What is the easiest way to put a photo gallery into an existing website?

[whpprsnpprrx73]

I am ready to give up.  This really can't be this difficult. 

Either that or I am the dumbest person in the world.  Up until now, I didn't know that I was. 

I just want something easy.

I am designing a website using Dreamweaver Cs5.5.  I am on a PC with Windows Vista Operating System.

I have an existing website www.metzartonline.com. 

On the Gallery page, I want to include a simple photo gallery where I can showcase paintings.  I would like a simple (theres that word again) grid that shows the photos as thumbnails.  When you click on the thumbnail, it shows the image in a larger size with a small caption.

I've tried using Bridge which was very easy to set up but I'm at a loss on how to integrate that into the webpage.  After lots of research, I've come to the conclusion that integrating that into an existing website just insn't that easy to do.

I purchased the Classic Photo Gallery from Flash Development 24 because it was described as "easy to use."

It is not easy to use.

The steb by step guide for one, isn't even written in proper English.  I've tried to work with it an I've emailed support several times.

I'm ready to give that up.

I just want to make a simple gallery that I can integrate into an existing website.

Can anyone suggest the easiest program to use?

Please?

[BenPleysier]

Have a look here http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=2127022

Gramps

[hans-g.]

Hello Dan,

in this (new) case, may I reapeat my recommendation to the simplest way to create a photo gallery by using "http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/projects/lightbox2/".

There you wil find the wished detailed step by step description (see HOW TO USE).

Hans-Günter

[hans-g.]

Hello Dan,

I made a very reduced gallery for you. You only have to put back your properties again. Please have a look here: http://hansgd.de/AdobTest/_metz/GalleryHG.html

Hans-G.

[whpprsnpprrx73]

Thanks for both of those suggestions guys.  I tried both and guess what?

I'm lost on both of them.  Yay!

These are not easy to use.

Grammps, the first one offers literally no instruction (that I could find) other than "Select lightbox gallery from Widgets in the insert palette or insert menu."

I did that and alas...another set of broken links sit on my page with no explanation of how to use them.  If I'm missing the step by step guide that this should come with, please let me know.  If I overlooked it in my frustration, I apologize.

And Hans, I downloaded your version and the instructions make no make sense to me.  It does not offer step by step instructions.  It's under the assumption that you're already a web designer (which I'm clearly not).  It does not (clearly) tell me what to do with the files after I've unzipped them.

I need step by step instructions that apparently no one else in the world seems to need.  They cannot be too basic at this point.

Please forgive my frustration but I'm at my wit's end here.

If either of you would like to walk me through like I'm the biggest dummy in the world (I'm actually serious...I'm not kidding) I would greatly appreciate it.  If my rudeness (which is just misguided frustration), has discouraged the both of you, I understand.

6 hours I've worked with both of these programs tonight and gotten nowhere.  Yet another night of zero accomplishment.

I hopefully await someone's instruction.

Signed,

Ready to kill someone 

[BenPleysier]

1. Download Adobe Widget Browser and follow the instructions as per http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/widgetbrowser/
2. Place Lightbox Gallery Widget in My Widgets as per above link
3. In My Widgets change the presets to suit or use one of the developer presets.
4. Close the Widget Browser
5. Create a new empty document in DW by right clicking the folder and choosing New File
6. Click the Insert menu, choose Common and Widget
7. In the Widget Dialog, choose the widget and the preset and OK
8. Save the document and preview in the browser of choice.
9. Go back to DW and change the images to suit

Gramps

[DS8108]

First of all, let me say that I just fell out of my chair laughing...Ready to kill someone. I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I seriously do. I simply love designing websites and I've been trying to learn on my own and sometimes it's enough to make me scream!!!!!! Okay....I've been using the web photo gallery in photoshop for over 10 years. But I wanted something that I could easily write captions on and not have to recreate the album every time. So I recently started using http://jalbum.net/en/ ....WOW...it truly is easy. You will literally be walked through the steps. Just remember that your link from your page to the photo album has to link to the index.html file in your photo album folder. Everything to do with that photo album MUST be in the folder too. I really hope that helps. It certainly helps me. Here is one I created last week: http://www.barryhyde.com/photos.html Just remember when looking at mine, that it is VERY basic. They have other templates that are much better looking.

You can edit the css if you know how to do that. I struggle, but if I'm not sure I edit one line at a time and test. Then you can undo and start again.

I really hope this helps you.

Donna

[ContextWeaver]

Personally i prefer old fashioned html:

Start a new webpage. Add any number of pictures with text in between each picture (image).

Start multiple pages, each to represent an individual gallery. It really depends on how many art-works you will add over time: Just a few? Or will your collection grow into hundreds?

Make your home page a menu for the other pages. "Menu" is a huge subject and after more than a decade watching the available options for menus, it is clear to me that menus can become a nightmare for an artist's free form creativity, if an artist keeps expanding creatively.

Name each page with a specific gallery name. Or devote each page to one picture with text. Use links below at bottom of page, to see other pictures. Yet after you have hundreds of pictures to show, it is easier to use one page for a menu, or several separate pages to contain differing collections or galleries.

Another serious issue is the resolution of picture and it's file size... Photoshop is great for reducing file size, while maintaining acceptable resolution. Yet recall that the viewer might have a very low resolution display...

Frankly, it is hard to see advantage in using more complex code than that. Unless you want pop ups, vidoe, of frame-styles like printed magazines, or specialized publications...

Trouble with these special stylizations is that these do restrict your content to users with similar computer set ups and great web connections. The audience has to update their computer to see all the latest jazzy code correctly. If the view has substancially different OS versions, the jazzy code won't display properly. Chances are the person you want to reach will find you on some sort of future phone thingy.  Chances are that web connections can fluctuate a lot, viewer computers might be more limited and all for so many reasons. One's targeted audience can also be difficult to reach for many other diverse reasons, in addition to technical web options.  One shoe cannot fit all artists, nor can it fit all gallery goers, nor all ages, nor all cultures. Therefore, html is the most common denominator.

[whpprsnpprrx73]

Thanks for the replies everyone but I think I need to reiterate that this is for an existing page.  I don't want to create a new page.  I have a template and I just want to insert it into the editable region.

Grammps thank you but I just don't think you're understanding how confused I am at this point.

I need something AT LEAST twice as step by step as that.

Remember, I'm the dumbest person in the world.  You wrote out a quick list that the other 99% can seem to understand.  I need every single thing explained at this point. 

For instance, you said in #3 In MY WIDGETS...I don't know how to get to MY WIDGETS.  Again you assumed that 99% could figure that out on their own.  I'm the other 1% remember? 

In #6 to click insert and to choose COMMON and then widget.  I don't see COMMON anywhere.

I tried to struggle through and all I'm stuck with is the same set of broken links with no explanation as to how to get my images to appear in there as thumbnails.

DS8108 I may try that but at this point I'm ready to give up.  I need to get this done!!!!

I've been up every night for HOURS trying to get one of these to work.

Sleepness nights. 

Maybe it's just not meant to be. 

I do appreciate your help everyone but I've yet to get a step by step from anyone that I can understand clearly I'm sorry.  

[DS8108]

You need an iFrame on your page. Have you done this before? If not, I can tell you how. Will be late this evening though.

Sent from my iPhone

[whpprsnpprrx73]

Ok I worked with some documentation about iframes that Hans had suggested awhile back.  Thank you DS18108 for the recommendation.  I did manage to get the gallery that I made in Bridge to load.  It's not amazing but it's something.  I'll continue to tweak it and learn.

Thanks to everyone for the help so far.  I think ultimately I'd like to get one of the lightbox galleries to work. 

Thank you! 

[DS8108]

Great! If you have trouble, let me know. I read literature until I was convinced I must be stupid. Then someone cleared it up for me in a forum post. Easy, breezy.

Sent from my iPhone

[hans-g.]

Hello Dan,

gratulations, in my IE 8 it now looks great. Problem might be that we have to scroll your images. I experimented a bit and found this optimised hight (only my proposal):

yours: <div id="webgallery"><iframe src="Gallery/Paintings/index.html" width="700" height="600" frameborder="0" name="new"></iframe></div>

mine: <div id="webgallery"><iframe src="Gallery/Paintings/index.html" width="700" height="900" frameborder="0" name="new"></iframe></div>.

Next problem in this case is, that you should insert about six more images in your "Gallery.html".

BUT, sorry please try as you said: "I think ultimately I'd like to get one of the lightbox galleries to work." 'Cause, if I can do it, then so can you! You will have still an access to the link above, the design is still on my server. Fell free to use the source code. You will find all the necessary codes in it.

Good luck!

Hans-G.

