Archive for the ‘Development Blog’ Category

Disabling the ImageMagick check

It has been reported by some users, notably those on Windows servers running IIS, are getting the following error message after logging in as an administrator. 

The specified CGI application misbehaved by not returning a complete set of HTTP headers

The cause for this is ProofBuddy checking whether ImageMagick is at the correct path.  Since a majority of web servers are Linux, the default setting in ProofBuddy is a Linux path (/usr/bin) which causes the above error on some IIS setups.

To fix this, download the zip file below and follow the directions in the readme.txt file.  It will change the settings in ProofBuddy to use the GD Library instead of ImageMagick and tell ProofBuddy to not check for ImageMagick. 

If you are using ProofBuddy 1.0.1 or earlier you will also need to download a patch file from our support forum that will fix a problem on the Admin -> About page.

Categories:Development Blog

ProofBuddy and Winklet

A question that comes up every 2 or 3 weeks is whether ProofBuddy and Winklet will work together.  Fortunately Winklet offers demonstration downloads of their templates so I was able to download one and see if I could get it to work.

The answer is sort of

The first thing I tried to do was to create a form on one of the Winklet pages that would let me enter a passcode and login directly.  It didn't work.  Whether Winklet specifically strips out HTML forms or it's a Flash thing I don't know.  

Next I tried to use JavaScript to output the form.  Also did not work.  In fact it looks like JavaScript tags are stripped out, but the code is kept because the code showed up on the Winklet page but didn't do anything.

What you can do is to create a link to your ProofBuddy site using standard anchor tags using code similar to what's below.

 

<a href="http://www.example.com/proofbuddy/">Click to view your proofs</a>

While this doesn't allow them to login directly, it does at least create a link so that your clients can find their proofs.

If you still want the form you can add an HTML form in the index.html file.  It worked, but I couldn't get it to look right. 

Another suggestion is that you change the settings in ProofBuddy so that it goes back to your Winklet site after your client logs out.  You can do this on the Options -> General tab by filling in your complete URL (including http://) in the field labeled "After Logout".

 

Edit:

After a little more messing with the code I found a possible solution that allows you to have the form on the page and it still looks fairly decent. 

If you look at the top right you'll notice a login form.  To add this you'll need to open up the index.html file and add a few things.  I'm going off the example #23 I downloaded, so yours might be a little different.  If you have any questions be sure to post them in the comments section and I'll do my best to help answering them.

This first bit of code needs to go somewhere between the <head> and </head> tags. 

<style type="text/css">
div#form    {
    width: 775px;
    text-align: right;
    color: white;
    }
</style>

The 775px width is the same as the Winklet Flash object.  If your Winklet is different than that (look for WIDTH="775" in the index.html file) then change it to fit.

And to actually add the form add the following code just below <td align="center" valign="middle">.

<div id="form">
<form action="http://www.example.com/proofbuddy/user/user-script-login.php" method="post">
Client Login <input type="text" name="passcode">&nbsp;<input type="submit" value="Login">
</form>
</div>

You're going to have to replace the form action with your domain name and the path to your ProofBuddy folder, but leave the /user/user

Categories:Development Blog

Bulk uploading files

One of the most common support questions that I get is how to upload a lot of files at one time.  Not that I mind, but when I get the same question over and over it means that the documentation is lacking and I need to add it to the instructions.

There are two ways to upload files to ProofBuddy, by uploading using the Browse... buttons on the add images form and by uploading with FTP and importing. (more...)

Categories:Development Blog

Hosted Option now available

For our clients who do not have their own web space or would rather not install ProofBuddy onto their own server we now offer a hosted option. 

With the hosted option you will have 1 gigabyte of storage space to keep your images, enough for around 50,000 images.  You will also always have the latest version of the Professional version of ProofBuddy.  We also take care of installation so all you have to do is sign up, upload your images, and start showing proofs to your clients. 

Hosting is available for $14.95 billed monthly or $99.95 yearly.

Please contact us for more information or to sign up.

Categories:Development Blog

Creating a custom page

One of the new features in 1.0 that I'm really excited about, but that hasn't gotten much exposure, is custom pages.  With custom pages you'll be able to add a page within your ProofBuddy site that stays within the same design as the rest of your site and has access to a series of data classes giving you access to information on the current album, image, cart, or user. 

Click here for more information on custom pages.

To see examples of custom pages take a look at the White Glass theme.  Custom pages are used in this theme for the comments, image notes, and album notes page.

Categories:Development Blog

Website Updates

Our website has been redesigned using Wordpress rather than the CMS package that we had been using.  The biggest change for our visitors is that you will be able to leave comments or questions on almost any page on our site.  This change should make it easier for you to get answers to your questions about ProofBuddy.  

Categories:Development Blog

Database backup script

This small script will allow you to download a complete backup of your ProofBuddy database in SQL format. 

Note:  This functionality is available in the Admin -> Tools panel in ProofBuddy starting with version 1.0.

5.1 KiB - 1,026 downloads

Be sure to read the included readme.txt file.

Categories:Development Blog

Theme: White Glass

White Glass is a theme that I've been working on to release together with 1.0 to show what the new theme system is capable of.  It is being written using the data classes that are exposed in version 1.0 of ProofBuddy.  If you are familiar with PHP you will be able to look at the theme files and see how easy it is to create truly custom themes.  Documentation on the new theme system will be coming shortly, but after 1.0 is released.  And the old theme system of using variables will still work. 

(more...)

Categories:Development Blog, Themes

GoDaddy users, I need your help

I'm having sporadic reports of users trying to install ProofBuddy on GoDaddy servers. Usually it works, sometimes it doesn't. And I really want to figure out what the pattern is because there doesn't seem to be one.

If you are using ProofBuddy successfully on a GoDaddy server please leave a comment here or go over to the forums and post what package you have and what operating system (Linux or Windows) is on your server. It will really help me out, and more importantly help future users of ProofBuddy.

Thanks, Ryan

Categories:Development Blog

Input for packages

The most requested feature, by far, for version 1.0 is the ability for you to create packages for your clients which puts packages are at the top of my list for features to add. I see two possible ways to define a package and would like to get input from ProofBuddy users as to which of these would be the most useful.

Option #1
This is how I would imagine most people define a package, and would be the easiest for the user to set up and the client to understand.

An example of Option 1 would be
- 1 8x10
- 5 5x7s
- 15 4x6s

Each package would be made up of a defined set of pricing options.

Option #2
The second option is more difficult, both for you to set up and for your users to follow along with.

An example of Option 2 would be (notice the ORs)
- Slot 1
- 1 8x10 glossy OR
- 1 8x10 matt OR
- 1 8x10 canvas
- Slot 2
- 5 5x7 glossy OR
- 5 5x7 matt OR
- 3 5x7 glossy and 2 5x7 matt (or any combination)
- Slot 3
- 15 4x6s in any combination

Of course, option 2 also allows for packages set up like option 1, you would simply have one option in each slot.

Your thoughts?
If you have an opinion on either of these, or another suggestion, I have set up a thread on the forums to get opinions or you can simply leave a comment here. You are the users who will be using this and I truly value your opinions and want ProofBuddy to be as useful to you as possible.

Categories:Development Blog