TTG Client Response Gallery
TTG Client Response Gallery exists to facilitate the exchange of information between photographers and their clients.
The gallery employs FormToEmail.com’s FormToEmail PHP script to collect data from clients, including image selections, image ratings, individual image comments and more. The gallery employs HighSlide to allow side-by-side large-size image previews without disrupting form input, and (optionally) also allows clients to download a copy of each image to their own machine. The gallery’s features include:
- FormToEmail powered delivery for client feedback
- HighSlide-driven large image previews and response panes
- Viewing of multiple large-size images at once for side-by-side comparison
- Customizable BoxOver tooltips to help visitors
- Selection checkboxes
- Automatic detection of color labeling from the Library module
- Optional download of hi-res image renditions
- Every element can be toggled on/off
- Individual comment areas for each image
- Client assignable ratings
- Custom checkbox arrays
- Input areas for name, email address and general comments
- Valid XHTML, CSS, etc. as is the norm for TTG galleries
- Auto detected by TTG XML Auto Index
- And more!
TTG Client Response Gallery
Windows Users: The Client Response Gallery locks up on some installations of Lightroom for Windows. It works for most, but not for all. I strongly recommend testing the demo version of the gallery before making a purchase. Thank you.
Download Demo * Sample Gallery Forum Thread Installation
* The Demo is fully functional, but will export only 10 images.
About Your Purchase
Upon purchasing a TTG gallery, you will receive a download URL valid for five uses. After five uses, your URL will expire and a new purchase will be necessary to keep up with updates. Gallery updates will always be available from that same URL. Thus, the URL can be used for the initial download, plus four updates. Be sure to save your URL in a safe place, as it cannot be retrieved if lost.
Requirements
TTG Client Response Gallery 2.x requires Lightroom 2.0 or above.
The Form-to-Email script requires a web server running PHP.
HighSlide Licensing
TTG Client Response Gallery 2.x relies heavily upon Torstein Hønsi’s HighSlide. HighSlide is not free for commercial use. Please read the HighSlide licensing information before using TTG Client Response Gallery.
Setup
In order for the form submission to reach you, the photographer, the form-to-email script needs to be configured.
First, configure and export your gallery from the Lightroom Web module, as usual.
Next, open the FormToEmail.php file. Locate “Step 2″ on line 69, and follow the instructions you find there, setting your email address and, optionally, a continuation address to which users will be redirected after form submission.
Rather than editing the PHP file for each exported gallery, users might prefer to edit the FormToEmail.php in the template archive. Then, each exported gallery will already be configured for your address.
Isolating Selections in Lightroom
Submitted selections are easy to isolate in Lightroom’s Library module, provided you’ve been savvy in naming your source files.
When Lightroom generates a web gallery, it renames the image files, replacing spaces and special characters with underscores. To get the most out of the selection gallery, Your source files and the web gallery image files should have identical names.
To accomplish this, avoid spaces and special characters when naming your files; use underscores where separation is necessary. Example filenames might look like 20070108Identifier001.jpg or 20070108_Identifier_001.jpg.
If your files are named correctly, the filenames of the exported web gallery images will not be changed. These filenames will then be submitted to your email by the FormToEmail script in a comma separated list.
In the Lightroom Library module, access the Find pane. Set Text to either “Anywhere” or “Filename”. Set Rule to “Contains Any”. Copy and paste the filenames from the email into the search field. The selected images will be isolated in the grid, allowing your to color code them, create a collection, or otherwise separate them for further consideration, processing or output.
The podcast demonstrates this visually.
See also, Additional Reading: Filenaming Conventions below.
Protecting your galleries
TTG Client Response Gallery is intended to improve communication and interaction between photographers and clients, and is not intended for the general presentation of your art to the masses. With that in mind, you’ll probably want to prevent the masses from accessing your gallery.
That said, I refer you to my article, Password Protect Lightroom Galleries.
FormToEmail Pro
If you find yourself using TTG Selection Gallery and/or TTG Client Response Gallery regularly, you might want to consider purchasing FormToEmail Pro.
