Need Clarification on Lightview Installation

Oh, one additional comment. I asked which CSS and JS files are being referred to above. There are only three files in the Lightview-Plus folder: lightview.php, protoculous.js and the readme file.

Thanks. ??

1) I understand that the lightview folder goes in the wp-content/plugins folder.

That is good ??

2) But is the “Lightview javascript” applicable for the Lightview plugin? When I click the “Lightview javascript” link, it takes me to the Lightview home page that appears to be for Lightview installations that don’t pertain to the WordPress plugin.

You have to download the Lightview from the original author’s homepage.
The original Lightview is not wordpress – related. the plugin you downloaded IS.
It itegrates the Lightview into wordpress, so if the Script was not èprovided in the original plugin package (becasue the author of lightview changed the license, and you have to pay now) , yes, you must download it ….

3) In the next instruction, I’m not sure which CSS and JS files is referred to. And is the author actually saying that all images used in galleries are to go in the root of the lightview-plus folder, along with the CSS and JS files referred to?

…. and after you would download it ,you WILL undertsnd which CSS and JS files and IMAGE folders he is talking about. and NO , the images do not have to be in the root of the plugin, Those images that he speaks about are Lightview -related.

krembo99, thank you SO much for responding. You’re right — which files to work with was obvious once I downloaded the Lightview files from Nick Stakenburg’s site. I’ve now installed and activated the Lightview-Plus WordPress plugin, with the required Lightview files, following the instructions given by Thorsten Puzich (the plugin author).

I’ve been working with the gallery images a while, trying to figure out as much as I can on my own. I’ve gotten the CSS styled now, and the thumbnails are looking as desired on the page. However, I’ve got a few more snafus to figure out.

My test gallery page is at https://www.lewisvillephotos.com/photo-moment-1

1) When I test the gallery page for HTML validation, I’m getting one error:

Line 109, Column 32: document type does not allow element “div” here; missing one of “object”, “applet”, “map”, “iframe”, “button”, “ins”, “del” start-tag.

<div class=’gallery gallery-413′><dl class=’gallery-item col-3′><dt class=”galle

I initially got this invalid error when I was trying another gallery plugin (which has now been removed), after having installed the Cleaner Gallery plugin for WordPress. Whenever I remove the gallery images from the page, the page will validate. So I *think* this error is related to the Cleaner Gallery plugin; and if so, I’m not sure how to correct it. Any ideas?

2) When I click on a thumbnail, the larger image version only comes up in a new window, instead of being displayed with the Lightview effect. It’s just a static image located at the top left corner of the screen. I inserted the code shown below in my header, as mentioned on Nick Stakenburg’s site. I also placed both the prototype 1.6.0.2.js file and the folder named scriptaculous-js-1.8.1 in the wp-content/plugins/lightview-plus folder. Any problems with these files and their location, or with the code placed in the header?

<link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” href=”css/lightview.css” />
<script type=’text/javascript’ src=’js/prototype.js’></script>
<script type=’text/javascript’ src=’js/scriptaculous.js?load=effects’></script>
<script type=’text/javascript’ src=’js/lightview.js’></script>

However, maybe a key to the Lightview effect not working is that my images do not have the rel tag and the lightview class applied to them, according to Stakenburg’s info below. I’m just not sure how to apply that code to the images. If that’s needed, how do I go about doing that?

An image gallery can be created using rel=’gallery[setname]’

Image 1
Image 2

I’m sorry this is so long, but I’ve tried to figure out as much as I can on my own! I hope someone can help me solve these remaining issues.

Thanks so much.

Deb

The third block quote above hid the actual code that I wanted to show regarding the rel and class tags. I hope it’ll show up correctly this time.

<a href='image1.jpg' class='lightview' rel='gallery[myset]'>Image 1</a>
<a href='image2.jpg' class='lightview' rel='gallery[myset]'>Image 2</a>

My god .. so many issues on one post ??
so, let’s start by dropping the validation issue for now. your page has so many validation problems, that If you want i can help you resolve after resolving the gallery problems. (and it is easier than what it sounds)

so starting with question 2).
Yes there is a problem with the code placed in the header.
Your files are inside the plugin folders .. not in the root.
so unless THE WORDPRESS PLUGIN does not do that for you, you will have to show the right path to the files.
now you have :

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/lightview.css" />
<script type='text/javascript' src='js/prototype.js'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='js/scriptaculous.js?load=effects'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='js/lightview.js'></script>

But you SHOULD have :

