Once again I´m ready to give up!

mikkelmand · 2016-12-20 20:06:31

We are launching a new venture. I do the marketing footwork before launch i 67 days. Above other things I do our webpage, mailchimp integration and more.

Here is our pre-launch site:

http://www.hjaerta.se

I wish to prepare a backend function for clients to select images for postproduction. We wish to use Backlight for this and have purchased Backlight and the Client Response Gallery.

But, as alway I´m tearing me hair out trying to figure out the logic behind this product. I read the documentation, but languagewise there is so much I just don´t understand? I have said this before and I´ll say it again: when I read the documentation I feel like it is written to someone who already understands tha core concept of it. I don´t.

So, the documentation really confuses me. I´ve been dreading for this day today because I know that within an hour I am going to feel like throwing my computer in a deep deep lake. No other software makes me feel like this. I am a certified expert in Adobe Photoshop, I use Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Lightroom on a daily basis. But Backlight gets the better of me…

I have managed to install Backlight. I´ve set up a Puplishing service in Lightroom and they have connection.

Now what I would like to achieve is this. I really would highly appreciate if you would take the time and explain to me how to achieve this:

1. I would like all our clients to be able to go to http://www.hjaerta.se/kunder (kunder means customers in swedish) and append a forward slash and the customer brand name (i.e Intertek) and push Enter.

2. They would then come to a password protected page where they enter the login details that I have set up for the customer in the admin panel.

3. They are then, efter loggin in, passed on to a page with thumbnails and descriptions of each assignment that we have done for them.

4. Every thumbnail on that page leads to a client selection page where they do their feedback.

5. The ony stage that needs to be password protected is the first - so after coming to the customers own dedicated page efter identifying with login credentials, the access to all their stuff is open to them.

6. We need a design concistency between all pages. So we would like to ajust a template for both point 2. 3. 4 and 5. Do we need Pages to do that?

I imagine this is going to be a steep uphill. Maybe it´s not. I would just love to understand the core of this product because I realize it really is a fantastic product that compares to nothing else really.

I hope someone can find the time to help us here. We want to do this right the first time.

markh · 2016-12-20 21:35:41

Skip the /customer_name login. It just frustrates users. You can create what you need by creating an individual Client Response Gallery for each customer. Each CRG can have a different password. You will need create an album in Lightroom for each customer. And in Lightroom you create each of these albums under a single instance of publisher that places all of these customer albums under the same top level gallery on your website. For consistency between pages use the same page template in Backlight as the basis for your gallery templates. See it in action here: http://marks-photos.com/client_proofs/
This is simply a top level gallery containing individual, password-protected albums for each user. To access each album you need a user name and password that you setup for the users in backlight with each user or customer brand name having a different login. Don't forget to set the integration option of the album in Lightroom to "Managed By Client Response Admin"
I'd start by creating a Publisher instance in Lightroom to put your client albums into. That publisher instance needs to be set to go to whatever top level gallery you are going to use to hold your albums. Right click the publisher instance> Edit Settings> Other publisher options> top-level galleries directory.
You can put a lot of individual albums in that directory depending on how many customers you have. My client_proofs directory content varies wildly depending on how many customers I have that have active proofs to look at.
Hope that gets you started. Mark

mikkelmand · 2016-12-20 21:47:54

Thank you for your time Markh!

Around 80% of all assignments we do are returning customers. We have strict orders from some of our major clients that no other customers may see even a gallery thumbnail of theirs. If we are to convince them to use the Client Response function then their condition is that it´s password protected from step one!

We do not find it troublesome to make the Album Sets and Albums in LR reflect this structure....

rod barbee · 2016-12-20 22:35:25

I don't know if it's possible to do exactly as you wish.

You could create a password protected album set that contains a client's albums. But this would be done with normal password protection at the album set level and NOT with Client Response. Your clients would then click on a thumbnail for an album and be required to log in again as a client (this is only if you wish to use client management). Probably not a good option as it might annoy clients.

The other option is to give your clients this URL: yoursite.com/backlight/client-response
They will then be presented with a login form. After logging in they'll be taken to a page with a linked list of their albums. Each link is accompanied by a thumbnail.

For an example, go here: http://backlight-rb-test.barbeephoto.co … -response/
Credentials are:
Email: woof@woof.com
Password: woof

mikkelmand · 2016-12-20 22:55:25

That last suggestion: would that take you to a page with more than one clients galleries?

rod barbee wrote:

I don't know if it's possible to do exactly as you wish.
You could create a password protected album set that contains a client's albums. But this would be done with normal password protection at the album set level and NOT with Client Response. Your clients would then click on a thumbnail for an album and be required to log in again as a client (this is only if you wish to use client management). Probably not a good option as it might annoy clients.
The other option is to give your clients this URL: yoursite.com/backlight/client-response
They will then be presented with a login form. After logging in they'll be taken to a page with a linked list of their albums. Each link is accompanied by a thumbnail.
For an example, go here: http://backlight-rb-test.barbeephoto.co … -response/
Credentials are:
Email: woof@woof.com
Password: woof

rod barbee · 2016-12-21 00:18:13

mikkelmand wrote:

That last suggestion: would that take you to a page with more than one clients galleries?

