These are the steps to uploading images and labeling them using NextGen Gallery. All of these examples are based on the process for updating the CC40 events. Event pages are created first and separate instructions will be provided for that process.
No passwords will be saved in these instructions. If you need access to the site via FTP, contact us and we will provide the login information to you.
STEP 1: Identify all of the photo collateral
This step is the most challenging, especially if the official photographer took the images out of order and was not given access to the entry numbers or did not record them as references. In any event, access to the video recordings is essential, because there may be people missed, costume changes or props not included in the original photo sets.
ALSO: Because there’s a limit to the size of images, make sure that the photos you select do NOT exceed 2 gig. The smaller these images are, the faster they will load. My recommendation for any photos that aren’t already set this way is to resample the images down to 1800 x 1800 px at whatever resolution, so that they aren’t too big to load.
Photos are labeled thus:
CC##-EI-01a-OriginalFilename.jpg
Example: CC40-SF-01a(b, c, ...) or simply CC40-SF-01 (if only one photo is available) OR CC40-SF-01a1, CC40-SF-01b1, CC40-SF-01c1... (if the number of people in an entry exceeds the alphabet. Yes, it HAS happened.)
NOTE: If the entry is distinct but there are entries that share numbers (insertions) label the first 01A and the second 01A regardless of the numbering in the event, or the photos won’t sort properly. See an explanation of how alphanumeric sorting works.
Never use a single digit. Always use a leading zero (Not Entry 1 but Entry 01).
If there are photos to post of the Friday Night Social, use FNS. Generally speaking, use the same coding each time a competition appears. If it’s a one-of-a-kind, use two letters anyway. The Historical (CC40-H) should be the only exception to this rule.
WARNING: Do NOT post personal data. If a static contest includes addresses, phone numbers or signatures, remove them from the photo using a smearing technique or other blocking mechanism that can’t be undone via technology.
Each competition’s photos should be stored in a separate folder that matches the competition.
Event Abbreviations are thus:
CC40-SF (Science Fiction/Fantasy) CC40-FS (Future Fashion Show) CC40-H (Historic Masquerade) CC40-SP (Single Pattern) CC40-DC (Doll Contest) CC40-PM (Pandemic Mask) CC40-TC (Tiara Contest) CC40-QC (Quilt Contest)
Make sure there are no spaces in filenames. (UNIX hates spaces and will act unpredictably when they are present.)
STEP 2: Upload the folders to a single CC folder (CC40) on the Costume-Connections server.
Appropriate directory:
From Root: /wp-content/CC-VisualArchive/CC40/CC40-SF [etc] /wp-content/CC-VisualArchive/CC40/CC40-FS [etc]
When the upload finishes, close the FTP software and move to WordPress.
STEP 3: In NextGen Gallery: Add Gallery / Images
Choose Import Folder Select CC-VisualArchive Click on the folder to import (eg: CC40) Click on the sub-folder (eg: CC40-FS) Gallery Title: LEAVE BLANK (you'll get this information from an existing gallery in the next step) Click the box next to KEEP IMAGES IN ORIGINAL LOCATION (If you don't, Gallery will duplicate the images. You want to be able to find them via FTP if you need to adjust the content later.) Click the Import button (eg: IMPORT /CC40-FS)
The system will import the images in the folder. This may take a while. When it’s done, you will see a message that says:
Upload complete Done! Successfully imported ## images. Manage Gallery
Repeat the steps above for every folder you created. Depending on the number and size of the images, this step may take a while. It might be tempting to try and do all of the folders at once. Resist the temptation. You won’t be able to tell if there are errors if you do try to do more than one at a time.
NOTE: If the images are too large, you may have to reduce them in Photoshop to get them to load. Avoid uploading images that are larger than 1800 x 1800 px, or that are larger than 2 gig. If you don’t, you’ll have to reload the images and it’s a massive pain to do that. See instructions below for what to do if you forget this rule.
Do NOT delete the gallery. Instead, use the tools NextGEN provides to add new images to the system.
(If you forget and try anyway, adjust the files in Photoshop or your favorite software that can handle bulk edits), reload them in FTP and use the Gallery management tool to search for the new images.
NOTE: You may get an unspecified critical error if you try to upload files that are too big (over 3 gig), the Web Admin will get an unspecified failure warning because the plugin will cause problems. You will have check the folder for new images and you may have to rebuild the thumbnails.
If the rebuild process throws an error after you’ve replaced the big files with smaller ones, you may need to delete the image(s) that caused the error. Note the problem images, delete them from the Gallery, and then rebuild the Thumbnails. That should solve any remaining errors.
Step 3: Create the Album
On the Manage Albums link, you’ll find three columns. To create a brand new album, put the title of the album in the Add new album box. Format should be simply “Costume-Con ##” (the ID is generated automatically). Then drag the various galleries into the album in the order in which you want them to appear.
Add the new Album to the overview album, which is set to display eight albums at a time. After CC39, the next album will be CCs 41-48.
(NOTE: You will need a placeholder for 41 since there won’t be one to add. Thanks to COVID, we’ve skipped that number. The list will be 41 – 48 and 41 should contain an explanation that CC39 took that space, with a link back to CC39.)
WARNING: If you get a 404 error in this process, something’s corrupted in the system somewhere. The best thing to do in this case is uninstall the NextGEN plugin and reinstall and activate it. Do NOT worry about the folders. They’ll still be there when you do this.
