Frequently Asked Questions
This list is being constantly updated. If you have a question you think ought to be here, do let us know.
Q. What are the requirements for installing MiniGallery?
A. To install and run MiniGallery your server needs to be running PHP 4.x, including the GD graphics library. Most servers come with this set up by default, but check with your server administrator if you are unsure. Or just install it anyway, and if it doesn't work, then the library probably isn't there.
In terms of disk space needed, you actually need very little for MiniGallery itself. However, you may be limited in terms of how many photos you can upload. If you upload the photos straight from your camera, each one could easily be over 1MB in size, so if you've got hundreds of photos you want to put online that's going to take up a significant amount of space. You'll also have to think about bandwidth too (check with your server administrator for more details on that). MiniGallery does generate thumbnails for each photo, but they are really small and fairly compressed, so that shouldn't imact on your disk space usage much at all. If you are planning on uploading lots of photos, you may want to consider scaling the images before uploading.
Q. How do I upload files to my web space?
A. Most servers allow you to log in via FTP or SSH to manage your files - these details should have been given to you when you bought the web space, check with your server administrator if you've lost the details. There are a number of free FTP and SSH clients available online for you to download. For Windows users, try something like WinSCP or FTP Surfer. For Mac users, try Cyberduck or OneButtonFTP.
Q. What is EXIF data? And how can I use it?
A. When you take a photo with a digital camera it automatically adds in a range of EXIF data, which is extra info about what the camera was doing when the photo was taken. Depending on the camera you can find details about the aperture, ISO speed, shutter speed and so on, which is interesting for photographers. There are also more day-to-day things like the date and time the photo was taken, and how big the image is. Optionally you can also set various EXIF fields when the file is on your computer, such as copyright details, the name or description of the photo, and so on. Again, there are free programs that will allow you to edit this information - just Google 'EXIF editor' to find one that suits your needs.
Q. What EXIF data does MiniGallery use?
A. Basically anything it can get its hands on. The name of the image is either taken from the file name (excluding the file extension, of course), or from the UserComment in the EXIF data. If it exists, MiniGallery will prefer to use the EXIF version, but failing that it will fall back on the file name. For everything else, if the field is not empty it will be displayed (if requested in the theme you're using).
Q. How many albums can I add?
A. As many as you like. You are limited only by the amount of web space you have.
Q. Something's wrong with my thumbnails, how do I make MiniGallery generate them again?
A. All the thumbnails are stored in the /assets/thumbnails/ folder of your MiniGallery installation, with each album being represented by a further subfolder. To force MiniGallery to generate new thumbnails, simply delete the old ones. When MiniGallery tries to show the thumbnails again it will check whether the thumbnails already exist, and if they don't it will automatically create them for you.
Q. MiniGallery keeps telling me that it couldn't create the thumbnails - what's wrong?
A. There are two possible reasons for this: either the GD library isn't installed on the server, which means that the thumbnail-generating process won't be able to do anything; or MiniGallery doesn't have the correct permissions to save the thumbnails. You need to make sure that the /assets/thumbnails/ folder is set to have full read-write permissions, i.e. 0777, so that album folders and thumbnails can be stored. Your FTP or SSH client should provide you with this functionality, or if you are using a command-line then you'll want to chmod the folder.
Q. Can I change or remove the watermark?
A. Yes. The watermark file, /assets/inc/watermark.png, is a 24-bit PNG image. To remove it completely, just delete the file; if MiniGallery can't find it, it won't try to use it. You can of course replace that watermark image with anything you like, as long as it's called watermark.png. It can be any size you like. Just bear in mind that whatever watermark image you use will have to be visible on any image, so make sure it will stand out enough. Watermarks are applied dynamically, so just upload the file and you will see the effects immediately.