No, it will take you to a log-in screen. When the client logs in they see only their galleries. In my example, those two galleries are assigned to that one client.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 00:21:16

That is just GREAT!

Would you care to explain to me how you get there, in babysteps? I manage MailChimp, Surveymonkey, Creative Cloud Apps - but I feel like a retard when trying to figure out Backlight!

I would pay you to help me!!!!

rod barbee wrote:

mikkelmand wrote:
That last suggestion: would that take you to a page with more than one clients galleries?
No, it will take you to a log-in screen. When the client logs in they see only their galleries. In my example, those two galleries are assigned to that one client.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 00:36:20

So ideally, what we dream of achieving now is to have a static page at www.hjaerta.se/urval
This is a shortcut all clients can remember, and we can even link to that from our wordpress homepage. They will then be met by a login window and log in with details handed out by us. That would take them to their companys specific page in Backlight with an index of all Client Feedback galleries that we have uploaded from Lightroom.

I just dont see the structure here. Im totally at lost!

Last edited by mikkelmand (2016-12-21 00:37:08)

rod barbee · 2016-12-21 00:44:27

mikkelmand wrote:

So ideally, what we dream of achieving now is to have a static page at www.hjaerta.se/urval
This is a shortcut all clients can remember, and we can even link to that from our wordpress homepage. They will then be met by a login window and log in with details handed out by us. That would take them to their companys specific page in Backlight with an index of all Client Feedback galleries that we have uploaded from Lightroom.
I just dont see the structure here. Im totally at lost!

If you need to have that url, then you will probably also need to use .htaccess to redirect it to www.hjaerta.se/backlight/client-response/

The easiest way to get your clients to the log in screen is to give them the /backlight/client-response/ url

For the link from your wordpress page, you can just create a text link and set the url to /backlight/client-response/

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 00:54:15

Ok, it´s a viable solution to just link from a page in our wordpress.

Would you want to assist me in the setup of Backlight/Lightroom? We could do it over Teamviever. We´ll pay you!

rod barbee · 2016-12-21 00:58:53

mikkelmand wrote:

That is just GREAT!
Would you care to explain to me how you get there, in babysteps? I manage MailChimp, Surveymonkey, Creative Cloud Apps - but I feel like a retard when trying to figure out Backlight!
I would pay you to help me!!!!

rod barbee wrote:
mikkelmand wrote:
That last suggestion: would that take you to a page with more than one clients galleries?
No, it will take you to a log-in screen. When the client logs in they see only their galleries. In my example, those two galleries are assigned to that one client.

In Backlight, create a Client Response album template
Design > Templates > Album Templates > Create New Template
Make it a Backlight Standard Album
Assign a page template (you may need to create a page template first--page templates control the look of the albums and album sets)
Scroll down to the bottom of the Design Template page and click on Add-Ons
Choose Client Response and configure your options.
Save the template.

in Backlight go to Client Response > Clients
Create a client.
Under Client Response > Settings > Feedback Profiles, either create a new profile or edit the default to your needs.

In Lightroom, create an album. Choose the Client Response Template you created
Under the Integration tab under Client Response, set Client Management to Managed by Client Response Admin. Enable Feedback. Choose your Feedback profile.

Back in Backlight, go to Client Response > Clients. Click Assign Albums for the appropriate client. You'll see a list of all Client Managed albums. Assign albums your client.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 01:34:13

Thank you so much Rod! I´m one step on the way! I actually have something now, even though I understand absolutely nothing of this!

I have no images in the album, and no thumbnail in the album list?

http://mikkel.se/FILER/Backlight01.png

http://mikkel.se/FILER/Backlight02.png

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 01:35:18

I just dont under stand the correlation between all these things???

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 01:36:38

Would you consider logging on to Teamviewer with me and allow me to ask questions. I´d be happy to pay you 100 dollars for one hour!

rod barbee · 2016-12-21 02:56:30

I would but I'm kind of pressed for time today. But take a look here and see if this helps at all:
http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … 406#p43406

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 04:07:20

Thank you Rod!

I will read through that. I just had a 40 minutes overseas mobile telephone call with one of the dear forum users. I´m probably more confused now than before?

I´ve tried to explain what we want to do in a pdf. It´s here:

http://mikkel.se/FILER/Backlight.pdf

It seems so simple, but everything I do comes out wrong. I just don´t understand anything?

rod barbee wrote:

I would but I'm kind of pressed for time today. But take a look here and see if this helps at all:
http://community.theturninggate.net/vie … 406#p43406

rod barbee · 2016-12-21 06:01:34

What you want to do is possible. Except for this:

The index consists
of thumbnails, job name and a short description.

The index will have thumbnails and the album title only. No description. This may be something that Matt and Ben can add though.

If I get some time later today or tomorrow I'll try writing up a more detailed step by step and post it on my ttg-tips site. If I have even more time, I might even make a video...

Just remember, everything in Backlight relies on page templates (the top group of templates on the Templates page). These control the overall look of subsequent pages, albums and album sets.
When you create an album template, the first thing is to assign it a page template.

Once you have album and album set templates created they will be available in Lightroom to assign to albums and album sets. This is just like previous versions of TTG CEx Publisher.

If you haven't seen it, this document outlines the client management and other options in Client Response:
http://backlight.theturninggate.net/doc … -on_basics

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 06:10:32

I REALLY REALLY appreciate your help and time!!!

rod barbee wrote:

What you want to do is possible. Except for this:
The index consists
of thumbnails, job name and a short description.
The index will have thumbnails and the album title only. No description. This may be something that Matt and Ben can add though.
If I get some time later today or tomorrow I'll try writing up a more detailed step by step and post it on my ttg-tips site. If I have even more time, I might even make a video...
Just remember, everything in Backlight relies on page templates (the top group of templates on the Templates page). These control the overall look of subsequent pages, albums and album sets.
When you create an album template, the first thing is to assign it a page template.
Once you have album and album set templates created they will be available in Lightroom to assign to albums and album sets. This is just like previous versions of TTG CEx Publisher.
If you haven't seen it, this document outlines the client management and other options in Client Response:
http://backlight.theturninggate.net/doc … -on_basics

michilge · 2016-12-21 08:48:57

mikkelmand wrote:

I just dont under stand the correlation between all these things???

A page template describes properties like typography and appearance of pages.

It can be assigned to
- album templates
- album set templates
- theme templates (if you use the Backlight WP-theme)
- backlight pages

An album is what You publish from LR with help of Publisher an populate with photos for there.
An Album Set is what You create and publish from LR to put either albums or other album sets or both in.

An Album Template accepts the assignment of a previously prepared Page Template and allows some adjustments on how the images that will be put into it later from LR will be presented.

An Album Set Template more or less does the same but for Album Sets.

And a Backlight Page is a (static) page You can populate with content from the Backlight frontend.

You can have multiple Album Templates all referencing one and the same page template.
In LR You create a new album or edit an exiting one.
The Publisher will speak to the server and ask Backlight, which Album Sets are available on the server side.
You pick one from the dropdown list in LRs "Create Album" dialogue.
Then that album template will be applied to that album. There are some other things You can enter in LR.When You're ready, The whole thing gets uploaded.

When You don't like the look anymore, You modify Your Page Template.
Clear the Template cache and the change in appearance is in effect for all Albums referencing that Page Template. No need to republish.
If You don't want to change the look of the whole site, but would like to create a new look for the next Album, You create a new Page Template either from scratch or by duplicating an modifying an existing one.
You then create a new Album Template (again either from scratch or by duplication), assign that new Page Template to it and will find the new option in LR as soon as You create a new album there.

What remains up to You is plan ahead what You will need:
- 1 column pages, 2 column pages for albums, special 2 column page for the blog, different colour schemes for different pages to refer to various thematic aspects or to support viewer orientation
- different types of albums with different behaviour with metadata displayed or without.
- different types of album sets perhaps behavin equally but with a different colour scheme.

When finsihed with planning I recomend developing a naming convention to support Your orientation when You revisit the working site after a while.
For example If I have an Album Template "Reseda A Mas oN oMD oDL" that means to me
- colour scheme based on reseda green
- it is an Album Template
- style is Masonry (not Classic= CL)
- no numbers for Thumbnails
- no metadata displayed with the thumbnails
- no download in higher resolution available

That naming scheme will help You in LR later. Typically once You're done with configuration in Backlight, You will look at it mostly from the LR side when You create and publish new albums. If You have multiple templates, You will want to tell one from another.

Hope that helps a little.

Edit: You should also know that the Main Copy and Tray Copy content in Album Templates or Album Set Templates can be overridden from LR. Think of it as a fallback. My Album Templates all have a Main Copy "I hope the Photos speak for themselves."

@ Rod: If You find some of this helpful for a more elaborate explanation, feel free to take.

Cheers, Michael

Last edited by michilge (2016-12-21 08:59:41)

mikkelmand · 2016-12-21 20:27:02

NOW things are clearing for me! Thank you Michael!!!

michilge · 2016-12-21 23:52:10

I'm not yet sure what hjaerta.se is going to need and be, but let me com back to Your first post in this thread and give you some input.

At the moment You have a link to the customer area on top of your entry page.
From there it goes directly to the password entry.
You could point the link to your customer zone to an album set first.
This album set can contain albums one for each customer.
And it offers more options to provide Information since album sets have a main copy area.
Each album in the set can display a thumbnail. If the customers don't want one of thier photos disclosed, just upload their brand logo and set that as thumbnail.
These albums are configured as CRG albums.
The password page appears after the customers click on their album.
If You have customers who do not want others to know that You work for them, You can pick the option "Hide from Album Set" in LR when You create the album.
Downside is, You will have to give a special link to those customers bringing them directly to their CRG album.
But the visible album of the customers serves as a reference for Your company. When working for corporate customers that might not be a bad idea.
If You have customers for whom You do several jobs in parallel, You can give them separate CRG albums for each job. You can even use another album set to bundle multiple CRG Albums for one customer.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-22 00:24:20

Thank you SO much Michael!

We are pretty much happy with the setup now. Only downside that we know of yet is that the page customers come to after logging in can´t be customised at all - it is rather unattractive and we´d love to be able to rearrange and choose other ways of displaying albums.

But the upside as of now is that we don´t reveal who we are working for right now. We don´t want to give that information out of discretion towards our customers. We shoot for campaigns and nothing about those shouldn't´t be revealed before they are to be revealed. Not even who we work for.

What scares me is - after working with Backlight for almost 2 days, I would have no idea at all about how to achieve what you are suggesting. I wish I understood the core, the difference between having albums here or there, and how you get them to go here or there. I still don´t, I´m afraid!

michilge wrote:

I'm not yet sure what hjaerta.se is going to need and be, but let me com back to Your first post in this thread and give you some input.

At the moment You have a link to the customer area on top of your entry page.
From there it goes directly to the password entry.
You could point the link to your customer zone to an album set first.
This album set can contain albums one for each customer.
And it offers more options to provide Information since album sets have a main copy area.
Each album in the set can display a thumbnail. If the customers don't want one of thier photos disclosed, just upload their brand logo and set that as thumbnail.
These albums are configured as CRG albums.
The password page appears after the customers click on their album.
If You have customers who do not want others to know that You work for them, You can pick the option "Hide from Album Set" in LR when You create the album.
Downside is, You will have to give a special link to those customers bringing them directly to their CRG album.
But the visible album of the customers serves as a reference for Your company. When working for corporate customers that might not be a bad idea.
If You have customers for whom You do several jobs in parallel, You can give them separate CRG albums for each job. You can even use another album set to bundle multiple CRG Albums for one customer.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-22 00:28:17

Here is how it looks now....

Matthew · 2016-12-22 00:30:22

As I've said in one of your other threads, this page is not user configurable at this time. It's something we'd like to address at some point in the future.

mikkelmand · 2016-12-22 00:38:41

mikkelmand wrote:

Thank you SO much Michael!
We are pretty much happy with the setup now. Only downside that we know of yet is that the page customers come to after logging in can´t be customised at all

Matthew wrote:

As I've said in one of your other threads, this page is not user configurable at this time. It's something we'd like to address at some point in the future.

Community @ The Turning Gate

#1 2016-12-20 20:06:31

Once again I´m ready to give up!

#2 2016-12-20 21:35:41

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#3 2016-12-20 21:47:54

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#4 2016-12-20 22:35:25

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#5 2016-12-20 22:55:25

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#6 2016-12-21 00:18:13

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#7 2016-12-21 00:21:16

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#8 2016-12-21 00:36:20

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#9 2016-12-21 00:44:27

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#10 2016-12-21 00:54:15

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#11 2016-12-21 00:58:53

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#12 2016-12-21 01:34:13

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#13 2016-12-21 01:35:18

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#14 2016-12-21 01:36:38

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#15 2016-12-21 02:56:30

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#16 2016-12-21 04:07:20

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#17 2016-12-21 06:01:34

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#18 2016-12-21 06:10:32

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#19 2016-12-21 08:48:57

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#20 2016-12-21 20:27:02

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#21 2016-12-21 23:52:10

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#22 2016-12-22 00:24:20

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#23 2016-12-22 00:28:17

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#24 2016-12-22 00:30:22

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

#25 2016-12-22 00:38:41

Re: Once again I´m ready to give up!

Board footer