Step 4: Label the Galleries and TAG the Images
Each Gallery needs a new label, to match previous similar Galleries. This labeling process contributes to the search structure for the site and makes the content consistent, even if a given CC chooses to alter the labels to suit their needs.
When you import an image folder, NextGEN labels the gallery with the folder name (eg: CC40-H). Relabeling is an easy, necessary step in the process.
On the Manage Galleries link at the far right side, click the double >> to go to the last page of the gallery list.
For each folder you created, choose a similar competition. I right-click to open a new tab with the gallery to update and I also right-click on the companion older competition with the label and tags.
Copy the name of the Gallery from the old competition and click the down arrow to the left of the Gallery Settings box to show the options.
Paste the text of the label into the Title box (eg: Costume-Con 37: Doll Costume Contest)
In the Description box, put the date(s) of the event:
- Doll and other static contests get the range of dates for the con. (eg: April 1-4, 2022)
- Stage competitions get the date the competition actually happened. (eg: April 1, 2022)
Save Changes for the edits to stick.
To TAG each image, first make sure you can see all of the images. NextGEN defaults to 50 items per page. Click into the Images per Page box and select ALL.
In the OLD competition management page, under TAGS, copy everything except the entry number (eg: Doll Contest, Doll Competition, CC37, Costume-Con 37, CC37-DC-)
In the NEW competition management page, under TAGS, paste the set of tags you copied (eg: Doll Contest, Doll Competition, CC37, Costume-Con 37, CC37-DC-).
Click the checkbox in the black bar next to ID to select ALL images, and then the Bulk Actions box with the down arrow. Select Add tags and APPLY.
Paste the tags you copied into the dialog box, UPDATE all instances of the OLD number to the NEW number (Doll Contest, Doll Competition, CC40, Costume-Con 40, CC40-DC-) and click OK.
NOTE: It’s easiest to manage this process one competition at a time, so you don’t accidentally skip a competition. You can use the old Gallery label as a clue for which ones you’ve done so far.
Step 5: Label Each Image
On the Posts pages for each competition, take the labels you created from the entries and awards lists and use this information to paste into the labels for each image.
Format for each image looks something like this if it’s a static competition:
CC40-DC-01: The Rest of the Party Not in Competition | Made by: Linda Swann (Photo ID: # | Entry Date: 2022)
Format for a stage competition looks like this:
CC40-H-06: A Russian Boyar of the 16th Century Category: Historic Dress | Division: Journeyman | Designed by: Kathleen Sobansky | Made by: Kathleen Sobansky | Presented by: Edward Sobansky | Workmanship Award(s): The Noble Beast Award | Presentation Award(s): Honorable Mention - Commanding Presence (Photo ID: # | Event Date| 2022)
On the Gallery Management page, there are two boxes: Alt & Title Text and Description.
The first line of each entry is the text you’ll use for the title.
The description will include that line with a | separator and the contents below that line. In the TAGS box, you will add the entry number without any additional letters. If there is more than one photo for an entry, the TAG will be the same for ALL photos in that entry’s set.
For example, using the CC40 Doll Contest:
ALT & TITLE TEXT: CC40-DC-00a: All Entries (Table 1) DESCRIPTION: All Entries (Table 1) | (Photo ID: Betsy R. Marks | Event Date: 2022) TAGS: Doll Contest, Doll Competition, CC40, Costume-Con 40, CC40-DC-00 ALT & TITLE TEXT: CC40-H-06: A Russian Boyar of the 16th Century DESCRIPTION: CC40-H-06: A Russian Boyar of the 16th Century | Category: Historic Dress | Division: Journeyman | Designed by: Kathleen Sobansky | Made by: Kathleen Sobansky | Presented by: Edward Sobansky | Workmanship Award(s): The Noble Beast Award | Presentation Award(s): Honorable Mention - Commanding Presence (Photo ID: # | Event Date: 2022) TAGS: Historical, CC40, Costume-Con 40, CC40-H-06
This must be done for EVERY photo in the set, in every Competition Gallery.
Photo ID is the name of the photographer and may also include any ordering information. You can include URLs in these fields, though if the photographer is not the Official Photographer, a name is sufficient. An alternate method for including the URL of the official photos is to include that data on each event’s summary Post, along with the Staff information at the top of the page.
For example:
https://dccosplayphotoshoots.pixieset.com/costumecon40-documentaryphotography/
Step 6: Add the Short Codes to a WordPress Data Post
The Visual Archive is an automatic construct, based on tagging and categories. The Data is stored on WordPress Posts.
What’s a “Short Code?”
A Short code is a snippet of code that the WordPress system recognizes and includes in a page. If you were around for early versions of HTML coding, these are similar to “include” statements in pages. They take content from a storage area and incorporate the content in the page at the point where the code is added. For example:
[ngg src="galleries" ids="232" display="basic_imagebrowser"]
On our WordPress pages and posts, this code tells NextGEN Gallery to display the content that is labeled under Gallery 232 using the Basic Imagebrowser structure.
There are ways to display albums as well as galleries. An Album is simply a set of Galleries connected together using the Album Management option.
If you scroll to the bottom of the Visual Gallery main page, you will see collected albums that are actually albums of albums.
https://www.costume-con.org/costume-con-archives/costume-con-visual-gallery/
You can nest as many of these as you wish. Breaking the groups down by eights helps the display stay manageable. Each thumbnail is set at the start of the build process but can be replaced manually as needed.
When you add a major Visual Archive collection (CCs 41-48, for example) make sure you also add the link to the new Album in Album #28 (All Costume-Con Visual Archives) or the content won’t show up on the top Visual Archive page.