folderblog 2 should have post.php in the same directory as your main folderblog file (folderblog.php or index.php). If it's not there, you'll have to re-upload it from fb202.zip file.

If your server supports it, though, I would recommend you use folderblog 3, in which case you post by accessing fb.php/post/

I have folderblog 3. In digging through the Wiki I see that's not in version 3. I've created separate TXT files and the commens appear.

My problem is that I only see one picture. There are no Next/Previous links, thumbnails, etc.

Sorry, Donald. I hadn't read your entire reply before I went off half-cocked. I used fb.php/post and see that must be a huge improvement from the previous version!

My problem, though, is that I still don't see Previous or Next links when I view the photos. Also, I really don't understand the new post page. There is a section that says "Or upload a new image ... browse". What does upload mean? FTP from local to Webserver? I don't think so because I can't even get this page to show up unless there are already pictures there. But when I do that, ... well, I'm simply confused by this page. Where are the instructions?

I looked in template_settings.php and also note there are classes such as "fbrandthumb" that are not in the relaxation.css. I think I really have things messed up. Was the relaxation theme updated to work with the latest version of Folderblog?

I must be missing something critical. I've been through the Wiki, but am a little nervous about its accuracy because so much of it is relative to the previous version, so I'm not sure whether what I'm reading is correct or not.

Sorry, I'm really frustrated. I'd be happy to help document some of this if you'll explain how it's supposed to work.

Thanks!

Debbie, you can get an updated version of the Relaxation template here, which is designed for fb3b16 (the current version). The stuff in the Wiki that's marked for folderblog 3.x should be pretty safe.

The fb.php/post/ function should show you some new forms, where you can add text captions to images, delete comments and upload images (you'll need to use the password you set in fb_settings.php. The upload function lets you browse to an image on your local hard drive and FTP it to your folderblog.

I'm sure a lot of this will become a lot more clear if you use the updated template.

Wow, sorry. I downloaded the new relaxation template and overwrote what I had in the wp-content directory with the new version. Was something supposed to go in the FolderBlog directory as well?

Is fb.php/post the *required* method to upload images? I had five images in my photos folder that I had uploaded via FTP. Even after uploading the new relaxation theme I was only seeing one picture and it didn't have Previous or Next links. So, I deleted them all, thinking I had to use fb.php/post to upload. However, now I get the error:
folderblog error:

No image files found in photos/. Please upload files or confirm directory location and permissions.

Again, I still don't understand the core functionality here. Should the Previous and Next links automatically generate? If so, what's required in the way of photos and what procedure must have been executed on them in order for that to happen?

Sorry for my density and thank you for your help, Donald.

Donald:

I think it would help if the specific instructions could be added to the PostingPhotos topic of the WIKI.

Anything I can do to help, I would be happy to, but I figure if you have to take the time to explain it to me you could just as easily update the WIKI.

Thanks, again.

The new version of the Relaxation template, available here, doesn't include any files for WordPress; it's specifically for the current version of folderblog 3, and there's no need to touch the files for WordPress. All the files supplied in the archive need to be extracted to wherever you have installed folderblog (http://www.itgurl.com/Photos/ in this instance). The version of the template you're using now is for folderblog 2.02. If you're using folderblog 3, this template won't work; you need the new version.

Put simply, if you're using folderblog 2.02, use the old version of the template and add images and captions using post.php. If you're using folderblog 3, use the new template and add images and captions with fb.php/post/. For the later, the step by step procedure is:

1. FTP one (or more) images to the photos/ directory (to avoid the error mentioned above; you need at least one image there to avoid the error, as a photo blog without images is rather pointless ;-) ). The best time to do this is while you install folderblog 3 and the new template.

2. Go to http://your_website/fb.php/post/ and use the Upload option on the form that appears there to upload more images (add them to the main directory category, if you aren't using categories). Do this once for each image you want to add, and repeat until you're done. Yes, you can FTP them if you want; either way is just as good.

Once you're done, if there's more than one image, the navigation links will appear.

Sheesh. Sorry. I didn't realize the new relaxation template was for Folderblog only. I've done as you instructed. Now when running http://www.itgurl.com/Photos/fb.php/post I get the error:

XML Parsing Error: not well-formed Location: http://www.itgurl.com/Photos/fb.php/post Line Number 1, Column 883:

Sorry to be a problem child. And thank you so much for your patience.

