• Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Topic: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Hi!
Today I have installed the latest versions of Picasa and Simple Viewer for Mac. I have selected some pictures, chosen Folder -> Export as HTML Page, adjusted the picture size, web page title and folder location. I have selected SimpleViewer v2.1.1 as template and clicked Export.

Picasa generates all the files and folders I am used to in the PC environment, but the index.html file looks odd. It's small (only 4 Kb) and lacks most of the details compared to my older galleries. When the web browser opens, nothing is visible (which makes sense, given the odd look of the index file).

Any good tips on why this is happening?

BR
Lars L

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,311

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Are you using the SimpleViewer Picasa Template found here: http://simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/su … plate.html ?
The 'index.html' file will be very small.  It is essentially just a text file (with an .html extension) and contains very little text.
Can you post the 'index.html' page's code or a URL to the gallery so that we can take a look and help further?

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Here is the contents of the index.html file:
************************************
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
    <title>SimpleViewer Gallery</title>
</head>
<body>
   
    <!--START SIMPLEVIEWER EMBED.-->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="svcore/js/simpleviewer.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    jQuery(document).ready(function () {
        SV.simpleviewer.load('sv-container', '100%', '100%', '222222', true);
    });
    </script>
    <div id="sv-container"></div>
    <!-- END SIMPLEVIEWER EMBED -->

</body>
</html>
**********************************

To me there seems to be a lot missing. When exporting with my PC there is quite a number of more lines of html-code in the file.

Thanks for the effort.

Lars L

  • Registered: 2009-03-17
  • Posts: 2,725

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

You may be using an older version of SimpleViewer on your PC which uses different embed code. If this is the case there is nothing wrong it is just a different version.

Mike Richards
SimpleViewer Support Team.
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Hi Mike!

Thank you for your reply.

I doubt that the explanation is that simple, because on the PC this wonderful tool works. On my Mac it doesn't. There must be something else.

When accessing the page with this index.html nothing shows up, and that can't be good.

Lars L

  • Registered: 2009-03-17
  • Posts: 2,725

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

If you look at the source for the page generated on your PC what does it look like?

Mike Richards
SimpleViewer Support Team.
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Here it is (v 1.9):
****************************
<!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>Nytt&aring;rsaften 2010</title>
<!-- Download SimpleViewer at www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js"></script>
<style type="text/css">   
    /* hide from ie on mac \*/
    html {
        height: 100%;
        overflow: hidden;
    }
   
    #flashcontent {
        height: 100%;
    }
    /* end hide */

    body {
        height: 100%;
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
        background-color: #181818;
        color:#ffffff;
        font-family:sans-serif;
        font-size:20;
    }
   
    a {   
        color:#cccccc;
    }
</style>
</head>
<body>
    <div id="flashcontent">SimpleViewer requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer/">Get Flash.</a></div>   
    <script type="text/javascript">
   
        var fo = new SWFObject("viewer.swf", "viewer", "100%", "100%", "8", "#181818");
       
        // SIMPLEVIEWER CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
        // To use an option, uncomment it by removing the "//" at the start of the line
        // For a description of config options, go to:
        // http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simp … tions.html
       
        //fo.addVariable("xmlDataPath", "gallery.xml");
        //fo.addVariable("firstImageIndex", "5");   
        //fo.addVariable("langOpenImage", "Open Image in New Window");
        //fo.addVariable("langAbout", "About");   
        //fo.addVariable("preloaderColor", "0xFFFFFF");
       
        fo.write("flashcontent");   
    </script>   
</body>
</html>

***************************************


Lars L

  • Registered: 2009-03-17
  • Posts: 2,725

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Like I said before the difference in the index.html file is do the the SimpleViewer version, as to why it is not working on your mac I'm not sure without seeing it in action. Have you tried uploading it to your web server? If not please do so and post the URL to the page for further assistance.

Mike Richards
SimpleViewer Support Team.
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Here's a sample gallery: http://home.broadpark.se/~lml/Test/

I have no experience with giving out this type of links, so I have switched the domain from .no to .se. The correct one is .no. Probably unneccessary, but anyway...

Thanks for your effort.


Lars L

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,311

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

It looks like the 'svcore' folder (introduced in v2.1) is missing from your gallery.
When creating a gallery with the SimpleViewer Picasa Template, the 'svcore' folder (required for the gallery to be displayed) should be copied across into your gallery folder alongside the 'index.html' file.  Is it there?

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

No, Steven. Good guess. The only two sub folders produced in the gallery folder are images and thumbnails.

When copying the svcore folder manually, the gallery works. Any idea why it doesn't copy as the template indicates? This is the content of the index.tpl file in the simpleviewer_picasa_template_211:

******************************
#templatefile -v "2.1.1" -n "SimpleViewer v2.1.1" -d "Generates a SimpleViewer v2.1.1 gallery."

define shadowedThumbnails 0
define thumbnailWidth 100
define thumbnailHeight 100
include xmlTemplate.tpl
include htmlTemplate.tpl
copy assets\
copy assets\svcore\ svcore\
copy assets\svcore\css\ svcore\css\
copy assets\svcore\img\ svcore\img\
copy assets\svcore\js\ svcore\js\
copy assets\svcore\swf\ svcore\swf\

*******************************

No wonder why the gallery expects the folder to be there...


Lars L

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,311

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

According to the 'copy' example in the Picasa Web Templating web page, it looks like it should work (and it does on my PC).
At the moment, I'm unsure why it does not work on your Mac.  Unfortunately, I do not have a Mac that I can test on.

When copying the svcore folder manually, the gallery works.

You obviously have access to an 'svcore' folder.  Do you still have an 'svcore' folder intact in the template's 'assets' folder?

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Yes, that's where I got it from: assets:svcore....

I'm new to mac so I can't consider whether the copy method should work or not. Now, evidently, it doesn't.

There are some other strange things as well. When exporting from Picasa I'm prompted to provide the output image size and name of the page. Even though I set it to 1024 and give a perfectly sensible name, the gallery.xml file consistantly contains the values 640 and "Starred Photos". The generated button for opening the image in a separate window doesn't work and the image number/total image number info is placed immediately after the first line of the image caption text, making it look like it is part of the caption text itself. Small things, but a bit frustrating.

Hopefully we can find out why the copy function doesn't work first.

Lars L

Last edited by lars_l (2011-01-07 09:57:27)

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,311

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

The Picasa template does not work out the maxImageWidth and maxImageHeight.  It uses default values of 640 for both.

The Picasa 'Web page title' you type in is the name of the folder the gallery files are placed into (you can see the name change in the 'Folder' field as you type).

The generated button for opening the image in a separate window doesn't work

This should work (and does on my PC).

the image number/total image number info is placed immediately after the first line of the image caption text

This is normal.  If you upgrade to SimpleViewer Pro, the image numbers can be switched off using the option showImageNumber="FALSE".  See here: http://simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/pr … ml#caption

I am still trying to determine why the 'svcore' folder is not copied across into the output folder on your Mac.
In the meantime, have you tried completely deleting all instances of SimpleViewer plugins from Picasa's web/templates/ folder and redownloading and reinstalling the plugin from this page? http://simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/su … plate.html

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Obviously you know this product a lot better than I do, but I respectfully disagree on several of your comments in your last post.

1. On all my PC galleries I have set the picture size to 1024 and it works (also produced with Picasa and SW template).
2. The web page title entered into the prompt window actually goes into the title field of the gallery.xml. I have checked this too.
3. The whole reason why I ask these questions is because I see a difference between the well functioning PC version of SW and the not so well working Mac version of the same. This might be a Picasa thing, but I'm not sure. Whether the "open in separate window" button works on your PC or not is in this case irrelevant.
4. The image number/total number thing is just a comment of user unfriendly behavior and would hopefully prompt someone to tell me some code snippets to amend to move it around in the gallery layout.
5. I would appreciate a suggestion on how to successfully copy the svcore folder into the gallery folder.

Never mind 1-4. We'll concentrate on 5.

Lars L

  • Registered: 2009-03-17
  • Posts: 2,725

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

5. I would appreciate a suggestion on how to successfully copy the svcore folder into the gallery folder.

Never mind 1-4. We'll concentrate on 5.

I would either suggest trying to reinstall the SimpleViewer picasa plug-in or opening the plug-in folder and copying the svcore folder form your SimpleViewer download to the plug-in's assets folder.

/web/templates/simpleviewer_v2_picasa_template/assets/ folder inside the Picasa application folder ... for Mac Users: To browse inside the Picasa package, use ctrl-click and select "Show Package Contents".

Mike Richards
SimpleViewer Support Team.
  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Hi Mike!

I have done the first suggestion three times. It didn't help. The other one is redundant. It's already there.

Mac is perhaps a bit difficult.

Lars L

  • Felix
  • Site Admin
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2006-03-16
  • Posts: 4,395

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Hi,

I've just verified that the 'svcore' folder is not being created with the latest version of Picasa for the Mac (v3.8.7.361). This seems to be caused by a bug in Picasa. I've reported the bug to Picasa.

In the meantime the workaround is to manually copy the 'svcore' folder from the SimpleViewer 'web' folder into the Web album folder generated by Picasa.

Felix Turner
SimpleViewer Support Team.

Felix's Website

  • Registered: 2011-01-04
  • Posts: 10

Re: Simple Viewer 211 in Picasa 3.8 for MAC

Hi Felix!

Thank you very much for your reply. I have suspected something like what you describe. I'm looking forward to the next Picasa release then. :-)


Lars L