Simple Picture Gallery Manager

• What is SPGM ?
• Do I need to have any website creation skills to use SPGM ?
• Why doesn't SPGM generate thumbnails automatically ?
• Isn't SPGM too basic, too simple ?
• Is SPGM the best solution for million picture galleries ?
• Is SPGM free ?
• Do I have to link back to this site if I use SPGM ?
• What are donations for ?

Troubleshooting / Technical FAQ

• I have set up SGPM... nothing is displayed but the main title, did I miss something ?
• I have put pictures and their thumbnails, but nothing is displayed... Am I still missing something ?
• SPGM keeps displaying the unknown gallery error message, any idea ?
• How can I store thumbnails in a gallery subdirectory ?
• Why are picture dimensions false or null ?
• I want to set up two galleries, each one using a specific language pack. How can I do ?
• How can I password-protect my galleries ?
• Despite I have read this fabulous FAQ, I am still in trouble with this *@?#! script, will you help me anyway ?

What is SPGM ?
SPGM is a program that - once installed on your website - renders pictures galleries dynamically. That means you just have to add pictures into your galleries and everything is taken care of !

Do I need to have any website creation skills to use SPGM ?
Nope, neither HTML nor PHP programming skills are required. It runs allright as is (meaning out of the package), and even internet newbies can get it to work.
The only requirement is the use of an FTP client to upload your pictures to your website and to set up SPGM (FileZilla is a free and open-source FTP client for Windows users).

Why doesn't SPGM generate thumbnails automatically ?
That's because it is actually more of an administration task, which is not part of SPGM's scope for now. And that is why putting new pictures online means putting their associated thumbnails as well.
That being said, thumbnail generation could be done on-the-fly using GD (the PHP graphic library used for image manipulation), but this toolkit is not provided on every webhosting service, and SPGM must be compatible with as many configurations as possible. Most of all, such a process is awfully time consumming.

Isn't SPGM too basic, too simple ?
I would say it is its strength... Being simple makes it accessible to people who don't know much about internet technologies. Furthermore, it becomes easy for developers to tune the program according to their own needs.
And as far as I am concerned, I am not interested much in redesigning tools that have already been created, probably better than I would have done myself.

Is SPGM the best solution for million picture galleries ?
Not really. The reason is that SPGM doesn't make the use of database back-ends. Since it is fully dynamic, it takes more time to introspect galleries on-the-fly than getting meta-data from a dedicated repository.
The advantage though, resides in the fact you don't have to update your database each time you upload pictures.
...
Hummm, I forgot... Email me if you find a free hosting service that offers enough space to store millions of picture :)

Is SPGM free ?
Yes it is, you can use it absolutely free of charge for both personal and commercial use.
You can even modify the code for your own purpose and redistribute it under the terms of the GPL license (exclusively).

Do I have to link back to this site if I use SPGM ?
No, but it would be nice if you did. I'd link back to your site if I used your code.
For those who are not sure, a link is put automatically by the way ;)

What are donations for ?
Donating is a way to give back if you think my involvement in SPGM diserves a little reward. I won't buy new servers, more bandwith or any other computer-related stuff... I don't need all that to make everything run, thanks to SourceForge. I'll try to have a little more fun instead... far more important, isn't it ?
Note that I provide assistance to users with pleasure, as long as I have disponibilities and there is no abuse. But I do not, nor will never ask money for my help, so there is no point *suggesting* a donation in exchange of support. Remember that donating is about gratitude, not buying services.

I have set up SGPM... nothing is displayed but the main title, did I miss something ?
If you don't get any error messages, you probably did not put the mandatory associated thumbnails in the gallery you have just created (i.e. a subdirectory located in the gal directory).

I have put pictures and their thumbnails, but nothing is displayed... Am I still missing something ?
First, remember that pictures are not to be put directly in the gal directory. Create another subdirectory (your first gallery) and put them in there instead.
Second, file extensions for pictures and thumbnails must be the same, i.e. mypic.jpg and _thb_mypic.JPG won't work and will result the no associated thumbnail error message.

SPGM keeps displaying the unknown gallery error message, any idea ?
Here is a hint: someone once exploded the package to get the following hierarchy:
spgm/
spgm/spgm.php
gal/
themes/
...

However, spgm.php and its special directories need to reside at the same level (unless you modify a few variables within the script)...
This is what is needed by default:
spgm/
spgm/spgm.php
spgm/gal/
spgm/themes/
...

You can even put them all in another top-level directory instead of spgm/ (like your root directory), as long as everything locates within the same directory.

How can I store thumbnails in a gallery subdirectory ?
Edit spgm.php and uncomment the line that defines the DIR_THUMBS constant (make a search on this pattern to locate it). Set it according to the directory name you want to put your thumbnails in.

Why are picture dimensions false or null ?
A few pieces of image manipulation software cause a loss of information inside the image file while processing it. Use another one !

I want to set up two galleries, each one using a specific language pack. How can I do ?
A trivial solution is to create 2 sub-galleries and to override spgm.conf files, each one using the desired language pack.
Another way to handle this is feseable provided that you have a shell access (ssh, telnet...) to your webhosting server: use symbolic links.

How can I password-protect my galleries ?
Use the Apache web server password protection facility.

Despite I have read this fabulous FAQ, I am still in trouble with this *@?#! script, will you help me anyway ?
Sure, I will help you with pleasure.
Check first that your problem has not already been solved there yet (choose 'closed' in the status drop-down box).
If not, submit your request using the SourceForge support request facility so we can keep track of your problem, to help other users later. Be very accurate while describing it : the more information I get, the lesser time it will take us to solve it.
For feature requests instead, use the SourceForge feature request facility, and proceed as explained above.
If you couldn't use one of them, email me at <spajot(at)users.sourceforge.net>.