need some help with jAlbum's Turtle skin

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I've been searching this forum for some tips, and was glad to see there are some jAlbum users out there. In fact I chose jAlbum based partly on what I've seen here from other website builders. I'm using the Turtle skin because it seemed most widely used, but I'm not wedded to it, am open to other skins if need be.</p>

<p>I've started a website but it is by no means complete. I've gone to the jAlbum Forum for help but many users are in Europe and the time difference is a bit of a nuisance, not their fault! Plus, I've been using photo.net for years and feel more at ease here with the interface, helpful community, etc.</p>

<p>I'd like to add a statement page and a contact page... it must be simple but I can't seem to figure out how to work with text.</p>

<p>here's the URL: www.paulwhitingphotography.com</p>

<p>I'd also like to add a link back to the home page, and add some text to each folder link on the home page, something more that just "Mexico". And how do I get rid of the redundant photo of the grate, down at the bottom?</p>

<p>Thanks all,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Sorry but I don't know jAlbum. I did look at some of your photos - well done!</p>

<p>One thing that really bothered me though are the white picture borders. They are very distractiong to the image. Have you tried black borders?</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback, Anthony, I'll keep your comment in mind as I work on this site. There must be a border option somewhere, somehow.</p>

<p>I regret titling this thread as just about the Turtle skin. Maybe someone will suggest an easier skin for me. The problem is there's not much documentation available.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>Paul</p>

I'm a huge fan of the Chamelion skin. All of my albums from the past few years

use it: http://moving-target-photos.com/samples/

 

I'm not at a computer to check options right now. FWIW, I pretty much stick with

default settings these days - it looks OK and it's much easier than tweaking a lot

of things...

<p>Thanks, Geoff, I'll give that skin a try.</p>

<p>Looks like you're from Wisconsin! I lived in Milwaukee and Madison for about 14-15 years, now in Montana. I miss those lakes! In Madison we lived on Lake Monona... great place to live.</p>

<p>Regards,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Hi Paul!<br>

Great to hear that you're using jAlbum.<br>

- Adding pages in jAlbum:<br />Right click on the white area (between images) and choose New Page (or use the three templates: about, contact and sitemap)<br>

- Link to homepage: Settings -> Pages -> Link to homepage<br>

- Remove the widget bar: Settings -> Widgets -> disable all widgets<br>

Let me know if I missed any of your questions?<br>

Good luck!<br>

Jason McMillion from jAlbum.net</p>

<p>Hi Jason, thanks for your reply... glad to hear from a Turtle user!<br>

<br /> - Link to homepage: Settings -> Pages -> Link to homepage<br>

I've done this, but all I end up with is an upward arrow at the upper left of the page. Is there a way to add the word "home" somewhere? I filled in the box marked "text" with the word "home" but it doesn't show up.</p>

<p>Also having trouble adding captions... my name shows up in most of them, don't know how that got there. What's the difference between caption and title? Basic stuff but I can't seem to get it.</p>

<p>Thanks again,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Hi Paul,<br>

The homepage link text shows up on mouse over (tooltip). The up arrow is standard in the Turtle skin. I'll get back to you about how to customize it with your own text.<br>

Right click "Caption" on the status bar and you can toggle between Title, Caption, and File name.<br />Input you text/links below each image. Now you can go to Settings -> Turtle -> Thumbnails -> "place thumbnail captions" and choose "Below". This way both image titles and captions will be displayed below each image (default is tooltip).<br>

Best,<br>

Jason</p>

<p>I'm sorry Jason but dumb question: where is the status bar?!!</p>

<p>and what's the difference between titles and captions?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>Regards,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>The status bar is in the footer of the jAlbum software.<br>

Looking at your Mexico album the image Hotel Grate is the title and <small>San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico - 1990</small> is the image caption. The difference is basically font size and style.<br>

Happy to help!<br>

/Jason</p>

<p>Hi again Paul,<br>

Here is how you can replace the Up arrow (home link) to only the text HOME.<br />(it seems a bit complex, but don't worry, you will only need to copy&paste :)<br>

