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#1 2010-10-29 21:55:32

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Thanks Piwigo!  I want to thank you on behalf of Wind Power Windsurfing Center for your Gallery software and web site resources to allow a gallery that meets our needs.  We did a bit of customization some of which was functional and remainder was graphical/styling to seamlessly integrate into current site style.  We don't want visitors getting a different experience between different parts of the site (informational, blog, shop, gallery).  Obviously one can't achieve that kind of integration without adjusting some .php in each one of those packages.  Here is link to the gallery  http://www.windpowerwindsurfing.com/gallery/ .  The recent images from the 2010 Winnebago SuperCrossing are a good sample.

So, I just want to mention what we 'changed/adjusted' to achieve our gallery.
    1.  integrated site header, navigation menu bar & footer into piwigo.

    2.  improved upload to save file in pwg_original folder and perform resize to pwg_high, default size and thumbnail upon validation.  User not burdened with resizing  or thumbnail creation.  Currently max upload size set at 4.2MB (4300x3000px) and increased php memory limit a bit.
    Also, improved upload logic to generate unique file name and accept a few more characters in filename so not to force user to rename file for upload.  Many popular image tools use characters like:  ( ) [ ] #  etc. which were restricted.   Added confirmation (javascript) box on upload submit  to verify upload category.  This is important as no 'move' file feature in admin panel. Also, added javascript to clear any upload errors (div) when user clicks submit and display infos (div) that file is uploading, otherwise error stays displayed while upload  is  happening and user gets confused. Limit filename length to 50 characters.
    Change ‘date_creation’ logic for uploads.  If no date supplied on form, validation will try to read exif date and if available use it otherwise use today’s date.  Any supplied date will override exif date.  Use jquery datepicker for field.

    3.  integrated SlideShow Pro with both index.php and picture.php views.  SlideShow Pro by Todd Dominey has super full-screen presentation and we were using this previously on this site without SSP Director.  Thanks to piwigo's engine and structure we were able to feed SSP with the image list. We are even tracking hits (views) on images viewed in SSP.  Also, launching  SSP from picture.php, when you return, it will redirect to image that was exited. When exiting from index.php SSP, the page it just refreshed to update hit counts.

    4. integrated Gravatar with comments.  We thought gravatars personalize the comments enough to make it  worth  it.  Again, good structure in piwigo made that change not too bad.

    5.  added HTML page anchor (#pic) in piwigo URL creation in picture.php view (prev, next, etc) so when browsing with controls (or arrow keys - awesome), page scrolls down to show picture.  I understand that a fundamental principle of how piwigo is designed is that it is a one-picture-one-page model, so that was our solution.  Otherwise not that user friendly, but our page layout has big header so we needed this.

    6. Removed the <link rel="prev,next... > from header.tpl  as browsers prefetch content using rel=next and piwigo would add hits for next image!  So piwigo was DOUBLE counting views, which was a bit  tricky to track down. 

    7. added floatbox for High Resolution image in page overlay instead of pop-up.

Those are the main adjustments.  Were you aware of the 'double counting' by prefetching?  I would give admin the ability to control <link rel= from Admin panel or one can just remove the  code from header.tpl.

So, we are super thrilled with it and it would not be possible without Piwigo.  A donation to piwigo is planned in near future as we just went live with the gallery. 

Thanks, stellablue

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#2 2010-10-29 22:13:17

plg
Piwigo Team
Nantes, France, Europe
2002-04-05
13782

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Impressive. You did a great job. I'm very proud of Piwigo when I see it used that way :-) I will make detailed comments about your specific changes but I wanted to give my feeling after a 5 minutes browsing on your gallery!

You know what? I've been working all day on preparing the future Piwigo Showcase with Piwigo live galleries, would you like to be added?

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#3 2010-10-30 03:21:10

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Thanks much plg! 

We look forward to reading your more detailed comments and would be happy to be in your piwigo showcase.  Glad you like it ;-)

Have a nice weekend - stellablue

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#4 2010-11-03 14:52:35

plg
Piwigo Team
Nantes, France, Europe
2002-04-05
13782

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

stellablue wrote:

Obviously one can't achieve that kind of integration without adjusting some .php in each one of those packages.

In fact you should be able to never modify any Piwigo core file as soon as you become a plugin writer guru :-) You can do nearly everything, from modifying a variable value to rewrite a part of the template file. The advantage of keeping the Piwigo core files unmodified is that you can update without loosing any specific change.

But obviously, modifying Piwigo core files is a simpler and faster solution to get the expected result.

stellablue wrote:

So, I just want to mention what we 'changed/adjusted' to achieve our gallery.
    1.  integrated site header, navigation menu bar & footer into piwigo.

Very well done, I have the feeling to never switch from an application to another.

stellablue wrote:

2.  improved upload to save file in pwg_original folder and perform resize to pwg_high, default size and thumbnail upon validation.  User not burdened with resizing  or thumbnail creation.  Currently max upload size set at 4.2MB (4300x3000px) and increased php memory limit a bit.

