4 replies to this topic

[cathode]

I hate to phrase the title that way, but... here's my attempted installtaion path as a, Etogal newbie:

First, I download the file - it's a php file. I assume I'll place it somewhere on the server.
Then, I go the documentation page. I read that I need to set up a snipped using an attached file, but there is no file attached.
I am therefore unable to continue, and yet do not know what to do with the php file that I downloaded from another site.
Pretending that I could have continued: I read the extend instructions for RTM and later - there are links to another thread where I found another php file to download. This is confising, and the instructions are scattered. I refer back to the first thread to see how they match up with the many posts in the second thread.
Then, in a seperate thread, I read that Etogal is incompatible with 061 final anyhow. The thread is marked [resolved] but the contents of the thread are cryptic - someone unfamiliar with Etogal would not make sense of it (me, in this case). I would expect to find a clear solution in a single post that would direct me to the methods of fixing Etogal.

In short, It is very difficult to install Etogal. I am no stranger to Etomite and no dummy, but I was still unable to complete the setup to any degree.

What Etogal needs is a complete instructional document in one place - one single post- complete with files, eliminating the need to search the entire history of Etogal and cull through every single related post just to figure out how to install it. Jumping around from post to post going back and foreward in time across various versions, reading old fixes and comments that no longer pertian to the current versions just doesn't work. Etogal might work great once installed, but I would never know it due to insurmountable odds facing me as a first-time user. If that were to be cleaned up and streamlined, then I bet there sould be a lot more people using Etogal.

I really would like to use Etogal, and actually need it. But instead of getting personal help, I think the efforts of whoever is able would be much better spent on smoothing out the path to getting Etogal installed, and writing some good solid instructions that exist in one single place and pertiain to the current versions.

Thanks for listening

[mikef]

I will redo the documentation eventually, but its a matter of having time, and still waiting for a piece of the jigsaw from Ralph which will change what needs to be written. I'm also helping oput with the Etomite 0.6.1 documentation, which takes priority.

Basics for installing EtoGal today:
1) download the EtoGal file
2) copy the contents of the file into a snippet using the snippet editor. (Snippets are PHP code, and so I labelled it as a PHP file (it also makes it easier to edit outside of the snippet editor). Call the snippet EtoGal.
3) copy the second file (from EtomiteLoginOut post from Ralph) into another snippet. Call it EtomiteLoginOut. (I'd expected this (or at least a development of it) to become part of the 0.6.1 Final download, as without it 0.6.1 won't work for several snippets. The 0.6.1 Final version of this still hasn't been realeased by Ralph, but the version in that post still works with 0.6.1 Final.)
3) Copy the authenticate_visitor snippet from the snippet library.
4) create a directory on your server under the assets directory called galleries.
5) put a call to the EtoGal snippet (ie [[EtoGal]] or [!EtoGal!] ) on an Etomite document. This will need to be published for normal use - note the id.
6) put a call to the EtomiteLoginOut snippet on another page, adding the id as a parameter (eg [!EtomiteLoginOut?id=id!] ) (eg [!authenticate_visitor?id=id!]). This needs to be published too. (You can put both the snippets on the same page if you want, but you still need to pass the id to the EtomiteLoginOut authenticate-visitor snippet - it doesn't default to anything.)
7) Go to the login page you created as a user and login (using credentials defined in the manager for manager logins). Note that EtoGal respects the rights defined in the manager, so you must have access rights for the page. Initially its easier to use the admin login for testing.

EtoGal will automatically create the database table it needs on the first run.

PS and I'll delete the thread about Etogal and 0.6.1 being incompatible, now that that is resolved, and people who read the initial post have had time to read the resolution. The resolution is simple - get the capitalisaation of snippet names consistent between creation and call.

updated for the new login snippet

Edited by mikef, 26 May 2006 - 10:32 AM.

[cathode]

Well, that is much much more helpful I got it installed and am now looking at some customization for my needs... very nice!

Edited by cathode, 21 April 2006 - 01:15 PM.

[Hans]

Thanks Mike for this wonderful piece of software, it works like a charm.
Waiting for a more understandable documentation on EtoGalThumbs but that is less important to me at the moment.
Never seen a gallery this easy to implement.
Hans

Edited by Hans, 29 April 2006 - 09:28 PM.

[mikef]

Hans, on Apr 29 2006, 09:45 PM, said:

Thanks Mike for this wonderful piece of software, it works like a charm.
Waiting for a more understandable documentation on EtoGalThumbs but that is less important to me at the moment.
Never seen a gallery this easy to implement.
Hans

Thanks, but most of the credit for Etogal itself belongs with Frank (hugelmopf) rather than me, as he designed and implemented the core. I added only a little to Etogal; my contribution is mainly in the support snippets. I do the support (at present) because I'm still developing stuff I want for my own sites based on it.

I'll release another snippet first (EtoGalGallery) and then try to write some coherent documentation for Etogal, EtogalThumb, and EtoGalGallery as a group, rather than individually. If you don't understand why they all exist, an explanation of how they work won't help as much!

Edited by mikef, 29 April 2006 - 09:30 PM.