TTG Highslide Gallery and TTG Highslide Gallery Pro 2.0.5 are now available. This update features several bug fixes to the previous release, and introduces a new password protection feature to the Pro version of the gallery. Special thanks go to Pao-Lung Tsai for helping to implement the new password protection. Here’s how it works:
In the Site Info pane, there’s a new control group for setting up the password protection. All you really need to do is tick the check-box to enable the feature, then provide a username and password to access the gallery.
The new Password Protection control group, located in the Site Info pane.
The other options are for localizing the login page to non-English languages, and for providing an optional gallery title and subtitle, and description. You might use this space to provide information on how to contact the photographer should the client misplace their login, or feel they should have access to this gallery. Or simply use it to remind them what it is they’re logging into.
The password script sets a cookie in the visitor’s browser which expires when the browser is closed, meaning that once they log into the gallery, they will remain logged in for the duration of their visit.
Galleries are protected individually. If the visitor is logged into one gallery, then attempts to access another protected gallery, they will be prompted for a new username and password for the new gallery.
Setting up the password protection in Lightroom looks something like this:
And the login page, when placed online, will then look like this:
Please note — and this is IMPORTANT — that when password protection is enabled, you gallery will export as PHP documents rather than HTML. This means that:
- You will not be able to view your exported gallery from your local desktop. It requires PHP to run, and must therefore be hosted online on a web-server with PHP support.
- In order to use password protection, your web-server MUST support PHP.
- In order to use password protection, the visiting web-browser must support cookies.
Most hosting services support PHP, but those users hosting galleries via .Mac accounts will be out of luck. If, for whatever reason, you cannot make use of this feature, then just don’t use it. Otherwise, enjoy!
The full changelog for the 2.0.5 update follows; those items in bold-face type apply only to the Pro version of the gallery.
- v2.0.5 ( 2010-07-07 )
- New feature: Built-in password protection.
- Added links to documentation and tutorials within the interface.
- v2.0.4 ( unreleased; rolled into 2.0.5 )
- Fixed bug: Selection Counter now works in IE when using Client Proofing Gallery features.
- Fixed bug: Slideshow thumbnail borders were inheriting grid thumbnail attributes in exported galleries.
- Fixed bug: phpinfo() now works in PHP shopping cart again, after being broken in a previous update. Debugging options now included in index.php, and no longer in config.php.
- Improvement: In most browsers, Continue Shopping button in PHP cart now returns user to previous page, rather than to the first page of the gallery.
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
What shows up in Auto Index pages for password protected galleries? I tried a few password methods previously that resulted in blanks in my Auto Index…
I’ve run a bunch of test galleries, but honestly never checked it with the auto index. I’m heading out of town tomorrow for the next several days, and wanted to get the release out before I left.
The password protection doesn’t interfere with any of the assets used by the auto index, though, so I expect no issues there. The script protects the pages, not the autoindex.xml file, nor the image files.
Cool. Sounds like it should work.
Is there a possibility/offer to update from the normal version to the Pro version?
Best regards from Germany.
Andreas
Andreas,
Please email me via the contact form including your full name and your paypal account email address, so that I can look up your previous transactions. A discount code is available to upgrade from TTG Highslide Gallery to the Pro version within one year of your original purchase.
… are you planning to offer a demo version of the new release? I try to download the demo, but it is still v2.0.3.
Best regards.
Andreas
Demo versions of 2.0.5 are now online.
Is there a simple way to upgrade without over-writing previously modified files (eg. formmail, etc.)? It would be nice if there was a way to sequester user modified files in a separate folder that the plugin would look in first and use any files there instead of the default files…
Unfortunately not. You can always pull the modified Form-to-Email, shopping cart config, etc. files from the previous version and use it in the update, though. Providing those items haven’t changed.
In the case of 2.0.5, the shopping cart has changed and should be setup against from scratch. You can safely replace the Form-to-Email script, though.
Hmm, that’s what I was afraid of. Thanks for the updates though.
Is it possible to change the colors of the input text? I have a white background and it seems that the input text by default is white also.
Great addition to this great product, THANKS!
It borrows styling from the settings used for the client proofing gallery. So you can edit the colors using those settings in the Appearance pane. The ‘Input Text’ color picker should allow you to change the input for the login fields.
Thanks Matt, it works.
I have more than 50 galleries with different text. If I do update – what will be with the text in Lightroom? I afraid of loose these text. It was a lot of work.
If you have your galleries saved to your Template Browser, or if the text is stored with the collections, then it should remain intact. Keep in mind, however, that templates saved using the 1.x series of releases are not compatible with the 2.x releases.
Thank you for fast reply. It works!
