This is what you need to run this software:
$settings['create_thumbnails']
variable to false
in the /config/settings.php
file. This way, the thumbnails will show as a scaled version of the main picture.Note: This gallery is not compatible with IE 5.x Mac since it seems not to support AJAX. the gallery will show a message to the user explaining this (this browser is discontinued by Microsoft, so please do not ask support for it).
Server Check: If you don't know if you have PHP installed in your host, try the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>
test.php
and upload it via ftp to your webspace.http://yourdomain/path/to/file/test.php
. Scrolling down you will find the current version of PHP and whether or not GD/GD2 is installed.Once you have checked that your server meets the prerequisites as listed above you are ready to begin the installation.
/config/settings.php
in a text editor (not Word! Notepad/TextEdit will do, saving as plain text) and make the changes you wish. Save and close the file.$settings['create_thumbnails']
and $settings['cache_thumbnails']
(check other variables that might be related). The thumbnail folders will be created inside the /cache/
directory, named after the gallery starting with cache_
(e.g. /cache/cache_yourgallery/
)./galleries/
folder.Note: be careful to upload images in data (binary) format, and text files in text (ascii) format.
/cache/
directory to 0777.That should be all!
If you want to have your galleries to appear in a specific order in the menu, just prepend a number and a dash NN-
to the folder name in the order you want. These numbers won't appear in the gallery title. In my opinion, a good practice is to append every gallery with the date formatted as YYMMDD-
if you want to order them by date.
Note: this setting might not work in some OSes/Hosts. If this is your case, let me know in the community
If you want your images to appear in a specific order, prepend a number and a dash NN-
to the image name. If you set $settings['show_thumb_number']
to false
those numbers won't show as part of the image caption.
If you want a gallery temporarily not to show in the menu, just prepend an underscore (_
) to the gallery folder name (eg. /galleries/_yourgallery/
). The same applies to images you want temporarily not to appear in a gallery.
If you want a description for the gallery, put it on a text file, name it _info.txt
(the default name) and save it inside the gallery images folder.
Note: you can change this file's default name in the /config/settings.php
file.
If you want to show a description of the image, just name the image with the text you want to appear as a caption.
Note: Underscores (_
) will be parsed and shown as spaces (), and Dashes (
-
) will be parsed and shown like this (-
), eg.my_image-comment.jpg
will look likemy image - comment
.
If you want to change any text on the gallery, look for it in the language files, inside /languages/
directory
If you want to add html code to let your gallery look like your site, you can add it in the Header/Footer files. Open the /add_header.php
and add al the Header code (the code that goes on top of the gallery), and do the same with the /add_footer.php
for the Footer code (the code that goes below the gallery). Follow the instructions on the files for adding the code. Then add the CSS definitions for the Header/Footer html in the /styles/includes.css
css file.
Note: When adding to the /styles/includes.css
, be careful with the CSS id/class naming, as if some conflict with the minishowcase css definitions, your gallery's look might suffer some problems.
minishowcase is supplied with a generic set of default values that can be customised to work better within your own site. Most of the variables for the working of the gallery are contained in the /config/settings.php
file. This means that you can change many of the features by editing just one file.
At this stage, customisation is still at a minimum level. Expect improved and more thorough customisation in the (near) future.
There are /*comments*/
throughout to assist with site redesigns.
Note: themes are now working again. Be aware that old themes are not compatible with the latest release of minishowcase Luckily, they're easily upgradeable. Just duplicate a new theme, copy the values of your old theme and add the missing ones accordingly. Please check afterwards since some values might have change their appearance.
Themes are preconfigured visual styles and they include overall color scheme and images. They're a good way to adapt (for now, colors and images) minishowcase to resemble more your website's appearance.
Themes are contained within the /themes/
folder. To make your own theme, just copy one of the provided ones, modify the images and the colors in the /themes/data.php
file. Then rename the theme's folder (it acts as the theme's name)
Themes included in the minishowcase download:
Other themes available for download:
If you make a new theme, and want to share it with the rest of us, send a .zip
compressed copy to minishowcase@frwrd.net and it may be showcased in the themes section. Please include all relevant information, including:
If the gallery names are looking funny or weird, and/or some characters look erroneous, or the galleries just don't load at all and you're using non-ASCII characters in the gallery names:
Open /config/settings.php
and set $settings['set_double_encoding']
to true
(default is false
, if yours is false
, then set it to true
).
Open the /galleries/index.php
file and set $thumbnail_creation
to true
. Then go to http://your-gallery/galleries/?thumbnails
and voilĂ ! you can create thumbnails for every gallery.
Thumbnails will be created with the size set in /config/settings.php
under $settings['cached_thumbs_size']
. Change this value if you want better (or less) quality/size images. Default is 128px as max size, so for square thumbs is 128x128px, and for real aspect ratio (no square) is 128px max for the larger side.
If you decide to change the way your images show (by changing $settings['square_thumbnails']
) then you might have to rebuild the cached thumbs for them to keep the selected aspect ratio (square vs. real aspect ratio).
NOTE: In some cases, you might have to delete the thumbnails manually through FTP since the script might not be able to delete the thumbnails due to PHP strict file handling permissions.
Please remember to set $thumbnail_creation
back to false
in order to avoid other people recreating all your thumbnails!
Open the /config/settings.php file and change in line 243:
$settings['gallery_sorting'] = 4; //2 <-- CHANGE TO "4"
$settings['thumbnail_sorting'] = 0; //6 <-- CHANGE TO "0"
This seems to be the solution if you're getting an error on line 822 as discussed in this thread
That should help and make thumbnails show. If that does not solve your problem, or if you want more information, read and post on this thread
(Not supported AT ALL, use at your own risk)
On the first lines of the /libraries/ajax.init.js
file, you'll find some advance settings:
If you don't want to jump to the next gallery block when you are at the last image and click the arrow, set this to false
// jump from last block image to next block first image
var continuous_nav = true;
If you set to true
all images will be load simultaneously. It'll slightly accelerate thumbnail loading but it might crash or block the browser on galleries with many thumbnails.
// load thumbnails one by one
var use_load_interval = true;
If you don't want to show the AJAX loader bar, set this to false
// show ajax loader
var show_loading_bar = true;
Set to true
if you want the minishowcase Preview pane to animate (fade in/out) when showing an image
// animate preview pane show/hide
var animate_preview = false;
Set to true
if you want to go right directly to the permalink URL when you click on the 'permalink' link (Does not work right, use at your own risk)
// clicking on permalink loads it directly
var active_permalink = false;
This one is just for debugging purposes. Do not change it.
// resize the thumbnail container
var set_thumbnail_container_height = false;
Set to true
if you want visited galleries to change color
// set visited galleries to 'visited' color
var show_visited_galleries = false;
If you need help and your issue is not described here, please post your issue in the community forums
Any doubt, information or request might be discussed in the community. I am oftentimes very busy, a freelancer that travels from time to time, and it may happen that I don't check the threads immediately, but do not doubt that your suggestions and requests will be taken into consideration and a prompt answer is likely to be delivered.
IMPORTANT: Please read this INSTRUCTIONS thoroughly before sending any complaint/bug/feature request. If you don't receive an answer to your post or email, chances are the answer has already been covered here and I just cannot be bothered to rewrite it.
This program is freeware, you may use it at your own discretion, If you want, you can write to me and tell me where are you using it, just to check it out.
This program is in a very alpha version, I am only distributing it because it is such a simple gallery, it might be useful to others. The web is full of full-fledged, perfectly-functional php image galleries, this one is for those that want an extremely simple, easy yet powerful and configurable gallery. If you're learning php, this is a very nice place where to start. And, after all, it is offered at no cost.
This software is provided 'As Is', and no implied warranties are to be considered in any way watsoever, not even the implied warranty of FITNESS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. It is free, you can do whatever you want with it, it is safe, it is just server scripting code, that should be enough. By downloading this software you are deemed to this agreement.