Link: Jalbum Skin Viewer

Need help picking a skin to use on your website? The Jalbum Skin Viewer (JSV) is a new implementation of an old idea originally done by Erica59 - a place to easily compare skins to each other.

The idea is to use a generic sample album which shows the basic skin functionality to display the features of each skin in an "apples to apples" type comparison using the same photos with every skin. The JSV also includes links to the skin author's Sample Album so you can see 2 different implementations of each skin (if a working link is available).

Keep in mind that the generic sample album uses the skin's default settings and most skins offer many more options than what are displayed in the samples.

What's new is use of the Highslide JS script in the Boxer skin. It pops each album up in a Javascript window that can be resized (grab the "resize handle" in the lower right corner) and moved around (North/South/East/West icon in the control bar in the top right corner). You can also quickly move between skin samples using the Previous and Next arrows in the control bar as well.

As you go through the skins, there are a few things to look for in the standard sample albums (apples to apples) when using the JSV:

• Album Title. If the skin uses the project's folder name, you will see "Skin Viewer". Some skins define this separately, so you'll see the skin's default (like "Your title here").
• Navigation. The root of the sample album defaults to 3 columns and 5 rows and should have 3 index pages. Look for Previous and Next links to move between pages. Also note that some skins change these defaults and use different row/column settings which affects the number of index pages generated.
• Folder support. The first item in the album should be a folder called Folder. If you can't find it, the skin doesn't support subfolders. Some skins may require you to scroll forward/back to find the Folder folder. When you open the Folder, look for navigation back to the root.
• File Title support. The first photo has a filename of "Garden of the Gods - Lonely tree.jpg". Skins that support Jalbum 8's new file title will either replace that text or also display "Skin supports Jalbum 8 fileTitle variable". If not, you will see the filename without the extension (unless the skin doesn't show filenames at all by default, of course - there are a few).
• Comment support. All skins should display comments, but where they appear varies. All photos in the album have comments, and are either the location (like +Colorado+) or a short description (like +German Engineering+).
• EXIF support. The first 3 files have EXIF data attached; the rest do not. If this is important to you, make sure you can see the EXIF on those 3 photos - it could either be on the index or slide page, depending on the skin, and you may have to click an icon to display this info. Many skins don't show EXIF at all, even if it exists.
• Fixed shape filter. By default the sample album project does not have this enabled - thumbnails should appear as portrait or landscape. If a skin has square thumbnails, the skin sets this automatically. Some skins also put additional borders on thumbs; if so it's the skin that put them there, not me.

Not all skins on the Skins tab are in the JSV. Why? Either I couldn't get the skin to successfully complete a Make Album (some of the really old ones just don't work anymore) or the skin author has asked for it to be removed (skin authors may opt out at their discretion). If I have missed any skins that do, in fact, work with Jalbum 8 that you would like to have added please reply to this thread and let me know. I may have unintentionally missed one or two.

I will watch the New Skins list and add new skins as they become available (if they work).

I hope you like it!

Link: Jalbum Skin Viewer

Edited by: alan927 on 28-Jun-2008 19:50
Finished an incomplete sentence.

Edited by: alan927 on 29-Jun-2008 12:48
A couple of edits based on feedback - default settings used, EXIF.

Great Job! I have always appreciated and valued Erica59's efforts and you've taken it to the next level. Many Thanks.

I agree with your conditions on posting a skin. I keep seeing the MUSHI skin show as a skin sample when I click on the skins link. You do NOT include it in JSV (and after making a sample album with it, I agree with your side). If it is not "good enough" for JSV, should it be posted as a Jalbum sample?

I've said pretty much the same thing about PixPlayer which David recently "fixed" although it is NOT listed in the active skin's directory and understandably, not incorporated into JSV. I guess the real question becomes, how can a skin be better vetted (?) and approved or disapproved?

Please allow me to suggest that a link to the general skin's download page might help newer "Jalbumers" (I just click on Boxer and go from there) and perhaps a disclaimer at the bottom to the effect, skins are always being "improved," many skins offer a variety of presentation methods and JSV only shows one method at a point in time and the last update was xx/xx/20xx. Suggest and might being the key words. Many thanks again for sharing this.

Edited by: mrag on 29-Jun-2008 03:02

This is really helpful, I like it!

You might stress thought, that it is a presentation of default looks, with default features enabled.

When talking about EXIF support or square thumbnails for instance - some skins DO support these features even if is not shown on your comparision page, as it needs to be explicitely enabled by the user.

However, you do a really great job! Many thanks!

Heinz-Peter

Looks good. Obviously a lot of work has gone into this.

If an author improves a skin, so that the skin preview is no longer accurate, can he request that the preview should be re-generated? Will this be time-consuming, or is it a simple task now that you have done it once?

TheDoctor:

I don't understand what you are trying to say. I think that my question was straightforward and reasonable. If you are objecting to my question, please be more precise, instead of alluding to some unstated issue.

Suggestion:

At the beginning of this thread are some pointers about what to look for in the sample albums. Could this be accessible from a button on the JSV (Help / Instructions / Guidelines)?

just the nature of free things IMHO

jalbum is free so if you dont like an aspect there are plenty of others, but not all free

ditto for skins

then at next level someone does a compilation of skins which at a point in time may or may not be "complete", at least using the defaults

seems to me one uses it in good faith or do the whole checkout thing from scratch

seems you can hardly expect it to be constantly updated, nor to have all the options displayed for every skin

I added a couple sentences to the original post that hopefully clarify that.