Organizing Collection -- Software Help needed?

[Bill M]

I need some software help. I am trying to organize my collection with one page per item, and table of contents. Word for Windows may be able to do this. I can go to PowerPoint, but would rather not.

I LIKE WORD FOR WINDOWS and want to use it if possible.

I can make a Table of Contents that will allow me some flexibility. I can first group by countries and then by piece.

I want to have one big picture on a page , a description and thumbnails of other views of the piece.

My biggest problem is that I would like to have thumbnails of other views that I can click on and bring up enlarged pictures.

I can go to other software if needed.

Presently I am making pictures and have an excel spreadsheet keyed to each picture number.

This is cumbersome.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Bill

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

My biggest problem is that I would like to have thumbnails of other views that I can click on and bring up enlarged pictures.

Hi Bill:

I think you can do that by inserting a Hyperlink from the thumbnail to the larger file located on a drive attached to your computer. The pathway would need to be specified correctly in that hyperlink. According to the Help File on my version of MS Word for Mac OSX, it is possible to insert hyperlinks for graphics or text within a document.

I've not tried it with graphics yet. What I have done instead is have a short text title (immediately adjacent to the thumbnail) that is hyperlinked to the larger file. Not as elegant as clicking on the thumbnail but it works fine.

Ian.

[joshualayne]

Hi Bill,
You may want to check out "Gallery" - a PHP-based photo gallery software that allows you to add descriptions to photos and group by album (and nest albums)

I know there are hosting providers who provide Gallery pre-installed for a few bucks a month, but I don't know any off the top of head - I would use google and see what you come up with.

What you are describing as your 'requirements' really steers you towards a web site and while it would be possible to build by hand, would be a nightmare to maintain - gallery will be easy AND you can share your collection over the internet, should you choose to. (you can also lock it down so only authorized users can see it, if that's the way you want to go)

HTH,
j.

[tsubame1]

Hi Bill. What about MS Frontpage ? You'll end up with an e-book that you can even publish on the Net via FTP. It allows to create a gallery with small thumbnails (different views of the same item) you can put aside of the main picture or wherever you want in the page. You're not tied to a Word standard page lenght and allows a lot of customizations in background (different from each country of provenance ?). First page should be the summary.
I've made my e-book this way and works fine by years.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by joshualayne

Hi Bill,
You may want to check out "Gallery" - a PHP-based photo gallery software that allows you to add descriptions to photos and group by album (and nest albums)

I know there are hosting providers who provide Gallery pre-installed for a few bucks a month, but I don't know any off the top of head - I would use google and see what you come up with.

What you are describing as your 'requirements' really steers you towards a web site and while it would be possible to build by hand, would be a nightmare to maintain - gallery will be easy AND you can share your collection over the internet, should you choose to. (you can also lock it down so only authorized users can see it, if that's the way you want to go)

HTH,
j.

I very much like the look,organization and layout of Gallery. The drawback to web publishing is that the image files are small and don't have the definition I want.

Hoping to find something that has the layout of Gallery, but I can use on my computer.

Also would like to be able to make CDs that I could send to other collectors that could have at least a viewer installed.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by tsubame1

Hi Bill. What about MS Frontpage ? You'll end up with an e-book that you can even publish on the Net via FTP. It allows to create a gallery with small thumbnails (different views of the same item) you can put aside of the main picture or wherever you want in the page. You're not tied to a Word standard page lenght and allows a lot of customizations in background (different from each country of provenance ?). First page should be the summary.
I've made my e-book this way and works fine by years.

Hi,

This looks good, but can I make a CD and send it to other people -- and they can view it without having to buy Frontpage?

Part of my organization is for my insurance company. I have pics on a CD, but it is very cumbersome.

I REALLY like the whole layout of nested albums and pages that the Gallery layout has.

[tsubame1]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

Hi,

This looks good, but can I make a CD and send it to other people -- and they can view it without having to buy Frontpage?

Part of my organization is for my insurance company. I have pics on a CD, but it is very cumbersome.

I REALLY like the whole layout of nested albums and pages that the Gallery layout has.

Yes Bill. He makes HTML pages so everybody that have an html browser will be able to open them. You save the pages and related folders (images go there) on the CD as "Data" and the reader can choose which one to open accordingly to the title. If you make as first page the summary with hyperlinks to the others is even easier for the reader. usually Frontpage makes a folder called "Web" in which it put everything you create for that specific project. You can obviously re-name the main folder in "My collection".
You can even add an autorun program that open the main page automatically, but you need another program to make this.

