Why do image attachments get duplicated when you insert them into the post?

[MaximRecoil]

If the image is saved in the members pictures topic and then inserted in the text body of the message it will not appear again at the bottom of the post since it has a local URL already?

That's correct, because in that case, you're not attaching an image to your post, but rather, you're using a URL enclosed in IMG tags, the same as if you were embedding an image with an external URL (which is no longer allowed here). Using one of the images that Teleplay attached in this thread, it looks like this...

Code Select Expand

[img]https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=468585;image[/img]
... which results in this:

[TelePlay]

Teleplay, if I am reading what you wrote correctly;
If the image is saved in the members pictures topic and then inserted in the text body of the message it will not appear again at the bottom of the post since it has a local URL already?

Yes. If you save an image in a member's picture account, it has a URL for that image. You can copy the image link (URL) by doing a right click and scrolling down and clicking on Copy Image Address.

The downside of inserting an image from the members area in another topic is finding the original image, if you want to save the full sized, original image you have to look through the member's area or ask a moderator to go into the text where the image was inserted and give you its address on the forum).

That address can be put into any forum topic between (img) and (/img) code (and using hard "[ ]" brackets) and the image will only appear there, once, where it was inserted between the "img" command.

It will not be seen below the topic because the original image is in the member's image area.

An image always appears, with a file name, below the text box of the topic in which it was attached. You have to get the image URL and use the "img" htlm commands to insert it anywhere

Here's your Forum Avatar



It only showed up once, as an inserted image.

Here's an enlarger currently on eBay (4/1/24) which will display here as an inserted image until eBay removes the image, the auction is deleted.



Any image only has one (1) URL so where ever it is attached, parked (be it the Forum, Imgur, Photobucket, etc), that is the images one and only URL.

Knowing and/or copying the image URL allows you to post it anywhere using the "img" commands.

Another one using the "img" insert commands



and that image was downloaded from eBay and attached here. Then the attached image was inserted as the last thing in this reply (this is why it looks like an image posts twice, it does but it has to be made to do so by attaching and then inserting).

(PS: if interested in the car, this is the auction link - https://www.ebay.com/itm/276399534303 - and a screen show of the auction is the last image below, just attached, not inserted)