FormToEmail Pro is a more robust version of the FormToEmail script already being used by these galleries, and adds a number of features to the script including the ability to sort form responses (the free version sorts form responses in the order they are submitted, which can get messy with complicated forms such as those employed by the Client Response Gallery), spam protection, auto responding, no branding and more. For a full run-down of features, visit the FormToEmail Pro page.
FormToEmail Pro costs less than $20.
See also, Additional Reading: Form-To-Email Pro below.
Automatic Smart Collections
Matt Dawson has written a Perl script that converts feedback from the Client Response Gallery into a Smart Collection that can be imported into Lightroom. More information here.
Additional Reading
I’ve written a handful of advanced tutorials for TTG Client Response Gallery, accessible here.
Changelog
- v2.16 ( 2010-06-12 )
- Added support for LR3 watermarking.
- v2.15 (2009-07-17)
- Highslide 4.1.5.
- Fixed CSS error with image captions.
- v2.14 (2009-06-06)
- Major bug fix: Fixed a newly discovered bug wherein the gallery was causing server-side 404 errors in the logs, looking for missing resources.
- Several minor fixes.
- v2.13 (2009-03-29)
- Bugfix.
- Upgraded to Highslide 4.1.2.
- v2.12 revised (2009-03-22)
- Rolled back to Highslide 4.0.11 due to errors experienced by Windows users with the newer version.
- v2.12 (2009-03-15)
- Upgraded to Highslide 4.1.0.
- Upgraded to Fancy Forms 0.95.
- Very minor cosmetic change to Loading message on thumbnail click.
- Highslide optimizations.
- Option to load page with Selection checkboxes already checked.
- Moved FormToEmail.php into the /resources/ folder to avoid “garbling” issues experienced by users of Form-to-Email Pro.
- v2.11 (2008-12-09)
- Fixed a bug introduced in 2.1 in which some form fields would not be picked up.
- Fixed validation errors.
- v2.1 (2008-12-07)
- Updated scripts: Highslide 4.0.10, Fancy Forms 0.94, Mootools 1.2.
- Removed Nifty Corners Cube (js/css) to further reduce gallery footprint.
- Made changes to highslide.cfg.js, the custom Highslide configuration file used by the gallery.
- Cleaned some old code out of the gallery head that wasn’t being used anymore; somehow overlooked it before.
- Added a border to the Name/Email/Comments input form and corresponding color switcher to the UI.
- Image caption alignment now set to left justified.
- Added an overarching label or set of instructions for Custom Panes (to be used if you want a single label for both columns of checkboxes).
- Paragraph alignment for upper and lower paragraphs can now be aligned left, right, center or justified.
- Custom panes expanded to seven possible items.
- onHover Download Title and Body copy now customizable.
- Download Image button can now be set to download either the Hi-Res Rendition, or the Large Preview.
- v2.04 (2008-10-27)
- Updated FormToEmail.php.
- Limited image ID tags to a single line to prevent layout issues.
- Probably more; I can’t recall how I jumped from 2.01 to 2.04 without making a release in between …
- v2.01 (2008-08-05)
- New toggle for whether to open links in a new window.
- Updated readMe.html.
- Hopefully fixed the bug affecting Windows users.
- v2.0 (2008-08-01)
- Requires Lightroom 2.x.
- Reads color labeling from the Library module automatically.
- Output sharpening!
- On hover tooltips now use BoxOver.
- Now five metadata slots in the Metadata response pane.
- Paragraphs can be places both above and below the thumbnails.
- Form elements may be disabled entirely, allowing the template to be used as a normal, display-only image gallery.
- Interface tweaks and improvements.
- Bug fixes.
- v2.0 Pre-Final (2008-07-10)
- A public build of CRG 2.0 for LR 1.4.1.
- Some LR2 features have been stripped, including Color Labels and Export Sharpening.
- v2.0 R5 (2008-07)
- Total overhaul, and edging ever closer to final release.
- Leaner, cleaner and more stable.
- v2.0 R4 (2008-06)
- Added Photographer’s Notes options for color labeling.
- Added export Sharpening features.
