diff --git a/api/newPost.php b/api/newPost.php
index 1379743..bf8ced0 100644
--- a/api/newPost.php
+++ b/api/newPost.php
@@ -20,14 +20,21 @@
     $postImage = $_FILES["postImage"];
 
     $imageHash = hash_file("sha256", $postImage["tmp_name"]);
-    $fileExtension = "png";
+    $fileExtension = pathinfo($postImage["name"], PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
     $uniqueFileName = $imageHash . "." . $fileExtension;
 
-    $target_file = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/" . TARGET_UPLOAD_PATH . $uniqueFileName;
+    // normalize filesystem target directory and URL
+    $docRoot = rtrim($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], "/\\");
+    $uploadPath = trim(TARGET_UPLOAD_PATH, "/\\");
+    $targetDirFs = $docRoot . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $uploadPath;
+    if (!is_dir($targetDirFs)) {
+        mkdir($targetDirFs, 0755, true);
+    }
+    $target_file = $targetDirFs . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $uniqueFileName;
     $uploadOk = 1;
     $imageFileType = strtolower(pathinfo($target_file, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
-    
-    $fileUrl = TARGET_UPLOAD_DIR . $uniqueFileName;
+
+    $fileUrl = rtrim(TARGET_UPLOAD_DIR, "/\\") . '/' . rawurlencode($uniqueFileName);
 
     $check = getimagesize($postImage["tmp_name"]);
 
@@ -50,22 +57,30 @@
 
     if ($uploadOk == 0) {
         echo "<br>Sorry, the file was not uploaded.<br>";
+        exit();
     } else {
-        // Resize the uploaded image
-        $resizedImage = imagecreatefromstring(file_get_contents($postImage["tmp_name"]));
-        $newWidth = POST_IMAGE_WIDTH; // Adjust this value as needed
-        $aspectRatio = imagesx($resizedImage) / imagesy($resizedImage);
-        $newHeight = $newWidth / $aspectRatio;
-        if ($newHeight > ($newWidth * 3)){
-            $newHeight = $newWidth * 3;
-        }
-        $resizedImage = imagescale($resizedImage, $newWidth, $newHeight);
-        imagejpeg($resizedImage, $target_file);
-        imagedestroy($resizedImage);
-
-        if($resizedImage == false){
-            echo "error with resizing image.";
-            exit();
+        // If the uploaded file is a GIF, move it as-is to preserve animation
+        if (strtolower($fileExtension) === 'gif') {
+            if (!move_uploaded_file($postImage['tmp_name'], $target_file)) {
+                echo "Error saving uploaded GIF file.<br>";
+                exit();
+            }
+        } else {
+            // Resize the uploaded image using GD for non-GIF formats
+            $resizedImage = imagecreatefromstring(file_get_contents($postImage["tmp_name"]));
+            $newWidth = POST_IMAGE_WIDTH; // Adjust this value as needed
+            $aspectRatio = imagesx($resizedImage) / imagesy($resizedImage);
+            $newHeight = $newWidth / $aspectRatio;
+            if ($newHeight > ($newWidth * 3)) {
+                $newHeight = $newWidth * 3;
+            }
+            $resizedImage = imagescale($resizedImage, $newWidth, $newHeight);
+            imagejpeg($resizedImage, $target_file);
+            imagedestroy($resizedImage);
+
+            if ($resizedImage == false) {
+                echo "error with resizing image.";
+            }
         }
 
         $PostContent .= "<br></br> <img class='postImg' src='$fileUrl' alt='$uniqueFileName'/>";
@@ -75,8 +90,7 @@
 $db = new Database();
 
 
-$sanitizedPostContent = strip_tags($PostContent, implode('', ALLOWED_POST_BALISE));
-
+$sanitizedPostContent = strip_tags($PostContent, implode('', ALLOWED_POST_BALISES));
 // transform content link into html <a>
 $url = "/http(s)?:\/\/([\w-]+\.)+[\w-]+(\/[\w\- .\/?%&=]*)?/";
 $sanitizedPostContent = preg_replace($url, "<a target='_blank' href='$0'>$0</a>", $sanitizedPostContent);
@@ -84,7 +98,7 @@
 
 $cleanPostContent = $db->escapeStrings($sanitizedPostContent);
 
-if (strlen(strip_tags($PostContent)) < 2 || strlen(strip_tags($PostContent)) > MAX_POSTS_LENGTH) {
+if (strlen(strip_tags($PostContent)) > MAX_POSTS_LENGTH) {
     echo "Error with post length <br>";
     echo strlen($PostContent);
     exit();
@@ -97,4 +111,3 @@
 $db->query($insertNewPostSqlPrompt);
 
 header('Location: ../index.php?p=home');
-?>
diff --git a/api/saveSettings.php b/api/saveSettings.php
index 4b81086..a323ccd 100644
--- a/api/saveSettings.php
+++ b/api/saveSettings.php
@@ -86,11 +86,11 @@
     $fileExtension = "png";
     $uniqueFileName =  "pp_$userId." . $fileExtension;
 
-    $target_file = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/" . TARGET_UPLOAD_DIR . $uniqueFileName;
+    $target_file = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/" . TARGET_UPLOAD_PATH . $uniqueFileName;
     $uploadOk = 1;
     $imageFileType = strtolower(pathinfo($target_file, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
     
-    $fileUrl = $fullDomain . "/" . TARGET_UPLOAD_DIR . $uniqueFileName;
+    $fileUrl = $fullDomain . "/" . TARGET_UPLOAD_PATH . $uniqueFileName;
 
     $check = getimagesize($profilePict["tmp_name"]);
 
diff --git a/api/utils/database.php b/api/utils/database.php
index 46a8f51..24e74c4 100644
--- a/api/utils/database.php
+++ b/api/utils/database.php
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class Database {
 
     private $conn;
     public function __construct() {
-        include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/../../config.php");
+        include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/../config.php");
         $this->conn = new mysqli(DB_HOST, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
 
         if ($this->conn->connect_error) {