i figured the little paper clip icon meant there was an attachment, such as a photo, in a thread. however, i don't always see it, even though the thread contains a pic. for example, the thread: "picture of fan giving lance the bird" has no paper clip icon, but has a photo attached.

this is a small unimportant question but i'm just curious. any ideas?

There are two ways to get a photo in a thread, using [IMG] tags, and using the attachment feature. Attachments will always show the paperclip. [IMG] tags pull pictures hosted on other servers, that alone will not produce a paperclip.

mystery solved. thanks joe! now i can sleep tonight. :)