[whpprsnpprrx73]

Thanks but I don't know what using source codes mean.  I appreciate your help but if you insist on assuming that I understand things like a web designer would, then you're just wasting your time.  

Once again, I need everything explained to me as basic as you possibly can.  If you don't want to bother, I completely understand.  But "just use the source code" does not make sense to me.  It's just a waste for you unfortunately even though I know you're trying to help.

Thank you for the help with the image size which I did want to try and fix.

[Guest]

Using soucre code = In your browser, right-click on a page and select "View Source". A window will appear that shows the actual HTML code of the page. You can then review that code and if you see something you'd like to use, copy that code and paste it into your code within Dreamweaver (make sure you're in code view - or at least split view and in the code "section" of split view).

Viewing and using source code like this is a great way to learn. Good luck and don't get too frustrated! In a sense you're learning a new language and right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense but if you keep pressing on, you'll get to a point where it does.

[digidibey]

I am having the same problem. Can anyone look at my source code and tell me what I have done wrong. I must have tried to integrate my adobe web gallery into dreamweaver cs5.5 at least 50 times...not kidding... It's really frustrating. http://www.diannebey.com/gallery.html

I will probably revert to some other gallery with lightbox...but I had wanted to see if I could get the adobe web gallery publishing feature to work.

I know I have to link the index file to the iframe...but I am having trouble identifying files, div id and gallery names...not sure which one is most important. Can anyone help me with this?

[mhollis55]

You're looking for the easiest way, correct? I mean we're talking easy here.

Purchase a plugin. Run the plugin. Done.

For a photo gallery, there's Project Seven's Image Gallery Magic. There's also Lightshow Magic by the same company. And if you have Fireworks along with Dreamweaver, Project Seven's Slide Show Magic will size the photos for you, place them in a folder in your website ready for upload and boom! You're done.

Very easy.

These plugins do cost money. But I do place a value on my time and if they can get me where I need to go in a few minutes instead of a few hours, it's worth the money. Use them for your existing website problem. Use them in years to come for websites you design later.

[BenPleysier]

@mhollis55

If you are talking commercial products then at least show a couple of companies to ensure that your post is not intended as spam.

I am not too familiar with the various companies that sell these products but I will give it a try

• WebAssist - http://www.webassist.com/php-scripts-and-solutions/powergallery/
• DMXZone - http://www.dmxzone.com/go?13984
• DMXZone - http://www.dmxzone.com/go?17132
  and to top it off here are 57 free galleries
• http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/57-free-image-gallery-slideshow-and-lightbox-solutions/

Gramps

[John Waller]

altruistic gramps wrote:

If you are talking commercial products then at least show a couple of companies to ensure that your post is not intended as spam.

I see links to products in his post. Don't you?

[BenPleysier]

@John Waller

With the exception of those mentioned by mhollos55 and Gramps, they are all links to free galleries.

Gramps

[mhollis55]

My apologies. I have not used anything as time-efficient as Project Seven, though I am always looking for better solutions.

But the general thrust is true. If you value your time, you should consider a plug-in.

[BenPleysier]

I have had excellent experiences with DMXZone products and with those fom Webassist.

When I compare

• Image Gallery Magic gives Windows and OS X users unprecedented power, ease, and automation in a gallery creation tool for All versions of Dreamweaver from MX through CS5. $95
  to
• CSS Image Gallery allows you to create cool pure CSS galleries and slideshows with a fluent navigation and image transitions. Due to its CSS nature it is fully customizable and fits in any site design. You can even create a fancy slideshow with automatic thumbnail popup navigation. $50

Gramps

[digidibey]

I had not intended on spending any money...I had wanted to do this the way  Dreamweaver had intended...free!!

[Guest]

How about using a simple nanoslider. I use it for a slideshow on my site. As a serious beginner to dreamweaver, I found it very easy. You might be annoyed with writing the names of all the photos into the code and having to change the order depending on how many pictures you have, but it is free and good for a beginner.

http://www.yourrightmovellc.com   see...

[Nancy OShea]

If you want simple & free, a jQuery Dynamic slideshow can't be beat. 

http://www.ampedwebstandards.com/2009/03/16/tutorial-dynamic-image-slideshow-with-php-jquery/

Set up a few lines of PHP code in your page.  Upload jQuery Cycle Plugin and optimized images to your server.  Done.

When you want to swap out images, add/delete images from server's folder.  Done.

Nancy O.

Alt-Web Design & Publishing

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