• Registered: 2010-11-28
  • Posts: 7

Topic: Sidebar Widget ?

Hi Guys,

I've managed to solve many issues with the advice I've managed to glean from lurking here so thank you for that.
I now have a question.

Is it possible to use SimpleViewer (not pro, although I'm wavering with regard to buying it) to create a gallery that appears in a sidebar on a blog where the images will slide/rotate/change randomly every x period ?
Small images are what I have in mind, perhaps 120 pixels wide at the most and I'd prefer them to be automatically viewed in their correct aspect ratio even though that might require some width reduction to fit a portrait image in.

Some background; I'm using Wordpress for the blog with the Atahualpa theme installed. I know there are some issues with this theme but thus far I've not encountered any in relation to Simple Viewer.
The blog in question is www.hampshireskeptics.org
The gallery I finally managed to create does exactly what I wanted it to do  :D , after a bit of fiddling anyway. And so that led me on to the idea of having a similar thing but without the user controls in a sidebar.
I have tried many, many other solutions and they are all either inadequate, inappropriate, cannot be controlled to give the results I want or require me to have arcane programming knowledge of which I have absolutely none.

Is this possible with SimpleViewer or do you perhaps know of a solution that would work for a button-clicking programming ignoramus ?

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,334

Re: Sidebar Widget ?

Rather than use the WP-SimpleViewer Plugin, it might be easier to create a gallery using svBuilder (which comes in the Standard SimpleViewer download), upload the gallery and use the 'Text' widget to embed the gallery in the sidebar using an <iframe> pointing at the gallery's HTML index page.
Drag the 'Text' widget into the sidebar and enter the iframe code such as:

<iframe src="http://www.example.com/gallery/index.html" width="120" height="120" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

This is the same concept as 'Using an External Gallery Folder': http://simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/su … l#external

When setting the gallery options, to remove all controls, use:
thumbPosition="NONE"
showOpenButton="FALSE"
showFullscreenButton="FALSE"

In order for the images to not be cropped, use galleryStyle="MODERN" or galleryStyle="CLASSIC" (the WP-SimpleViewer Plugin uses galleryStyle="COMPACT" by default to fill the available space).

In order for the images to act like a slideshow, you could purchase the Pro version and use autoPlayOnLoad="TRUE" and set the time using displayTime="5".
http://simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/pr … l#autoplay

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2010-11-28
  • Posts: 7

Re: Sidebar Widget ?

Thanks Steve, that's almost perfect.

Will the Pro version allow me to remove the rather large border around the image area ?
I don't mean the frame width (which is set to zero), I mean the border area of the viewer.
You can see it here in light grey under the Admin section at the bottom of the right hand sidebar : http://www.hampshireskeptics.org/
If I can make that disappear or minimise it to a pixel or so then I'm in for the Pro version.
I know it can be made transparent, I've made it grey for the moment so I can see it. But that's supposed to be a 150 pixel wide image and you can see it's been resized into something rather smaller. Some of the images are smaller than that.
I have the text in the sidebar widget (from your code above) set to 150 x 116 pixels as that's the size of the biggest image in that particular set. That was also the size I set when I created the gallery in svBuilder.
If I can make the view area the same size as the largest image then I really think I will have reached the end of this particular rainbow. Is it perhaps something to do with the stage padding command ?
I also understand that the SimpleViewer link will disappear in the Pro version.

  • Registered: 2008-07-06
  • Posts: 6,334

Re: Sidebar Widget ?

Setting:

stageBorder="0"
stageVPadding="0"
stageHPadding="0"

... will remove the border completely and the images will be flush against the edges (at least 2 edges if the images are not exactly the same aspect ratio as the iframe area).
The Pro version does, indeed, remove the SimpleViewer link.

Steven Speirs
SimpleViewer Support Team
  • Registered: 2010-11-28
  • Posts: 7

Re: Sidebar Widget ?

That's a buy.
Thanks Steve, you've made my life a little bit easier.
It's much appreciated.
:cool:

  • Registered: 2010-11-28
  • Posts: 7

Re: Sidebar Widget ?

Down at the bottom of the right hand sidebar again, the updated Pro version :
http://www.hampshireskeptics.org

It's exactly, perfectly, precisely, absolutely what I wanted.
You have no idea how pleased this has made me.
Steve, thank you very much indeed.

I just need to get some relevant images in there instead of some random ones from a recent photography gig.
:cool: