Community @ The Turning Gate

Matt,

On the Client Response, I think it would be beneficial to discuss the login/logout aspect of the CRG, a real-world example of how to use function plugin for login/logout with the menu.  Also, I think that when this is describe that for the Managed (Private) Gallery then a discussion to use this shortSiteURL().'backlight/clients/logout'; in the code which is much better for logouts for a Managed Gallery.

Just a thought since I had seen many discussions on how to code this in the plugins but the example in the plugins is not very useful!!!  So, maybe a discussion on which functions can be called like shortSiteURL() and exactly what it returns.  I figured this all out since I know how to write code I think it will be a useful documentation for non-coders if they have a real world example.

One more thought, I think it would be beneficial to people to show a few examples of how to setup a Client Response Gallery in LR or Backlight.  Since in most cases You will have to set up a Managed and UnManaged Gallery for any one client.  This means that you need to take care and how this is presented to clients.  For example, in my case I found that I have the client enter in their album name which is part of the name of the album in LR/Backlight Gallery - then I create a dynamic menu item for them to access that album. Then show them their Album Set for the Client showing all of their albums (Their photos album, managed albums, shared albums, etc.) then they can login to any of their albums but the added benefit is that no other client or user can see their albums nor can they guess at the clients album name but even if they did they are all protected by login.  But, there are other examples of how to set this up as I have tried a few; but I think this is a useful discussion in the documentation.

Thanks,
Michael

Hi Ben,

When I built the album in the plugins (album_top function) I added code to create/write data to a sql DB and then set a query string on the image as it was built.  So when an image is selected I know the image # and can then access that on another page after getting the information I needed from the DB.   I also use a similar technique to pass the category(item_pricing) between pages.  I am currently in the process to fix my problem of Shipping using the backlight cart; but I may build my own cart to bypass the limitations of the backlight cart based on what we talked about in our email exchange. Currently, I turned off the backlight cart in Production environment replacing it with fotomoto my previous cart until I get the cart replaced; I only had to update my plugins file.

Michael

I have solved this so no worries.  I wanted to know the selected item when I was on another page.

Hi,

Here is what I did first I added code to the Scripts function in the phplugins file based on the page that was being shown (i.e. ImageCart).

Example:
function scripts
{
// Determine what page you are on this can be done in many ways I chose to do it with a functions call to get the URL then determine the Page
    switch ($page)
   {
       case 'ImageCartPage':                             // whatever your page is called  [I use a variable though]
              showDiscount($page);                      // a function that I put in the plugin file above the class sets a cookie with yes or no
              break;
       case 'cart':                                             // this is the backlight cart page
              if(isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_cart_discount]))
            {
                if ($_COOKIE[$cookie_cart_discount] == 'no')         // I use yes or no from the showDiscount function
                {    // if no then I hide the discount entry field when the Cart pop-up shows
                    echo '
                        <style type="text/css">
                            .discount-entry
                            {
                                display:none;
                            }
                        </style>
                        ';
                }       
            }       
            break;
   }
}

// here is an example of the showDiscount function I use - mine is more involved
function showDiscount($page)
{
         $cookie_cart_discount = 'cartdiscount';                //  Set up a cookie name
   
    switch($page)
    {
        case 'glryimgcrt':                                // My Gallery img cart name(slug)
        case 'lmtdimgcrt':                                // My Limited Fine Art cart Name(slug)
        case 'imgcrtglry':                                // My Clients Cart Name(slug)
            $myCategory = getMyCategory();                // This is my function to get the Pricing scheme store on the MetaData Category called 'itempricing'
            if ($myCategory != '')                    // There are a few ways to get the Pricing Schemes but I added a querystring '?category='xxxxxx' where xxxx is the // pricing scheme.  But you could also read the backlight Database too or some other mechanism
            {   
                if ($page == 'glryimgcrt')               
                {        // Used an array of all the Pricing Schemes and set to yes or no depending on when I want a discount applied = yes
                    $schemes = array("Digital Downloads Multi Pricing"=>"no","Photographic Prints Pricing"=>"no","Photographic Dream Prints Pricing"=>"no","Photographic Fine Art Pricing"=>"no","Acrylic Block Pricing"=>"no","Acrylic Face Mounted Small Pricing"=>"no",...etc...etc...etc);
                }
                elseif ($page == 'lmtdimgcrt')   
                {
                    $schemes = array("Lmtd Art Print Canvas Pricing"=>"no","Lmtd Acrylic Metal Print Pricing"=>"no","Lmtd Metal Print Pricing"=>"no","Lmtd Fine Art Print Pricing"=>"no"....etc....etc...etc);
                } // etc..
                foreach($schemes as $catkey => $catvalue)
                {
                    if ($myCategory == $catkey)
                    {    // find the pricing scheme = to what is in my array and set the cookie so when the Cart pop-up is called then it can be shown or not shown
                        if ($catvalue == 'yes')
                        {
                            setcookie($cookie_cart_discount, 'yes', 0 , "/","EXAMPLE.COM",true); 
                            return true;
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            setcookie($cookie_cart_discount, 'no', 0 , "/","EXAMPLE.COM",true);
                            return false;
                        }       
                    }
                }
            }
            setcookie($cookie_cart_discount, 'no', 0 , "/","EXAMPLE.COM",true);
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}

