GroveSite doesn't allow me to upload an entire page of content at once. Instead, I have to upload content in separate pieces called "items." An item can be a block of text or an image.

For text items, GroveSite imposes a limit of 5000 characters per item, including all the HTML code that runs in the background but isn't visible on the screen. In order to work around this limit, I have to break long pages (like the one you're reading right now) into chunks of less than 5000 characters. This is obviously inconvenient, but even worse, it messes up the appearance of the page by inserting wide gaps (equivalent to three or four lines of text) between items. Check the Species Index page for an example.

Some pages have natural breaks, so these gaps aren't obvious. But there are no natural breaks in the Links page. If I use GroveSite, I can only fit six or seven links in each item, which would result in 40 or 50 wide gaps.

It also means that I would have to upload 40 or 50 separate items. And if I added a new link, I'd have to add it to the correct item and then replace that item. Keeping track of it all would be a nightmare.

In order to avoid this problem altogether, I use space on Friends' website. My thanks to the Friends Board of Directors for allowing me to do this.

• Some event-details explanations exceed Grovesite's arbitrary (and inexplicable) 4000-character limit per event.
• Sometimes a series of similar events takes place over a period of weeks or months. If I put the event details page on Blogspot, I can cite it every time I need it without having to edit the date.

• If you're inserting a long URL into an e-mail message, it may be too long for a single line of text, in which case it will wrap to a second line. If that happens, it may not work properly when the recipient of your e-mail tries to open it.
• If you're inserting a URL into a written or typed document, it's a lot easier to type a short URL than a long one.

To see how a tinyurl works, here's a test. Click on the following tinyurl, and you'll end up right back here where you started: http://tinyurl.com/yhuvqr .

You can easily create our own tinyurls. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/ and follow the instructions on the screen.

Please specify the following information:

• Title of the presentation.
• Name of the team that created the presentation.
• Names of the team members.
• Date and location of the original presentation before a live audience.

Please specify how you would prefer to have the presentation appear on the website — as a downloadable PowerPoint file or as an HTML webpage. For further information about the HTML option, see the next question.

If possible, please include comprehensive speakers notes for the benefit of visitors who did not attend the live-audience presentation.

Please note that you must have copyright clearance for every item (photograph, text, or drawing) contained within the presentation. If any such item was obtained from an outside source (e.g., copied from a magazine or book, or downloaded from a website), please submit a written copyright release.

Converting a PowerPoint to HTML makes it possible for any user to view it without having to download it. For an example, see Feral Hogs in the Mid-Coast Wildlife Refuges.

Please note:

• We must have a copyright clearance for each photo posted. Please submit only photos which you have personally taken, or for which you have written copyright releases.
  
  
• We cannot post any photo that contains a recognizable image of any child's face without the permission of the child's parent or guardian. Please frame photos accordingly, or obtain the necessary permissions.
  
  
• Please do not insert any text (such as credit information) into any photo. I will include appropriate text information (including credit) in the caption.
  
  
• When submitting digital photos, please send the original .jpg or .bmp files, just as they come out of the camera. I will edit (resize and/or crop them) before posting (as a general rule, I reduce each image to 500 pixels wide before posting). For further information, see the discussions of resolution, resizing, and cropping below.

Please provide the following information for each photo:

• Description. For photos of plants or animals, please provide common names and scientific names. For photos of persons, please identify each person by name, and by title if relevant. For photos of objects, please identify each object by name.
• Location (city or county and state).
• Date (month and year).
• Credit Name of original photographer. This information will be included in the photo caption.

Your computer monitor's screen displays a rectangular array of pixels. Most monitor screens have an aspect ratio of 4:3, although numerous other aspect ratios are available for special applications.

The number of pixels displayed by a particular computer monitor screen depends on the type of monitor and the settings for that particular computer. For computers running Microsoft Windows, the most common pixel settings are:

             640 x  480
             800 x  600
            1024 x  768
            1052 x  864
            1280 x 1024

On the COT website, the green navigation pane occupies about 22% of the screen width. So, for example, if your monitor is set to 800x600 (the default for most PCs), the navigation pane will occupy 176 pixels, leaving 624 pixels in the display pane.

If an image is placed in the display pane, it will occupy as much space as it needs to accommodate its intrinsic resolution. If the image is smaller than about 500 pixels, it will fit comfortably. If it's larger, it will take up as much space as it needs:

• First it will squeeze the navigation pane as much as possible without truncating words.
  
  
• If it still doesn't fit, it will extend off the right side of the screen, and a horizontal scroll bar will appear so you can scroll to the right to see it.

