MultiAlbum Function: Bug, incorrect use or actual status of script?

[cgc0202]

Hi,

I am trying to figure out how the MultiAlbum actually works, or rather how its use will affect the presentation of the photos in category-album path. Here is an example:

For a group of photos taken by the photographer, each of the photos has these general keywords (individual photos would have more specific keywords):

EricinSF  Strybing

"Strybing"  is the keyword for the album "Strybing Arboretum" and its path is:

        Home > Introduction > Arboretums and Botanical Gardens > Strybing Arboretum

"EricinSF" is the  keyword for the album "Eric in SF", the photographer of the photos shown.  And, the path to the album is:

       Home > Photographers > E > Eric in SF

Ideally,  I would like to place all the photos taken by a photographer, e.g., "Eric in SF" in his album, including the photos he took, for example in "Strybing Arboretum".  As expected, if this presentation was chosen, all the photos placed in "Eric in SF" show up in the random presentations for the categories "E"  " Photographers" and "Home". 

Initially, all the photos taken in "Strybing Arboretum" were placed in "Eric in SF", a total of "489".  However, based on the Keyword use to set up the Multialbum presentation of a single photo, I expected that I would see all of the same photos (i.e., as part of the random photos) when I click on any of the categories leading to the album link "Strybing Arboretum" path:

        Home > Introduction > Arboretums and Botanical Gardens > Strybing Arboretum

In fact, no random photo was showing  in the categories "Arboretums and Botanical Gardens" and "Introduction" -- leading to the album  "Strybing Arboretum" -- as was observed in the parallel

       Home > Photographers > E > Eric in SF

The "file count" was also zero, for   "Strybing Arboretum" -- even if there were potentially 489 files that could be tagged with "Strybing" (note only a few dozens were tagged  with "Strybing" for this demo).  Thus, a visitor would not even venture down towards the album thinking that there are no files; and this impression would be reinforced by the absence of photos in the categories leading to  "Strybing Arboretum" .

I double-checked the keyword and configuration for the "Strybing Arboretum" album.  They appeared OK, so as a further test, I seeded the  "Strybing Arboretum" with one photo from one of the photos originally placed in the  "Eric in SF" album.  [The process reduced by one the photos placed in the  "Eric in SF" album, i.e., down to "488".  This is a significant observation, as will be presented later.]

After that, clicking on the aforementioned category-album path presented only a single photo (the one placed in "Strybing Arboretum") appeared in each of the categories leading to categories-album path:

       Introduction > Arboretums and Botanical Gardens > Strybing Arboretum

It is only when one clicks at the link  (or the folder icon of) "Strybing Arboretum" that  all the photos that have been tagged with "Strybing" gets presented. 

This status gives a distorted impression when the Coppermine (CPG)  is used also in taxonomic classification of organisms, in the same Coppermine Gallery as the above alternative presentation of the photos. The way to avoid this is for the individual photos to be  placed in their respective genus (or species) album, e.g.,  Leucadendron, as primary album location:

Home > Taxonomy & Phylogenetics > Tracheobionta > Magnoliophyta > Magnoliopsida > Rosidae > Proteales > Proteaceae > Leucadendron

If Leucadendron was chosen as the primary album folders for those associated with this genus, then those photos in the Leucadendron will appear as part of the random photos in all the categories shown above.

However, if the genus (or species) album is chosen as primary album location of the individual photos, the alternative "category to album" path presentations of the photos will appear empty (until the album itself is clicked), as discussed above. The way this was avoided was to "seed the albums" in these alternative presetations with photos not included in the taxonomic album location. 

In all cases, the statistics (i.e., the  "file count" for each album) will be incorrect in any of the albums.  For example, the photographer's album (Eric in SF) will have all the 489 photos displayed in the album, but will have zero to low value number for its "file count", if most of the photos were placed primarily in other albums, and not in "Eric in SF" album as their primary location.  Similarly, all the other albums are likely to have undercounted "file count", e.g., "Strybing Arboretum" will have low "file count" because most photos that belong to "Strybing Arboretum"  were placed in the  genus (or species) album as primary album location. 

Even the  "file count"  for the taxonomic albums (if they were chosen as primary photo repositories) would be undercounted because of the need to seed the alternative "category-album" path presentations -- as discussed above.

While a correct  "file count"  is important, it is the inappearance of the tagged photos as part of the random photos presented in the categories leading to an album (containing mostly "tagged photos") that is more critical -- especially when category to album path is quite deep (e.g.,  taxonomic presentation path show above).

cgc0202

N.B.