Go to Settings -> Turtle -> Advanced -> CSS and paste the code below.<br />(if you want to change the text HOME, simply write in another text below.<br>

<br />.top-level #main header .parent a {<br /> background-image: none;<br /> text-align:center;<br />}<br />.top-level #main header .parent a:before {<br /> margin-right:-.35em;<br /> content:"HOME";<br /> font-size:75%;<br /> font-weight:bold;<br />}<br /><br /></p>

<p>Thanks for the title-caption clarification. I just got done working on the Mexico photos. Why did my name appear in so many of them? See other albums for example, it's like I'm on some huge ego trip.</p>

<p>I'll try your code for the home page text later, calling it quits for today. I find this skin lacking in documentation. If it weren't for you I'd probably have gone to another skin. At times I think of trying Chameleon or Galleria. </p>

<p>Thanks again,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Yes, we are working on proper documentation, I know it comes in handy.<br>

I found your name in the image titles in this album: http://www.paulwhitingphotography.com/Montana-Wyoming/index.html<br>

I'm not sure how you've entered the data, if you're using Lightroom, jAlbum will read in the EXIF / XMP data. Please check that you entered the data the same way as for example your Mexico album where I can't see your name in the titles.<br>

Here's a hint that might help since you're using folders and wanted to add about/contact pages:<br />Go to Settings -> Turtle -> Site - Click: Show top navigation. This way navigation links will appear in the album header. You can also choose to exclude folders and add your logo.<br>

Yes, please try other skins like Galleria or Chameleon, I personally like Turtle. It's the most powerful skin but usually requires some testing to get it to work just the way you like.<br />You can create several album projects in jAlbum to make albums with different skins for different clients etc. The Mr.Burn5 skin offers a full screen slideshow that I think is great for showcasing photos: http://jalbum.net/en/skins/skin/Mr.Burn5 (just click on install and the skin will appear in jAlbum) <br>

Btw, beautiful photography and your album looks amazing as well.<br>

Best,<br>

Jason</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I'd like to add a statement page ...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yes, an About page would be a great addition to any website.<br>

http://www.photo.net/business-photography-forum/00bu3e</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I'd also like to add a link back to the home page, ...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>When on a gallery page, the white arrow at the top left corner is a link back to the home page. However, on the home page that white arrow still shows as a link, clicking on it would link to a blank white page. Get rid of it. On my XP, running Firefox.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>... and a contact page...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You may find this thread of interest.<br>

http://www.photo.net/website-creation-forum/00bhEB?start=0</p>

<blockquote>

<p>And how do I get rid of the redundant photo of the grate, down at the bottom?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Can't see "the grate". Care to explain?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>... it must be simple but I can't seem to figure out how to work with text.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Plugins and sw such as jAlbum are great to create stand alone galleries with ease. Many are happy with their default options, without needing to customize. However, for those who want to customize them (just a little bit), or want to build a full web site around the galleries, nothing is SIMPLE. The devil is in the details. Time for someone who can hand code css and html.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I find this skin lacking in documentation.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>In that regard, jAlbum is not an exception, but the norm. You are fortunate to have a jAlbum employee (?) to help you here. Hopefully the documentation he refers to will address these issues.</p>

<p>Jason,</p>

<p>Your code to substitute "home" for the up arrow worked like a charm... but only on the home page. I tried adding that code for each album separately but no luck. Maybe I could tweak your code for each page?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Jason,</p>

<p>That top navigation pane is what I've been looking for, thanks! Works fine... there's even a little house that represents the home page, so I don't need the up arrow (can I get rid of it?) and I don't even need your beautiful code - sorry!</p>

<p>As for my name not being on the Mexico album... I went through all the photos and manually eliminated each one (now that I know the difference between captions and titles!), rather tedious but it worked. I've looked offsite at my images in the other albums with my favorite image viewer, FastStone, but in most cases there was no EXIF data. As jTobit said over in the Jalbum Turtle forum, it must be a PC Gnome. they sneak into your computer when you're not looking.</p>