Here is the image reduced to 500 pixels wide. Assuming that your monitor is set for 800x600 or larger, this photo fits comfortably without squeezing the navigation pane or extending off the screen:

• Test Image 640. This image is 640 pixels wide. Assuming your monitor is set for 800x600 or larger, it will fit just in the display pane by squeezing the navigation pane.
  
  
• Test Image 1280. This image is 1280 pixels wide. Unless your monitor is set to a very large pixel setting area, this image will squeeze the navigation pane and run off the screen. If it runs off the screen, a horizontal scroll bar will appear.
  
  
• Test Image 3000. This image is 3000 pixels wide, the same width as the original photo. No matter how your monitor is set, this one will squeeze the navigation pane and run way off the screen.

In the first set of examples, I cropped each photo to remove a distracting background, and to focus attention on the subject.

ORIGINAL PHOTO	AFTER CROPPING
Wedding party. In this example, I cropped the photo to remove the distracting background. I also improved composition by placing the groom's head near the top of the frame, rather than in the middle. By cropping a bit off the bottom of the photo, I was able to retain the same aspect ratio as the original photo.
Lunch. In this example, I cropped the photo to remove the distracting background, and I improved composition by placed the subject's head near the top of the frame. However, because the original photo was posed vertically, it was not possible to retain the original aspect ratio.
Monarch Butterfly. In this example, I cropped the photo to focus attention on the subject by removing extraneous background. But I left enough of the background to establish context. Photo by Kerry Magee, Varner Hogg Plantation State Historic Park, 2004.

• To remove enough excess background to focus attention on the subject (but not so much that the image lost context).
• To place the subject slightly off-center with more "nose room" (the largest background area "in front of" the subject from the subject's point of view).

ORIGINAL PHOTO	AFTER CROPPING
Racoon. Photo by John Boettiger, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, 2005.
Snowy egret. Photo by Neal McLain, Galveston, 2005.
Rainbow trout. Photo by Neal McLain, Cabela'a Aquarium, 2005.
Burrowing owl. Photo by John Marshall, Quintana Beach, 2005.

Reducing the size of an image:

• Reduces the resolution (level of detail) of the image.
• Reduces the size of the image as displayed by a computer monitor.
• Reduces the size of the image file; i.e., the amount of memory space that your computer must allocate to store and display the image.

The following examples illustrate:

Test Image 500. Dimensions: 500 pixels wide x 324 high. Size: 500 x 324 = 162,000 pixels. Test Image 250. This is a copy of Test Image 500 reduced 50%. Dimensions: 250 pixels wide x 162 high. Size: 250 x 162 = 40,500 pixels. Test Image 125. This is a copy of the Test Image 250 reduced 50%. Dimensions: 125 pixels wide x 81 high. Size: 125 x 81 = 10,125 pixels. Test image 500 degraded. This is a copy of Test Image 125, enlarged by a factor of four to restore it to the original 500-pixel width. Note the severe degradation in image quality resulting from the previous size reductions. Dimensions: 500 pixels wide x 324 high. Size: 500 x 324 = 162,000 pixels.

Now let's review the numbers:

From these numbers we note:

• As we reduce the width of an image, the size (total pixels) of the image decreases in proportion to the square of the width.
• As we reduce the width of an image, the subjective quality remains approximately the same even though the number of pixels decreases.
• The process is irreversible: once we have reduced the size of the image, the lost resolution is lost forever. Increasing the size of a small image makes it larger, but it doesn't recover the lost resolution.

By the same token, if we make an image larger, the total size increases as the square of the width. This is a useful rule to keep in mind creating Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents.

Images can be inserted into Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents by using the INSERT—>PICTURE command. The image can be reduced before it's inserted (by resizing or cropping), or it can be resized after insertion by using sizing and cropping tools available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

If an image is resized after it's inserted, the program (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) displays the reduced image, but it stores the entire original unreduced image. This, of course, is a useful feature: it allows a user to change his/her mind, and enlarge or uncrop a reduced image without loss of quality.

But it's also a potential problem. Because the program stores the entire original unreduced image, the file can become extremely large, especially if it includes several images. So large, in fact, that some computers don't have enough storage space ("RAM") to display it.

Furthermore, if the program is sent over the internet to another computer, it may require a considerable amount of time to transfer, particularly if a dial-up connection is located somewhere in the path.

Unless there's some compelling reason to do otherwise, it's advisable to reduce (resize and/or crop) every image before inserting it into a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document.

To view a PDF file, your computer must be equipped with an "Adobe reader." Virtually all computers sold today include a reader; however, if your computer doesn't have one, you can download it for free here.

And yes, I do review every document that I receive before I post it. If necessary, I fix errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, sentence structure, and formatting. In general, I follow the recommendations set forth in Joseph Gibaldi's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th Edition (New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1999).