OK, this is very interesting to me. You mean you have added a 4th dimention format : pwg_original. And on your gallery pwg_high is a resized.

* What dimensions did you use to resize pwg_original into pwg_high?
* What is pwg_original used for?
* What is pwg_high used for?
* Is the Flash slideshow using the "web size", or pwg_high or pwg_original?

stellablue wrote:

Also, improved upload logic to generate unique file name and accept a few more characters in filename so not to force user to rename file for upload.

I don't understand. If you use the user upload form, I mean upload.php at the root of your gallery, where do you generate a unique filename? (the admin upload form does generate a unique filename but it is 100% different from the user upload form). The admin upload form accepts any character in the filename. For your information in Piwigo 2.2 the user upload form will be replaced by the current admin upload form (with additional moderation settings of course).

stellablue wrote:

Change ‘date_creation’ logic for uploads.  If no date supplied on form, validation will try to read exif date and if available use it otherwise use today’s date.  Any supplied date will override exif date.  Use jquery datepicker for field.

Very good. The current admin upload form does not propose to give a date but automatically searches for a creation date in the EXIF field DateTimeOriginal.

stellablue wrote:

3.  integrated SlideShow Pro with both index.php and picture.php views.

The result is impressive. Many people have told me that the full screen slideshow was missing on Piwigo.

stellablue wrote:

4. integrated Gravatar with comments.

Very good also. This would be a good plugin.

stellablue wrote:

5.  added HTML page anchor (#pic) in piwigo URL creation in picture.php view (prev, next, etc) so when browsing with controls (or arrow keys - awesome), page scrolls down to show picture.

That is very smart. Small modification but truly improved browsing. I'm interested in the code you changed for this.

stellablue wrote:

I understand that a fundamental principle of how piwigo is designed is that it is a one-picture-one-page model, so that was our solution.  Otherwise not that user friendly, but our page layout has big header so we needed this.

Yes you're right, currently in Piwigo 2.1, we have index.php with several thumbnails + picture.php with one web size picture + two or four navigation thumbnails (first, previous, next, last). But I really like to see a plugin or a theme with such a navigation : Galleriffic

stellablue wrote:

6. Removed the <link rel="prev,next... > from header.tpl  as browsers prefetch content using rel=next and piwigo would add hits for next image!  So piwigo was DOUBLE counting views, which was a bit  tricky to track down.

Never heard of this problem until now. Did you test with several web browsers?

stellablue wrote:

7. added floatbox for High Resolution image in page overlay instead of pop-up.

Did you try [extension by ] before implementing floatbox?

Anyway, I agree that the default display of the High Definition is not good at all. Some themes like Gally do a very good job on that task.

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#5 2010-11-04 01:11:16

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Hi plg,

Re: Hacks
I agree that core files should be modified as last resort to achieve result.  And a number of the changes implemented (slideshowpro integration, gravatar and floatbox overlay) could (and probably should) be plug-ins and maybe a custom theme could have handled the styling.  However, the upload improvements, the #pic anchor, and even some hard-coded textual output required .php modifications.  I am new to piwigo and smarty template system so it made sense to just hack the changes and prove feasibility. 

Re: Upload (User upload)
Yes, tweaked this quite a bit.  Basic goals were to make uploads very easy for users (of all technical levels) and to not force users to re-size image and create thumbnail.  So, I created a pwg_original folder which is where the uploaded file is saved on server.  The uploaded file can be up to 4.3 MB (4300px x 3300px) which covers todays 10 to 12 mega-pixel .jpgs.  Upon validation in admin panel, using php/GD library, the pwg_original image is used to create the thumbnail, the default ‘web’ size and pwg_high images.  The pwg_high image is only created if uploaded image is larger than default size.  Also, in our case, max thumbnail aspect ratio is 1.5 so I crop any thumbs on center that are ‘wide’.
Hopefully that explains the logic well enough and to answer you questions specifically:

What dimensions did you use to resize pwg_original into pwg_high?  pwg_high will resize at 1920x1080 (full HighDef).
What is pwg_original used for? It is the uploaded source file from which the other sizes are created.  Also, metadata is filtered-out during re-size so Users’ tags, titles, etc. don’t get imported into piwigo.
What is pwg_high used for? pwg_high is the high resolution image (preferably full screen HD at 1920x1080).
Is the Flash slideshow using the "web size", or pwg_high or pwg_original?  Slideshow Pro uses the pwg_high (1920x1080).  If no pwg_high exists, default size is used.  The pwg_original would require too much bandwidth. 

Re: Unique Filename
All the ‘uploading’ I reference is the User upload form, not the Admin upload.  If I recall correctly, the user upload logic checked if file existed with same name and would trigger error.  Most cameras follow common naming patterns and did not want to force user to rename files before upload. 

Re: Upload Creation Date
This is only on User Upload form.  (We are not using Admin upload, I prep and FTP sync instead.)  The User Uploads are into Physical Categories.  We are using no Virtual Categories.

