Can I work WITHOUT the 'thumbs' folders?

[julio]

I am using the pics folders for other apps, so I need phoca gallery NOT to store a 'thumbs' folder insider every photo folder. Can I have the 'thumbs' folders in other location? Thanks!

[Jan]

No, otherwise all url framework will be destroyed

Jan

[julio]

Thanks for your answer Jan.

Would it be possible to have phoca gallery show only the name of the pic (with no thumb) and then when you click on the name open the full size photo directly? That way maybe there would be no need for thumbs...?

[Jan]

yes, you just change the html (remove thumb) and add the download link instead of the link

Jan

[julio]

Sorry Jan, but what file should I modify in order to do that? Thanks a lot.

[Jan]

components\com_phocagallery\views\category\tmpl\default.php

[julio]

Jan, I have been trying to figure out how to do it, but cannot get it to work... Would you please be so kind to indicate what part of the code in the default template should I change? Thanks a lot.

[Jan]

the link to image is there:

echo JHTML::_( 'image.site', $value->linkthumbnailpath, '', '', '', $value->title );

on e.g. row 146, you should know the joomla framework (JHTML class, image.site) and you should change the link here:
from $value->linkthumbnailpath to your own.... if you want to do it for all images, you should change the model and view html:

model:
components\com_phocagallery\models\category.php
there you should change the link (not thumbnail but link to original image), you can add it to $value->linkthumbnailpath ... then you need not to change the default.php value

Jan

[pjldiyguy]

I realize this is an old post, so I'm hoping some progress has been made since 2008!

Jan, I have the same basic need as julio. Seems to me it would be (relatively) simple for the Phoca Gallery developers to add 3 options in the next release:

1. At the very least, allow the admin to change the name of the "thumbs" folders that are generated (I would really like to call them "phoca-thumbs" or something like that).
2. Allow admin to select the base source image path.
3. Allow admin to select the base thumbs path. (and allow the paths for 2 and 3 to be different)

If the base thumbs path is different from the base source image path, the original directory hierarchy should be recreated in the thumbs path. I do realize this implies that the site admin might need to recreate ALL thumbnails, in which case it would be a pretty hefty decision for production environments (or maybe the update would include moving the original thumbnails as well? ).

I don't see how the changes suggested would cause issues with the URL as you stated above. If this is one of those "gosh, we would have to rework the entire code base" issues, then I would assert that the original design of the code is flawed - in which case I'll stop using Phoca Gallery, which I really do not want to do because to me it's a fantastic component except for this one little issue. If I'm missing something obvious, please let me know.

For some frame of reference, I'm currently using Phoca Gallery within Joomla! successfully with the following basic configuration: Phoca pulls from a central repository where I store all photos for multiple purposes, not just to be served by Phoca Gallery. The central repository is located within a RAID 5 volume on a CentOS storage server that also runs the website under Apache. I have a symlink in "/<www-root>/images/" called "phocagallery" that points to the central photo repository (let's call it "/mnt/raid5/photos/"). With the proper group permissions and Apache directory options it works flawlessly, and even prohibits direct access to the images by way of the URL Referer SetEnvIf option (that is, only logged in users or administrators accessing the Phoca Gallery component URL can see the photos, while directly entering "http://<website>/images/phocagallery/<imagepath>" results in a 404 error).

I'm hoping someone on the Phoca team can answer this question as it seems to be Phoca Gallery's only major drawback that I've found so far. Thanks for a great product!

(BTW, I'm happy to provide more detail if needed.)

[Tryphon]

Hi Jan,

I use Joomla! 2.5.14 and Phocagallery 3.2.2. I have a question very similar to this subject.
To display my pics, I use Phocagallery and other tools provided by my home server. Phocagallery thumbnail generation created the so called "thumbs" folders to store the thumbnails. These other tools do not know that these small pics should not be displayed. Then they are quite difficult to use to manage the wanted pics only.

My photo collection is growing permanently and this issue is growing too. I suggest another possibility :

Is it possible for you to use ".thumbs" instead of "thumbs" ? If yes, how?

Thank you!