Dynamic MoPics

[petercwik]

I am confused on the the Dynamic MoPics and am looking for a little guidance. I would think that the way things are by default, that the thumbnails go into the directory /thumbs and would need to have the extension _pic. That this picture would be displayed in the front page of the catalog and then when the product is chosen the picture would also be displayed with the description.

 

Then when the larger image hyperlink is clicked on the picture from the /images_big directory with the extension _big would be displayed.

 

And that images would never need to go into the catalog/images folder directly.

 

Can you tell me where the error in my logic is, please? :'(

[wheeloftime]

I am confused on the the Dynamic MoPics and am looking for a little guidance.  I would think that the way things are by default, that the thumbnails go into the directory /thumbs and would need to have the extension _pic.  That this picture would be displayed in the front page of the catalog and then when the product is chosen the picture would also be displayed with the description.

 

Then when the larger image hyperlink is clicked on the picture from the /images_big directory with the extension _big would be displayed.

 

And that images would never need to go into the catalog/images folder directly.

 

Can you tell me where the error in my logic is, please? :'(

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

After some fiddling I found out one way to have it working (I never managed to get all the thumbnails working from the thumbnail directory alone).

 

Before starting with Dynamic Mopics my naming convention for the pictures was simply:

picture1.jpg

picture1a.jpg

picture1b.jpg

etc.

 

For Dyn. Mopics to work I changed it to the following:

picture1.jpg is still picture1.jpg. Just create a thumbnail of it with the same name

and use the thumbnail for the catalog/images directory and copy the large picture1.jpg to the catalog/images/images_big

 

For the other pictures to work you create thumbnails for them and call them:

picture1_pic1.jpg, picture1_pic2.jpg etc. Those extra thumbnails go into the catalog/images/thumbs directory. The big pictures should also be renamed/named to picture1_pic1.jpg, picture1_pic2.jpg etc. and just copied to the catalog/images/images_big directory

Once you have it setup correctly Dyn. Mopics works perfectly. It just took me a while to figure this out and a lot of time to rename all my existing pictures correctly but with my new pictures it should be a lot easier.

 

Hope this helps !

[petercwik]

I sort of got it to work.

 

I put the the thumbnail with a _pic in the /thumbs directory and put the larger image with the _pic in the /images directory but could not get ANYTHING to read from the /images_big directory.

[wheeloftime]

I sort of got it to work.

 

I put the the thumbnail with a _pic in the /thumbs directory and put the larger image with the _pic in the /images directory but could not get ANYTHING to read from the /images_big directory.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You have any idea what goes wrong with the catalog/images/images_big ?

Remember the name of your extra thumbnails in catalog/images/thumbs must be the same as those in catalog/images/images_big !

Also you must have ..._pic1, ..._pic2 etc. When you have ..._pic2 as a starter it won't work. Also ..._pic1, ..._pic3 without the ..._pic2 only shows the first one and not the rest even if the names are correct in your thumbs and images_big directory. ALL larger images go inside the catalog/images/images_big directory, ONLY the first thumb (which is the only picture you use with your product definition as if there was no Dyn. Mopic).

So your main, first, image thumb goes into the catalog/images directory and is the one you use when filling in products. The belonging big picture of your main image goes into the catalog/images/images_big directory.

The second, third etc. picture you have with a product the thumb goes into catalog/images/thumbs and the large pictures go into catalog/images/images_big

 

So the big pictures always reside inside the images_big directory, the thumbs are seperated for the first picture and the others. The first goes into your normal images directory, all the other thumbs into the images/thumbs directory.

 

Sorry for my English, it is difficult sometimes to explain in what is not my native language.

[dreamscape]

If you are having troubles, you should discontinue use of version 2.xxx and upgrade to version 3.000

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=129877

Edited January 11, 2005 by dreamscape

[petercwik]

First, your English is fine. Second, thank you for taking the time to help me.

 

I think part of my misunderstanding is the 1,2,3.

 

So lets say I only have one product in my store.

 

From what you are telling me the thumbnail would go into the /images directory and have a name of COAT_pic.jpg

And this image would show in the main catalog, and show when that product is chosen.

When I click the show larger image link it would get the COAT_pic.jpg from the /images_big directory.

And nothing would be loaded from the /thumbs directory.

Correct?

[wheeloftime]

First, your English is fine.  Second, thank you for taking the time to help me.

 

I think part of my misunderstanding is the 1,2,3.

 

So lets say I only have one product in my store.

 

From what you are telling me the thumbnail would go into the /images directory and have a name of COAT_pic.jpg

And this image would show in the main catalog, and show when that product is chosen.

When I click the show larger image link it would get the COAT_pic.jpg from the /images_big directory.

And nothing would be loaded from the /thumbs directory.

Correct?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hello Peter,

 

Yes, that is about it. The large pictures indeed always come from the images_big directory while the first thumb goes into the /images directory and the thumbs for the extra pictures into the /images/thumbs directory.

I have not yet upgraded to the 3.0 version but I assume it won't be different from this.

 

Grtz.