<p>If I create a different album project, don't I have to give it a different name so it doesn't bump into the one I have?</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments on my photos... some go way back to my 35mm and 120 film days à la 70's, some are contemporary color digital files, converted to b/w. Different eras!</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Pal</p>

<p>Robert K.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the great feedback.</p>

<p>The up arrow... yes, I'd like to get rid of it. Now that Jason told me about the navigation panel at the top I don't need the up arrows. especially on the home page. It does go nowhere - I knew that was happening but didn't know how to fix it.</p>

<p>As for the "grate", you're not able to find because the last day or so I saw a post by the sysop over at the jAlbum Turtle forum that told how to get rid of it. Sorry to lead you on a wild goose chase!</p>

<p>Yes, Jason has been a great help... everyone has been helpful.</p>

<p>Best regards,</p>

<p>Pauol</p>

<p>Hi Paul,<br>

Great that the navigation pane is working for you.<br>

Yes, if you're creating new album projects in jAlbum, give them unique names.<br>

jAlbum's weakness is definitely documentation. But we're working on it and will hopefully have something helpful shortly. In the meantime, our forum (jalbum.net/forum) is a great resource, pretty much every question has been asked and answered over the years. But I'm more than happy to help out here on photo.net :)<br>

So if you have any more questions, just keep 'em coming.<br>

Best,<br>

Jason</p>

<p>OMiGosh! Jason, it has slowly dawned on me that you're on the Turtle team and here I mentioned trying some other skins!</p>

<p>My next challenge is how to add contact and about pages, but I did search the Turtle forum over on jAlbum.net first and got several hits... I'll study those first.</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Hi Paul, I'm biz dev/coo at jAlbum, so no sweat :)<br>

All of the skins people have mentioned here are created by us. There are several other skins created by 3rd party developers, but we like to promote them just as much as our own.<br>

The about and contact pages are quite easy: Right click on the white area between your images -> New page -> About.htt. And then do the same thing to add the contact page (contact.htt).<br />Then you simply double click the thumbs to add your info.<br>

Jason</p>

<p>Thanks, Jason, now I'm a little more comfortable trying some other skins. But I'm not giving up on Turtle yet!</p>

<p>I got my contact page up, but the text has no paragraph breaks. My first try was with a text imported in rtf, then ASCII text, but it always ends up one big paragraph. I did search the forum but couldn't find this issue discussed.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Paul</p>

<p>Turtle is my personal favorite due to all the different customization options. So great that you're not giving up.<br>

We're working on a text editor for all page templates. Right now you'll have to use html formatting. You'll go a long way with the simple line break tag <br>.<br />Here is a rich text-> html converter that I found after a Google search (note, I know nothing of this site other than the converter seems to work): http://4html.net/Online-text-to-HTML-converter-831.html<br>

Jason</p>

<p>The br worked fine.. turns out I need two of them after each paragraph, not surprised at that!</p>

<p>Now I want to eliminate the "home" tag (used to be an arrow) on the home page. It's confusing to some users because it doesn't go anywhere, in fact produces an error message.</p>

<p>Finally, is there a way to re-order my albums? I want Wyoming-Montana to be first. I dragged and dropped it to the first position on the Turtle workspace but it didn't "take". I searched the forum's help list but didn't find much... in fact I think I saw a caution against trying that, from Laza.</p>

<p>Getting there!</p>

<p>Pauo</p>

<p>Never mind about the album order... it worked this am, not last night. I cleared my Firefox cache, that might have done the trick. That seems to work for lots of bad uploads.</p>

<p>Yes, the <br> is just a line break, <p> your text... </p> can be used for paragraphs. Having several <br> after one another will of course do the trick too.<br>

If you move your mouse over the Up arrow you will see there is something wrong with the link (your domain is written twice). Try removing the Homepage link since you now are using Top navigation.<br>

Laza is the skin author: http://jalbum.net/en/skins/skin/Turtle<br>

Good that you managed to reorder your folders.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Jason</p>