PixyBlog Discussion

Hello,

Sometimes it is interesting to show another version of a photo entry, like the original un-processed file or another view of a subject. I know I can upload a file from my control panel in PixyBlog and call it using HTML in the description text, but that would display the image on a blank browser page, just like any other jpeg file. I would like to display that image just as if it was an entry, but without creating a new entry in the blog. An example of that is Chromasia.com, for example on this entry. Can this be done with PixyBlog?
Thanks,
Jacques

That's a great idea Jacques. I would also be interested in that.

Cheers,
Sven

Hi Jacques,

Thanks for the suggestion. I was actually quizzed about this a couple of months ago by Mr Fleming, but we never got a working solution. Mark wanted to show a before/after shot of the same photo but using an image roll-over technique rather than showing the image on a different page; but the problem (and solution) would be the same.

I've been thinking about it and I have a solution. We don't want these images to be part of the search, galleries etc, so I think it's best that we upload them separately (using the File Uploads). We can then link the uploaded image file to the entry using the newly added Reference Text #1 and/or Reference Text #2 fields which you can find in the Advanced Settings at the bottom of the New Entry page.

I think it will be easiest if I write a Wiki article about this, which I will later link to from this thread.

In the meantime I've got a working version on one of my entries; here. Look at the bottom for 'View the original, unprocessed version of this image'.

Get back to you here shortly.

Cheers,

Richard

I've got the first draft of the Wiki article online:

http://wiki.pixyblog.com/Displaying_an_alternate_image

Hopefully it's enough to get you started. I would be interested in hearing of any improvements, changes or general feedback you have.

Based on the procedures outlined in the wiki article, I've placed a couple of different example on my photoblog:

• http://www.woklife.com/entry/bang-tao-fishing-village-phuket
• http://www.woklife.com/entry/into-the-storm

Cheers,

Richard

Hi rj,

This is a great addition to our photoblogs. Thanks for adding it tot the features and for writing the wiki article. Unfortunately , I can't display an alternate photo, the link doesn't seem to work for me. I haven't used the javascript version, just the regular link version, but from the popupcomment template instead of the Blog template. The link is built correctly, but it doesn't work . You can have a look at this entry.
Thanks for your help,
Jacques

Hi Jacques,

I can see everything is working fine except your image is not fading-in; it's there, but invisible. You should be able to correct that just by adding the following to your image tag:

Code: Select all

name="photo"

So, your image tag would look something like:

Code: Select all

<img src="$url.resource($resource)" alt="$resource" style="display:none;" name="photo">


Hopefully that should do the trick. Let me know if not.

Cheers,

Richard

That did it rj, thanks a lot.

For those interested in doing that too, I have slightly modified the template (_day or _popupcomment) to also use the Reference Text #2 field. Now Reference Text #1 is used for "unprocessed image" and Reference Text #2 for "another photo of this subject", which is a potential alternate usage of this technique. Here is the code to add:

Code: Select all

#if(!$utils.isEmpty($entry.reference1))
<p><em><a href="$url.page('Alternate')?resource=$entry.reference1">View the original, unprocessed version of this image</a></em></p>
#end
#if(!$utils.isEmpty($entry.reference2))
<p><em><a href="$url.page('Alternate')?resource=$entry.reference2">View another photo of this subject</a></em></p>
#end

This page is an example of using both fields.

Great idea Jacques,

I was thinking of suggesting that Reference Text #1 be the filename of the unprocessed image (as described in the Wiki article), and Reference Text #2 could be used as the title for the unprocessed image (e.g. "Unprocessed version of Sunset Boulevard"), but your idea offers another alternative. Maybe we need to add more Reference Text's

rj wrote:Maybe we need to add more Reference Text's

Well, maybe. The power of your template language is great, so a couple more fields like that might be useful in the future...

By the way, what is the purpose of the Enclosure URL field in the advanced Settings of an entry ?