Making a complete web site with JAlbum

(Please note: this blog entry is for advanced users)
Building a complete web site with JAlbum and the Notables skin.

Most people who are using JAlbum are probably only building photo albums with it.  A few use JAlbum to build an entire web site and this is an overview of how I do it.

First I plan the website structure and then made a directory structure based on JAlbum projects that matched the target web site.  So my project directories are all contained by a top level directory called “JAlbum images”:

JAlbum images/
    links/
    links.jap
    my_pages/
    my_pages.jap
    navlinks.inc
    photos/
    photos.jap
    restored_photos/
    restored_photos.jap


The navlinks.inc file contains the navigation links for the main pages in the web site.  The skin uses this file to map these links so that every page has the same set of links and they all work regardless of which project or at what directory level the pages have been generated from.

Each of the project settings file (.jap) configure the skin so that a particular type of page layout is generated.  There are two different layouts for thumbnail index pages, images are either aligned to a grid (layout 1) or alternate between left and right alignment down the page.  Index pages generated for for directories only (no images) follow the same style as the latter (layout 2).

Projects using layout 1.
The photos.jap makes what would be considered by most people as a standard JAlbum photo album.  

The restored_photos.jap makes a similar album but results in the slide pages having two images, which can be swapped by a cross-fade or a quick switch – ideal for showing an old photograph that has been restored and the differences between them.

Projects using layout 2.
links.jap has include thumbnails ticked, which results in a page that has the same look as an intermediate directory's page.  Each image is turned into a link to an external web site page, rather than to a standard slide page.

my_pages.jap has include thumbnails unticked.  This time a page is created with the image in the source directory only being used as a means of getting JAlbum to process a text file that contains the output pages content (html code).

Other files within each of the project directories control the content of each page, such as banners/logos, background images, links to web sites to be associated with images etc.  The end result is a complete web site, of varied content, and with all of the pages having a consistent look to them.

Have a look at another JAlbum users site ffotos.org or at my site for two examples of sites made using this skin.

For more detailed information on specific settings for different styles of pages download this file: Making a complete web site.pdf or post a message/email me.

 
Below is a shot of the skin specific settings: