Best Module for large inventory Art Gallery

[sky writer]

I am helping a friend build a site for a fine art gallery he is opening.  It is not intended (at this time anyway) to be used to sell products online, but to show the works of his featured artists.

At first I thought I could just use the foldergallery and be done with it.  But there will definitely be more functionality needed in the future.  I was thinking the bakery module, but it doesn't seem to be able to work the way I need it.  I was also thinking the portfolio module, but again, I don't know if it will work.

The site layout seemed quite basic to me, but my friend/client would like to be able to maintain it himself once I get it up and running for him.  So I need to try to make it as fool proof as possible.  There will be hundreds of artists and potentially thousands of works.

The template will consist of a single "constant" vertical menu.  When you click on of the menu items, say "Contemporary Artists", then a second vertical menu will appear to the right of the main one, listing all the artists in that category.

Here's where I need help.  When you click an artist's name, he would like a gallery of their work to appear in the main window,  and when you click the individual works, they enlarge (like foldergallery and fancybox).  But in this enlarged window there needs to be specific text... AND in future the possibility of payment, or at the very least a link to a payment option page for the work.

He would also like to have a single image appear when you hover over the artists menu, but I am not worried about this at the moment.  It'll be a perk if I get to that.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to my best module option to use as a base for this?

[BlackBird]

I think you should use a more specialized program like Coppermine, Gallery or even 4images. This will give you all the features you need (and much more), like user registration, comments, rating, and so on. I don't think it's a good idea to divert some other module from its intended use for this.

Coppermine: http://coppermine-gallery.net/
Gallery3: http://gallery.menalto.com/
4images: http://www.4homepages.de/

[sky writer]

I highly respect your knowledge and opinion, so please don't take these follow up questions as anything more than an attempt to gain more understanding of why you are suggesting going outside WB and it's modules for my needs.

Just to be clear, I will not need "user registration, comments, rating".  I really just need a gallery module that allows me to include additional info (as the foldergallery seems to), and the future possibility of payment, or at the very least a link to a payment option page for the work.

Can you please give me a little more insight into the reason for your suggestion?

Thank you.

[jrast]

What do you mean with "additional info"? A description for a image or EXIF-Data?

Foldergallery offers you the possibility to add a description to every image. But it doesn't support EXIF-Data or things like that.
If you don't want to leave WB you can maybe use the foldergallery in combination with the bakery shop module.

The navigation you desire should be possible more or less with a "handmade" template for the foldergallery. But as I'm not a pro in webdesign, I'm not shure what's possible or not. So you have to try.

[sky writer]

jrast, I thank you for chiming in here.  Again, I truly respect your knowledge and efforts with this wonderful module.  I have been using it for some time and am very happy with it.

I do not need EXIF info as the subject of the gallery is not photography, but fine are (paintings, sculpture, etc.).  Foldergallery's Item Description box is very handy, but limited.  For one, it doesn't recognize carriage returns (Keyboard Enter), so I have to add <br> to create line breaks.  This is not a HUGE issue for me, but something that will not come natural to others using the site in the future.  The break code also dirties up the alt tags.

I also would like the ability to add links to the image descriptions.  These links would be for the purpose of setting up payment options (simple PayPal) in the future.

I guess, generally, I am looking at the foldergallery, with WYSIWYG description abilities.  I realize that this is not a priority for most and would bloat the module, so I am not asking for this.  I'm just trying to describe the functionality I am after.

[BlackBird]

Can you please give me a little more insight into the reason for your suggestion?

Yes, of course.

Gallery software is a very special thing - like forum software. If someone creates such a very special software, he will mostly do it "for all", not for a limited number of users. (Like the ones using a special CMS.) So, if you're in need for a most feature complete Gallery software, you will have to take a wider look.

There are many Gallery modules for WB, but as you already said, they all have limitations. This is okay in my eyes - as there's a great number of specialized software around. WB Gallery modules are also specialized, but with another focus.

I really don't see any need to limit oneselves to WB modules if there are very special needs to fulfill. In many cases, it's better to use a specialized software that fits your needs, instead of diverting modules that were created for other use cases from their intended use. Very often, you will find yourself grumbling about your workarounds - as they _do_ work, but they're not perfect.

I am a great fan of the FolderGallery, I've done some work for it by myself. I know it is on a very good way, but it will need years of work to get it just near the level Coppermine or Gallery3 are. (But I think this is not the goal, and that's okay for me.)

So, asking for payment options and a bunch of users that are going to use the Gallery for selling, I thought it would be better to take a look at Gallery software that has grown over years and years, is well supported, and has all features you may think of. Maybe there will be a time your friend asks you for rating options or something like that. You will again be in need for a workaround. But with an already specialized software, you will just have to activate the feature that's already there in the backend and you're done.

As I don't know where this project is evolving to, I just thought it would be good to mention that there are solutions outside WB. You _may_ transport some heavy load with your car, but sometimes you'll need a truck. It's upon you to decide what's better in this case.

[jrast]

Despite you like the foldergallery, there are allready some little things you miss in the module. As time go on, you will find more and more feautres you miss.

And as BlackBird mentioned: one day your friend asks you to implement a rating or whatever function and this would mean a lot of work for you. Maybe then you have to migrate the whole gallery to another tool.

Have a look at the other tools. You can integrate these tools with a wrapper to your WB installation.

[sky writer]

Well, I guess I shouldn't argue with two people who are so obviously involved with the module, yet suggesting I look elsewhere.  I thank you for your time, knowledge and honesty.  I will have a look at the other software and see if I can make it as easy for my client to use as WB is.

I will continue to use and support FolderGallery on other sites, as I have always been happy with it.

Thank you!

[kirk]

Hi sky writer,

take a look on www.kirkfoto.de

this gallery is based on bakery. with a little knowledge in css bakery lets you customize a lot of stuff even for a photo gallery.

Kirk

[sky writer]

Hi Kirk,

Very impressive!  The site and the photography.

I will take another look at bakery, as I really would like to stay in WB if possible.

I've spent the last few days looking at other options (Coppermine and Gallery most specifically) and they seem to be very good products, but overkill for my needs, and having to teach them abd WB is not as user friendly for my end user (my client).

I thank you for the inspiration.

[BlackBird]

Great page, kirk! Seems you will be able to support sky. I'm happy to hear that there's a WB solution.

[sky writer]

Again, Blackbird, I hope you don't find my decision to try to stay within WB's abilities, after you suggested looking elsewhere, an insult.  I do value your thoughts and reasoning.

What I found when looking at the other scripts is that they don't do EXACTLY what I am looking for either, so either way I would be looking at some customization.  So, I figure I will try to do the customization within WB, and maybe in the process learn more, and possibly help others.

Bakery does have all the core features I need, I just wasn't looking at it with the right perspective when I first tried it out.  Kirk's website, although different than what I am working toward, helped me to see other potentials with the module.

I can tell you right now, one of the main things I am trying to accomplish is to use your jqueryadmin fancybox with bakery instead of the lightbox2 which it uses.  I thought this might be easy, but I have not figured out how.  I love all the easily customizable settings in jquery admin.  I guess from reading your latest posts, I need to update to library admin.  Hmmmm, always things to keep up with.

[BlackBird]

Again, Blackbird, I hope you don't find my decision to try to stay within WB's abilities, after you suggested looking elsewhere, an insult.

No! I don't, of course. You have to decide what fits your needs most, and I'm happy to hear that there's a WB way. (Edit: Seems I underestimate WB sometimes.)

I can tell you right now, one of the main things I am trying to accomplish is to use your jqueryadmin fancybox with bakery instead of the lightbox2 which it uses.  I thought this might be easy, but I have not figured out how.  I love all the easily customizable settings in jquery admin.  I guess from reading your latest posts, I need to update to library admin.  Hmmmm, always things to keep up with.

I think there will be a way. As I said in reply to your PN, I'm pretty sure we will find it. I've learned lots of jQuery since I started with jQA, and I've transformed the output of the Team module for use with a slider two weeks ago without having to do any changes to the Team module. The advantage is that it looks okay with JavaScript deactivated and shows up in a Slider with JS activated.

Concerning LibraryAdmin, there's no need to hurry. I am going to support jQueryAdmin for a while to let the users take their time to migrate. Of course, there will be a deadline, but I have not decided yet. Maybe around October or so.

[BlackBird]

Okay, got this working. The following steps should work with jQueryAdmin and LibraryAdmin/lib_query.

* Create a preset for your Bakery page (name it "bakery", for example)
* Choose "FancyBox" and save.
* Edit the newly created preset and add the code below BEFORE the fancybox is loaded.
* Add a WYSIWYG-Section to your Bakery page.
* Insert [[jQueryInclude?preset=bakery]] if you use jQA or [[LibInclude?lib=lib_jquery&preset=bakery]] if you use LA/lib_jquery and save.

Code:

<!-- custom -->
<!-- position: body -->
  <script type="text/javascript">
    if ( typeof jQuery != 'undefined' ) {
      jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
        $('.mod_bakery_main_td_f').find('a:first').attr('rel','fancybox');
      });
    }
  </script>
<!-- end custom -->

This will remove Lightbox2 from the images and add FancyBox instead. Please note that you need to keep Lightbox2 marked in the Bakery page settings for this, because Bakery will add a page link instead of an image link otherwise.

PLEASE NOTE! (This is very important!) If you edit the preset later on, both jQA and LA will move the custom code to the bottom of the preset. The preset will not work anymore then! You will have to move the code to the top again.

So if you are using Bakery very often, you should add that code to your template, the loader.preset (or custom.preset if you already changed some settings) in the FancyBox plugin, or even the frontend.js of Bakery.

[Boudi]

@ BB

Works smooth! Only one minor thing I noticed. When you edit the preset by inserting this code on top of the Fancybox code, after saving the code is put beneath the Fancybox code and therefore the Fancybox view isn't working.

Code:

<!-- custom -->
<!-- position: body -->
  <script type="text/javascript">
    if ( typeof jQuery != 'undefined' ) {
      jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
        $('.mod_bakery_main_td_f').find('a:first').attr('rel','fancybox');
      });
    }
  </script>
<!-- end custom -->

So what I did was strip the hidden code and placed it on top of the Fancybox code, save it and it stays on top.

Code:

 <script type="text/javascript">
    if ( typeof jQuery != 'undefined' ) {
      jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
        $('.mod_bakery_main_td_f').find('a:first').attr('rel','fancybox');
      });
    }
  </script>

Thnx for sharing. Great patch

PS: Works on 2.8.2. and Bakery 1.58

Update: Works on Bakery 1.59 too