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mjau-mjau
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New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

26 Feb 2019, 01:58

Combined release of X3.26.0 and X3.27.0 is now official. Read more in our blog.

X3.27.0
Although no exciting new features, X3.27.0 is nevertheless a huge update featuring optimized code, faster galleries, bug fixes and the ability to play audio tracks from page folders. 
https://www.photo.gallery/blog/photo-gallery-X3-27/

X3.26.0 [Panorama Plugin]
After a while in the works, we are excited to announce the new X3 panorama plugin. Much effort was put into the creation of this plugin, which offers a beautiful interface with unique design, features and capabilities.
https://www.photo.gallery/blog/panorama-plugin/

You can also read more about the Panorama plugin in this post:
viewtopic.php?f=51&t=9677
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

05 Mar 2019, 08:11

X3.27.6 Release
Minor update with several improvements and bug fixes.
  • Popup will now load original image on zoom (if downsized image was initially loaded) [forum]
  • Fixed EXIF display bug for image landing pages (if EXIF enabled in popup) [forum]
  • Fixed folders grid layout bug when attempting to display more than three columns [forum]
  • Fixed so images do not open in popup if page settings > gallery > popup > "Images are clickable" is disabled.
  • Removed server paths in X3 diagnostics, because they may contain sensitive information.
  • XML files now allowed in panel.
  • {{files}} shortcut now works for preview images in topbar menu.
  • Password Protect
    • Migrated frontend protected logins from config/protect.php to config/protect.json.
    • Usernames and passwords now support any characters [<"'/\&;`#?=@~+æøå.etc].
    • Fixed so that login managers don't attempt to autofill usernames and passwords [forum]
    • Improved code and fixed a few bugs.
 
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GeoPal
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

06 Mar 2019, 08:20

Thank you!
 
derBehringer
Posts: 14
Joined: 05 Feb 2019, 18:44

Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

06 Mar 2019, 15:48

Hi,
thanks for the great support and this great software! Really you are great!

What exactly means this:
Migrated frontend protected logins from config/protect.php to config/protect.json

BR Daniel
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

07 Mar 2019, 01:53

derBehringer wrote:What exactly means this:
Migrated frontend protected logins from config/protect.php to config/protect.json
Good question. It means that next time you make changes in Panel > Protect (logins for pages), the data will be moved to config/protect.json instead of config/protect.php. Until then, any logins you have in config/protect.php will still work. You can try yourself by going to Panel > Protect, click SAVE, and you will see by FTP that your protect.json was created and protect.php was deleted.

Why this change? Data is stored in JSON format, and when adding support for ANY characters (ûñïčödę\/slashes/&"quotes'), there is some encoding and escaping going on for special characters. Storing the data in PHP as $variable = 'JSON STRING HERE' was creating compounding issues with character escaping, so I decided to simply store the json data in a JSON file for best compatibility. The idea of storing in PHP was to prevent public access, but since the entire /config/ dir is already blocked, that is pointless.
 
SilentD
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

14 Mar 2019, 08:13

there is a bug in the gallery "folder" alignment where folders in grid view are no longer centered. if you for instance have a columns amount 6,2 setup to display up to 6 on a large display, and up to 2 on a mobile display.. And if there are only 2 folders on the site, it will align to the left.

This is new with this release.. 

Before you ask why i have a 6,2 setup with only 2 folders on the page.. "management" its a default setup for all pages, so i dont have to micromanage every new page who will contain different amounts.
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

14 Mar 2019, 10:37

SilentD wrote: there is a bug in the gallery "folder" alignment where folders in grid view are no longer centered. if you for instance have a columns amount 6,2 setup to display up to 6 on a large display, and up to 2 on a mobile display.. And if there are only 2 folders on the site, it will align to the left.

This is new with this release.. 

Before you ask why i have a 6,2 setup with only 2 folders on the page.. "management" its a default setup for all pages, so i dont have to micromanage every new page who will contain different amounts.
This is not a bug. Before this release, if you set 3,2,1 grid, and if you only had ONE item, the item would take the entire width of the layout. Why is that wrong? Because it might cause upscaling, and it basically displays the image at full layout width. That is not a desirable effect, and I had many requests about this feature, including this post. The consensus is that "just because I only have one item, doesn't mean I don't want to keep a grid format".

