What better way to spend a cold day than squashing bugs indoors? I’m pleased to report that SlideShowPro 1.0.1 has been released; containing a number of bug fixes, tweaks, and two feature request additions. To see what’s new in this release, see Version History. Also see the new “How to Update” document for instructions on how to install the new update and update your existing content.
This update also kicks off a new Users section of the site, which allows purchasers of SSP access to all component-related downloads. If you are a purchaser of SlideShowPro, check your inbox for an important email with instructions on how to sign-up and obtain access to the update. If you didn’t receive the email, or had issues with the sign-up process, let me know!
Note: all new purchasers of SlideShowPro on or after 2/19 automatically receive 1.0.1 when purchasing. No additional updaters are required.
Firebox PHP thumbnail and xml file generator
Andrew Jones of Firebox Studios has contributed a set of open-source PHP scripts that will scan through a folder of full-size images, generate a SSP XML document, and optionally create a folder of thumbnails automatically. You can download them for free from the Scripts page. Thanks to Andrew for the fine work.
A quick note about the next update to SSP, which will be version 1.0.1. It will mostly be a bug-squashing patch, with updated help documentation. Most of the updates have already happened locally, but I’m holding off on releasing it until a new user-authentication space within this site is created. SSP users will be able to create their own login and password, manage their contact information, and easily download product updates and other content. Once the 1.0.1 update is finished and the user-authentication system is in place, I’ll be sending out a mass email to all SSP users. Expect it (hopefully) early next week.
I’ve been asked how future SSP point-updates will affect existing user movies. The good news is that you will be able to update your existing swfs with the updated component without having to re-enter all your modifications in the Component Parameter panel. Here’s how it works — 1.0.1 will be distributed just like 1.0, as an Extension Manager file. When installed, Extension Manager will ask if you want to replace the (older) 1.0 version. After clicking yes, all your SSP help documentation (and of course the component itself) will be updated. You would then open any FLA containing the 1.0 version, open the Components panel, and drag a new copy of SSP into your movie. This will update the version of SSP (1.0) that’s in your document’s Library, as well as the instance on the stage. You would then delete the second copy of SSP you dragged in, and publish a new swf. Your movie will then contain the updated 1.0.1 version.
Developer Brian Sweeting was nice enough to offer a PHP script he wrote to automatically publish an XML document containing all the necessary elements and attributes from a directory of images. Script is documented, straightforward, and should be a big timesaver for those with PHP. Grab it on the new Scripts page.
If you’re a PHP, Perl, ASP or ColdFusion master, and would be interested in contributing source for other SlideShowPro users to download and use when creating their own galleries, drop me an email. You would receive full credit for your contribution, and it would be freely available to anyone to download and use. I’m especially interested in scripts that can automatically take a directory of images, parse out matching thumbnails at a smaller size, place them in the proper directories, and create an XML doc with all the necessary links. But anything that speeds workflow would be welcome. If interested, let me know!
There is a small issue in SSP 1.0 involving caption attributes in your XML. If you create a caption attribute for the first image in your album, and then leave out a caption for the following images, and you have “Show Captions” set to “If Available,” the caption information will ‘stick’ to the first image’s data and not change. As a temporary workaround, set “Show Captions” to “Always” — if your image doesn’t have a caption, it will automatically display “No image caption”.
The second bug comes into play if you set “Image Scaling” to false, load an image that is wider than SSP, and have a caption associated with the image. The 1.0 build of SSP draws the caption text field too wide. As a temporary solution, set “Image Scaling” to true.
Both of these issue have been fixed, and will be included in the next point release.
If you choose to modify the properties of SlideShowPro using ActionScript instead of the Property panel, there’s an issue in 1.0 that will cause the AS values to be ignored. This will be fixed in a cleaner manner in the next update, but for now, here’s a way to force your AS values over the panel properties. After all of your property changes, add: instanceName.setSize(width,height);. Subsitute the width and height with whatever width and height you want SlideShowPro to appear at (this will override your manual transform on the stage). If you call this method after all your properties, they will push through. This is a temporary fix for 1.0 that will be resolved soon.
Another small typo in the OPML document (must have been late at night when I wrote this one — groan). Previously, it noted to use xmlURL as the attribute for your RSS feed. This attribute should actually be xmlUrl (note the lowercase R and L at the end).
Not sure how this wound up broken, but the special startHere album-attribute override you can use to force SlideShowPro into starting with a different album than the first isn’t functioning as it should. As a workaround, I suggest changing the order of your albums in the XML so that the album you wish to start with is first in order.
This issue has been fixed will be included in the next point release.
There’s a small (but important) typo in the documentation installed in Flash’s Help panel concerning the creation of OPML documents. The example should include an <outline element name before the xmlUrl attribute. This will be updated in the next component update, but for now the online help document has been fixed.
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