SlideShowPro Director Connector
UPDATE (June 2010): I'm happy to announce Leonardo Martinez as the new maintainer for SSPDC. Stay tuned for some updates on this page in the following weeks.
Version 1.0.2b is now available from wordpress.org. ChangeLog is availabe here.
PHP5 and PHP curl are required for this plugin to work.
What is it?
This WordPress plugin helps adding pictures and albums from SlideShowPro Director to your WordPress blog by either choosing them from the media tab or by inserting some shortcode directly into your posts and pages. The images are then served from Director, so no image is saved or loaded into your Blog. The idea behind this plugin arose because I wanted to simplify my photography workflow. The process of creating many versions of the same image (thumbnails, preview, fullsize) for publishing just felt too time consuming. As Adobe Lightroom is my main photography application, I was looking for a tool that integrates seamlessly with Lightroom's export functionality. SlideShowPro Director kicks in here. The guys at SlideShowPro have created a Lightroom to Director export plugin that connects directly to Director and injects a very good quality version of your image with all the image data (e.g. IPCT, EXIF, Copyright, Caption). Director then serves the image on demand in whatever size and quality you request. In short my workflow looks like that: Camera -> Edit and post process in Lightroom -> Export to Director -> Publish on Wordpress.
Features
- Uses shortcodes for fast deployment.
- Media tab for comfortable album and image browsing.
- Add one or more images to your post.
- Show album with one preview image and the others as in lightbox.
- Show album in matrix mode. All images on a page or post.
- Add a photostrip as template tag.
- Uses the Lightbox 2 plugin by Rupert Morris for displaying 'fullsize' images.
- Displays albums either in a matrix or preview image view.
- Admin interface for easy setup.
- Uses WordPress' easy and fast shortcode API.
- Official Director API from SlideShowPro included.
Requirements
- PHP5 and PHP curl are required for this plugin to work.
Donation
If you find this plugin helpful consider making a donation. This donation goes to the new maintainer Leonardo Martinez.
Installation
- Upload the 'sspdc_connector' directory to the '/wp-content/plugins/' directory.
- Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.
- Add the SSP Director API key and API Path to the plugin configuration page.
- Install Lightbox 2
- Change the plugins CSS file (sspdc.css) as you wish and make a backup.
- Add a new post.
- Click the 'symbol that looks like a sun' in the menu bar in WP 2.5/2.6 or the 'Add Media' Button in 2.7 and choose the SSPD Connector menu.
- Select an album
- Choose an image
- Save your post
Known Issues
- The plugin's CSS file is not overriden by the theme as it is loaded aferwards. For now you'll have make appearance changes to the plugin's css file. Be careful. The file will be overwritten by the next update.
FAQ
Will you provide a widgetized version or add-on to your plugin?
I plan to integrate a widget with some of the next releases. There is a 'photostrip' template tag for the meantime
Can I change the look and feel by adapting CSS
Yes, you can. Take a look at the 'sspdc.css' file. For the moment you'll have to change things there.
Shortcodes
Add one image by its director content id: [sspdc image = (content_id)] Add all album images as a matrix on a page or post: [sspdc album = (album_id) style = matrix] Add one album displaying its preview image. All other image will be shown in Lightbox by clicking on the preview: [sspdc album = (album_id) style= preview]
Template Tags
A photostrip can be added to your theme by using a template tag: < ?php sspdc_photostrip(album_id, image_count) ?> Where 'album_id' is the SlideShowPro Director album number and 'image_count' how many images should be shown. You will have to edit the CSS file for making this looking good on your theme.
Additional notes
Thanx to Alex Rabe & the NextGEN DEV-Team: their NextGEN Gallery Code helped me understand many aspects of the WordPress API. Checkout the best WordPress gallery plugin at: http://alexrabe.boelinger.com/wordpress-plugins/nextgen-gallery/