This issue is now resolved in the upcoming version 39...

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I just discovered that references to my video files in my albums broke for me in version 38.

Videos do not load and do not play when the album is generated in versions 38 through 38.2 if the album is configured to use the original video files (not make copies). It both generates copies now and creates references to the wrong directory.

I rolled back jAlbum versions until I found it working again in version 37.7.3.

The circumstances: I have “Do not reencode" enabled for my videos individually, Images>Advanced>”Copy Originals if needed" is OFF. and my source video directory is in the same directory as both the jAlbum output directory (slides, thumbs, etc) and the jAlbum album settings directory.

This change in behavior is only happening with videos; image handling is still working as before with this combination of settings. Before version 38, this configuration would cause the album to just use the original image and video files (not make copies in the slides folder). In version 38+, it now generates copies of the videos in the slides folder and then creates references to the album settings folder – the wrong folder – which is neither where it created the unwanted copy nor where the original files are.

version 38-38.2: <video preload="auto" controlslist="nodownload" poster="slides/example-poster.jpg" controls="" src="example-project/example-video.mp4"></video>

version 37.7.3: <video preload="auto" controlslist="nodownload" poster="slides/example-poster.jpg" controls="" src="movies/example-video.mp4"></video>

I tried a couple of different skins in 38.2 and got the same broken references. (Tiger, Story, Turtle)

Hopefully this can be fixed but until then I'll go back to using 37.7.3.

Thanks!

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UPDATE: I originally thought that this issue was related to where I store my originals but apparently not. I retested without placing the originals in the album and used the upload feature as well and I get the same result. It generates an unwanted copy of the video in the slides folder and sets up a reference to the album settings folder. Contrast this to how images are still handled where it does not create a copy of the image and the reference correctly points to the original.

I've left my previous additional comments below but they do not apply to this issue:

For background, I have always created and output my jAlbum albums in the same directory as my source image and video folders and I mirror this entire structure to my web server rather than keeping the source albums separate from the web output. (I'm not using jAlbum's upload functionality.)

This ability to reference source images and videos in the output directory was apparently broken in version 38, but just for references to video files. References to source images from a directory in the output directory still works – for example, the download image button still works as expected, using the original image from the source directory.

Edited by: ccrim on 13 Dec 2025, 11:11 to strike out irrelevant info.
Edited by: ccrim on 31 Dec 2025, 11:40 Removed reference to "Include originals" option and added note that issue is resolved.

As long as you are not using the same directory as both the image and output directories, everything will work properly:

• Tag the video Do not re-encode. jAlbum will use your original video without doing any processing on it.
• Turn Copy originals if needed ON.
• Ignore the Include image selections - these apply only to images, not to videos, so it doesn't matter what you choose there. It affects only the image files in your project.

In the album, your original, unprocessed video will appear in the slides directory. Without that, the album page would not be able to find the video to play it. It must be part of the output album.

You're welcome . Happy New Year!