Google's Picasa can help add quality to your photos and add quality photos in different formats to your Par package website.

You will need to have an account with Google to publish your photos in a variety of ways using Picasa. The Google account is free. You only have to have one Google account to take advantage of many Google tools such as Picasa, Groups, Blogger, Docs and YouTube.

Naturally privacy is a concern anytime you upload photos to the Internet. Picasa has three levels of publishing photos: public web page, unlisted web page, passworded web page.

There are two pieces to the Google Picasa photo storage and sharing: (1) Picasa program which resides on your computer and (2) Picasa Web Albums (PWA) which allow you to share the photographs on the Internet.

Downloading and installing Picasa on your computer

1. Go to picasa.google.com
2. Click on the Download button or link
3. Open and run the Picasa Setup application you just downloaded to install it on your computer

Getting Started with Picasa

Like anything, there is a little learning that goes along with Picasa. These resources are available for you:

• View a video overview of Picasa
• Look at the Getting Started Guide for Picasa
• See all of Picasa help topics

Publishing photos to your Par Package website

You have various options for publishing photos from Picasa to your website:

• upload individual photos and insert on web pages
• create a collage of photos with Picasa and display on website using six different collage formats
• create collaborative albums where others in your golf group can upload to your web album and it auto-updates on your website
• create a video slide show and display on website

To learn how to share your photos online using Picasa Web Albums, please see the PWA Getting Started Guide. Your basic choices are:

• embedding in you Website Designer page
• linking within your Website Designer page

Embedding your Picasa photo, album or slide show:

To embed photos, slide shows, or album from PWA, you will

1. Create a Picasa Web Album and show all the photos as in Step 2 below.

2. Click on the Edit menu and select "Album properties."
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the Share drop down menu in the "Edit album information" window and select "Public" (green circle below).
   
   

4. Copy the snippet (different snippet depending on whether you want a slideshow, album or one photo) of HTML code from PWA as described at this link. an image of which is shown below.
   
   
   
   
5. Paste this snippet of code into Notepad or another text editor and save it as "filename.html" where "filename" is the name you give the photo, album or slideshow.
   
   
6. From within Website Designer, select the "Menu" tab or Pages tab. If you want this page to automatically have a link on the navigation bar, select the Menu tab.

7. From the Menu tab select "Insert menu item (New)".

8. Select the "Blank - HTML(Web) page" by doubleclicking on it or highlighting/selecting (click once with left mouse button) it and clicking on the Insert button.
   
   

9. Enter information into "Page Information" window and click OK button.
   
   

10. Choose a previously saved HTML file from the "Import HTML File" window by doubleclicking on it or highlighting/selecting it and clicking on the Open button. It is simplest when you create an HTML file to save it to the Desktop. That makes it easier to find for importing to your website. In the  image below, you see a file with ".htm" at the end. HTML files will have the ".htm" or ".html" on the end.
    
    

11. Your new HTML page is now on the navigation menu.
    
    

If you embedded an album or slide show, whenever you update either in your Picasa Web Album account, your web page where you embedded the code will also update.

Linking to your Picasa photos and albums:

You can also link to individual photos or albums rather than embedding them. See full instructions for linking.

1. In your Picasa Web Album account, click on the album you want to share by providing a link on your website.
   
   
2. You will then see the following at the right hand side of your monitor:
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the "Link to this album" link.
   
   
4. Copy the link found in the circled box below.
   
   
   
   
5. Paste this link on one of your web pages or ...
   
   
6. From within Website Designer, make sure you have the "Menu" tab selected (rather than the Pages tab).
   
   

7. From the Menu menu select "Insert menu item (New)"

8. Select the "Blank - Link Page" by doubleclicking on it or highlighting/selecting (click once with left mouse button) it and clicking on the Insert button.
   
   

9. Enter information into "Page Information" window and click OK button.
   
   

10. Your new Link page is now on the navigation menu. Click on the "Change the page or internet address to hyperlink to" button.
    
    

11. Fill in the "Text to display:" and paste the the "Web Address:" of your Google Picasa Web Album from Step 4 above. In the image below, the Link page Menu Item will take visitors to the USGA.org. Click OK.
    
    

12. You have the option of showing the linked page within your own website ["Browser's window on the right (keep menu on the left)"], in full screen on your website ["Browser's full window (NO menu on the left)"], or in new separate browser window ["NEW browser window (keep current window)"].