The thread was originally started in 2012 so I have brought the first post up to date to describe the current functionality.
16/09/2017
The gallery is a separate module to the site software and acts as a repository for images that can then be incorporated in posts.
I am no expert by any means but I will post what I have learned so far on the subject.
I have chosen my gallery image of Miss Mallard who seems to be turning into a bit of a star as she has already attracted 359 (a lot more now) views (who could resist), for demonstrating the various options and effects
Gallery
Here is where you can upload your images into the various categories within the gallery. Images in the gallery can be viewed, rated and commented on by other members of the site.
Images are held in the gallery in categories which are then divided into sub categories and then into sub-albums.
Images in the gallery can be viewed by navigating to the category and then in to the sub-album, clicking on the image or the title will bring up the image in the viewer.
The viewer mode has all the related information about the image. This includes the Image-URL, and the Image-BBCode. Other information available is when it was uploaded and by whom, the number of times it has been viewed and the rating (if it has been rated). At the bottom of the page there is a simple edit box to post comments on the image, (you can get the full editor by clicking the box below.)
Inserting into posts from the Gallery
Images from the gallery can be inserted into posts by copying the Image-URL string from the gallery and then using the Insert Image icon in the posting box to place the image into the post. This is the icon in the top bar of the post editor with the small mountain picture, if you put your mouse pointer on it it will show its function and usage. Clicking the icon will place the image insertion codes at your cursor position. Your cursor will be in the centre of the bracketed BBcodes. The easiest way to paste your previously copied Image-URL is to use the keyboard past combination of CTRL V. This will insert the string between the brackets, if you then press the END key on your keyboard, your cursor will move to the end of the line.
The site settings will automatically resize your photograph to a usable size for use within threads.
Images imported as Attachments
Images can also be incorporated into posts by adding them as attachments to the post itself. You will see a tab below the posting box, clicking this will allow you to browse to an image file (or many other types of file) and attach it to the post. This will attach the file to the post, once attached other options will become available to place the file in the post. The file will be inserted in the post at the current position of the cursor. In the case of an image file it will be displayed as a scaled down version, clicking the image within the post will show a scaled up version.
There are pro's and cons of using both methods, personally I prefer the Gallery as the images are available to all and can be commented on and rated. Uploading via the gallery also has the option to import more than one image at a time. The limit is currently set to 10, it can be changed in the admin console.
Adding them as attachments does not make them available to anyone other than the owner and only visible in the post itself or as a list of personal attachments in the user control panel which shows the owner how many times the attachment has been (in the case of an image) viewed. You cannot comment on the image other than replying in the topic, neither can you rate it. Ideal if you have an image that you want to put into a post but may not have a lot of merit as a stand alone image in the gallery. The attachment facility itself will allow a great number of different file types to be attached to posts, which is where it has the most use in my view.
I hope this may be useful, please add comments or post anything else you have found out about image manipulation on the site.