Webberig gallery

I maintain this page in English to welcome visitors around the world who might be interested in what I have to offer here.

Webberig Gallery is a service that I created to add pictures to my blog easily with a nice look. I like using the Picasa desktop application, and it has picasaweb built-in support so I can public pictures to the web easily. Picasa gallery displays an existing Picasaweb album, but with a totally different look 'n feel, namely a simple filmstrip with mouseover-effect and a nice scrolling effect. I will add new templates soon and eventually I will make all sourcecode available in a creative commons licence.

  1. Features
  2. Requirements
  3. How to use it
  4. Known issues / Upcoming features
  5. Terms of use
  6. About the author

Features

  • Display a public photo album published in Picasaweb.
  • Preload all images and fade in after the loading is complete.
  • No need to create an account etc...
  • This service is totally free of charge.

Requirements

All you need is a Google account with Picasaweb. Add a "public" photo album to your Google Picasaweb account, and you're ready to go.

Once I've released the serverside code, you'll need a webhost that supports PHP5. You won't need the Picasaweb API installed, the script is built using cUrl to download the RSS feeds and SimpleXML to parse them.

How to use it

Once you've uploaded an album, you can access the gallery as follows:

http://gallery.webberig.be/accountname/albumname

The URL is very similar to the one you see in Picasaweb, ie.:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mathieu.maes/Wandeling832009
http://gallery.webberig.be/mathieu.maes/Wandeling832009

Creating a popup window

The best way to use the current version of this gallery is a popup or an iFrame. Personally I'd recommend the popup because it's much easier to implement.

Code follows shortly...

Known issues / Upcoming features

  • The current gallery template is not very convenient if you have too many pictures. It works perfectly if you use not more then 20 pictures.
  • The script preloads all images, but the screen remains black until the preload is finished. I will add a loading animation soon, and after that I will add a progress bar.
  • In the future I'm planning to extend this gallery script and offer multiple templates and some options to tweak the templates.
  • I will probably require to add some error handling since there is none at the moment (yes yes, I know, suit me!).
  • Each picture in Picasaweb can have a caption, I will add this to the template as well.
  • The current template can only be controlled by hovering over the filmstrip with the mouse. I will add some slideshow features later.
  • Once this page has been tested extensively I will release the PHP code as opensource (creative commons). If you wish to receive it before that time, feel free to contact me.
  • The template has been tested in IE 6, IE 7, Firefox 3, Opera 9.10, Google Chrome 1.0.

Terms of use

  • The use of this gallery is completely free but it does not offer any guarantees. Use it on your own risk on a "as is" basis.
  • I preserve the right to make changes and terminate the service whenever I feel to.
  • I don't believe in ads, so I will never add any kind of advertising to the galleries. However, I do preserve the right to add a copyright notice, a logo and a link to my website. I'll keep it subtile though.

About the author

Mathieu Maes is a web developer specialized in Php/MySQL and with expert knowledge in the field of websites design. He currently holds a fulltime job as projects leader at SelTec, a webdesign & telemarketing company located in Mechelen, Belgium. After work hours he's active as an self-employed developer in the same fields.

As you can see, webdesign is a hobby that's taken control over his professional life. If that's not enough, he plays the keyboards in The FiRM, a popular coverband from Puurs/Bornem, Belgium.