- General stability and performance improvements.
- Still very buggy.
- v2.0 R3 (2008-05-02)
- Beta release of the upcoming version 2.0. This is the final beta that will function under LR1.x
- v1.2 (2008-05-12)
- Added a readme file containing documentation for the 1.x series of builds.
- v1.1 (2008-02-26)
- Enabled automatic detection for TTG XML Auto Index.
- By popular request, client response elements, including selection checkboxes, download image links, comment fields and client ratings, can now be enabled/disabled individually.
- Maximum size for third-rendition Large images is now 15,000 pixels.
- v1.0 (2008-01-26)
- Initial release.
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Submitted selections are easy to isolate in Lightroom’s Library module, provided you’ve been savvy in naming your source files.so good
hello there, I want to watermark my gallery pictures but I am not able of getting how to do it.
I mark the “Add copyroght mark” but nothing happens. Can someone help please.
Thanks
Daniel
In LR2, you need to have information in your Copyright metadata field for the watermark. In LR3, you have much greater control over the watermark using the provided controls. In either case, this is standard Lightroom behavior and your should consult Lightroom help documentation for details.
thanks very much for your help. I am investigating it in LR2 and hope to solve it. Thanks for your fast reply
I also get nothing when I ask for watermarks. I have all copyright fields fully populated & I have several watermarks, text & graphics, to choose from as well (not that this gallery accesses these). I’m using LR3 & all my watermarks work everywhere else…?
TTG Client Response Gallery has not yet been updated to support the new LR3 watermarking.
makes sense – I look forward to the update…
uhm so good post, just came 2 see.
I’ve just got to grips with this gallery through Lightroom 3, added password protection & (I think) it’s going to make my life a whole lot easier – thanks!
Would it be possible for you to add some more title, text & tick box fields inside the comment box? I’m thinking that if a client likes a photo, why not select a print size (selection or drop down list), colour or mono, matte colour etc. This way (until I get an online shopping basket) I can use it to receive orders & send back an invoice for confirmation… would be fantastic!
Hello,
I purchased the TTG Client Response Gallery while I had LR2. I’ve recently upgraded to LR3. Do I need to re-purchase the TTG Client Response Gallery in order to get the latest update? Thanks.
That depends upon whether your download URL is still valid. Please see the EULA for details, and please keep in mind that you may have purchased the client response gallery under different terms depending on when the purchase was made. The current EULA applies to purchases made after April 2010.
Thanks for your prompt response. I’ll just go ahead and purchase the new version. The price is negligible anyways. I really appreciate the work you put into making these galleries.
Hi,
Our studio just started using this web gallery to provide soft proofs to our clients, but we seem to be having some issues with comments for single images. Some of our clients are adding comments to single images, but we cannot see the individual comments because they aren’t filling out the FormToEmail form. Is there a way to make the comments for individual images stick (stay loaded) on the image’s pop-up page, without the client having to hit the send button on the FormToEmail form, so that we can see the notes they left??
No. The client must press Send to complete the feedback submission.
Thank you for the quick response! Is there feature that you could easily implement in a future version that would allow the ability for a client to leave a note on an image and have it remain for all to see (similar to this very comment section)?
Absolutely not. That would require a database and a content management system, neither of which play nicely with Lightroom-generated galleries.
hi will the client responce gallery sold as a stand alone ever be the same as the one in the Gallery pro version? I like the feedback options in the standalone version better then the slideshow pro version. I like how you can comment on each photo. I’m getting ready to buy some software from you but at this time I’m looking at the stand alone simply because of the feedback options. Otherwise I would rather have the slideshow pro version if it had the sme abilities. Thank you very much. Your hardwork shows in your software. Really great stuff.
Secondly, I JUST noticed that it seems that the standalone version does not have password protection, is that correct? I clicked on the password link above, but it take me directly to a non specific forwarding page. Thanks again.