So that is how it works now. Having a single item doesn't mean you will be forced to have a single-column grid with an image blown up to full layout width. Likewise, if you assign 6 column items and only have two items, it won't force two columns, but will retain a minimum amount of columns (3), which are aligned from left.

I see your issue with TWO columns fallback, but surely you see the issue that we can't just force a grid columns amount that equals the amount of items, even if only one. Furthermore, unlike before, you CAN actually control it now ... For this specific gallery you have, which is unable to populate your designated 6,2 grid, you can actually set it to "2", and problem is solved.

Sorry, logical dilemmas with both scenarios, but this is the most optimal solution, as we can't just assign the columns amount to equal items amount (which might be one). Neither can we blindly "center" an incomplete grid, as that would misalign first column with other text and images on the page.

I would also like to point out that before, it didn't really "center" anything. A single image would simply take full width of layout, and two items would be distributed across two columns.
 
SilentD
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

14 Mar 2019, 13:18

"This is not a bug. Before this release, if you set 3,2,1 grid, and if you only had ONE item, the item would take the entire width of the layout."

Thats not true, it would be centered, without filling the frame (you have this thing called narrower, remember?)

If there is no way to have it work as it did, or possibly have an option to do both, I may want to ask for a roll back version to install.. This new system ruins my workflow. It worked before, now it does not. (unless I want to micromanage every single page) I would want to avoid going to every page (100+) and custom select how many folders are in there. That seems like a setback, when earlier it would simply ignore the numbers and center the content that was there. I could just add new content to existing pages and it would automatically figure it out. (up to 6 pr row on a pc, up to 2 pr row on a phone) Easy! Simplicity is why I bought into this system. Id imagine that ease of use is the point of having it. While at the same time powerful and complex if you wanted it to be. The perfect balance. But being forced to micromanage every change and addition you make, becomes a chore.

I cant claim to understand how to technically make it work, I just know that the way it worked back when I made my page, determined how I build it, in the optimum way. And now its changed. For the worse (in my case)
If the way it was before was a mistake, it was a lucky mistake that I exploited to the fullest with great satisfaction.

The people complaining about the images filling the page should just have used the (narrow, narrower, narrowest) function.. It did the job perfectly.

Besides the layouts have never and still dont align properly with the frame. If you combine a justified layout of gallery images with a grid of folders, they are not equally wide ;) (over time I have learned to live with it tho)
https://www.jottacloud.com/s/1182e9450d ... ffb9554e32

So what does this new change do for you? 


I will be content with just getting a pre X3 26 version back and then never update it again.
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

15 Mar 2019, 01:41

I don't really want to argue about this. As it is in the latest update YOU can easily fix any specific page by editing the grid settings for that page. As it was earlier, if the grid contained only one item, the grid would automatically revert to a single column (matching the maximum amount of items) ... not something that could be edited, even on a per-page basis, because it clearly requires that we lock the columns_amount to NO MORE than items_amount.
SilentD wrote:So what does this new change do for you?
Before, if a grid (for example 3,2,1) only contained a single item, it would look like the screenshot below. Upscaled image, and doesn't even look like a "link" that the visitor would consider to be a "subfolder" category. Obviously, if we should always set columns_amount to max items_amount, you can't even edit this on a per-page basis.
Image

How it will work now, if there are insufficient items to cover the specified grid, is that a minimum grid will still be retained. This prevents ugly upscaling and keeps "folder" links intuitive, without a massive bloated thumbnail representing the folder. Basically it prevent what many users have complained about.
Image

Now of course, unlike before, if you have a specific gallery that you need to adjust because the amount if items is smaller than your assigned grid amount, you can always specifically adjust columns for this page, for example setting 2,2,1.
Image

So the big difference, is that if we lock the grid to the amount of items in the folder (as it was), there is no way to override this obviously. Now, it fixes the issue with ugly single-item orphans, while at the same time, you can still apply your own column settings specifically for any pages.

