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UniversalPlayground - Flickr slideshow plug-in 
Note: This plug-in requires PHP5
Version 0.6 RC1
Note: We are currently working on the documentation for version 0.6.
- FIX - "This photo is currently not available" bug
- NEW - selection option: user stream (user=)
- NEW - selection option: group stream (group=)
- NEW - selection option: tags (tag=" ")
- NEW - selection limit option: (limit=)
P.S. I stopped supporting and developing this plugin. If anyone want's to take it over, please let me know. ;-)
Note: v0.6 can also enables the privacy option of the Flickr API. No documentation available though.
Note: The plugin is now released under GPL. However it still comes with 3rd party software that is released under other licenses.
I love TripTracker, you can see pictures in original size!
Thanks!
I hacked flickrslideshows.php to add the code below after line 986
then I get pagination after 25 pictures, might be handy for a next release
$this->photoCounter++;
$pageno=floor($this->photoCounter/25);
$teller=fmod($this->photoCounter,25);
if ($teller==0) {
$this->HTMLOutput .="$teller,$this->photoCounter,";
}
I tried all of the Flickr plug-ins and this one is the best.
2 problems... In the PDF doc, it says you must use stream to get the content of a specific user but the command is user !
Then I never found a way to sort images by more than one tag. If there's a way, I'll be more than happy to learn it !
One question though - is it possible to display Groups so that people contributing to a particular group can have all the photos displayed in a Joomla site.
Fantastic application though.
The only thing that erks me with this bot is that if you are displaying more than 100 photos on a page it takes a long time (about 2 minutes) to load. I was wondering if there is there going to be a fix for this? Then you would have the perfect flickr plugin for Joomla 1.5.
Thanks for all the hard work guys...
Unfortunately this issue is related to the response time of the Flickr API. However, enabling the cache function of the plugin can reduce loading time dramatically.
Just be aware that if you are loading a Flickr album with lots of images, your page may take a little longer to upload. However, this little inconvenience is compensated by the fact that you can access and customize any image from your Flick account, including the captions.
Getting all photo related information from the Flickr API can indeed slow down loading your page. Enabling the cache function of the plugin will make the plugin store the requested photo information locally, for the amount of time set in the plugin configuration. Upon re-requesting the page within the cache time boundary, it probably speeds up loading your page significantly.
We are currently running DOCman and the latest version of the plugin that can be downloaded on the website and do not experiencing any troubles with the combination of those two. If you like we could have look to see if we can help you out to see what’s the problem in your case. In that case, please contact us via our support forum.
About the Slimbox issue. Hacking into the Slimbox code to change the “rel” tag is on option. Another option, one that we will support in the next version of the plugin (v0.6), is a configuration option to select whether the slideshow javascript is embedded by the plugin. This way, upon using multiple plugins that utilize slimbox, the administrator is able to make sure the script is loaded only once. This feature can save bandwidth and makes the upgrading to a later version of slimbox a whole lot easier. ;-)
I was surpised how simple it was to install and use, given my experience with other photo gallery components/plug-ins.
It me 10 minutes to get it going once I downloaded it - and that includes logging on to Flickr to get my API key!
At the moment, only the image is accessible from Flickr.
In a future version, I'd like to see more options for handling the image metadata (tags, titles, etc.)
25-08-2008: The next version of the plugin (v0.6, to be released in the next few weeks) will support selections based on tags, group and user id's, next to the current photo and set options. ...and more selection options will follow in future releases. ;-)
A few tweaks could be made, but I sent those to the developer... But no complaints and I am new to joomla
So why the support? It seems, through the work of the developers, Marcel and Jasper, that there may be some issue with Triptracker and NOT having a a flickr Pro account. I think it is currently working with with Pro accounts, but you will need to verify with them about that.
The plugin works exactly as expected with the slimbox with my free flickr account. I just wrote to them about the Triptracker issue for FYI.
Well within hours I got a response and found that they were both working on the issue for me. They have been doing it for several days now (even on the weekend!) trying to make it work for me!
They have also sent me some temporary code that got the Triptracker working for me.
With this kind of support for a free plugin, I wouldn't be worried about looking at any of their other products.
Bottom line is the plugin is easy to use, and is completely working for me today. I look forward to the next release.
It worked very well even compare to other commercial products.
Next time if lkasdorf wants to use any of Joomla ext, he should learn more.
This is a good tool and for good purpose.
I installed the plugin.
I set up a flickr account, uploaded pics into a couple of sets. I created a Flickr API.
Now, the "directions" on the demo page simply say to get the Flickr API key and enter it and "go for your life". WHERE DO YOU ENTER THE API KEY??
Then, once this part of the puzzle is divined, how do you refer to a set, and how do you refer to an individual image? The examples refer to numbers - is there an ID number buried somewhere in flickr that you refer to or do you use the humar readable name?
I find this over and over again with many extensions- there are essentially no directions.
So, this may be a lovely plugin, but I can't make it work, so I have to move on!
Hi there,
I’m sorry to hear you had so much troubles with the plug-in and I’m quite surprised to see that you didn’t contact me before writing your dense review. Joomla is all about a community of people helping each other to further develop and extend this great CMS. I take part in that by developing this plugin in my spare time (!) and appreciate the constructive help I get from people using the plugin.
If you would have written me a small e-mail saying that there are certain things about the configuration and use of the plugin are not that clear to you, I would have responded your email, answered your questions and probably would have changed the tutorial on the website of the plugin aswell. But ok, enough said about that, because that probably didn’t answer your questions. ;-)
The API key is entered in the part of Joomla where all plugins are configured (hence requires basic Joomla knowledge). (Go to the extensions menu, choose “plugin manager”, select “Universal Playground - Flickr slideshows”. In the page that appears is a field called “Flickr API key” where you can enter your key.
Now, about referring to a set or a photo. Every set or photo Flickr has an unique URL. For instance:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/exposej/sets/72157600375172301/
for a set and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/exposej/1296812671/
for a photo. In these URLs you can find the ID numbers (in this case 72157600375172301 and 1296812671) required by the plugin.
Hope this help.
Cheers,
Jasper
Overall excellent and will continue to use as works excellently with slimbox option.
I've tried several before with mixed results, but none with Joomla 1.5.
I installed this but then it crashed my install. (Deactivating it fixed this immediately). Turns out, I needed to have PHP 5 running on my server.
I contacted my host, and got that running in no time. (My Joomla install survived just fine... but now it seemed a bit faster)
Then, then UniversalPlayground got working just fine.
It's easy to use, and I like it very much. No nonsense, but also, nice and clean looking. It's great!
I can't get the slideshow part to work, but I prefer the lightbox look anyway.
This is an under-rated plug-in, for certain.
It's a nice alternative to flickurpic, especially since it's free. It's also pretty simple to use. I'm looking forward to future releases of this program and any others that might be coming down the pipe!