Oops! I messed up there a bit there, by not updating that download with the current version of fb_ziptc.php. I've fixed that now, so download the template again and overwrite the old file(s) with the new one(s) (only fb_ziptc.php is different, and that's found in the extensions/ directory).

Also, you need to activate the new template, as you're currently trying to use the default one alongside the new one. To activate the new template, modify your fb_settings.php file, specifically the line:

$template_name = "template";

Change this to:

$template_name = "relaxation";

I am still on the first step .../fp.php/post/ .. and receiving message

folderblog error
No image files found in http://www.PetLvr.com/blog/photos/. Please upload files or confirm directory location and permissions.

I just downloaded latest v.3 folderblog, I found myself downloading latest relaxation for v.3, I've updated my fb_settings.php and even tried modified it to include the changes mentioned in the relaxation_settings.php file .. I've ftp'ed .jpg's into my /photos/ folder and the chmod is all set properly to 777 etc .... i've also changed the template to "relaxation" to btw...

I really want this to work but can't figure out why the heck it is not working for me ... The hair ripped out of my head is clogging up my keyboard .... Any suggestions please?

PS: this is a really nice little forum in your blog.

Donald:

Still no luck. My Photos directory was only showing one picture. Out of frustration with all the changes I've done along the way, I deleted everything and started over. I have followed your directions in the WIKI "Quick Install" as follows:

...<begin snip from WIKI (with my comments)>:
1. Download the latest Folderblog archive. (done)
2. Unzip the file. (unzipped to my desktop)
3. Edit fb_settings.php in a text editor. You'll mainly want to change the blog's title and set a password for yourself. (Done. Also changed the $template_name reference to "relaxation")
4. Upload the files (including the extensions folder with fb_exif.php) to your webspace. (Done. Everything was uploaded to http:/www.itgurl.com/photos).
5. Create a directory on your webspace called "photos" and one called "thumbs". (Done. Also changed the permissions on these folders to 777. Now have a photos/photos directory -- problem?).
6. Put at least one photo in your "photos" directory. (Done. Also changed permission on photo to 777).

That's it — do everything else from the posting interface, by accessing http://yoururl/fb.php/post/

....<end snip from WIKI (with my comments>

When I browse to http://www.itgurl.com/photos I get this error:

Notice: Undefined variable: comment_link in /home/itgurlf/public_html/photos/index.php on line 125

Notice: Undefined variable: comments_template in /home/itgurlf/public_html/photos/index.php on line 127

Your Quick Install instructions did not mention a comments directory.

I have also discovered that all photos must have their jpg extension in lowercase.

When going to fb.php/post/ I was able to upload one more photo, but after that when I browse to a local file and click "Update," it just keeps taking me back to the one I already have uploaded.

Folderblog doesn't come with an index.php file, so first of all either delete it or replace it with a file with the same file name, but with this one line in it (make sure there are no spaces before or after it):

<?php header('Location: fb.php'); ?>

You could rename fb.php to index.php, but I don't recormend it.

You do in fact need a comments directory by default (if you look at the last five lines of fb_settings.php, you'll see what directories you need to make, and what extension your images must have - and you can change them from here too, though note that folderblog (I think) only supports JPEG files).

Viola! I think that's finally it.

The index.php file was in the Relaxation theme archive, which I was instructed to unzip over top of the Folderblog install. Was that not the right thing to do?

Anyway, I backed it up, then deleted everything out of it but what you instructed. Everything works perfectly now!

Wow. Can I help you update the documentation? For example, the Quick Install makes no mention of creating a comments directory. Also, a little "tips" page with gotchas that at least I've experienced like being sure the photos have a lowercase jpg extension. I had five photos, three had JPG and they were not showing up.

Donald:

I've updated the Quick Install documentation to include the creation of the comments directory. I can also create a topic about installing with Relaxation, but need the answer about index.php. The instruction I received was to unzip the Relaxation theme files you had provided the link to into the same directory as Folderblog. That included an index.php that was causing me the problem.

A couple of additional questions:

How do you control the order of the pictures?
How do you control the layout of the thumbnails (above, below, float right, left, etc.)
How do group them by category?

Thanks so much for your help!

HART, what's the URL of your folderblog install?

Debbie, I'm glad you got it sorted out, and thanks for updating the documentation. I've been promising (but not delivering) really good documentation for too long now, so I'm glad the community has been stepping in to make up for my mistakes.