[petercwik]

Hello Peter,

 

Yes, that is about it. The large pictures indeed always come from the images_big directory while the first thumb goes into the /images directory and the thumbs for the extra pictures into the /images/thumbs directory.

I have not yet upgraded to the 3.0 version but I assume it won't be different from this.

 

Grtz.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

So the "MO" in Dynamic MoPics is really for "More" thumbnails of the Same product right?

If this is the case, when would the More thumbnails show? On the main catalog page or when the product is displayed?

 

Thanks again for all your help!

[wheeloftime]

So the "MO" in Dynamic MoPics is really for "More" thumbnails of the Same product right?

If this is the case, when would the More thumbnails show?  On the main catalog page or when the product is displayed?

 

Thanks again for all your help!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep, 'More Pictures' which show when displaying a product. The advantage of Dynamic Mopics is you just define the one main picture as normal with your product and based upon the naming of your pictures it can show as much extra pictures as you like for that same product. No hassle in updating the DB for the ability to show more then one picture and no extra queries on the DB to get the names of those extra pictures. I like the approach of this contib very much, it's just a bit tougher in getting straight how you should name your pictures and where to place them accordingly. Once you have that figured out you just wonder why you didn't see the logic sooner (I did as it took me a looong time to get that part working) :D

[petercwik]

If you are having troubles, you should discontinue use of version 2.xxx and upgrade to version 3.000

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=129877

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

OK I upgraged. The picture part works great now, but...there's always a but... when I go to the product page my template changes to an ugly thing. Any hints here? By the way I'm running oscMAX. Which is supposed to be 2.2 with a bunch of contributions.

[petercwik]

I'm almost there! If I change the product_info.php at the bottom of the script to be

 

<?php // Just ADDED

require(DIR_WS_TEMPLATES . TEMPLATENAME_MAIN_PAGE);

//End Just Added

require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'application_bottom.php'); ?>

 

Then everything is good except the header is at the bottom of the page. :huh:

 

If I add require(DIR_WS_TEMPLATES . TEMPLATENAME_MAIN_PAGE);

toward the top of the script then I get an error that it can't find the template.

 

I'm sooo close.

[petercwik]

I don't think that MoPic 3.0 is compatible with oscMax which uses BTS 1.2. Because it looks like 3.0 reformats the entire page.

[petercwik]

OK, I got it....finally. This is posted for others that are having trouble with Dynamic MoPics 2.x.

 

First I am using oscMax, but everything should be the same for 2.2. with the exception of the following- Dynamic MoPics does not work with oscMax. There has been too much reworking of oscMax.

 

So with that said.

The purpose of Dynamic MoPics is to allow you to have more than 1 thumbnail on the product screen. But I wanted it for a different reason. It doesn't do the resize crap that base osCommerce 2.2 does. My thumbnails are different sizes and shapes, so the one size fits all thinking in osc2.2 made my pictures look bad. That is why I got into MoPics.

 

First.

You add your product as normal in the add product screen and specify the name of your picture in image box. So lets say my image is called COAT.jpg This is my first (and if you only have one, only) thumbnail. This will be displayed on the main category page.

Second.

When you click on the product you go to the product page and the same thumbnail is displayed again. At this point if you want additional thumbails to show you would have already uploaded them to the /thumbs directory. You would call them COAT_pic1.jpg, COAT_pic2.jpg, etc... NOTE: The base name is the SAME.

Third.

The big images are uploaded to the /big_image directory and called COAT_pic.jpg, COAT_pic1.jpg, COAT_pic2.jpg, etc...

 

This threw me way off and was confusing. Why was everything named _pic and where did I put what?

The way to clear it up is to go into admin and Configuration and Dynamic MoPics then change the Main Big Pic Extension to _big (or whatever).

 

Then it looks like...When adding my product it would be COAT.jpg as the first (and possibly only) thumbnail.

Then upload (if you want more thumbnails) to the /thumbs directory COAT_pic1.jpg etc...

AND upload COAT_big.jpg to the /image_large directory.

 

So... When you have your main category page you will see COAT.jpg

When you go to the product page you will see COAT.jpg (and if you have other thumbnails COAT_pic1.jpg etc)(NOTE the OTHER thumbnails are of the same product)

When you click on see large image, you see COAT_big.jpg.

 

So COAT.jpg will show the larger image of COAT_big.jpg

COAT_pic1.jpg will show the larger image of COAT_big1.jpg

 

I hope this painfully long and detailed explaination is helpful. It's a great contribution but the docs are lacking.

 

Oh I almost forgot, how to show the REAL thumbnail and not just a resizing...in the Configuration section of admin under Images for Small Image Height and Width...(ready for it) delete the numbers. Just leave them blank and no "template size" will be applied.

 

HTH

Peter Cwik :thumbsup:

Edited January 20, 2005 by petercwik

[dreamscape]

For the record, version 3.000 does work with the BTS system. Someone asked about it in the support thread (I didn't see this thread earlier, because I cannot possibly know about threads that I don't know about). Anyways I posted instructions on how to install version 3.000 into an osCommerce install on the BTS system.

 

Starting from post #7 read through to around post #12:

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/index.php?sho...ndpost&p=524973