Clearly I will prioritize advantages to other users, who had no options to override columns, while you now do.
SilentD wrote:Thats not true, it would be centered, without filling the frame (you have this thing called narrower, remember?)
That seems quite an invalid argument. NARROWER creates a narrower layout, and YES it would be a "workaround" for users who end up with ugly single-item orphans, but it's not a solution. Also, it is NOT centering, it's just a "narrow" layout, which may still be much wider than anticipated. Why would these users have to manually apply a narrow layout for all their pages with single items? If they could even figure out that is a "workaround" (which is more than one can expect).

You are basically saying you can't edit per-page settings, but all these other users can.
SilentD wrote:If there is no way to have it work as it did, or possibly have an option to do both, I may want to ask for a roll back version to install.. This new system ruins my workflow. It worked before, now it does not. (unless I want to micromanage every single page) I would want to avoid going to every page (100+) and custom select how many folders are in there. That seems like a setback, when earlier it would simply ignore the numbers and center the content that was there. I could just add new content to existing pages and it would automatically figure it out. (up to 6 pr row on a pc, up to 2 pr row on a phone) Easy! Simplicity is why I bought into this system. Id imagine that ease of use is the point of having it. While at the same time powerful and complex if you wanted it to be. The perfect balance. But being forced to micromanage every change and addition you make, becomes a chore.
I am sorry it turned out this way for you, but surely you must see why it's logical to prevent oversized single-item grid columns, requested by several users. Especially considering you now can override it, while before you couldn't. If you check any other online gallery (facebook, flickr, whatever), if a gallery has a single item, it won't scale the clickable thumb for that image to cover the entire layout width. It will retain some form of grid, so it's intuitive to click the item.

Furthermore, considering your column settings 6,2, I can't see that all has gone to hell as you are implying. As it works now, you would end with the following results, which includes some logical adjustments:
---
6+ items = 6 columns (like before)
5 items = 5 columns (like before)
4 items = 4 columns (like before)
3 items = 3 columns (like before)
2 items = 3 columns (adjusts to a minimum 3-column)*
1 item = 3 columns (adjusts to a minimum 3-column)*
---

* Adjust to a minimum 3-column layout, but only if your column settings have 3 OR MORE columns. If you apply a 2,1 grid, it will adjust to a minimum 2-column grid (no more than in your settings). Applying a 1-column grid is obviously illogical, as you might as well use the vertical layout.

In your case, there is only an issue if your grid contains only one or two items. Also, what happened in your case when you only had 1 item in your grid? Were you then manually setting a NARROW layout for that specific page? Or were you just accepting that those items blew up to full layout width? As far as I can see, your issue is pretty much limited to pages that specifically contain only two items.

Why not just set the grid to 2,1 for the page that has two items? Problem solved.
SilentD wrote:The people complaining about the images filling the page should just have used the (narrow, narrower, narrowest) function.. It did the job perfectly.
Why would they need to apply this on a per-page basis? It's not intuitive. You can also edit your two-item pages on a per-page basis now.

SilentD wrote:Besides the layouts have never and still dont align properly with the frame. If you combine a justified layout of gallery images with a grid of folders, they are not equally wide ;) (over time I have learned to live with it tho)
https://www.jottacloud.com/s/1182e9450d ... ffb9554e32

An entirely separate issue of course, and although these things could be optimized, there are logical explanations, basically the fact that different gallery layouts work differently. For example, in your screenshot:

1) Top JUSTIFIED layout will mathematically calculate (via Javscript) how to fill a ROW of items from LEFT to RIGHT. The margins on LEFT and RIGHT will (and should) equal the margins/space you haver assigned BETWEEN each item. This is how it must be done for a perfect symmetry, also when screen width matches the layout width (which is probably does on 70% of all devices):
Image

2) Bottom GRID layout however, first of all you have assigned DIFFERENT SPACING in this grid than the screenshot of your justified grid. The SPACING of the grid on LEFT and RIGHT side will need to be proportional with the assigned spacing between images. Furthermore, including spacing, grid items need to be centered within their own grid element, so that everything won't left align.
Image

I enjoy demanding clients, and there is always room for improvements, but there is often a bigger picture.

