Brilliant post indeed! ,

Thank you for the work you have put into this post,

It helps clear up some questions I will bookmark your blog because your posts are very informative

Keep up the good luck !

I imported my photoblog from some other software, so the metadata for the photos isn't quite kosher for the old posts.

I was able to get the size of the thumbs using

<code>wp_get_attachment_image_src($post->ID, 'thumbnail', false)</code>

Which outputs an array containing the image file URL [0], width [1], height [2]. That, in combination with your code to remove the extension and add the thumbnail dimensions to the filename works very nicely.

In regards to the lightbox, it depends where you want the lightbox. If you want a gallery of thumbnails and you want the lightbox on those then you'd have to run the output through a string replacement or preg_replace() function to insert a rel="gallery" type attribute in each link. Probably search for '<a href' and replace it with '<a rel="value" href' would work. It's not something I've tried as my own WP driven gallery is set up to have the individual page for each large image plus its description and EXIF data, plus comments.

However the str_replace() should work easily enough if you're at all familiar with a bit of basic PHP. Glad to hear you're digging into WordPress, it's not so bad once you've got your head into the Codex!

after a bit of searching, I came across get_children(), where you can specify attachment type.

The code:

$images =& get_children( 'post_type=attachment&post_mime_type=image' );

might be a tighter way of getting your image list from the post.

Cheers,

Roger

p.s. you've got me digging a lot deeper into WP than I would have done otherwise (your post was a bit of a 'eureka moment' for me)

thanks, this should be really useful in a magazine site I'm developing for a client.

How would the code cope if the attachments include pdf files as well as images? Is there anyway to distinguish between attachment types?

I'm planning to integrate your code ideas with a script that automatically resizes images on the fly (I need more sizes than the thumbnail, medium and full defaults). I'll let you know how that goes.

A further question: is it simple to integrate lightbox? i.e. so that clicking on images displayed using the gallery shortcode, are rendered in lightbox.

Thanks,

Roger

if (is_single()) :
global $post;
$categories = get_the_category();
$catID = $categories[0]->cat_ID;

if ($attachments) {
foreach ($attachments as $attachment) {
$imgid = $attachment->ID;
$meta = wp_get_attachment_metadata($imgid);
// output your EXIF here for each photo
}
}
endif;
endif;


To break it down, first it checks if you’re on a single post page. If so then it sets up the $post details to be used and gets the category of the post. Then it checks if the category is the correct ID, if so it gets all attachments for that post and loops through each one and sets up the $meta variable for use to access the EXIF data, which you can then add in yourself using the info I’ve listed.

Hopefully that will do what you need? Let me know how it goes

I guess yesterday I didn't quite explain myself in enough detail, as re-reading what I put, I seemed to confuse myself! What you described (making 1 category solely for front-page images and excluding it from the initial blog roll) I'm already doing!

After much deliberation, I've decided to use my 'front' page area seperately from my blog, and employed PixelPost to power that side. As messy as it is, it seems to allow me to keep all areas of my website seperate, and that benefits me mentally, more than anything.

This theming business, and php endif() zero 1, 2 DEATH – It's just sooo much to grasp. I really, really appreciate your articles – they've helped me no end

Thanks again Sarah,

Grant.

Okay, answer to your first question. If the post is in a specific category then you can use the in_category() function to check if the post is in that category, if it is then grab the attachment IDs associated with that post and make them global (eg. in an array) and then you can access that in your sidebar and grab the details you need. However if you have more than a couple of photos your sidebar will become quite long.

If the post isn't in a specific category but it does contain an image then it's a bit tricker. It is possible but with this being your first week of coding and second week of WordPress I don't want to baffle you (although I've probably already done that!). To be honest, the easiest solution would be to create a new category that you always mark off when you've got a photo in your post, then use the solution above. You don't have to show this category on the front end as you can exclude it from the wp_list_categories() function (see my earlier post on how to do that). That would be the easiest option and probably the one I'd use.

For your second question, if I've got this right, you essentially want your front page to randomly display a daily image and then you have next and previous to the next and previous images in the daily image category? (by the way your link didn't work for me). You may need to set your front page to use that specific category as the front page, then use query_posts() to make it retrieve a random post (use orderby=rand or something similar) and set the number of posts to 1. Then theoretically your next and previous links will automatically display the next and previous posts in that category. It's not something I've tried though.

Easiest option is to try putting those into practice and then if you only get so far (so it doesn't work as hoped), post up in the blogging tips forums with your code plus working links, and I can take a better look and see what may need altering.

Hopefully that makes sense!

Your posts have been the closest thing to me getting my Blog just how I’d like it, but I’m in a bit of a pickle in terms of how to overcome my next hurdle. There are 2 things I’m trying to do at the moment, and I’m finding it nigh on impossible to solve them.

Firstly, I’m wanting to have a conditional sidebar that displays the EXIF information ONLY if the post includes a photograph (or, in an easier case, if the post resides in the ‘Daily Image category) Currently the EXIF post you made helps me when viewing the ‘attachment’ page, but not a single post.

I’ve been thinking that what I need to do, is create a variable that retrieves any attachement id’s in the post, and wrap that in a conditional piece of code that only displays it if it’s in a certain category. If you take a look at http://photogrant.co.uk/blog/?p=82 and see the difference between that (and then click on the image that links to its attachment page) – you’ll notice the first only displays the fact I wrote the article, and where I’ve placed it, but not the exif information of the photograph I uploaded.

Secondly, and I’d hate to burden you with another problem – I’ve got this image displaying on my own home page, that utilises the ‘loop’ in that I’m filtering the content to display 1 picture on the home page, and nothing else. What I’m trying to implement, is a way to click a link, and have the previous post in that category displayed instead. Now, the way in which it’s done at the moment, the previous_post_link goes to the blog area, and the single_post that’s chronologically previous to the one on the home page. I’m trying to keep within the confines of index.php and have that display the previous post. instead of linking elsewhere? Is that possible? The idea is here http://www.photogrant.co.uk/index.php

I’m sorry if all of the above made no sense at all. I’ve only had wordpress for 2 weeks, and coded only for 1, I’m trying to pick up the lingo and the likes as fast as I can!

Much appreciated,
Grant.

what i want to do is to have the gallery main page list out the galleries so from what you have said i just make a page template and use the loop and make it get the child pages of the page it is on