Image Slide Show and resizing images.
Finally got the finger out and got around to implementing fully the resizing capability for ImageSlideShow. It is on view and in test on the demo site here. I still need to spend some time testing / tweaking it, just to make sure all is ok and that I can provide reasonably simple instructions on how to make it work.
Should be able to release it on the Joomla! extension site in the next few days. I will need to write up some instructions on how to configure it as it is not as straightforward as the rest of ISS.
Once it is released, I think I’ll actually get down to writing up a tutorial on how ISS actually works, walking through the PHP and Javascript required to allow it to do what it actually does. ISS has served me well in learning about PHP and Javascript which was the original intent, so it seems good to wrap it up by revealing how it works.
The question then becomes what to look at next… am toying around with taking some extensions which work on J! 1.x but have no current owner/updater and see what I can do with them. I do also want to get to grips with MySQL and CSS so maybe I’ll go in that direction. Maybe I take this site from being a WordPress blog and actually put it on Joomla! 1.5. Maybe Drupal is worth a look? We’ll see…
Maybe I’ll also get around to organising this site so it actually makes sense! and that people can actually easily find the download for ISS, just noticed I couldn’t find it myself! If you are looking for the current version it is here.
If you have any questions on ImageSlideShow, please post the question in my ImageSlideShow forum.
Bug fixing for ImageSlideShow
Briask doesn’t get to spend as much time as he should on working with Joomla and the ImageSlideShow module, real life and real work keep on getting in the way.
One thing I do get to do every day is read the email/comments and respond to them if I have an answer or comment to make, some get held until I can actually spend time to give a considered response but they will get responded to in due course.
Today though, one comment caught my attention. It essentially said the sorting option wasn’t working! I read it with utter disbelief! No way! My code is perfect! Couldn’t be wrong! 
So I wander over to the site pointed out in the comment, had a quick look and would you believe it they were right, there was a problem! And worse still, it was in my code! One of of those painfully idiotic and “duh” type of bugs that always seem to bite when you least expect it.
And so we have an update to ImageSlideShow, some minor bugfixes, the sorting one included, but also included is the Module Class Suffix parameter which quite a few people were looking for. Go and play! Spread styles around it as much as you can.
Do let me know if y’all find any other issues or improvements that you’d like.
One item that I am working on is creating a plugin version of ImageSlideShow so that you can actually include it within articles/content. Look out for it in the next few weeks. For it to work properly I’ll have to get the image resizing and directory permissions functionality implemented and play some more with CSS so I can actually style it correctly.
Bug fix release of ImageSlideShow
You’ll find below a link to the latest version of ImageSlideShow for Joomla! 1.5 .
This release addresses some minor bugs/coding issues and adds the Module Class Suffix parameter.
You can read about why this update came about and what is next for ImageSlideShow in another post on my “blog”.
Many thanks to you all for the kind comments and interest in this module. This was just an idea I had for how to teach myself various aspects of development in the web world but seems to satisfy a need for some simple uncomplicated modules which may well give me direction for whatever future development work I do in this area.
ISS seems to have been used in quite a number and quite a variety of sites around the world. Everything from communites to volleyball teams to musical bands, love to see it being used and would love to see more sites that use it. So if you have a site that uses ISS send me a link and I’ll pop up a post here so others can see how it is used too.
How to - Configure ImageSlideShow
Image Slide Show for Joomla! 1.5 needs very limited configuration for it to work. for most purposes the only parameters that need to be modified are “Image Directory” and the “Height” and “Width” parameters. Below are listed all the current parameters and what effect they have on ISS.
- Image Directory : Set this to the location on your website where the images that you want ImageSlideShow (ISS) to use are located. ISS will use all the images (BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG) that are located in the location specified.
- Height in pixels : Sets a common height that ISS will attempt to display the images at.
- Width in pixels : Sets a common width that ISS will atttempt to display the images at.
- Transition Delay : Sets a delay, in miliseconds, between each phase of the transition between two consecutive images. A lower value will speed up transition but utilises more CPU cycles. A higher value will slow down transition but will use less CPU cycles
- Next Image Delay : Sets the period of time, in miliseconds, that determines for how long the current image will be displayed and when the next image will start to transition in.
- Slideshow title : Sets the “alt” tag on the image so that it displays the text when the cursor “hovers” over the image.
- URL : Sets the URL to which the browser will navigate to if the image is clicked. Works in tandem with “Enable Link?”
- Enable Link? : Has 3 options, “disable” which will not allow any action whn image is clicked. “Enable (same window)” => navigate to the URL within the same browser window. “Enable (new window)” => navigate to the URL by opening a new browser window.
- Display Sequence: Determines the sequence ISS will display the images. “Disable” will display the images in the sequence that the images were read from the source directory. “Shuffle” will load the images and then place them in a pseudo-random order. Pattern will repeat once all images have been displayed. “Sorted” will load the images and then perform a “natural” sort by file name. Natural sort will sort files alphabetically as a human understand i.e. “img1.jpg” is followed by “img2.jpg” and so on.Pattern will repeat once all images are displayed. “Totally Random” is just that, random pattern of images being displayed.
- Resize Images: If enabled will resize the images in the specifed directory to the size specifed. this does not modify the original images. ISS will create a resized copy of the image in a subdirectory of the directory containing the images. The sub-directory is called briaskThumbs, this directory must be created by you and the process running Joomla! must be given permission to write to that directory. How you do that very much depends on the server environment that you are running Joomla! under and is not something I can answer in this short post.
If you have any questions on ImageSlideShow, please post the question in my ImageSlideShow forum.
How to install - ImageSlideShow
This post will bring you through the steps required to install ImageSlideShow in Joomla 1.5.
- Download Imageslideshow from Image SlideShow . This will download a zip file called mod_briaskiss.zip to your computer. Remember the location to which you have saved this file.
- Log into your Joomla! 1.5 website as administrator. Navigate to the Extensions menu, Select Install/Uninstall.
- On the Extension manager screen - Install tab, click the “browse” button and navigate to the location at which you have saved the mod_briaskISS.zip file, select the file and click on Open. Next click on the “Upload file & Install” button. This will upload the module to your site and if successfully installed a message will inform you of this
- From the Extensions menu navigate to the Module Manager. On the site Module Manager page you will see a module titled “ImageSlideShow” with a type of mod_briaskISS.
Congratulations! You have successully installed ImageSlideShow.
If you want to create multiple copies of ImageSlideShow on your site, select the ImageSlideShow module and then click on the “Copy” button, this will create a copy of the module which you can then configure as you wish.
If you have any questions on ImageSlideShow, please post the question in my ImageSlideShow forum.
Briask- How to edit a Joomla template to publish a module in a new position.
- End of life announced for Joomla 1.0.x
- Interesting point from xkcd
- Change in support method
- How to publish multiple copies of ImageSlideShow
- Minor update to ImageSlideShow
- OK Computer! Just start already…
- What a to-do about what to do!
- Final Fantasy - take a listen.
- Return from Vacation!