Beth is traveling in Baja, MX with very limited internet connection, so I'll try to answer. Using the attachment mechanism for photos I believe uses up more of the forum's bandwith or storage. Beth recommends using a site like Photobucket to insert your photos. Or, as some do, provide a link to all your pics on an outside source. Hope this helps a bit!
Establish a free account with Photobucket
Go to “my album/upload”
Select the bulk uploader
When you have your pics in Photobucket the next step is simple.
Just slide your cursor over the photo you want to add to your post here in the forum. Beneath the pic you will see text appear...
One of the lines of text will be IMG code. (image)
Highlight that and do CtrlC
then go to your post and where you want your pic to show
do CtlV.
It should show a line of text in the message
and when you hit Preview your photo should appear.
If satisfied,...Hit Submit to post your message.
For your avatar you can adjust that in Photobucket too. And then follow the steps to get your pic into your avatar space.