TTG Client Response Gallery is — at this point — far behind TTG Highslide Gallery Pro in features. I’ve devoted my time to advancing other projects, and so the client response gallery is essentially a year old without updates; the only work I’ve done on it recently is to enable it for LR3 watermarking. I do plan to update the gallery at some point in the near future and to bring it up to par with the Highslide galleries. In the meantime, however, TTG Highslide Gallery Pro is the most up-to-date and feature-rich product available for image galleries.
Thanks for for reply and information. I’ll be purchasing gallery pro, & auto index then. For what it’s worth I do hope to see an option in pro where feedback can be left with each individual image, like in the stand alone version. Along with password protection. As a photographer that is a much more usable and commonly used feature (for me). I’m still using a feedback gallery in photoshop CS2 because of it’s feed back options then I add my own server side password protection to the gallery.
I really like your software, just came across it two days ago. LOVE IT.
Hi Greg,
Glad to hear you’re loving the products.
Can you send me a link to one of your CS2 feedback galleries? For research, I’d like to see how it handles the feedback.
Sure. I’ll e-mail you the info.
Hi Greg,
I recently purchased your TTG Client Response Gallery, I love it. But have a question, I can’t find the FormToEmail.php template archive to set it so I don’t have to do it in each web gallery I create. Could you tell me where is it? I read the following, and think it would make sense to set it permanently.
“Rather than editing the PHP file for each exported gallery, users might prefer to edit the FormToEmail.php in the template archive. Then, each exported gallery will already be configured for your address.”
Thanks for your help,
mara
It’s inside the .lrwebengine package, in the /resources/ folder. See the Help menu on my site for full instructions on how to set this up.
Ive been having some issues getting the (free)Form-to-email set up and working for the Client Response Gallery.(purchase & download 7-20-2010 or so). Have checked with my Webhost and they say they cant find the issue and it should work. They can see when the form is completed and the send button gets hit, But the form is not generating an email or sending it.
They upgraded my PHP version to 5.0.
Do I need to go ahead and request the PHP version 5.2? I understand I will need 5.2 for PHP Cart and Password Protection. But for PHP Form-to Email?
Im using LR3 on Mac.
*****First I dug into the PHP file within the Resources file, Opened it up and changed the email address in the step two section using general text edit. Upgraded/saved the template settings and then uploaded the template to my site using LR3(Did not export it out of LR3, but posted it using LR3). Closed LR3, turned off computer, Restarted everything, and still not sending. Went back to the PHP file and checked to make sure the email was saved in lowe case, and it was. Re uploaded the template to my site, played with it from a different PC, hit send and still no email response.
Im more of a photographer than coder Buy generally know how to make these things hum. This one has me stumped.
Im leaning to the issue being with some of the settings in my webhosting account.
Any ideas?
Ok this is what I got for ya. I’m a new user to TTG, but I love it. I am not new to form mail on various servers. In the end you might need help from TTG.
First if you can, and know how I would use an FTP program to log into your site, and then check your mail form to make sure it does have the correct e-mail code in the right place. It should if you changed it on your local machine. I’d still check, cause I do that sort of thing.
Depending on your web host server you might have to change more then just the first e-mail section of the TTG form. Also side not, I always have a harder time setting things up on a windows server, if your host has you on a windows server you might need to take more steps. Because you said your running PHP MOST likely your not on a windows server since PHP is not native there.
The TTG form pasted here:
Step 2:
Enter your email address.
Enter the email address below to send the contents of the form to. You can enter more than one email address separated by commas, like so: $my_email = “info@example.com”; or $my_email = “bob@example.com,sales@example.co.uk,jane@example.com”;
*/
$my_email = “greg@giepers.com”;
/*
Optional. Enter a From: email address. Only do this if you know you need to. By default, the email you get from the script will show the visitor’s email address as the From: address. In most cases this is desirable. On the majority of setups this won’t be a problem but a minority of hosts insist that the From: address must be from a domain on the server. For example, if you have the domain example.com hosted on your server, then the From: email address must be something@example.com (See your host for confirmation). This means that your visitor’s email address will not show as the From: address, and if you hit “Reply” to the email from the script, you will not be replying to your visitor. You can get around this by hard-coding a From: address into the script using the configuration option below. Enabling this option means that the visitor’s email address goes into a Reply-To: header, which means you can hit “Reply” to respond to the visitor in the conventional way. (You can also use this option if your form does not collect an email address from the visitor, such as a survey, for example, and a From: address is required by your email server.) The default value is: $from_email = “”; Enter the desired email address between the quotes, like this example: $from_email = “contact@example.com”; In these cases, it is not uncommon for the From: ($from_email) address to be the same as the To: ($my_email) address, which on the face of it appears somewhat goofy, but that’s what some hosts require.
