CataBlog Feature Request

hi hisforhome,

To ‘manually update’ the template all you need to do is reload the default template from the drop down menu in the template tab of the admin options panel and save.

Quite a mouth full…

First you should login to your WordPress Admin section and go to the CataBlog Options Panel. Now switch to the template tab and choose default from the drop down menu. Click “load template” next to the drop down menu and then click save at the bottom of the options panel.

Keep in mind the implementation is still pretty basic and I would recommend overriding and making your own CSS classes if need be. The %SUB-IMAGES% token may be added anywhere you like in your own templates as well, I would recommend wrapping them in a tag like <div class="my-catalogs-subimages" /> or similar.

Hi Zach,

I’ve added the extra code to the default template but when I go to add extra images to a listing I don’t see an option to add more than one image. What am I doing wrong?

All the best,
Adelle

Hi hisforhome,

First make sure you are using version 1.1.5 of CataBlog by going to the About CataBlog Admin Panel and verify the version. If you are not using 1.1.5 you may download it from the other version section and manually install it with FTP, sorry there is no automatic update to 1.1.5 because it is not considered a stable release. If you read the 1.1.5 Release Post I describe how to add sub images. There is a mini form underneath the edit catalog item form. It is not well labeled but it is underneath the save changes button on the edit catalog item form. Select an image and then click the submit button. A very small icon of the image should appear underneath the main image after the image uploads and the page refreshes. Good luck and let me know if that works for you.

Hi Zach

I’ve now updated to version 1.1.5 but my template has now gone crazy. I’ve reverted to the code that was there before I added the %SUB-IMAGES% etc but it’s still not back to normal.

The images are now giant and pixilated, the lighbox doesn’t work, it just opens the image in a new page, and there’s no 2nd image. (I’ve added a second view to the Vintage Post Office Savings poster).

https://picturehouseantiques.co.uk/picture-house-antiques-dealers/h-is-for-home/h-is-for-home-items-currently-for-sale/

Hi hisforhome,

I would double check your thumbnail size in the options, as it seems that CataBlog is setting your thumbnails to 200 pixels, unless that value is hard coded into your template. Oh wait, I am noticing that .catablog-image class now has a width of 100% by default, which means if it isn’t surrounded by an element that is the correct thumbnail width it will be to big. I would suggest you try loading the default template in version 1.1.5 and seeing if that fixes your problems. The default template is different in version 1.1.5 then 1.1 and perhaps this difference is what is causing you problems. Keep in mind multiple image support is still a work in progress so things are a bit hairy right now. Thanks for your questions and have a great night.

Hi Zach

I’ve got the template back to normal. However, when I add an additional image and click ‘submit’ I get the message:

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Am I making an error with my div wrapper?

Thanks,
Adelle

hisforhome,

The div wrapper in your template should not make a difference when it comes to uploading images to your server. Perhaps these questions will help us solve the problem, still I believe you are already doing these.

Can you verify for me that you are trying to add sub images through the “Sub Images Controls” form under the edit catalog item form?

Also can you verify for me that you are only trying to add sub images to previously saved catalog items? Currently, you must save the catalog item first, then reopen it to add sub images.

Without more information about the error I am unsure I can help anymore. You may try turning on WP_DEBUG in your wp-config.php file and seeing if a more verbose error message is given. A few more questions…

Is the error message on a blank white page (500 error) or is it styled and looking like a WordPress message?

What format are the images you are trying to add as sub images, can you try jpeg format if you haven’t already?

Are there any special characters in the catalog item’s title? If so can you try removing them before uploading a sub image.

Try clicking the “Remove All Sub Images Now” button to initialize the item’s sub images and then add a new sub image?

Good luck, I really appreciate your help with testing and troubleshooting the new multiple image feature. Testers are an invaluable part of software development, and since I don’t make any money with CataBlog, I can’t warrant hiring a tester. I appreciate your time and effort. Thanks,

-Zach

Hi Zach,

Yes, I’m trying to add sub images using the “sub image controls” and yes, I’m adding additional images to an already existing listing.

The error message is a blank white page, not coming from WordPress.

The image is in jpeg format – there was an underscore in the title but I’ve since removed it and tried again but still get the error message.

Thanks for all your time & help – I’m really grateful – CataBlog’s a great plugin!

Adelle

hisforhome,

CataBlog 1.1.7 Beta is here and I think it will solve the white screen on sub image upload issue. It was a stupid error on my part but I think you will find this version might actually suits your live site’s needs.

I want to apologize about changing the underlying CSS code that made you need the wrapping >div /<. In the new version the CSS code has been reverted and the default template has also been reverted. But there is a new subimage template that you may load and use as a starting point. Good luck and let me know if you hit any bumps along the way.

– Zach

Zach,

On my wish list I think it would be nice to be able to have a creation date for each catalog entry. And to be able to sort by date and to maybe group them into different months. On my website with over 700 woodworking patterns, a new one is being created almost every day. It would be nice to be able to pick the most recent ones, say over the last 30 days and to display only those patterns on a specific page. Right now we do it manually by adding the most recent pattern to the page and removing the oldest one. But it’s a manual process and it would be nice to automate it.

And while I’m wishing….it would be nice to be able to search all pattern names for a particular word. e.g. out of 700 patterns there may be 30 or so that have the word ‘dog’ in the image description. Right now I have an “Animal” category but it contains all kinds of animal patterns. If I only want to see the dog patterns, it would be nice to be able to search using only the word ‘dog’.

I will understand if my requests might not be appropriate for a lot of folks.

Thanks
Frank

I would also like to request some way to create a page with the categories listed and then the catablog shortcode inserted…

With categories named “a”, “b”, “c”, etc. this seems to work:

<h1 id="a"></h1>
[catablog category='a']
<h1 id="b"></h1>
[catablog category='b']
<h1 id="c"></h1>
[catablog category='c']

I wonder if there’s a better way, though!

christogeretz,

I would love to have more conversations about listing multiple categories with their titles, would you please create a new thread with this question and any new thoughts you have. I wonder if a “render category title” parameter could be inserted into the shortcode…

Please, please, please do not post your bug reports, questions or errors here anymore. I think that we should fully maximize the WordPress forums, and everyone who has a bug to report needs to post it in a new, unique thread to that question. Thanks and have a wonderful day.

I don’t know if anyone has requested this already, but a super time-saving feature would be if you could edit the image order numbers directly from the Library list, rather than going to each image page individually. ie: if the order numbers were an editable field on the Library page.

A similar feature would be if Catablog automatically ordered images based on their upload order/image name.

pic01.jpg —–> order #1
pic02.jpg —–> order #2
pic03.jpg —–> order #3
etc…

My small proposition.

– ability to add custom database fields for each product
– manage their content from admin backend as for other fields (description, price etc)
– ability to display only selected fields for each product in list and lighbox preview, configurable in display templates ?