How to create image galleries

There are a few steps to creating an online gallery using the bolt-on Gallery Plugin.  One concept necessary to grasp is that gallery pages are normal pages with embedded keywords.  Also, every gallery must have its own dedicated directory inside where the images are stored.

Creating New Galleries

As mentioned, gallery pages are normal pages with a keyword extension.  Using this method, you can group your galleries as you would any other category pages.

1. In the administration area, click on 'Create New Gallery'.
2. Name the gallery (page) and select an optional parent.
   
3. Save the gallery.
   
4. Follow on-screen instructions to upload images for your new gallery or do it via the administration area.
   
5. All done!

Uploading Images

After you've created your new gallery pages you need to upload images to it. There are two built-in options in the administration area for this - 'Upload Multiple Images' and 'Upload with Preview'.  For bulk uploads, you may wish to consider using FTP software (see instructions below).

Upload Multiple Images method

1. In the administration area, click on 'Upload Multiple Images'.
2. Select the target gallery from the drop-down list.
   
3. Select up to 10 images from your computer.
   
4. All done!

Upload with Preview method

1. In the administration area, click on 'Upload with Preview'.
2. Select the target gallery from the drop-down list.
   
3. Select up to an image from your computer - a preview of the file will automatically be shown on the page
4. You can select a different gallery from the drop-down list in the same session and add more images - the preview will show all images and is not directory specific.
5. When finished, return to the administration area where you can generate thumbnails for your new images.

Image names must only contain letters, numbers, spaces and underscores.  No dashes, full stops or any other punctuation.

Generating Thumbnails

Before a gallery can be viewed by your visitors, you must create thumbnails for your gallery images.  If you forget to do this, your gallery pages will show up as having zero images.

1. In the administration area, click on 'Generate Thumbnails'.
2. Select the target gallery from the drop-down list.
   
3. Enter a size for the generated thumbnails - default is 125 px.
4. Click the 'Create Thumbnails' button.
   
5. All done!

Creating Galleries via FTP

You may feel more comfortable creating your galleries using FTP software. Using this method, you can create complicated gallery structures and upload many images at once.

1. If it doesn't already exist, create a folder named 'galleries' inside your content/Image directory - you can do this via the administration area's File Manager.  This folder is the root gallery folder and will contain all your other gallery folders.
   
2. Create new gallery folders inside the one you've just created - make sure they are named the same as the titles of your new galleries (see step 2 below).
3. Set all gallery folder permissions to CHMOD 0777
4. Upload as many images as you wish to your gallery folders
5. Thumbnails must be named the same as the full-size images  and must reside in a directory named 'thumbnails' inside each gallery folder
6. Remember - if you haven't already created the gallery page, you can do that by following the instructions above.

Image names must only contain letters, numbers, spaces and underscores.  No dashes, full stops or any other punctuation.

Adding or Editing Captions

1. Click on the 'Add or Modify Captions' link in the administration area.
2. Select the gallery where the images you wish to add captions to resides and click 'Continue'.
   
3. Enter or edit the text in the caption boxes below the thumbnails
4. Click on 'Save Captions'.
5. All done!

Captions must only contain letters, numbers, spaces and underscores.  No dashes, full stops or any other punctuation.

Deleting Images or Galleries

Deleting images can be done in a number of ways.  You can either delete the desired thumbnail, which will effectively hide the image from viewers, or you can physically delete the files via FTP.

To delete a gallery, you can either de-activate or delete the page that contains it - the same way you would with a normal page.

Note - links pertaining to the gallery in the administration area will only be visible if you have the Gallery plugin installed.