*/
$from_email = “”;
You might have to fill out this second part with your same e-mail address as you did above. Using other forms in the past different servers require a different set up. If you already do have this second section filled out, try uploading the gallery without it setup. Also compare your form code to the ope I pasted, or to the example on the TTg website to make sure none of the code was accidently damaged while you were changing the information.
I hope this help you.
Not exactly, but i can try it. Yahoo is my webhost. Ive heard that its slightly more complicated based on various position of the dots(.). Can anyone recommend a good web host that I can simply plug-and-play these templates..
That’s your problem: Yahoo sucks at PHP.
S. U. C. K. S.
For form-to-email problems, you need to contact support at http://www.formtoemail.com. They are prepared and happy to assist TTG users.
There’s a modified version of the Form-to-Email script that distributes along with TTG Highslide Gallery (Pro) that’s made to work with Yahoo. I can’t remember whether I ever go around to releasing the client response gallery including the modified script; probably not. But if you have the Highslide gallery, you’ll find it tucked into a folder inside the .lrwebengine package with instructions, and can use that same file with the client response gallery.
There may also be some setup you need to do in your Yahoo account to get the mail functions to work. The Form-to-Email script has known issues with Yahoo, and Yahoo makes you jump through hoops to get it working, if you can get it working at all.
Best advice is just to use someone else for hosting. That will solve any PHP problem you’ve ever had or are likely to have in the future.
When I view it, it says:
You must enable referrer logging to use the form
You cannot send a blank form
Im starting to understand
Now that is some candor I can appreciate. Reality hit me awhile back, but now there is some confirmation. Like I asked: Is there a Webhost I can use to solve all these issues in one fell swoop. Like, maybe I could follow easily laid out directions, like the ones provided, and the thing may actually work properly?
Gimme some suggestions.
You say the Correct PHP file is in Hillslide. Is it the Form to email PHP in the Resources folder? What do I do just copy it and put it into Client Response Gallery?
Hey, Thanks for your quick responses. Ive looked at a lot of products over the years and really like these pages. ThYouve done a great job. If i could get em up and running, that would be just peachy.
kj
1and1.com if a good option. Mediatemple is an excellent choice, but more expensive.
The alternate form-to-email script is sequestered in its own folder in the Highslide package. It’s not used by default. The folder is called Form-to-Email for Yahoo or something; I don’t remember. But it’s labeled.
Looking thru the Hillslide Pro and Client Response LR webengine “Show package contents”. All folders and using Finder for php file …sorry, no see F-T-E for yahoo.php.
How sequestered is it?
lemme try F-T-E support.
Sorry Matt,
Didnt mean any disrespect. No excuses, but I am about half blind anyways. I have been incorrectly referring to your masterpiece as “Hillslide” when in fact it is “Highslide”. My bad. Please accept my apology.
Form to email Remote does the trick.
Looking at 1and1 and Media Temple too. thanks.
Is it possible to gimme the short list of exact features i need to tell Media Temple or 1and1 I need to make the Eagle fly?
You don’t need to tell them anything. By default, they’re good-to-go. Just make sure you purchase Linux-based hosting, and not some other thing.
Just tried porting the settings from my TTG Pages template to the Client Response Gallery. No dice. Is this supposed to work? I followed the instructions in the video but the template didn’t change one bit. Really hope I don’t have to recreate the header and background again…
The two just don’t have any attributes in common. They’re running on entirely separate versions of the code-base.
I ask, is there a way to translate the texts of the script into Spanish?
TTG Highslide Gallery Pro supports full non-English localization of the gallery. You would probably be better off using that gallery.
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