Users have commented that the v38 release was the best jAlbum update – ever
v38.1 improves on the exciting addition of Views by allowing views to be explored/viewed from within jAlbum as well. The advantages that Views bring to those viewing your galleries are now brought to you as the gallery creator too. Furthermore, v38.1 addresses some shortcomings views had.
Users have commented that v38 was the best jAlbum update – ever. We think some will say the same about v38.1. The addition of Views and internal linking to jAlbum was revolutionary: For the first time, jAlbum allows a gallery to be viewed the way the viewer wants (by date, place, theme etc) without impacting album size in any significant way.
The view explorer
Being able to quickly find images of interest within a huge gallery is a great positive for the visitors so we decided to bring this to you as well: Views can now be explored from within jAlbum too. Just double-click a view to explore it. The view explorer has similarities with jAlbum’s main explorer (or any file explorer for that matter): You find the well known folder tree to the left (if the view has folders, that is). You have your content as thumbnail images in a grid and a toolbar:
Sorted views
Views are “read-only”, i.e you cannot add/remove or move items within it, but they now allow you to sort them to your liking. (jAlbum will make a best guess as to the default ordering: An alphabetical or keyword view will also have its contents sorted alphabetically, the date view by date etc). There’s also a convenient Edit button that allows you to adjust the settings of a view (filter criteria, etc)
Custom folder thumbnails
Users raised a concern that they wish to be able to designate an image of choice to represent a view, or a folder within it. You can now do that too by simply right-clicking a thumbnail and select “Use as folder thumbnail”. Hit the “reload” button in case you don’t see a change right away.
Show target
Just double-click a thumbnail within the view explorer to navigate to the corresponding object in your main project.
Excluded views
Here’s a hint: If you’re happy to use views for your own gallery exploration within jAlbum, but don’t want views in the final gallery, just create a view and exclude it (minus key). You may want to create views that only matter to you, for instance a view that lists images that still lacks a rating or comment. For such case, just use an excluded view.
In case you’re wondering how to create such a view, create a “Custom filter view”, then use this expression: obj.comment.empty . You’ll now only see images that lack a comment. The expression obj.title.empty will do the same for titles etc. In case you come up with a clever expression for views, post to our user forum so other users can benefit.
Views and hidden folders
Here’s a hint on what’s the reverse of excluded views: In case you wish to create a gallery that only consists of views, then you can put your main images under a folder that you hide (right-click and select “hide”). That folder will still be copied to the final gallery, but it won’t show from the index page. By default, views don’t “look into” hidden folders, but you can change this behaviour under “Album Settings – Advanced – General – Views – Include hidden objects”:
All improvements are listed in our release notes. Hoping you’ll be as excited about these improvements as we are :-). Views really don’t matter for small galleries, but for huge, collector-type galleries, it’s a game changer.