FAQs

• About sharing photos
• Photo albums
• Sorting photos into albums
• Changing my icon
• Uploading photos to posts
• Photo quality
• Fair Use rules for sharing photos

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We love getting feedback about your Gather experience. In fact, some great ideas for site enhancement have come from Gather members. If you have a suggestion, send it to Gather Member Support. We're listening.

Need more help?

Visit help.gather.com to submit a question to our daily help post and we'll respond on the site. You can also contact Gather Member Support. If you're a group owner or moderator, also check out groups.gather.com.

Sharing Photos

About sharing photos
To share a photo, go to the Share menu and choose Photos. You can upload photos into a new or existing photo album or as individual photos (not in an album). Photos uploaded to an album will all have the same viewing permissions that you set for the album. After making your album choice, click Choose Photos and select up to 40 photo files from your computer. Or, you can open a directory-explore window on your computer and drag-and-drop the photo files you want into the upload photos page. The following file formats can be uploaded: JPG, GIF, and PNG.

When you have finished selecting files, click Upload. The progress bar will indicate when your photos are fully uploaded. While the files are uploading, you can edit commenting settings. Make sure you're applying the appropriate settings if your photo is intended for mature audiences. Don't forget to click Share and Continue to save and share your work.

Next, you can add a caption, tags, and a geotag (to show where your photo was taken) to each photo. The photos will be uploaded into your Gather photo gallery. If you added the photos to an album, they'll appear on the "all albums" view; individual photos not placed in albums appear on the "other photos" view.

To share photos with a specific group, you can click the "share with group" link in the group, which will let you share content with the current group only. Note that photos will be shared individually, but you can put them into albums in your "my photos" area.

Photo Albums
You can organize photos you upload to Gather into photo albums. When you share photos, you'll have the option to select an existing album or create a new one by entering an album name and description, and by setting viewing permissions. All photos you add to the album will take on the viewing permissions set for the album, and a photo can only be in one album at a time. All the albums you create will appear on the "all albums" view under "my photos."

Sorting photos into albums
Already uploaded some individual pictures? You can still sort them into albums. On your My Photos page, click the Organize Photos button in the module header. This tool lets you view the contents of an album or the photos not yet placed into albums and drag-and-drop them into a new album. You can also delete photos from the site by dragging them into the delete area.

Changing my icon
Icons personalize your Gather experience and help other members recognize you. Your icon can be a picture of yourself or anything you choose. Whatever photo you select, it will represent you on the site -- on your profile page, next to comments you post, and with content you share. Make sure to choose a photo that will be recognizable in a small format. Sometimes icons display only 60 pixels wide. A subject that fills the photo, like a close-up of your face, is the best choice. When deciding what photo to choose, remember that square icons display best, horizontal icons sometimes display very small, and vertical icons can be too tall to display properly.

To change your icon, use the "change icon" link on your profile. Simply browse for the photo you wish to make your Gather icon and upload it. You can also view your photo gallery or the photos in your albums, select the photo you want as your new icon, and click "edit." On the photo options page, check the "Make this photo my personal icon on Gather" box. Save it, and you're all set.

Uploading photos to posts
To upload photos, you must allow your browser to work with the Gather uploader.

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer as your browser, you must install the Gather Uploader ActiveX control when prompted. The installation only takes a few minutes and you only need to do it one time. When you try to share a photo or video, a yellow information bar will appear at the top of your browser window. Click the bar, then select Install ActiveX Control from the dropdown menu. After the page reloads and a dialog box appears, click Install and follow the instructions in the dialog box to add the control to your browser.

If you are using a browser other than Internet Explorer, you must install a Java Web plug-in and "trust" the Gather uploader application. If you do not have a Java Web plug-in, a small graphic and message will appear on the share page. Click the link and follow the instructions to install the Java plug-in. You will also be prompted to "trust" an applet certificate for the Gather Uploader. Select the checkbox to "always trust" certificates from Gather and save the setting. If you do not select the checkbox to "always trust," you will see this prompt each time you upload photos, videos, or a new icon.

Photo quality
Here are some guidelines for sharing the best quality photos with speedy uploading and processing. Your photo file must be in JPG, GIF, or PNG format and the file size can't exceed 6 megabytes. During processing, we convert your file and change the photo size so it displays properly. The full size a photo will display on Gather is 550 pixels wide. We recommend that you save your JPG file with a resolution of 72 dots per inch (DPI), and resize the photo to 550 pixels wide before uploading.

Fair Use rules for sharing photos
When sharing a portion of someone else's content, it must be for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, according to the United States Copyright Office. There's no clear definition of what constitutes Fair Use, but acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material is no substitution for obtaining permission. As a general guide, only use a small number of photos or portions of photos from another source, not the entire album or photo. Also, you must use the copied photo as an addition to your own original content. You should familiarize yourself with the copyright laws to make sure you don't infringe on someone's rights.

For more information on Fair Use in copyright law, please check out the United States Copyright Office's Fair Use guide.