Re: SlideShow Pro
Thanks, yes impressive presentation.  We were using SSP prior to piwigo but SSP has limitations.  So, we now have best of both worlds…a hierarchical image system with ftp & metadata synchronization and full screen slideshow presentation.  I think this could easily be a Piwigo plug-in.  I notice that SSP has a plug-in for another popular gallery system. 

Re: Gravatar
Agree but probably should just be incorporated into piwigo, similar to WordPress. 

Re: HTML #pic Anchor
Kinda got lucky with this one as I wanted to improve browsing and since page is refreshed for each image,  I was a little worried I would screw up the urls.  1 change in index.php and 6 in picture.php.  Do you want a copy of files?

Re: <Link Rel=”next”  …
I tested in firefox and I was a bit puzzled at first.  After reviewing apache logs and mySQL query log, I could see the request and hit update query for ‘next’ image.  Mozilla documentation states that browser may prefetch content using < link rel=”next”.  However, I did a clean install of piwigo and was not able to replicate.  Something else must have been going on…I will let you know if I find anything. 

Re: floatbox
I did not see the HD Shadowbox plug-in, but was already using floatbox on this site so it was already loaded.  All I did was add  class=”floatbox” in picture_content.tpl, very easy.

I will need to look into templates and plug-in design for piwigo to become more educated.  An SSP plug-in would be great for the piwigo world.  I would recommend improving the User Upload.  Also, would be nice to be able to move/delete image from physical category from Admin panel.   Good discussion, hopefully makes piwigo better!   -  stellablue

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#6 2010-11-04 02:15:04

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

:o Update Re: <Link Rel=”next” or "prefetch" …
I was able to replicate the double counting.  It has to do with the $conf['question_mark_in_urls'] option.  It occurs in Firefox, not IE.  Opera possible, someone needs to test. 

When $conf['question_mark_in_urls'] = false;  Mozilla will fetch the page defined by <link rel="next" or "prefetch".

When $conf['question_mark_in_urls'] = true;  Mozilla does not fetch the page defined by <link rel="next" because urls with query strings are not prefetched.  (see mozilla docs https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Link_prefetching_FAQ     ...interesting)

Also, see Link prefetching at wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_prefetching.

Technically all piwigo needs to prefetch is the next image file, not the .php page.

See if you can replicate plg!  Do a lot of people use the $conf['question_mark_in_urls'] option?  - stellablue ;-)

Last edited by stellablue (2010-11-04 02:15:57)

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#7 2010-11-11 13:35:35

plg
Piwigo Team
Nantes, France, Europe
2002-04-05
13782

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

While browsing in the bugtracker, I just found [Bugtracker] ticket 835 and I think this is exactly what you also discovered!

stellablue wrote:

Do a lot of people use the $conf['question_mark_in_urls'] option?

I don't think so, because this is an advanced configuration setting that currently (Piwigo 2.1) needs to be modified with a PHP syntax.

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#8 2010-11-11 20:36:40

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Yes, that is it.  I got to use the mySQL logging to track that down and learned a little something.  Maybe place a warning in the master config.inc.php about it.  For some pwigo users views (hit) could be an important metric and incrementing hit on next will sure inflate the numbers.   

I like the cleaner URL w/o the ?, so it was one of the first things I did.  I think it helps SEO too, since no query string.   I was hoping to do url rewrites with piwigo and have clean-urls all the way, but not sure that is possible with current architecture.

thanks - stellablue

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#9 2010-11-11 23:30:11

plg
Piwigo Team
Nantes, France, Europe
2002-04-05
13782

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

stellablue wrote:

I like the cleaner URL w/o the ?, so it was one of the first things I did.  I think it helps SEO too, since no query string.   I was hoping to do url rewrites with piwigo and have clean-urls all the way, but not sure that is possible with current architecture.

Did you try the permalink feature?

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#10 2010-11-12 20:54:06

stellablue
Member
Hawaii
2010-10-25
14

Re: Thanks piwigo - Wind Power Windsurfing & Kiting Center Gallery

Hi plg,

I would call those 'psuedo' perma-links.  A SEF rewritten perma-link should be something like: http://www.piwigo.org/category/<category name and/or id)/<other params>
http://www.piwigo.org/tag/<tags>
http://www.piwigo.org/picture/<single image>/<other info if needed>    etc.
If you have a .php or some specific file name in the  url, imo, it is not a true 'perma-link'

You know, like WordPress apache url rewrites where the index.php (or pagename) is eliminated from the url and rewrite engine processes the request and display correct content. 
That would be super and eliminate those if script_base()=='index' or 'picture' code  that can get a little ugly as software evolves.

I am almost done with a new Piwigo theme.  The theme itself has a theme Plug-in  that  enhances features specific to the theme.  Also, pAnchor, fsSlideShow, and pGravatar work nice with it.   I have some clean up to do and am going to post a preview at site I support.  Then maybe solicit some feedback from some piwigo users too! 

thanks again - stellablue
( updated image, did not have fly-out menu showing)

Last edited by stellablue (2010-11-13 00:20:42)

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