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[small_quarter]Introduction[/small_quarter][clear]
In the 2.0.2 release of kiwitrees there is a new “Album” module. This replaces the old “Lightbox” module, removes the “Media” module and provides an option to reproduce the layout of the add-on “simpl_album” so also makes that module redundant.

The new album module includes an administration page where a number of important features are managed.

Its basic concept however remains the same: – a “photo album” type of display showing all the media objects attached to the individual (or their facts and events) on one page, grouped according to each item’s GEDCOM media “TYPE” tag.

(NOTE: whatever groups you set, only those  that contain media items for a specific individual will actually be displayed on that individuals Album tab. The tab does not display empty groups.)

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[h4 class=””]Key Features[/h4]

Flexible groups (0 to 7)
Configurable group names
Choose types for each group
Improved styling
Find missing TYPE tags
Sortable media items
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[small_quarter]Updating[/small_quarter][clear]

When you install the kiwitrees 2.0.2 release (available mid-June 2014) a couple of things should happen automatically:

1. The old “Media” tab will be removed and it’s associated files in the modules_v3 folder will be deleted.
2. Similarly the old “Lightbox” module and it’s “Album” tab will be removed.
3. A new module just called “Album” will be installed. This will add a different “Album” tab on each individual’s page and a new configuration option in the administration pages. If either of these do not appear you may need to go to Administration > Modules and enable the new “Album” module.

If you also have the “simpl_album” add-on module installed you are welcome to continue using it. However, it will no longer be maintained, and the new module can provide exactly the same display so I recommend you disable it then delete the folder.

If you have your own custom theme, this piece of code is no longer required in the file header.php:

// Additional css files required (Only if Lightbox installed)
if (WT_USE_LIGHTBOX) {
echo '<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="', WT_STATIC_URL, WT_MODULES_DIR, 'lightbox/css/album_page.css" media="screen">';
}

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[small_quarter]Defaults [/small_quarter][clear]

The settings in the administration page for this module are entirely optional. You can safely ignore them completely if you wish.

By default the new Album tab will display up to 4 groups – Photos, Documents, Census and Other. Each media object that has a “TYPE” tag will be included in one of these groups. All media items without that tag will be in the “Other” group.

The default tag grouping is:

GROUPS	TYPES
Photos	photo, painting, tombstone
Documents	card, certificate, document, magazine, map, newspaper
Census	electronic ,microfiche, microfilm
Other	audio, video, book, coat of arms, other or blank.

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[small_quarter]Configuration[/small_quarter][clear]

This is done on the Administration > Album page.

Step 1 – Set the number of groups you want to use, and click save

Step 2 – Enter the names you want to use for the groups in the boxes above each column.  This will be displayed on your album tab. These should be entered in ENGLISH if you expect them to be translated into other languages (see Translation below), and save. You should always retain an “Other” group at the end. This will ensure objects with no (or blank) TYPE tags are not completely ignored.

Step 3 – Click on the button for each TYPE in the group column you want it in. You can only use one button per type. You should ensure that every TYPE is allocated to a group. The module will work if you don’t but you might find some media objects missing and have difficulty working out why! Finally click save to complete the process. Do not leave any group (column) with no type  (a completely empty group. This can cause fatal errors.

If you want to start again, just click reset. This will delete all entries in the database for this module (number of groups, group names, and the type>group links) and return the display to the defaults described above here.

If you want to display all the media items in a single group, as used in the simpl_album add-on, just set the number of groups to zero (0). This will automatically remove the left column of the display, leaving a simple tabular arrangement of all the objects.

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[small_quarter]Missing “TYPE” tags[/small_quarter][clear]

This module requires the use of the GEDCOM media TYPE tag. Any objects that don’t have one will only ever be grouped into the “Other” group. So it seemed useful to be able to identify any items that needed that tag.

At the bottom of the Administration > Album configuration page you will see a link “Show media objects with no TYPE”. Clicking this will produce a list of all those items. You can simply click on the title of each to open a standard edit window and enter the correct TYPE. (Note: the edit window defaults the TYPE to “Photo” if nothing is set. You still need to save that if  photo is the correct setting.)

WARNING: if you have never used the TYPE tag before, and have hundreds of media items, the time taken to generate this list might exceed your server settings and fail.

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[small_quarter]Review existing “TYPE” tags[/small_quarter][clear]

There are a few ways you can review your existing “TYPE” tags. Individually you can check and edit an object’s TYPE tag by selecting “View details” for any image, or by clicking the file name / title displayed (not the image itself) wherever it is displayed. To review the TYPE settings in bulk go to Administration > Media > Manage media. The TYPE tags for every image are displayed in the right-hand column there.

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[small_quarter]Translation[/small_quarter][clear]

As mentioned above, your group names should be entered in English. If you then require them to display in other languages simply create a custom language file (see Custom translation for instructions on this) for each.

As these should be short simple words or phrases the csv or php type of translation files will be perfectly suitable. Place the files in the /data/language/ folder as normal for any custom language file, NOT the standard (top level) /language/ folder.
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