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Lightbox & CMS is it possible
Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to apply CMS to a Lightbox slideshow? I only need to show one picture on a page at a time.
Richard
Which CMS are you using? Are you very comfortable with it? Are you talking about the Lightbox action, or do you have experience with Lightbox before?
What you are suggesting is very possible, but the way you ask the question makes me want to know if this is the best approach for your project. Like, are you using a CMS just to get this effect? Usually you build the CMS first then add things to it, not try to apply it as a solution to an effect.
Tell me more :-)
pixelart wrote: [quote:decb7e9490]Does anyone know if it is possible to apply CMS to a Lightbox slideshow? I only need to show one picture on a page at a time. [/quote:decb7e9490]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
I use both WebYep and Mini Data Base CMS. CMS is already implimented on the site for changing text and images. The Lightbox action I am using is part of Weavers Mootools Suite - Lightbox/Slimbox. The reason I ask about CMS is that I have a client that would like to be able to change both the small image, and the image that displays with Lightbox when the small image is clicked. I know I can probably do this with show/hide layers but the client likes the Lightbox effect.
Richard
[quote:1ad880cddb=”The Big Erns”]Which CMS are you using? Are you very comfortable with it? Are you talking about the Lightbox action, or do you have experience with Lightbox before?
What you are suggesting is very possible, but the way you ask the question makes me want to know if this is the best approach for your project. Like, are you using a CMS just to get this effect? Usually you build the CMS first then add things to it, not try to apply it as a solution to an effect.
Tell me more :-)
pixelart wrote: [quote:1ad880cddb]Does anyone know if it is possible to apply CMS to a Lightbox slideshow? I only need to show one picture on a page at a time. [/quote:1ad880cddb]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com[/quote:1ad880cddb]
Well then, hopefully the Web Yep folk here can guide you.
I’ve been using sNews and am working on a site now where I’m using the Thickbox effect to display images in press release content. The image references are coded into the content with a class trigger for the action. It sounds like you may be looking for a less manual way to do this.
Best wishes —
pixelart wrote: [quote:fbd8594266]I use both WebYep and Mini Data Base CMS. CMS is already implimented on the site for changing text and images. The Lightbox action I am using is part of Weavers Mootools Suite - Lightbox/Slimbox. The reason I ask about CMS is that I have a client that would like to be able to change both the small image, and the image that displays with Lightbox when the small image is clicked. I know I can probably do this with show/hide layers but the client likes the Lightbox effect. [/quote:fbd8594266]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
Definately a head scratcher. The problem is with the way Lightbox wants a predefined url for the image it will display. WebYep is a different animal as far as how it keeps track of image files as it is not a single file involved, therefore no way found so far to make this work. MiniCMS is a bit different in that it uses mysql database to look for data such as image files. Again, this is still a problem as Lightbox wants a preset url for each image. Better minds than my own will have to work out the folderol code needed to make this work i’m afraid. [quote:a450acd6d2=”pixelart”]Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to apply CMS to a Lightbox slideshow? I only need to show one picture on a page at a time.
Richard[/quote:a450acd6d2]
Freeway Pro 5, G4 Powerbook 1.33 ghz 1.25gb ram, 2.3 ghz Dual Core MacPro 2gb ram
Sometime around 6/3/07 (at 23:03 +0000) chuckamuck said:
[quote:0390a78a15]The problem is with the way Lightbox wants a predefined url for the image it will display. WebYep is a different animal as far as how it keeps track of image files as it is not a single file involved, therefore no way found so far to make this work. MiniCMS is a bit different in that it uses mysql database to look for data such as image files. Again, this is still a problem as Lightbox wants a preset url for each image. [/quote:0390a78a15] How about storing the required preset URL for each image in the database? And, if necessary, just storing the actual images in a folder, old-school style, and using the database to keep track of them but not to store their actual data?
k
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Uh huh, that’s the way I approached it. It involves writing the link by hand, providing the opportunity to set the part of the link that is responsible for activating the Lightbox/Thickbox visualization. I think he’s looking to avoid that level of manual involvement, though.
