This plugin organizes different WordPress 2.5+ galleries into albums for easy display and navigation by using parent/child pages and custom fields.
I wanted to take the convenience and ease of use of the built-in WordPress [gallery]
shortcode and add a little more functionality to it. By organizing your galleries as multiple child pages of one parent page, you can use this plugin to see a preview thumbnail and description of each gallery.
Screenshots
Demonstrating how to add the shortcode to your page.
Note the two custom fields added to the page to designate the blurb and the thumbnail cover. Also note that "2006" was selected as the parent page.
Sample display of the album including the blurb and thumbnail cover as added in screenshot-2.png.
FAQ
Does this plugin work for posts?
Nope. Currently this plugin only works for pages because it relies on the parent/child page relationship.
Do I need to use the custom fields for the plugin to work?
Nope. The plugin will use the first image in the gallery by default. If you don’t put in a blurb to describe your gallery, the plugin will just display the title of the gallery and nothing else.
How many levels of child pages will this work for?
Unfortunately (or fortunately, I suppose), the plugin displays all levels of child pages underneath the parent page. There is currently no way to restrict it to only one level. A page hierarchy like the following:
- Album Page (Parent)
- Gallery 1 (Child of Album)
- Gallery 2 (Child of Album)
- Gallery 3 (Child of Album)
-
- Gallery 3, Day 1 (Child of Gallery 3)
-
- Gallery 3, Day 2 (Child of Gallery 3)
Would be displayed as the following on the album page:
- Gallery 1
- Gallery 2
- Gallery 3
- Gallery 3, Day 1
- Gallery 3, Day 2
How would you recommend setting up your page hierarchy for Albumize and WordPress’ Gallery function?
This is what works for me. I have a parent Photos page. I have my Album pages as child pages of the Photos page. I just manually link to the Album pages on the Photos page. Then I have my Gallery pages as child pages of each Album page.
I’m sure you can figure out your own way of doing it. But this type of hierarchy was what I had in mind when I designed this plugin.
If you have any other questions, feel free to visit the plugin homepage at http://www.litschers.com/wordpress/albumize/