eZeeGallery Photo Dreamweaver Extension

eZeeGallery Photo Overview

The eZeeGallery can be used with JPG or GIF images and can have several folders linked to it to form an entire photo album.

The package comes with 4 extensions...

Main Interface

Select the gallery theme, image folder(s), and several more options.

eZeeGalleryCaptions

Used to create optional captions for each of the full size images when viewed.

eZeeGalleryLinks

Used to apply the 'special' links (URL) to your gallery page from other pages in your site.

eZeeThumbCreator

Initiates Fireworks to create optimized thumbnails and exports them to your site. The eZeeThumbCreator can be run within the Main eZeeGallery Interface or independently.

How it works .. an overview

The steps defined

Create your full size images and export them to a folder in your site.
Run the eZeeGallery Interface to create your gallery and thumbnails.
Run the eZeeLinks interface to Link to your gallery from any page in your site.
Upload the gallery page and associated files.

In order to create an ezeegallery you must first have a defined site in Dreamweaver. All that is needed to start creating your gallery is a folder with your full size images optimized and ready to view, and a folder where you intend for your gallery page to reside. With these in place, you can launch the eZeeGallery Main Interface and make the selections for your gallery.

Once in the interface you can select a theme to use, or insert the gallery into an existing page of your site using the NoTheme option, choose how many folders of images your gallery will have, the dimensions of your thumbnails, and a few other options are available as well.

You will then browse to both the folder where your gallery page will reside, and to the full images folder(s) where your full images are currently placed.

Clicking OK, prompts the interface to create the actual gallery page and place it where you have chosen. If you have chosen the NoTheme, the gallery page html elements and code will be inserted into the document you have open where the cursor has been placed. All of the files necessary for your chosen theme and interface selections will be created and neatly placed in a folder in the root of your site named "".

Upload the "" folder, your main gallery page, and your images and your finished creating your gallery.

Creating the Thumbnails

Inside of the eZeeGallery interface is an option to launch Fireworks and create your thumbnails at the same time you are building your gallery page. It is all automatic. You can return to the eZeeGallery Main interface to change the size of your thumbnails or update any new images you have added to your full images folder.

You can also run the included eZeeThumbCreator extension by itself to update your thumb images for a single folder at a time. You can update the thumbnails with any new images you have added to your full images folder or just change the size of the thumbnails.

Note: If you need to make changes to other portions of your gallery only and not re-create the thumbnails again, you can leave the Launch Fireworks option unchecked and only the changes to the gallery files will be updated.

Note: You "can" mix and match jpgs and gifs in the same full image folder. This will cause no problems as the eZeeGallery was designed to be able to display a mix and match of images in the same gallery. The thumbnails will be created and exported accordingly.

Note: It is recommended to always work with "copies" of your original images when doing optimizing in any program. This protects you in case you optimize to a smaller size and are not satisfied with the quality you can start over again with the originals. Once you optimize an image you can not bring it back to its original state.

Linking to your gallery

eZee Gallery Version 1 ( ASP )

The path to the gallery page is a bit long as it contains query information needed by the gallery files. You do not need to know the path and the additional information in the query to be able to link to your gallery. Included in the package is an extension named eZeeGalleryLinks that will do this for you.

You simply select the text or image, open the eZeeGallerylinks Interface, select which image folder you are linking to from the list and press the OK button. The link will be applied to the text or image.

eZee Gallery Version 2 ( Standard HTML )

Highlight the text, or select an image, that you wish to link to the gallery page. In the Property Inspector browse to the gallery.htm page.

Read More about the included eZeeGalleryLinks extension for galleries with multiple folders.

Editing the gallery

Note: Always open your gallery page when making any edits to your gallery.

Once you have a gallery installed you can return to the interface to make edits to it. Open your gallery page and launch the Main interface. You can change the size of the thumbnails, how many thumbnails are displayed, or change the theme on the fly. Upload your "" folder and your gallery page and your done.

Note: It is recommended that you upload your "" folder at any time the gallery is altered or modified with the Main Interface. This will ensure that any files that have been updated will be uploaded.

Adding/removing images

Adding

One of the main features of the eZeeGallery is the ease of creating your own thumbnails. The eZeegallery does this for you. If you wish to add more images to your gallery all you need to do is place them in your full size images folder, run the Main Interface with the "Run Fireworks" option checked and upload the thumbs folder with the newly created thumbnails. You can also update your thumbnails with the included eZeeThumbCreator extension.

Apart from uploading your new thumbnails there is nothing else needed for you to do. The eZeeGallery will recognize that there are new thumbnail images and will display them in your gallery.

Removing

To remove images from your gallery all you need to do is delete the thumbnails from your server from the "thumbs" folder inside of your full images folder. It is not necessary to remove the full size images although it would be a good idea for your own folder organization.

Changing Themes

You can change the Theme of your gallery with a click of a mouse. Open the gallery page and launch the Main Interface and select another Theme. Your gallery page will be updated with the newly chosen theme and all of the new Themes assets will be created and copied to your site ready for upload.