The CMS I been using has given up on assuming HTML tags for user-input content. There is a sort of HTML editor built in, but requires whoever is adding content have some idea of how HTML basically works.
thatkeith wrote: [quote:cc6aa9b60e]How about storing the required preset URL for each image in the database? And, if necessary, just storing the actual images in a folder, old-school style, and using the database to keep track of them but not to store their actual data? [/quote:cc6aa9b60e]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
[quote:e2519b15ee=”pixelart”]Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to apply CMS to a Lightbox slideshow? I only need to show one picture on a page at a time.
Richard[/quote:e2519b15ee]
Hi richard I have been looking into this one on and off for some time and as usual work takes over.. but here goes a quick run down of the problems as I see them and possible solution.. this is for webyep cms system and most of the following answer is from WebYep. There is a version of called Mooshow which I was looking at so this answer is based on that one.
The big problem with these systems as far as I can see is 1) getting the scripts to find the images 2) and ignoring the other content that webyep places in data folder.
The way I would use the cms is purley as an admin page so you could upload a large selection of images and then for those images to viewed indendently on an other page which uses the slide show script.
What would need to be done to make mooshow to work is adapt mooshow’s getImages() function, to only use/list the images of a specific WebYep Image Element, This function is found in the file: mooshow/folderImages.php at the moment the implementation takes two parameters:
function getImages($path, $galleryName) { … }
ok to make this work the $path would be the path to the WebYep "data" folder. The next item is to ad an extra parameter, and this would be a regular expression to filter the file names found in the data folder.
The file names of the actual image file for a WebYep Image Element embedded in a WebYep Loop Element have the form:
7-3-im-Photo-6215.jpg
Where "7" would be the page’s document ID (as found in the webyep- system/data/documents file), "3" the loop’s repetition ID, "Photo" would be the Element’s name and "6215" would be a random number, assigned when uploading the image.
So a regular expression of e.g.
7-[0-9]+-im-Photo-[0-9]+[.]jpg
would list all JPGs of the WebYep Image Element "Photo" on the page with document ID "7"
By extending the getImages function by a filter using such regular expression to just list those filenames matching that expression, the mooshow gallery would then also only show the images for this Image Element.
I told you it isnt straight forward and at the moment I caant eveen look into it (I have a massive Shockwave job on which is going to take me all the way up till after easter) so if any body fancies adapting the existing script that comes from this system then you can download it though I cant rember from where. If you cant find it drop me an email and I will email it out.
it’s better to be lucky than clever.. :o)
Just had a look to see if the mooshow examples were still there and they wernt so here is a similar example using the same mooshow system.
www.max-izzat.co.uk/extended_features/show/example2.php www.max-izzat.co.uk/extended_features/show/example1.php
ps sorry about the yukky muscle/bone image.. its the only one I had on the desktop max
it’s better to be lucky than clever.. :o)
brings the horse back to life briefly
Keith,
Not clear how this helps with CMS issue. The CMS data is not a url per say, so how can you point a url at the data even if only the urls are stored there? There is something obvious here i’m missing.
[quote:172319e72e=”thatkeith”]Sometime around 6/3/07 (at 23:03 +0000) chuckamuck said:
[quote:172319e72e]The problem is with the way Lightbox wants a predefined url for the image it will display. WebYep is a different animal as far as how it keeps track of image files as it is not a single file involved, therefore no way found so far to make this work. MiniCMS is a bit different in that it uses mysql database to look for data such as image files. Again, this is still a problem as Lightbox wants a preset url for each image. [/quote:172319e72e] How about storing the required preset URL for each image in the database? And, if necessary, just storing the actual images in a folder, old-school style, and using the database to keep track of them but not to store their actual data?
k
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com[/quote:172319e72e]
Freeway Pro 5, G4 Powerbook 1.33 ghz 1.25gb ram, 2.3 ghz Dual Core MacPro 2gb ram
Sometime around 27/3/07 (at 21:03 +0000) chuckamuck said:
[quote:3fd5683028]brings the horse back to life briefly [/quote:3fd5683028] [whinny]
[quote:3fd5683028]Not clear how this helps with CMS issue. The CMS data is not a url per say, so how can you point a url at the data even if only the urls are stored there? [/quote:3fd5683028] Remember, a database stores data. All you need to do is choose what kind of data you store.
If you have a folder full of images, your database can store paths to those images as URLs. When you want to use them your scripts must know that what they’re getting from the database is not image data, it is the addresses of where those images can be found. Slot those into your HTML template in the right manner and presto! You have img src URLs pointing to wherever the relevant images are stored.