If you don't want to purchase Frontpage make a search for "HTML editors"
there are freeware that are good enough to make what you're serching for.
Take a look here : http://www.tucows.com/search?search_...h_size_multi=b
Search for freeware. Should be there something useful and free with the same capacities of frontpage you're serching for, but free.
If you know how "to crack" a program or where to find a crack for it, nothing better then Frontpage IMHO.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by tsubame1

Yes Bill. He makes HTML pages so everybody that have an html browser will be able to open them. You save the pages and related folders (images go there) on the CD as "Data" and the reader can choose which one to open accordingly to the title. If you make as first page the summary with hyperlinks to the others is even easier for the reader. usually Frontpage makes a folder called "Web" in which it put everything you create for that specific project. You can obviously re-name the main folder in "My collection".
You can even add an autorun program that open the main page automatically, but you need another program to make this.

If you don't want to purchase Frontpage make a search for "HTML editors"
there are freeware that are good enough to make what you're serching for.
Take a look here : http://www.tucows.com/search?search_...h_size_multi=b
Search for freeware. Should be there something useful and free with the same capacities of frontpage you're serching for, but free.
If you know how "to crack" a program or where to find a crack for it, nothing better then Frontpage IMHO.

Thanks again Tsubame1,

I will take look at Frontpage. may be worth buying.

I am doing beta testing on the new MicroSoft Office Suite 2007 and they have a program called "Publish" that may be like Frontpage.

I tried Frontpage a few years back when I bought an Internet business called "Shah Jahans." Was going ot use it to set up a website. Found it a bit complicated. But with your kind assistance I may be able to make it work for what I want, this time.



Perhaps we should carry on this conversation in private email and when I get some good answers. I'll post them.

[katana]

Originally Posted by tsubame1

If you know how "to crack" a program or where to find a crack for it, nothing better then Frontpage IMHO.

NAUGHTY ....NAUGHTY......

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by katana

NAUGHTY ....NAUGHTY......

Ah, ah, AH . . . . . KAZAA!

Sorry, I may have sneezed!

[Alam Shah]

Bill,

How about giving Google's Picasa2 a shot?
http://picasa.google.com/download/index.html

It's free, easy to use and supports the requirements that you've mentioned.
I like it very much.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by joshualayne

Hi Bill,
You may want to check out "Gallery" - a PHP-based photo gallery software that allows you to add descriptions to photos and group by album (and nest albums)

I know there are hosting providers who provide Gallery pre-installed for a few bucks a month, but I don't know any off the top of head - I would use google and see what you come up with.

What you are describing as your 'requirements' really steers you towards a web site and while it would be possible to build by hand, would be a nightmare to maintain - gallery will be easy AND you can share your collection over the internet, should you choose to. (you can also lock it down so only authorized users can see it, if that's the way you want to go).

Yup, it's a cool software, KampungNet Keris Gallery is using this software. Easy to use and quite addictive...

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Alam Shah

Bill,

How about giving Google's Picasa2 a shot?
http://picasa.google.com/download/index.html

It's free, easy to use and supports the requirements that you've mentioned.
I like it very much.

I like it, but can not figure out how to do nested albums. I would like to have several levels.

Country (overall folder/album) [Main category]
type of artifact, Kris, barong, etc [Sub category to Main]
particular piece (18th c Duble fuller twistcore) and a description of the piece

So far I can only see how to make an one album with no sub-albums inside it. If you have a way to do this, I would really appreciate your input.

"Gallery" seems to have this problem also. I can see a picture that I can click to get into the page where someone's weapons are represented.

But even there it seems like all the pieces are just represented without sub-categories.

Being an eclectic collector I have pieces from many different countries. So I need a lot of categories and sub-categories.

[joshualayne]

hmm, I would have sworn I used nested albums with gallery - unfortunately, I don't currently have mine up and running to demonstrate that point - I replaced it with a wordpress-integrated gallery.

Having everything run from a CD does make the application server option not as attractive, as all parsing on a CD is done by the browser - it won't invoke an application server like PHP.

sorry for the red herring with gallery - I am just VERY reluctant to get anywhere near hand-maintained sites, as I did it as a career for 5 years - not my favorite thing so that bias comes through in my recommendations.

j.