There are two ways to (re-)order your pictures: by name ($sort = 1), in which case you'd rename the photos to resort them; and the default sort order ($sort=0), by date, in which case you reorder the photos by changing their timestamp accordingly on the fb.php/post/ page (photos with a timestamp in the future are held for future posting). You can change the categories via post.php, provided you have created subfolders in your /photos/ directory for each category (or, if you prefer FTP, you can simply put the photos in the appropriate subfolders). Anything regarding layout you'll have to change by modifying the HTML and CSS in the template files.

Elwing, thanks as usual for all your assistance.

Thank you, Donald. You've delivered much. Noone can do everything and your expertise is in coding. I would be happy to do some more documentation -- that's my business at http://www.itgurl.com.

Can you clarify the issue I experienced with the index.php? It was part of the Relaxation theme archive that was modified for FB3. I extracted that theme on top of the install of FolderBlog and it put the file there. Can you tell me what should have happened? Elwing had me create another one with one line of code. I was a bit confused when he mentioned there isn't an index.php in FolderBlog, but then told me how to modify the index.php to keep it there.

Any clarification you can provide wouuld be great and I'll proceed to putting up some documentation.

Just a question regarding the WIKI process. When someone updates do you get a notice so you can confirm that the information is correct? I'd like a technical review before publishing the info.

Thanks again! I love the FolderBlog!

Me again, Donald. Ignore the question about index.php. That was a no-brainer on my part.

I am having a problem with sorting, though. I have four photos named 1.jpg, 2.jpg ... I set $sort = 1 in fb_settings.php. The photos are not appearing in order ... any order, neither ascending or descending. Also, when you first go to the photos page you see the Previous link rather than the Next link.

Thanks!

Debbie, you might be thrown off by the thumbnails under the image, which are random thumbs in the Relaxation template. You should be able to change this by replacing <#fbrands#> with <#fbthumbs#> in template_main.php, settings $show_thumbs to 4 (or 5 or whatever) in fb_settings.php, and finally copying the $randthumb_format value to $thumb_format in template_settings.php. (Elwing would have better advice in this regard, so you might want to wait for her to weigh in).

To have the images display in the opposite order (i.e. starting with 1.jpg with a "next" link), set $reverse = 1 in fb_settings.php.

Debbie, you only need to change the <#fbrands#> tag to <#fbthumbs#> in relaxation_main.php to make the thumbnails run sequencially.

I've posted a slightly revised version of the template which fixes a few small bugs I noticed when viewing your site (like the mention of Gravatars, and Categories showing up when you haven't defined any). You might want to download it again.

It's possible I left index.php in a previous archive by mistake, but it's not there now. While I think it's best to use this file to redirect to fb.php, some folks like to just rename fb.php to index.php, which would result in the template killing the file by overwriting it. So, I've left it out.

As for the Wiki, it's up to the community to verify what's on there and change it if it's incorrect (or authors might mention that what they're writing is unconfirmed, or something). If you want to add some stuff on there about installing Relaxation II, add it to the Alternate Templates section. This template is as beta as folderblog 3 right now, so it's sure to have a few kinks to iron out.

Thanks, Elwing. I've downloaded the new version. Can you tell me what files were changed, since I've made modifications to those on my end and don't want to do a wholesale overwrite if I don't have to.

Also, I don't see Categories anywhere. I've created the directory structure like this:

photos/
photos/Wedding/

I guess I should avoid saying it's not working, since I'm not sure how it's supposed to work. I was expecting to see a Category listing similar to what you see with the Relaxation template under WordPress. When you click a Category you only see pictures in that group. Instead, I don't see any category listings and when I navigate it scrolls through all pictures no matter where they are. Can you clarify what should be happening and whethher there's something else I need to do to configure Categories?

Also, I really like the frame you've put around your images. That's a great idea to ensure each image is the same size. What dimensions are you using for that frame? I work with PaintShop Pro (obviously, I'm not a pro like you ;-)) and am losing some resolution when resizing my images, so anything I can do to standardize it will be good.

It also looks like your images are centered, where mine are left-aligned. I've searched through the relaxation_CSS file and cannot find where to change that.

The files that changed are relaxation_main.php and relaxation_archive.php.

To get Categories working simply, the step-by-step approach is:

1. Create a subfolder in your photos/ directory. (i.e. photos/subfolder/).

2. Depending on your server, spaces may or may not be available in this subfolder name, and it's likely that the name will be case sensitive. To be certain it works, make the subfolder name a single lower case word, and drop a text file in this subfolder called categories.txt. This text file only needs one line of text in it, and this will be the name of the category as you want it to appear in folderblog (i.e. "My Category Name").