Just one way of doing things, of course.
k
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
All an image link does is whatever any link does, in other words all links point to an url — either relative or absolute.
What is different about a Lightbox link is the rel attribute used to trigger the scripting loaded in the page head. But it is still just a link.
So what you might be storing in your cms data is a properly formed link to the image, with the rel attribute added. [quote:e3f780bd0a]<a href="path/to/image" rel="lightbox’>Link Text</a>[/quote:e3f780bd0a]
Or if you want to use a thumbnail instead of link text, then [quote:e3f780bd0a]<a href="path/to/image" rel="lightbox’><img src="path/to/thumbnail" /></a>[/quote:e3f780bd0a]
Of course you can get fancier as you need, the point is all you are storing in your cms is HTML, unless for some reason your cms is a text-only beast??
chuckamuck wrote: [quote:e3f780bd0a]brings the horse back to life briefly
Keith,
Not clear how this helps with CMS issue. The CMS data is not a url per say, so how can you point a url at the data even if only the urls are stored there? There is something obvious here i’m missing. [/quote:e3f780bd0a]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
And really, what you store in your database should be as simple as possible, and decorated at the last minute with any extras, like a rel property, in the view that needs that property. Any other view of the same resource might not need, or might be confused by, that property. Part of the joy of a content management system (and more than a small part of the frustration, too) is the flexibility it gives you.
Walter
On Mar 27, 2007, at 7:00 PM, The Big Erns wrote:
[quote:0256d8001e]All an image link does is whatever any link does, in other words all links point to an url — either relative or absolute.
What is different about a Lightbox link is the rel attribute used to trigger the scripting loaded in the page head. But it is still just a link.
So what you might be storing in your cms data is a properly formed link to the image, with the rel attribute added.
[quote:0256d8001e]<a href="path/to/image" rel="lightbox’>Link Text</a> [/quote:0256d8001e]
Or if you want to use a thumbnail instead of link text, then
[quote:0256d8001e]<a href="path/to/image" rel="lightbox’><img src="path/to/thumbnail" /></a> [/quote:0256d8001e]
Of course you can get fancier as you need, the point is all you are storing in your cms is HTML, unless for some reason your cms is a text-only beast??
chuckamuck wrote:
[quote:0256d8001e]brings the horse back to life briefly
Keith,
Not clear how this helps with CMS issue. The CMS data is not a url per say, so how can you point a url at the data even if only the urls are stored there? There is something obvious here i’m missing.
[/quote:0256d8001e]
Ernie Simpson — Freeway 4 Pro User — www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
Ernie Simpson Freeway 4 Pro User www.thebigerns.com/freeway/
[/quote:0256d8001e]
This list is maintained by Softpress Systems - www.softpress.com
Freeway user since 1997
I think I posted this elsewhere or maybe privately, I forget, but…
Slimbox (the mootools Lightbox library) can be invoked purely by a JS command. Easy if all you need to show is one image: [code:1:e3b420c252] Lightbox.show(’images/image-1.jpg’, ‘Spheres in construction’);
Lightbox.show(’path/to/image’, ‘Optional Caption’); [/code:1:e3b420c252] No ‘rel’ attribute is needed in this case. So should be relatively easy to work into template or such. This is only applicable with the mootools.js version. I don’t believe the original prototype.js version supports this ‘feature’
FW4/5Pro User
Just for people that are interested in this.
I have been testing out the pre-release version of webyep 1.2.5pr2 and this new version will allow the use of the lightbox effect on multiple itmes in a loop.
Images in a loop are now grouped into Lightbox groups to be viewed as a slideshow (next/prev buttons).
In other words if you place a webyep image in a webyep loop as normal, and make the thumbnail checkbox ticked. Then when you create more images via the loop and as long as you have the lightbox folder installed in the webyep system folder as per the installation instruction then you will have a lightbox gallery with previous and next buttons. This opens up a huge amount of possibilities for or gallery.
I just tested it and it worked a treat… :o)… a webyep gallery made from 1 freeway place webyep image, but this allowed for as many images as I wanted to upload and all with a lightbox effect
max
it’s better to be lucky than clever.. :o)