I think I just figured out my confusion with the password protection. Not sure what I read to make me think it was only available with that one cart system but I see now that it will work. Sorry!! Thanks! Ricki
Got my “pages” on line. Looks good to me !! Thanks for all your help. No galleries up yet. Trying to upgrade to Highslide pro 2.0.5 but having trouble. Used my provided link at purchase to download. Got a zip file ttg_highslidepro2_205.zip
Unzipped to ttg_highslidePRO2 2.lrwebengine
Moved to web galleries folder with others. relaunched LR, but the new engine does not appear. Is the filename a problem with the space between 2 2? I want to password protect some galleries and so need this new version. What’s the answer?
Remove the previous version of the web engine before installing the new version.
Where do we actually download this from?
Updates are downloaded using the download link provided at time of purchase. This is explained fully in the End User License Agreement, which I recommend reading.
Cheers,
Matt
Dear TTG–
My watermarks aren’t showing up in galleries generated with LR3. I’ve tried changing things, checking and unchecking, but nothing works. Please help!
MU
Not showing up in LR preview, or not showing up in exported galleries? If in the preview, try reloading the gallery, tweaking the Quality slider or restarting Lightroom.
Thanks for the speedy relpy – OK here’s what I’ve been able to deduce:
-in LR3, I can’t get the “simple watermark” to display in the preview, or in the export. I double checked the metadata, set the copyright status to “copyrighted” and tried both “copyright only” and “all” for metadata settings
-happens in both 2.0.5 and 1.9.2
-moving the quality slider, size, restart, and checking/unchecking doesn’t fix – LR does get triggered to make new images and a status bar does appear, but still no watermark
-selecting a custom watermark from the list DOES WORK! in both preview and export – so there’s the workaround…
From my experience, LR3 is buggy — good luck working this one out – for now, i’ll just use a custom watermark.
MU
I’m getting the following error on all client proofing galleries that I upload with the password protection enabled using the new 2.0.5.
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: strripos() in /home/content/a/w/b/awbritton/html/galleries/clients/devlyn/index.php on line 3
Any thoughts on what might be causing this?
Probably your PHP is out-of-date. Contact your host to find out what version of PHP they are running. I recommend a minimum version of 5.2.x. Ask them to upgrade your server if their version is lower.
With the new highslide pro with password protection I found that if I clicked the idenity plate and the form to email return button it sent my to index.html not index.php. I found how to fix it after the fact but am having trouble figuring out how to permantly fix it.
You can set the identity plate hyperlink target to be anything you want in the Site Info pane. To change it permanently, save your settings using the Template Browser.
Is it possible to password protect an autoindex?
It’s not a built-in feature at the moment.
Hey Matt
Any chance of adding a top and bottom padding setting for the shopping cart bar so it can be matched up visually with the Image Bar settings?
Hi John,
There’s already a “Shop Bar Margin Top” slider in the Shopping Cart Appearance control group, Appearance pane.
Is it possible to do it manually? I just also have to say thank you for a wonderful product!
Yes, it’s possible … if you’re comfortable editing the exported code on your own. I’m going to start messing with getting it built-in as a feature, though. Hopefully to be released soon. You might just want to wait for it.
Hi,
When testing the gallery within Lightroom, “add to cart” or “view cart” takes me to the PayPal login page, not the cart. It was taking me to a cart when testing the demo earlier, but at some point quit. I’m not sure if this is the case with an exported gallery. Any clue?
Thanks,
Dave
You shouldn’t click on those links inside of Lightroom. Lightroom doesn’t like it when you try to connect to outside sites from within the Web module. Export and try again.
Are there any plans to add the password protection feature to the non-Pro version? Also curious why the inline gallery option was eliminated — it’s one style I would like to use but rolling back to v1.9.5 means I won’t be able to password protect any galleries. Is there any modification possible that enables an inline style in v2?
No plans whatsoever. It’s a Pro version exclusive feature.
And the inline gallery style was ditched for lots of reasons. It was held together with duct-tape, it didn’t support most of the engine’s core features, and it was a royal pain to deal with in ever conceivable way.
Thanks… I figured there was probably a good reason to ditch it. I suspect I’ll end up using use both Highslide Pro and Timothy Armes’ Elegance along with Auto Index… I wanted at least one option for an inline js thumbs+slideshow and it doesn’t look like Highslide offers one right now.
Hello again…
When using the password protection feature (which requires php) I can’t figure out why my images don’t appear (or appear to be missing) but they are visible when it’s a html gallery. A php thing, or do I have to do something special on upload?
I don’t know how you expect me to help you if I can’t even see what you’re talking about. URL and login please?
Could you take a look at the gallery in Google Chrome. Every other browser works fine, but in Chrome when clicking on an image it will shrink down to just an x instead of zooming up an image. It doesn’t seem to happen in Safari which is strange since they are both webkit based.
I assume this is due to the new Adblock features in Chrome and Safari (some Safari users have experienced the same issue). The latest version of Highslide JS (4.1.9) fixes this; the next update to TTG Highslide Gallery Pro will implement the Highslide JS update.
I have Highside Pro 2.01, how can I update to 2.05 to take advantage of the Password Protect functionality?
Updates are always available using the download link provided at time of purchase. Please read the End User License Agreement.