3. Drop all the images you want to have in this category into this subfolder.

Once you've done this, the categories will be listed in folderblog. When viewing a category, folderblog only displays those images that are part of a category. Check out the demo folderblog or my Relaxation II demo to see how it works. Note that in the Relaxation II template, categories are only listed in the archive section.

That frame in the Relaxation II demo is produced with a plugin called FotoBuzz. Download it and put all the files into a fotobuzz/ directory alongside your folderblog files, and Relaxation II will detect and run it automatically. To have your images fit the width, make them 580 pixels wide.

Without FotoBuzz installed, make your images 600 pixels wide. I resize all my images to 600 x 400 pixels (without FotoBuzz) or 580 x 400 pixels (with FotoBuzz), using IrfanView.

To get your images to centre, you might try adding this to your relaxation_style.css file:

#mainimage { text-align: center; }

Ack! I also changed relaxation_settings.php slightly, so the default date format matches the default one used in the WordPress version of Relaxtion.

Thank you, Elwing. I think I almost have it like I want!!!

I didn't realize Categories were only viewable in Archives. Now that I do, I don't understand what the categories.txt does. I played around with it, creating one for my Wedding sub-folder with the text "Wedding." I did not create one for my other MothersDay folder and it seems to behave exactly the same as Wedding. Should there be one per sub-folder in that sub-folder with that sub-folder's name? Or is it one in the main folder with all the subfolder's name? Or, better question, what does it do at all?

Do you have a suggestion on how best to control the order of the thumbnails in the archive section? It appears the code ignores all categories and sub-folders and and sorts all pictures from all folders alphabetically (I've set that). If I start hard-coding the names, that could become an administrative nightmare.

I can't begin to thank you for all your help.

Debbie, there is no categories.txt in folderblog 3. You can name the categories either by folder name ("mothers_day" becomes "Mothers Day") or by adding a single category.txt file in the category file itself that contains the category name.

Elwing:

Is it correct to say that Categories only showing up in the Archives section is a design of the Relaxtion II template?

And just to confirm, categories.txt is not needed in Folderblog3? I'm trying to clarify what is general functionality and what is specific to the Relaxation II template, so I can document it correctly.

Thanks!

Yup, categories only being listed on the archives page is a design quirk for the Relaxation template.

I got the name wrong for that text file, though. It should be "category.txt" and works as Donald describes above. This has nothing to do with the Relaxation template.

offtopic: Elwing, what happened to your website?

It's back online again, after a server glitch.

Elwing:

Any way to get the categories to show up on the main FolderBlog page? I'd like the categories to function similarily to photo albums.

Greetings ! Firstly may I say I love this....with the following caveat "I can't get it to work and have followed all available instructions." I am posting this here because it apears as though you are checking these posting regularly. Please let me know if this is inappropriate.

Basically my problem is that the archive and previous buttons do not ake me to the requested photo...they simply reshow the first one.

Any help is much appreciated and my link to my folder blog site is in this post...

My Folderblog Site
Email: Email

Thanks

Fred Shequine

Sorry my link were not written correctly....my name does however link properly to my folderblog site.

Fred

Debbie, just inserting the <#fbcats#> tag somewhere in the relaxation_main.php would do the trick, perhaps somewhere after the captions are shown. Have a tinker with the placement and I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something that works for you.

Fred, I can't get any of the links you provide to work. :-(

Elwing,

here's the link again:

My Folderblog Site

Best,

Fred

Elwing,

I upload fotobuzz into its own directory in the /gallery directory where I have the FB3 files.

It seems to create a thumbnail and the box. However, the box is empty and no image shows.

Please see it here: http://www.hispanicfather.com/gallery/fb.php

Any thoughts on what can be wrong?

Thanks.

I'm getting a 404 error on that URI. Did you put all the FotoBuzz files in a folder called /fotobuzz?

Sorry, was playing around with it to see if I can get it to work. URL is http://www.hispanicfather.com/folderblog/fb.php

Currently, fotobuzz files are in root directory.

Based on that, all your FotoBuzz files need to be put in http://www.hispanicfather.com/folderblog/fotobuzz/, or the template won't run it properly.

OK, I'll try it. Thanks.