SilentD wrote:I will be content with just getting a pre X3 26 version back and then never update it again.

If you want to DOWNGRADE to another version, you can run the updater like this, specifying the version in the URL:
/x3_updater.php?v=X3.25.0
 
SilentD
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

31 Mar 2019, 16:37

If I set it to 3 columns when having 2 items it will still move to the left of the screen
If I set to 2 items it will center the images but fill the screen rather than having small thumbnails as I want.
So I am still forced to use the "narrower" feature to achieve the desired outcome, but now I also have to set it to 2

A one step process has now become a 2 step process. And more clunky to use.

Not mentioning that your entire argument for why you made the change falls apart, because in any setup the images will fill the frame unless you use the narrowing function, or accept having them on the left side.

Set the grid to 1 with one items fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 2 with two items, fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 3 with three items, fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 4 with four items, fills the screen. (no change) 
Set the grid to 5 with five items, fills the screen. (no change)

Set the grid to 3 with one item moves it to the left. (not good) Where is align option?
Set the grid to 3 with two items moves them to the left. (not good) Where is align option?
Set the grid to 4 with three items keeps them in the center. (while I find that to be better, I cant help thinking, why you made the system behave differently depending on how many items there are). Its not logical, its clunky, its a pain in the ass to figure out for a new user. And for me, it makes it an even more tedious process to manage. Even if I know how it works, I have to do more steps every time I change something.

So really all you achieved here is to avoid the item filling the screen without using narrowing, IF you have just one item, and IF you set the grid to 2 or 3 columns. But then you have no control over where it aligns to. So not very useful unless it just so happens that an left alignment fits your design. Give us an alignment option and you made it useful for everyone.
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

01 Apr 2019, 00:26

I already explained topic in detail in my previous reply two weeks ago, and I am not sure you read all the details. This reply will be shorter.
SilentD wrote:If I set it to 3 columns when having 2 items it will still move to the left of the screen
Yes, and as pointed out in my previous reply, "2 items" seems like the only bad case scenario.

Ultimately, X3 will always attempt to respect the grid, else items will be blown up. If you want to fix this for your specific page with only two items, you will need to specifically set TWO columns for that page.

As a compromise, this will fix the issues I have explained in detail in my previous reply.
SilentD wrote:If I set to 2 items it will center the images but fill the screen rather than having small thumbnails as I want.
You mean if you "set to 2 columns"? If you set TWO columns and you have TWO items, there will be TWO columns, covering the gallery area, just like before. How did you get "small thumbnails" before with two items in two columns I wonder ...
SilentD wrote:Not mentioning that your entire argument for why you made the change falls apart, because in any setup the images will fill the frame unless you use the narrowing function, or accept having them on the left side.
I really don't know what you are talking about. Now, if you have only ONE item and THREE assigned columns, the image will take 1/3 columns, and will not blow up to cover the entire gallery area ... which is the entire point.
SilentD wrote:Set the grid to 1 with one items fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 2 with two items, fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 3 with three items, fills the screen. (no change)
Set the grid to 4 with four items, fills the screen. (no change) 
Set the grid to 5 with five items, fills the screen. (no change)
What do you mean "fills the screen"? A columns layout will ALWAYS fill the entire gallery area (always did). Obviously, if you set the columns amount to exactly the same as the items amount (AS ALL YOUR EXAMPLE ABOVE), you will get exactly the amount of columns filling the gallery area that cover your amount of items. Nothing wrong with that of course, and the above is how it worked earlier also.
SilentD wrote:Set the grid to 3 with one item moves it to the left. (not good) Where is align option?
This is the entire crux of the problem, and although it is not optimal, we made the change to NOT BLOAT a single image to cover entire width. It's wrong, because it blows up the image and looks strange.

So what you want, is for the image to cover the entire screen (like before) when you only have one item?

