IMG tags--so you can copy and paste it in directly.

How would you suggest clarifying this?

[ps56k]

At the very top of the entire wiki article - your very first line -

Suggest you make it underline & bold - and add the word "pasting" as that means more than the word "including" -
-----
ie -
The Bogleheads forum does not have any built-in facilities for pasting images directly into posts,
though images residing on other websites may be linked to via URL.