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=".....path/to/wordpress/plugin/dir/css/lightview.css" />
<script type='text/javascript' src='.....path/to/wordpress/plugin/dir/js/prototype.js'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='.....path/to/wordpress/plugin/dir/js/scriptaculous.js?load=effects'></script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='.....path/to/wordpress/plugin/dir/js/lightview.js'></script>

or in a more WordPress-ish way :
href="<?php echo get_settings('home'); ?>/wp-content/plugins/NameOfPlugin/NameOfScript.js"

or

href="<?php echo get_bloginfo('home'); ?>/wp-content/plugins/NameOfPlugin/NameOfScript.js"

now , you lso need to apply the CLASS or REL . I do not know exactly which one the lightviw work with.
You do that by working in the “code” tab inside the post wysiwyg editor, when you write a post. (and not in the visual).
I can also give you a code that will do that automaticaly for you, that you would put in the header, but as for now, I have seen that you are working with the lightbox script.
If you would still want to, I could give you the code to do that.

forget the last part of my post.
I just looked at the code of the lightview plugin, and it already puts the rel and class for you automatically. it also puts the links to the css and js.

krembo99 —

First, my apologies for the “involved” post, and my thanks for your kindness, “bravery” and time in responding to my questions. (I admit I do sometimes tend to make things more complicated than they are — not purposely though!)

Since my last post, in desperation to get a decent gallery working, I reverted back to using Lightbox with another plugin. It works well enough, but I really do prefer the square thumbnails that Lightview produces. It simplifies the visual problem you otherwise have when you mix both vertical and horizontal photos. To sort of temporarily get around that problem, I’ve created two sections of test images on the particular page I referenced. That works OK, but I’d still much rather have all the images together by using square thumbnails.

As you mention, I had in the meantime learned that the Lightview-Plus plugin does take care of inserting the correct info for REL and CLASS. And I also learned that the header info I’d inserted was not necessary. I simply got confused when I went to the Lightview author’s page to get his LIghtview script, even though in hindsight the Lightview-Plus instructions are exactly correct. So…I removed that header info I’d previously inserted.

Perhaps there’s some small step I’ve overlooked in the process of trying to get the Lightview effect to work, although I was able to create the thumbnails. While I do eventually want to get Lightview to work, I’m pressed to have this website working “enough” by this coming Friday, and I still have to set up an offsite comprehensive gallery with a vendor who handles print orders. I’ll just have to revisit the Lightview issue a little later, and start over with it. It really should be as simple as the Lightview-Plus plugin instructions say, huh?

Finally, I’m not happy with the HTML errors I’m getting with the current gallery setup, but I’m just going to have to ignore that problem for now, as long as the gallery pages are working OK on most browsers, cross-platform.

Thank you again for you time, patience, and detailed responses, krembo99. If you have any further thoughts regarding a second attempt later at getting Lightview to work, I welcome them.

All the best,

Deb

Only now I think I understood why you want lightview.
If you think that the lightview plugin is the one responsiable for the square thumbs, it’s not.

Have a look at my website :
https://www.krembo99.com

No lightview there… ??
The square thumbs on my site are generated by wordpress itself, with a little hack i made to the code…
but it can also be made with the help of plugins. (search the plugin page)
One good plug i know is the thumbnail manager from https://olive.juan.free.fr/blog/

If you use wordpress 2.5 and above, there is a built-in option to change the size of thumbnails. In your dashboard, just go to ‘Settings -> Miscellaneous’ and change it
??

OK, I did some checking. With my WP thumbnail setting set at 70×70 (and set to “Crop thumbnail to exact dimensions”), I can create a square thumbnail in a post. However, using Photoxhibit (which provides the LightBox effect), with its thumbnail setting also set at 70×70, when I create a gallery in Photoxhibit, the thumbnails remain rectangular — the thumbnails that are generated are 50×70. Photoxhibit is only making one dimension the desired size and just reduces the other dimension proportionally. I’ve left a comment on the author’s blog to ask how to achieve square thumbnails in Photoxhibit.

I’m not sure about using the Thumbnail Manager in conjunction with Photoxhibit. I’m new at this gallery stuff, so I’m not sure how best to proceed for getting square thumbnails that use the LightBox effect, with procedures that aren’t too complicated for me to figure out.

The square images on your website look very nice, and your HTML validates, as well!
??

I’m sorry , I can not help you with the photoexhibit plugin, for the simple reason that I do not know it .
I am also not sure what it does exactly..
For my own website I just upload pictures and order them in the post.

Yes , My XHTML valiates, but it was not without blood and tears ??

The truth is that after you get the hang fo it, it is also not so hard to achive.

Yep, I’ll keep on working on this. That’s the best way to learn! Thanks again, krembo99!