[tsubame1]

Hi Bill. Alam Shah's suggestion seems a good free program for your needs.
Anyway if you already have Frontpage and want to try it we can figure out how to make your "site" together.
I've sent you my e-mail. Let me know.

Cheers.

[tsubame1]

Originally Posted by katana

NAUGHTY ....NAUGHTY......

"Astalavista" rocks....

[ErnestoJuan]

Hi guys,

Being a senior sys admin / systems developer for a NYSE listed company, I have now and then created websites out of the blue using a free, open source program called NVU. I love it.
Believe me, being an infrastructure and systems focused guy that I am, this piece of software works like a charm! No need to have programming skills whatsoever: it just does the job! It is out there for Linux, Mac and Windows.
I suggest you give it a try. Here's the url:

http://www.nvu.com

Ernesto.

edit: I have to add this; knowing that hacking Windows based systems is a piece of p*ss..

when connecting to a site like astalavista, being forwarded to search results, better be sure as a Windows user to have a fully protected system. Before you know it, your system might be infected with trojans and spyware etc. So, if using Windows, here are some basic tips from me to make your system more secure:

do you have a hardware firewall / dsl router with firewall / cable router with firewall capabilities? Do you use the standard XP SP2 software based firewall on top of your router firewall? Good. Even better use an additional 3rd party one. Do you use Firefox instead of Internet explorer? Yes? Good. Do you have anti-spyware software installed? ( use both microsoft defender & Spybot search and destroy ). By the way, you do use anti virus software, don't you?

Have you uninstalled the " microsoft file & printer sharing" from your network stack? Have you disabled the remote registry service? Have you disabled the " tcp/ip netbios" helper? Do you frequently update your os with the latest security patches?

Just my two euro cents.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

I like it, but can not figure out how to do nested albums. I would like to have several levels.

Country (overall folder/album) [Main category]
type of artifact, Kris, barong, etc [Sub category to Main]
particular piece (18th c Duble fuller twistcore) and a description of the piece

Being an eclectic collector I have pieces from many different countries. So I need a lot of categories and sub-categories.

When using Picasa2, the categories and sub-categories can be divided by using Windows Explorer - Windows folder/directory structure. Sort-out what you want and use Picasa2 to edit/enhance/sort/label them accordingly. As always, some planning is required to form the structure of the repository.

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

So far I can only see how to make an one album with no sub-albums inside it. If you have a way to do this, I would really appreciate your input.

"Gallery" seems to have this problem also. I can see a picture that I can click to get into the page where someone's weapons are represented.

But even there it seems like all the pieces are just represented without sub-categories..

When using Gallery, the KampungNet is just an example of what is possible... You can create many nested albums and sub-albums as required within a single album, but at KgNet, the structure is simplified... we don't want people to traverse sub-album after sub-album, do we? But nevertheless, the feature is there and functional.

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by ErnestoJuan

... edit: I have to add this; knowing that hacking Windows based systems is a piece of p*ss..

when connecting to a site like astalavista, being forwarded to search results, better be sure as a Windows user to have a fully protected system. Before you know it, your system might be infected with trojans and spyware etc. So, if using Windows, here are some basic tips from me to make your system more secure: ...

Being an IT infrastructure, security and systems focused guy myself, I'll use a VM software (eg: MS Virtual PC ... etc) to go to sites like these... not that I frequent this type of sites, but like Ernesto pointed out, due care and diligence is a must to survive these type of sites.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Alam Shah

When using Picasa2, the categories and sub-categories can be divided by using Windows Explorer - Windows folder/directory structure. Sort-out what you want and use Picasa2 to edit/enhance/sort/label them accordingly. As always, some planning is required to form the structure of the repository.

Since I believe that it has value to others that we continue this discussion on the Forum, instead of private email, I would like you to please clarify the above.

Small baby steps, please!

I tried to find a Picassa album and build a Windows folder/directory structure under it. Can't find the album.

Should I begin by building a directory structure, using windows explorer based as follows:

Main Folder: Collection
sub folder under Main "Collection" folder -- Philippine Islands
sub folder under "Philipine Islands" -- Kris
sub folder under "Kris" -- 18th C twistcore