Hi. I just came back from four months abroad, and friends and family
want to see pictures.

I have a blog at blogspot, but I've only been able to figure out how
to post one picture at a time.

I'd like an easy to use, the cheaper the better, way to place and
maintain a gallery of photos online. My pet peeve about sites like
shutterfly and flickr are the fact that in order for someone to view,
they have to 'sign in.' I don't want to ask anything of the people
viewing my photos other than following a link.

That said, I'm pretty dumb about html. I'm smart enough that I've
figured out the only real piece of code I need for a gallery is: <img
src="picture_filename.jpg">

But I don't know what software to use to write the code, and I don't
know how to find a webhost that's not either too much or too little:
i.e., designed for a small business, or a free site covered in ads
with not enough space for a trove of pics.

My QUESTION, then, is this: Can you give me an idiot-proof run-down of
my options? I need a gallery online that my friends can just click to
see- I need plenty of web space for a couple hundred pictures. I'd
like it to be relatively easy for me to post the pictures. Those
being fulfilled, I'd like to find the simplest, cheapest solution.

Thank you!

MSN Messenger has My MSN Space. This is the description on the sign-up page:

"Be yourself. Find friends. Stay in touch. MSN Spaces allows you to
share your thoughts and interests with your friends and family, or
with everyone. You can set up your own blog, online profile, friends
list, photo album, music lists and more."

I don't know how much space you actually get though.

Yahoo! Photos allows you to upload unlimited numbers of photos. It's
free (you just need a Yahoo! ID) and you can send a link for viewing.
More info:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/photos/photos2/basics/index.html

Have a good day.