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...for large images?
Can't find anything about this in the documentation. I see that I can add metadata to the thumbnails but nothing about the large images.
Thanks in advance.
- When I click on phpLiteAdmin, I'm asked to enter a password. Which password? The admin password doesn't work.
Fixed. It's the default phpLiteAdmin password : "admin". Not safe. This should be the Backlight admin password by default.
Now, none of this is very helpful in working out why your site (and it appears, others' sites as well) didn't upgrade the database. Can you help with the following:
* Did you upgrade from the Backlight zip file or from the Backlight+Pages zip file?
* What FTP software did you use?
1. During the first update attempt, the database has been updated. I got the notification message when going to the Backlight Dashboard. But the Dashboard still indicated 1.02. After removing the old files, the database was updated again but this time I got the correct version number.
2. I used the Backlight + Pages zip file.
3. Since I'm using a NAS as a test server, I have access to the Backlight folders directly. I'm not using any FTP client.
- I read "TTG Backlight version: 1.0.2" although I have installed version 1.03 according to the instructions.
Fixed. See http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … hp?id=6736
However, copying the new directory over the old one should work just as well. The only files removed from 1.0.2 were redundant files that have never been needed. It doesn't matter if they are still there.
Ben,
Apparently, this is not the case. When I first installed the update, I did as you say: I copied the files from the new version folders to the old one. 1.02 was still appearing everywhere the product version is displayed. In the Dashboard in the first place.
Then, I used a comparison tool (Beyond Compare - a very useful product) and I mirrored the new folders to the old ones (which means that these "old and unnecessary files" were deleted). And bingo, when I relaunched Backlight, I had again the notification message about the database update but this time, the correct version number was displayed.
Maybe there's a misundertanding about the update instructions...
Does replace mean that all existing files in the above listed folders should be deleted before copying the new files in these folder?
Yes. That's it. The files present in version 1.02 and not present in version 1.03 are causing this issue.
So the update instructions should mention that the whole contents of the target folders should be deleted before copying the new files. The term "replace" is misleading.
Maybe there's a misundertanding about the update instructions... They read as follows:
Replace the following files and directories:
backlight/admin/
backlight/designer/
backlight/framework/
backlight/publisher/
backlight/modules/module-pages/
backlight/modules/okapi-core/
backlight/modules/standard-album/
backlight/modules/standard-album-set/
backlight/modules/standard-page/
When I compare the corresponding 1.02 and 1.03 folders, I see that files that were present in my 1.02 installation are no longer there in version 1.03.
Does replace mean that all existing files in the above listed folders should be deleted before copying the new files in these folder?
- In Backlight | Advanced settings | Misc. | Lang, I can only find en-US. So what is this setting for?
If I understand well, I have to create a new translation file myself?
If so, it would be nice to have a repository where we could share the translation files. There's no need for each user from the same country to redo this work each time...
@Samoreen
You have written what I have thought since I have worked with Backlight.
Hallo Rainer,
So bin ich nicht der Einzige, der darüber "meckert" :-) . Danke für die Erleichterung.
MfG
Hi,
In the Dashboard
- I read "TTG Backlight version: 1.0.2" although I have installed version 1.03 according to the instructions.
- When I click on "List PHP Modules", I'm sent to my Backlight site home page ????
- When I click on phpLiteAdmin, I'm asked to enter a password. Which password? The admin password doesn't work.
- In Backlight | Advanced settings | Misc. | Lang, I can only find en-US. So what is this setting for?
Do not be scared, my neighbors, the French are born to complaining haha ! (kisses from Switzerland)
Urban legend. I have purchased Backlight because I thought it was the best choice for my needs. However, it's not perfect, especially in the documentation area. As a paying user, I guess I have the right to comment about this even if I think that it's a good software?
So you think that once you have purchased a software, you become a "believer" and every comment you make about something wrong in it is necessarily negative? If I disagree with the author's vision about what a documentation should be, I'm necessarily a "complainer"?
You are more than welcome to look at something like jAlbum if you prefer it.
If I had preferred jAlbum, I wouldn't have purchased a Backlight license. I was not talking about the output produced by jAlbum, I was talking about the less technical UI.
The more documentation there is, the more difficult it becomes for a user to find exactly the piece they're in need of. I favor sparse, to-the-point documentation wherever we can have it
Your decision. But here again, I was talking about what's missing. If the information is not there, it's also rather difficult to find it, isn't it? Some options and settings are merely not explained. As the developer, you know what they mean and do. The user didn't write the code. I'm sure it's possible to find a good balance between too much documentation and something that is obviously lacking. For example, one can wonder why the Backlight Settings section has info tips for each option and not the Designer.
I guess you should invite some non-tech user in you lab and observe how he reacts when discovering and trying to use Backlight. You might be surprised.
Same problem here although I followed the installation instructions. More details tomorrow, my test server is currently down.
Please elaborate.
Hi,
I tried to access your site in various browsers this afternoon (french time) and I could only get garbage on the screen. No images, partial texts, a bunch of error messages (like those we get when Backlight has a problem,...). I should have made a screen capture but I was in a hurry. Now it's working correctly. Maybe the hosting server had a problem...?
This is contradictory.
Not exactly. I was not asking this question about the meaning of 755 for me. I was just trying to explain that a photographer who is not used to these technical terms could be confused when seeing this and other terms in the UI. I do know what this means. As mentioned above, I have been a system engineer, software developer and programming teacher.
Again, this was just an example. Overall, I find that the insufficiently detailed documentation combined with a UI that is too "technical" makes Backlight (as previous CEx versions) a software that is not really targeted at non-tech users. Which doesn't prevent it to be a good software. But something has to change in order to reach a wider audience.
Look at something like jAlbum. It's not Backlight but it is more suited for non-tech users.
Hi,
FYI.
This site appears to have big problems.
Yes. This was just an example illustrating my statements above. Imagine a user who has no idea about how permissions are set under Linux. What does 755 or whatever other number mean?
Since the software targets photographers, such technical details should not surface in the UI.
I forgot one point : documentation should always be available offline (as a PDF file, for example). A Backlight gallery or web site can be built and tested locally. We are not supposed to be always connected.
- Absolutely no contextual help. Each option should have a short text (or an info tip) explaining what it does.
I mean, some settings have info tips but too many are missing in the Designer.
- Assuming technical knowledge not accessible to many of the target users.
For example, the "Album Permissions = 755" setting cannot be understood by many users, especially Windows users (even if they are using a Unix/Linux hosting). This is a typical situation where the UI should provide a clear way to set the permissions and automatically convert the user choice to the correct value.
To make it short, since the advertisement for Backlight says "Backlight is a malleable website creation and photo publishing platform for photographers..." and not for web developers, the documentation and the UI should target the former, not the latter.
Hi,
I'm pretty sure that Backlight will fit my needs and that it's a good software. However, I always told to my students that the documentation belongs to the job, it's not a "by-product" that will possibly be released after the fact, if there's enough time to produce it. Unfortunately, too many software editors nowadays deliver undocumented or badly documented software. I can accept this for small free or shareware utilities but not for software sold above $US 100.
The Backlight documentation is lacking for many reasons:
- Not detailed enough
- Using technical terms that are unknown to non technical users (I have been a software engineer but not a web developer - but what on earth is a "slug"?).
- Assuming technical knowledge not accessible to many of the target users.
- Absolutely no contextual help. Each option should have a short text (or an info tip) explaining what it does.
I know that I can ask for details on the forum (that is, actually, to Rod Barbee) but I usually prefer having a good documentation. If it exists, I read it. I'm not a fan of the trial and error method, it's too time-consuming. A sparse documentation is a loss of time for both the user and the editor (more questions and problems, same explanations repeated again and again).
My two cents...
Sharing templates isn't possible (at least right now), so no repository for those.
For custom css, try the Backlight Tips and Tricks forum. I'm also often adding stuff to my TTG Tips & Tricks site (link below)
Thanks. I'll have a look.
Gary has some custom css overriding the Backlight settings...
By the way, is there any repository for custom css files and page and album templates for Backlight?
As a Backlight beginner, my understanding is that when Negative Space is On (which appears to be the case here), the color of the side areas as shown in the example is merely the Page Background-color (white in this case). So one can select whatever color he wants without using CSS. Or did I miss something?
OK. Thanks. I will not be ready before at least one week. I'm redesigning my site which has been created with CE3 (TTG Highslide CE 3.1.5 and TTG Pages 3.7.3). Not working very well with Lightroom CC, to say the least (one has to work in blind mode).
you can have three columns
Yes. But if I have selected "2 columns" in the layout settings, the "Tray 02" section should not appear in design mode.