If you need help with the URL or getPage functions let me know you can reach me via my site https://keylightphotography.us/contact

Hope this helps.. let me know  Using it this way I only need to change the showDiscounts function to turn on or off the Pricing schemes and republish the plugin file no other changes are required.  Makes it fast and easy.

Let me explain:  I have a album_top function which is my own flavor of how I want and plan on displaying photos in an album; as I have plans to do things with the photos that backlight does not support.  Basically, I am enhancing how and when I want photos to display.  Doing this requires that I also taking control of the Page and showing the album the way I want.  So, under designer in backlight I have the Page that is being called and it includes the Album; however this is not the default behavior I want; I want the Page using the Base Page Template I set up but then I can modify the page by including the album using the dispatch('album_top') function when the page is called to display the way I want the photos within the album to display.  I do have future plans to add some things to the photos specific to the individual photos; therefore, I need control of the individual photos of the album.  I already do this partially with the Shop Galleries on my site; just looking for more control.

However, the Page with the include to the album is not what I want displayed.  I just want the page and I then want to construct/include my own code for the album to display.  However, as soon as I remove the include from the Designer->Page for the album.  I have no way to construct the album so I can call the dispatch->('album_top') to run through the code I developed for the purposes I want to do.  I need a way to call a class constructor for the album before I call the dispatch->('album_top').  Obviously, there is a way to do this as the Designer->Page include Album is already doing this but I do not see where it is constructing this include; I do not want this include to happen; I want to construct my own include and then process through my own code.  I just need to bypass the Designer->Page Album include.  I have this working but as I said it shows my album and then the Backlight Designer-Page Album include.

One Possible way around this problem is that I could include a dummy Gallery Album with no photos as the include on the Page but to me that is just inefficient but it will work as it will only show what I want it to show.  I would prefer how to include my own Album to the Page rather than directly through backlight designer->page which limits what I can do in the future.

My code to what I am wanting is to large to include here but safe to say it does work the way I want with all my galleries (CRG, cart, etc..) with the possibility of my future additions on a per photo basis in an Album.

Hope this explains it better.

Never mind I got it to work with what I wanted to do.

Well it did not work for me until I used it on the sample script with the escape.  Also, the children code that I posted I had works as well.  But, it did not highlight everything I am looking at why some menu items did not get highlighted when selected.  I think it is because of the window location pathname.

I tried the one in the sample script but it also gives me the same error. I will try the escape char.  What about the item I have for the children and parent to both be highlighted?  Will it work as well or did I miss something?

Hi, How is the speed between your SSD device and your Surface Pro 4 (transfer files to your drive)?  If it is slow then check which type of USB-A you have i.e. Standard Type A USB 2.0 or Standard Type A USB 3.0; to tell the difference the Type A end for USB 3.0 will have the blue slide if 2.0 will be white/other color than blue.  Also, can your SSD do wireless if so than you should be able to connect it with the wireless (GB ethernet through your Surface Pro 4 bypassing the cables).  I have done this and it works fine if you consider that I live in a rural community where the upload speed is only 1mb and that I have a Toshiba laptop 7 year old gen 3 I7 processor. I also run LR, TTG and everything though my wireless GB ethernet without any issues.  So I would suspect that you may have configuration issues with your Surface Pro 4 or the cables themselves.  One more thing to check in your Surface Pro 4 configuration does your ethernet/wireless (wi-fi) connection have or is type 802.11n or is your connection type 802.11abg? abg is typically slower than type n. Hope this helps!!!!