Archive for the ‘plugin’ Category
Virtualize your categories
In Piwigo, when you transfer photos via FTP in your “galleries” directory and register them with the synchronization process, you create physical categories. This is the way Piwigo has worked in its 8 first years. If I remember correctly, Piwigo 1.3 introduced the virtual categories in 2003. The idea was to create a logical hierarchy of categories, not related to filetree in the “galleries” directory. With virtual categories came virtual links: a photo can be associated to several categories at once.
The problem with physical categories it the lack of control: for example, you can’t easily move a category. If you move a directory under “galleries”, the synchronization process doesn’t understand that the directory has moved: the category is deleted and another one is created. You lose the photo description, the user comments and so on.
Piwigo 2.0 introduced a new automatic organization for your photos on the server filesystem in 2009. Photos are automatically stored in upload/Year/Month/Day/YearMonthDayHourMinuteSecond-Random.jpg, for example upload/2011/03/08/20110308102611-af34bcc9.jpg. The original filename is registered in the database. Categories are virtual, you can move them the way you want and informations related to photos are never lost. This storage method is used in the web upload form and with all remote softwares like pLoader, Lightroom, Shotwell, Digikam, Jiwigo… Unless you use the synchronization to add photos, there is nothing in your “galleries” directory.
Piwigo.com does not propose the FTP + synchronization method to add photos. Several Piwigo.com users have asked to migrate their Piwigo gallery into Piwigo.com and when we see photos in the “galleries” folder, we use a script to move files from the “galleries” to the “upload” directory. On Piwigo.org forums we sometimes have the question:
how do I move a category without losing photo properties?
so I’ve decided to convert my Perl script into a Piwigo plugin : Virtualize.
convert manual file tree into automatic file tree
Piwigo 2.2 Release Candidate 3 and User Upload
This should be the last Release Candidate before 2.2.0. You can read full details on the forum announcement (includes the magic download link).
The User Upload feature is removed from Piwigo 2.2 default features. This is a design choice. The Community plugin is now responsible for this feature. Starting from version 2.2.a, the Community plugin is not bound to pLoader anymore: now you can activate the advanced upload form for users as well. Of course, users will also be able to add photos with remote softwares like pLoader, Jiwigo, Lightroom, Shotwell, Digikam…
The Community plugin doesn’t imply full trust anymore: you can say that photos added by Friends (the group) needs to be validated by an admin, while photos added by Paul (the user) are directly visible in the gallery. You can also give the right to create sub-albums.
1. the administrator creates upload permissions by answering following questions:
* who? any visitor, any registered user, a user, a group
* where? the whole gallery or a specific album
* level of trust? high (immediate visibility in the gallery) or low (photos needs to be validated)
Manage Upload Permissions
2. if at least one permission matches the current user, a link [i]Upload photos[/i] is added in the menu. This is the upload form, as full featured as it is in the administration panel: automatic resize, thumbnail creation, automatic rotation, several photos at once, progress bar…
User Upload Web Form
If the user has a low level of trust for this album, photos are now pending for validation. Administrators are notified by email.
User Upload Web Form, 4 photos uploaded
3. administrators open the pending photos screen and decide which photos to validate and which to reject. Admins can also edit photos and albums before validation.
Pending Photos in Administration Panel
Community plugin version 2.2.a is ready for your beta test. First step is to run a Piwigo 2.2.0RC3 then you can install the Community plugin from the plugin manager as usual.
Improvements on Additionnal Pages
Plugin Additional Pages is getting more user friendly. This is the kind of improvement I really like! First, let’s remind what Additional Pages is : this is a plugin for Piwigo to add pages with free content. Example of use: introducing yourself or talking about your photography business (activity and prices). With Additional Pages, Piwigo gets basic CMS features. P@t has released many improvements this week:
- nicer URL pattern : /page/my-business instead of /additional_page/12
- option to set a page as homepage and hide the index.php?/page/my-business in the URL when it’s homepage
- the administration screens are simpler to use (less fields and checkboxes)
Additional Pages is one of the most translated plugin, with 16 languages.
Create a new page, advanced editing options are provided by plugin FCK Editor
On the manage screen, you can sort your pages, edit or delete them
On the gallery, a new block appears in the menu
Here is an example of page for the demo
To install Additional Pages plugin on your Piwigo photo gallery, go to screen [Administration > Plugins > Manage > Other plugins available] and click on “install” in the Additionnal Pages box.