There are more photos in the "Strybing" album now as more photos were placed there as primary location but nowhere near the total that were tagged with  "Strybing" that would appear in the "Strybing" album, once the link is clicked.

[Paver]

First, I have to admit I haven't read your entire post yet.  It's good that you have been very thorough in describing your situation and question, but it's a bit hard to follow without the pages at hand.  Is it possible for you to link a few pages that exemplify each of your points?

Secondly, after setting the keyword in the album properties, if you want the file count to include "linked files" (which are files linked into the album by a keyword), you need to set "Show number of linked files" under "Album list view" on the config panel to "Yes".  Maybe you did this; I just want to make sure you have.

Thirdly - as an aside - I personally want to overhaul the keyword system because it seems to me to be very inefficient for use with a large number of keywords & photos.  I also want to tag all my photos appropriately and use that information in categorization and searches.  That being said, I don't know when I'll get to it.

[cgc0202]

Thanks Paver,

First, I have to admit I haven't read your entire post yet.  It's good that you have been very thorough in describing your situation and question, but it's a bit hard to follow without the pages at hand.  Is it possible for you to link a few pages that exemplify each of your points?

May I send the links to you in private?  The photos I am experimenting with are not mine.  They are in "Creative Commons" but as a matter of courtesy, it would be nice to show them in public after I have at least shown it to the photographer first and request his permission. [I have not done that yet, because the site is still too crude and in a temporary location.]

Secondly, after setting the keyword in the album properties, if you want the file count to include "linked files" (which are files linked into the album by a keyword), you need to set "Show number of linked files" under "Album list view" on the config panel to "Yes".  Maybe you did this; I just want to make sure you have.

No, I generally do not place the counts to show in the album itself. But, in the summary table, on the right side is the summary of files (photos).  Let me try what you suggest though.

Thirdly - as an aside - I personally want to overhaul the keyword system because it seems to me to be very inefficient for use with a large number of keywords & photos.  I also want to tag all my photos appropriately and use that information in categorization and searches.  That being said, I don't know when I'll get to it.

I agree with you that it would be good to envision key words in terms of large files and categories and albums. Consider this, for example.  From ITIS, (http://www.itis.usda.gov/itis_phy.html)  if you just take the Animal Kingdom, there are at more than 43,000 categories alone.

cgc0202

[Paver]

Sure, you are welcome to send the links to me by private message.  I'll see what I can contribute to this discussion after looking at the links.

[cgc0202]

Thanks Paver,

Sure, you are welcome to send the links to me by private message.  I'll see what I can contribute to this discussion after looking at the links.

I just sent you the link. 

By the way, you may miss this just looking at the categpry listing (at the bottom of the page).  There are two other albums under the  "Taxonomy and Phylogenetics" category (please see note below).  The category path to the two albums will be evident once you click on the photos, at the higher category level. [The primary location of  each of the two photos are the two albums, to demonstrate how they look in the standard format of CPG, as opposed to "virtual photos" associated with the "Multialbum" feature.]

These two albums do not show in the statistics of "files and folders" because they are well-embedded in the cat-subcats.  This is the reason for the incorrect total of "files and folders" showing on the right side compared with the total "files and folders"  shown at the bottom.  I reported this anomaly about the statistics a long time ago as a feature request:

http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=30627.msg141755#msg141755

but it was ignored.  I am not sure if the anomaly of the statistics (even in a "non-multialbum" gallery) is related to or relevant to the incorrect statistics shown in the MultiAlbum gallery I showed you (please check private mail). 

But, statistics aside, the inappearance of all the "Strybing" photos in the category path to the album is definitely an issue in the MultiAlbum feature, for reasons discussed in the first post.

Ideally, if the Multi-album and keyword features are working properly, the merger of the "random" photos two different albums (under the Taxonomy category) at higher category levels, and their subsequent divergence at much lower category levels is what you will see in the normal presentation of the Copermine.  This is a crictical test that must be met by the "Multi-album and keyword" feature if it is working properly. Right now, that does not happen.

cgc0202

N.B.

This is a related issue but not germane to the primary issue raised here.  For the demo page I sent you, I just showed two albums in the "Taxonomy and Phylogenetics" category, under a category-subcategory sequence.  Hypothetically, there could be more than 43,000 categories-subcategories for Plant Taxonomy alone, and there could be more albums (if taken to the species level).  But that is difficult and confusing to implement and administer that with the current way categories and albums are created and ordered in CPG -- the list would just be too long.