Upon the request of some friends, I am revisiting my earlier post, “Experimenting with PicApp images in my blog“.

For this post, we are running two tests, namely: embedding the PicApp code using the “image code”, and embedding the PicApp code using the WordPress.com shortcode.

I selected the following options to generate the codes: image size 380×255, left-aligned, text-wrap. I also copied and pasted the image info as my text to test text-wrapping.

NOTE: Broken link to the image when PicApp ceased providing “free” services sometime in 2010.

Here is the result using the image code:

TAR-TASS 71: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 20, 2009. A scene from the ballet “Russian seasons” performed a gala concert of ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival marking the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky).

Here is the result using the short code:

[picapp src="a/f/1/7/Diaghilev__Post_d5c4.JPG?adImageId=6233328&imageId=6862271" width="380" height="252" /]TAR-TASS 71: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 20, 2009. A scene from the ballet “Russian seasons” performed a gala concert of ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival marking the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky).

Can we repeat this test, please?

Unsure if the result of the first test is reliable, we ran another test.

We selected another image, selecting the ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival brings to close and selecting these options: left-aligned, text wrap, 234×188 to generate the codes.

Here are the results:

(a) Using the image code:

ITAR-TASS 77: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 20, 2009. Principal dancers Igor Zelinsky and Diana Vishneva perform in the ballet “Sheherezada” as a part of a gala concert of ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival marking the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’ at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky) Photo via Newscom

(b) Using the shortcode:

[picapp src="f/5/d/f/Diaghilev__Post_da94.JPG?adImageId=6234719&imageId=6862281" width="234" height="188" /]ITAR-TASS 77: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 20, 2009. Principal dancers Igor Zelinsky and Diana Vishneva perform in the ballet “Sheherezada” as a part of a gala concert of ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival marking the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’ at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky) Photo via Newscom

Observations:

• The image code is a better alternative than the shortcode in displaying a text wrapped around the image.
• The image code is truncated, with the javascript line in the image code being scrubbed once the post is saved. I can understand this as being a WP security precaution.
• There is no interface between WP and PicApp. It would be a welcome feature if the PicApp images for selection are right inside the Dashboard so you don’t have to switch from WP to PicApp windows.

Let me know what you think of these experiments. Which embed code will you use?

Updated 22 October:

I double-checked the Image Code which displays a more controlled text-wrap. My suspicion is that the stylesheet it uses was not built into, or not properly built into, the code which says “for WordPress.com” which I call the “WP shortcode” or simply “shortcode.”

Adding the same stylesheet to the shortcode (item b, above), here is the result:

ITAR-TASS 77: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA. OCTOBER 20, 2009. Principal dancers Igor Zelinsky and Diana Vishneva perform in the ballet “Sheherezada” as a part of a gala concert of ‘Diaghilev – Post Scriptum’ International Arts Festival marking the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev’s ‘Ballets Russes’ at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky) Photo via Newscom

What do you know? So, it was the shortcode not being properly coded to include the text-wrapping. We hope that this post reaches our PicApp friends.