Ultimately, having "one item" in a gallery is design pattern that should be avoided in the first place, because it doesn't make sense for the visitor to see ONE gallery item or ONE subfolder. I understand many will have just a single item anyway, but it has to be dealt with most optimally for the majority, and that is not by stretching the image to 100% stage width.
SilentD wrote:Set the grid to 3 with two items moves them to the left. (not good) Where is align option?
This was already asked in your post, and answered above.
SilentD wrote:Set the grid to 4 with three items keeps them in the center. (while I find that to be better, I cant help thinking, why you made the system behave differently depending on how many items there are). Its not logical
First of all, there is no "center", but YES in this case it will consider your MAX 3 items and override your assigned four columns. That is because it's based on a minimum 3-columns grid ... If you have 3 (or more) items, it will work just like before, and assign the grid from the lowest number (items or column-settings).

This is logical because there is no need to create 4 columns for 3 items, because it already looks functional with 3 columns. This is however NOT the case when you only have one item.
SilentD wrote:So really all you achieved here is to avoid the item filling the screen without using narrowing, IF you have just one item, and IF you set the grid to 2 or 3 columns. But then you have no control over where it aligns to. So not very useful unless it just so happens that an left alignment fits your design. Give us an alignment option and you made it useful for everyone.
Setting "narrow" is not a solution.
  • First of all, "narrow" is still quite wide.
  • Narrow would CENTER the element on stage, something which looks strange when other page elements should be aligned to left for best visitor usability on scroll.
  • You mean that X3 users who only have one ugly blown up item should easily know that they should set "narrow" gallery layout for all pages with one item?
  • I really don't see your argument about "alignment". Galleries should in most usability cases be aligned to left ... Really, you should avoid this scenario in the first place. Now, at least the image does not scale up to 1000px +, and is still aligned to the left, where a visitor might expect to find it. If you check any other gallery grid, orphan items and single items will always start from the left.
The ONLY difference between now and before, is when there are only 1 or 2 items in the gallery. If there are more, behavior is identical as before. So as I understand, as you want it, if there is only one item, the image should cover the entire gallery area? Ok NOTED, I will take it into consideration. This solution has solved an issue for many users, and in your case, you can still easily override a specific gallery by setting 1 or 2 columns if you want the columns for that gallery to stretch entire gallery area (just like before). Why you would want to do that for one item I don't know, for two columns maybe.

In a future X3 (full revamp), I will be looking into entirely new grid methods using CSS grid and CSS columns.
 
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EHRETic
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

02 Aug 2019, 05:51

Hola  :wink:

Long time not see or heard... Anything exciting in the pipeline ?

See you
 
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mjau-mjau
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

02 Aug 2019, 08:57

EHRETic wrote:Long time not see or heard... Anything exciting in the pipeline ?
You are right, there hasn't been much activity here lately, but that doesn't mean we are not busy! I think I will be writing a new post soon with "what to expect next from X3"?

In short, I am currently working on a related project called "Files". This will be a single-file gallery and file-manager, that can simply be dropped into any folder, with excellent filter and search functionality. More like a tool than a website. This new "Files" app, will however be the new base of a new X3 control panel 2.0, and also a new single-file gallery app I have somewhere down the pipe.

Apart from the above, I also have a long list of X3 features requested and planned. However, at some point in the not-so-distant future, we need to re-make X3, perhaps X3.5 (it won't be X4). Times and technologies are changing, and X3 should be re-created, perhaps with bootstrap5, without jquery, with faster and more modern layout techniques, with new revised skins, and better foundation for future features :clap:
 
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GeoPal
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

02 Aug 2019, 09:20

Sounds great, thanks for the hard work!
 
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GGANG
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Re: New Releases [X3.26.0] + [X3.27.0] :penguin:

10 Aug 2019, 01:21

mjau-mjau wrote: I also have a long list of X3 features requested and planned. However, at some point in the not-so-distant future, we need to re-make X3, perhaps X3.5 (it won't be X4). Times and technologies are changing, and X3 should be re-created, perhaps with bootstrap5, without jquery, with faster and more modern layout techniques, with new revised skins, and better foundation for future features  :clap:
I'm very glad to read your working plan.
Have a wonderful holiday.  :bus: