WANTED: Group Photo Album Mod

I don't like how photos are handled in D7 'Groups'.  As a matter of fact, I don't think they are handled at all.  It reminds me of D6 thinking, where all photos are just dumped onto the same, unorganized pile.  I want to use the 'Group' feature as a mini website for things like fan clubs, bands, and entertainment venues to name a few.   If AndreyP finishes his group scheduler mod to my liking, it will bring the D7 groups feature one step closer to where I think it should be.  

People that create groups, will most likely want a way to organize photos and other media into albums.  For some reason, I don't think using D7's album feature with groups is viable.  Maybe it is, but I just don't think D7's photo albums can be made to 'Fit in".  D7 albums are more of a standalone feature, and as such, is probably not a good choice for integration as a sub feature of a Boonex module.  I could be wrong about that, but if it could have been easily done, I expect Boonex would have done it that way.

I found a free gallery script that seems to have all the right core features for integration into D7 groups.  It features multiple users, multiple photo albums, flash multi uploader, etc.  It doesn't have a user self registration system, but that's probably a plus for integrating into a third party platform like Dolphin.  It's reasonably light weight, and I think it would fit nicely into D7's Groups.

Here's the link to the Gallery website: http://gallery.menalto.com/

The demos they show, are a little bloated with other stuff, so here's a link to a no frills installation: http://houstonlively.com/GalleryDemo/index.php

This would be a great mod for D7 groups.  Each group gets its own album page.   If enough people show interest in this, maybe someone will take on the project.

Surely, I'm not the only one that needs Group photo albums.

Really need it? :)

I have this in my plans too, photo albums for groups and events.

maybe someone else need this possibility?

RE:

Yes I really need it.   So do a lot of people... they just don't realize it yet.   I really like the way the gallery that I mentioned above works.  I think i will fit in nicely.  I don't want a flash based album... they are not a good aesthetic fit for the rest of the site.   The gallery above, does however integrate a CoolIris slide show.  I hate Cooliris, but it's easily replaced.

Andrey, some key points as to how I believe 'Group Albums' should be done.

1. Group Albums must be on the tabbed menu along with 'Forum', 'Fans', 'Comments', and now 'Group Scheduler'.  (Maybe Rayz will get off his butt and figure out how to put his 'Group Chat' mod on the tabbed menu.)

2. When viewing 'Group Albums' and photos, the user must remain on the 'Group Albums' tab.  This means AJAX based navigation and content loading/refreshing.

3. Photo comments and rating are a nice feature, but I could live without them if absolutely necessary.  (ajax)

4. Creating albums and uploading photos by only the group admin is OK.  The ability for the group admin to allow, or not to allow fans to create albums and upload photos, would be a definite plus.

5. Group Albums belong to groups, and as such, it can remain an isolated photo storage system.  It does not matter if the photos do not appear on the main D7 photos page.

6.  The only privacy settings necessary, are whether or not to show photos to the public, site members, or group fans.

I'll post more if I think of them, but those are the basics.

I used gallery 2.0 on my old site! Best gallery software i ever used.  I would love for someone to take the time and integrate this into D7, In fact, I would pay someone to do it. My major beef with the current gallery is it refreshes every picture it loads.  I run nightlife website and we take hundreds of pictures on a weekly basis and it seems like my site is very sluggish/boggy (could be other issues) nevertheless, i am very familiar with gallery 2.0/3.0

www.milwaukeenights.com

josh

I just want it for groups... not to replace the resident album system.

Hey Andrey.... Is it done yet?..... Is it done yet?..... Is it done yet?

Not done yet, in process

show patience :)

I prepared first demo: http://miramis.ru/m/gphotos/group/Fifa-2010/album/Landmarks/

Currently owner of group able to create photo albums in it, so to test all features - you will need to have own group here.

Good start.  I know it's not finished but navigating through album photos isn't very fluid with just a 'back' button on the photo page.  You will have a 'Previous' and 'Next' button .... right?

I'm sure you know that the standard privacy settings don't really make sense here.  Viewing permissions should only be 'Public', 'Fans', and logged in 'Members'. 

After the flash uploader completes, redirect to the album page, so the user knows something happened.

Will you add comments and rating?

Can you use ajax content refresh when browsing album photos?

Will you add an option that allows group fans to create albums and to upload photos?  This needs to be done carefully, because it opens up an avenue for abuse where someone could join a group just to upload undesirable photos.  In that regard, if album creation and photo uploading privileges were extended to group fans, it would be necessary for the group admin to approve the album before it became visible to others.  The Group admin should have complete moderation tools.  I know allowing 'Fans' to create albums and upload photos complicates things, but people will want this feature.

I created an album and uploaded a few pictures, and noticed that they weren't resized to fit the div.... overflow is hidden.


Like I said, I know it's not finished, and you're probably already working on these things.

Andrey, here's a conceptual screen shot of how I'd like to see Group Album navigation work. This conceptual screen shot doesn't show an actions block. but let's assume that the action block appears when the user has album admin privileges.

Keep in mind, what Group Photo albums is replacing, and that a basic album feature is a huge improvement. Don't try to do too much. This doesn't need all the same features as D7's main photo album system. The user only needs to be able to quickly, and smoothly navigate through the albums. Non-admins of the albums don't even need to see an actions block. Those with admin privileges, should see appropriate album administration links.

The comments system can be very basic. Text only comments, with no tinymce editor is fine. Positive or negative comments are of little or no use. The KISS concept should apply.

Photo rating would be a plus, but not absolutely necessary. Make it last on the list of features.

In the conceptual screen shot below:

The 'Photo Albums' block on the left should function in a similar fashion as the one on D7's main photo page. It should show thumbnails of all Group Albums with pagination links at the bottom of the block.

Here's where things can use AJAX. Clicking on an album thumbnail in the 'Photo Albums' block on the left, should load the first photo of that album into the 'View Photo' container on the right. Forget clicking on an album thumbnail and loading a page of all the album thumbnails. It isn't necessary. Once the first photo and its respective comments are loaded, clicking on the green next and previous arrows, should load a new photo and comments via AJAX. Refreshing the page and scrolling down to see every photo, is quite annoying.

Clicking on a different album thumbnail in the left block should load a new album. Initial loading of the album can be done using ajax, but a page refresh would be OK too. Ajax loading of individual photos is the most important for a better viewing experience.

If you want to add a fancy feature, add a 'View Slide Show' link that loads albums in a popup flash slide show.

Will someone please look at this demo, and tell me if the ajax loading of new images behaves properly in your browser?  Test in IE8 also.

http://miramis.ru/m/gphotos/group/Fifa-2010/album/Sport-album/skydivers/

Cancel that... the problem has been corrected