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For a long...long....long
time I have been looking for a way to make it more possible
to have an image gallery area that is easier to maintain
than the old one. It takes quite a large amount of time
to add new images into the old image gallery which resulted
in me basically getting around to it very rarely.
I have now implemented a new facility that will allow
any member to self-publish their own astrophotos directly
onto the OCA web site.
Any OCA member can upload astrophotos. But you will
need to obtain your username / password for the member
section in order to do this (and that is very easy).....
Just go to the new gallery at
http://www.ocastronomers.org/astroimages/album.asp
You can upload most web compatible images (GIF, JPEG,
PNG) but I would recommend sticking to JPEG. When uploading
images to the system you will be given an opportunity
to upload your own thumbnail image. In most cases I
would recommend that you do not upload the thumbnail.
The system will create one automatically for you.
This applies to both the dimensions (width/height)
and the physical size (in KB) of the images. I would
recommend you re-size your images to no larger than
1000 pixels wide ( I don't think it matters quite how
long they are). Also if your image is more than 150KB
can you please save it using a medium compression JPEG
setting which will hopefully make it smaller in size.
Thumbnail images of the files you submit are automatically
generated.
Please be careful in how you physically name your image
files. If necessary re-name them prior to uploading.
File names must not contain any "exotic" characters
such as a single quote character or the ampersand character.
Also... the image gallery will be used by many members
and it is important that image file names do not clash
with one-another. For instance don't name your image
of the moon "moon.jpg". I would recommend
the following standard.
OBJECT_INITIALS_DATE_NUMBER
e.g. M100_LK_23052003_01.jpg
Firstly in order to be able to upload you must login
to the members area of the web site. There is a link
to the login page on the top right of the new Image
Album area.
Once you are logged in, if you are in a "Category"
that allows uploads, you will see a submit icon towards
the left of the "icons" that you find near
the top right of the image album area. In this top right
area the icons also allow you to quickly view "NEW"
, "HOT" and "POPULAR" Images along
with links to a search facilty and more.
I recommend you just give it a try... the system should
be pretty intuitive... just browse around and click
on things to get to grips with the new facility.
NOTE: When you add new images you will have an opportunity
to enter detailed Image Information against each image.
PLEASE FILL IN AS MUCH INFORMATION AS YOU CAN. Some
of this information can be automatically created for
you from default information that you can define in
your member profile. Look at the new section at the
bottom of your memberprofile at http://www.OCAstronomers.org/members/memberprofile.asp
The system allows you to edit/delete only your own
photos that you have uploaded. You will see some additional
icons below the thumbnails for images that you have
uploaded or are assigned to your user name.
The Image album is quite flexible and allows any number
of image categories and sub-categories. I have created
the current set of categories to mirror in most cases
the categories we had in the old gallery.. and I have
added a few more.
The system supports sending a postcard of any image
to a friend... but I am having a bit of trouble with
that part of it... so it does not quite work correct
right now. I'll fix it soon.
I have had some feedback from members who have experienced
some problems uploading images to the Image Album while
using Netscape 6 or 7. The Image Album is based upon
a product that I purchased and have made extensive customizations
to. It is unfortunately not possible for me to ensure
the system (especially for uploads) works with every
single browser version that is out there. If I was paid
to do this... and if the budget was there... anything
is possible. But while I still have a life outside of
the OCA... this will continue to be a fact of life.
Please be assured that I am not anti Netscape or MAC
or anything of the sort. In fact most everything on
this web site can be accessed from Netscape (3-7)/Internet
Explorer (5-6).
Enjoy!
Liam Kennedy
OCA Webmaster
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