Mailing List Archive: Bricolage: devel

Uploading Multiples

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david at kineticode

Apr 10, 2009, 10:28 AM

Post #1 of 18 (2866 views)
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Uploading Multiples

Fellow Bricoleurs,

I have a client who uses Bricolage to manage photo galleries. They're
tired of the old pattern of adding image subelements one-at-a-time in
a story profile. What they really want to be able to do is upload all
of the photos at once and have all the necessary subelements created
for them.

So I've started thinking about how I might implement this without
fundamentally changing how Bricolage works. I have a few thoughts, but
I'm quite unsure about them; please do reply with your ideas, too.

First, there is the issue of uploading more than one file at a time.
Right now, you can only upload one file at a time, because then you
need to edit the resulting Media document. Even if you upload a file
as part of a subelement, you have to edit the Media document (or at
least save it) before you get back to the story. Allowing the upload
of multiple files at once (or of an archive of files) would change
this: A whole bunch of media files would have to be created at once.
If the user wanted to change anything about them, they'd then have to
edit each one.

But I think we can mostly work around this kind of thing by adding a
new Bulk Create page (better names sought). It would basically look
just like the current Create Media page, only it'd allow multiple
files and/or archives to be uploaded. We could use [DOM tricks][] to
make it easy to add a bunch of files at once, and put checkboxes next
to those that look like archives (ending in .zip, .gz, or .bz2). Then,
when the form is submitted, the user is returned to her workspace,
with all of the new media documents there. We could even have a "Check
into" select list so that all the created media could just be checked
into a desk when the form is submitted, so it's all done in one fell
swoop.

[DOM tricks]: http://the-stickman.com/web-development/javascript/upload-multiple-files-with-a-single-file-element/

I think that this is a decent idea for an interface; a trickier
interface is allowing something like this for a gallery-type document.

So I think that the key here is some sort of generalized interface for
adding multiple subelements at once. Perhaps there is a second select
list that has a list of elements that one can add multiples of. When
you select one from this, list, you enter the number of elements you
want, and it adds them. If the subelement supports related media,
you'd be given the option to upload one or more files and the number
of subelements would correspond to the number of files you uploaded
(which would be created via the multiple media document upload
thingy). Then the editor could add the appropriate captions and whatnot.

So I'm not sure how I'd make that look, in terms of providing the
option for adding multiple elements at once. Suggestions?

And what do you think of the idea overall? Would you use this? Do you
have other ideas for how this sort of thing might work? Let me know!

Thanks,

David

D-Beaudet at NGA

Apr 10, 2009, 12:19 PM

Post #2 of 18 (2793 views)
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RE: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

The easiest user experience would be an interface that lets the user
select multiple files at once and since the browser doesn't allow for
that, but unfortunately, that requires either Flash or an Applet.

Is something like one of these or equivalents out of the question?

http://www.uploadify.com/demo/ (the demo appears to be broken under
Flash 10)

http://jupload.sourceforge.net/

D-Beaudet at NGA

Apr 10, 2009, 12:31 PM

Post #3 of 18 (2787 views)
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RE: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

More along the lines of your specific suggestion, if you were going to
view a list of files that had been uploaded and put a check next to the
ones to import, maybe an FTP or WebDAV interface would work best for
doing the actual upload.

What fields are in the sub-elements? Does this data exist elsewhere,
can it be created in bulk from some data source, or is it manually
created necessarily in Bricolage? Do the fields in the sub element
exist in IPTC headers of the image files themselves?

david at kineticode

Apr 10, 2009, 1:29 PM

Post #4 of 18 (2791 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

The [DOM links] link in my last post looks great, and it's just simple
JavaScript DOM manipulation.

[DOM tricks]: http://the-stickman.com/web-development/javascript/upload-multiple-files-with-a-single-file-element/

Best,

David

On Apr 10, 2009, at 12:19 PM, Beaudet, David wrote:

>
> The easiest user experience would be an interface that lets the user
> select multiple files at once and since the browser doesn't allow for
> that, but unfortunately, that requires either Flash or an Applet.
>
> Is something like one of these or equivalents out of the question?
>
> http://www.uploadify.com/demo/ (the demo appears to be broken under
> Flash 10)
>
> http://jupload.sourceforge.net/
>
>
>
>

D-Beaudet at NGA

Apr 10, 2009, 5:57 PM

Post #5 of 18 (2789 views)
Permalink

RE: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

I agree it looks fine, but you cannot select multiple files at once. If there are > 5 or so files, that's going to be a pain to have to click browse, then select file, then add every time, no?

-----Original Message-----
From: David E. Wheeler [mailto:david[at]kineticode.com]
Sent: Fri 4/10/2009 4:29 PM
To: devel[at]lists.bricolage.cc
Subject: Re: Uploading Multiples

The [DOM links] link in my last post looks great, and it's just simple
JavaScript DOM manipulation.

[DOM tricks]: http://the-stickman.com/web-development/javascript/upload-multiple-files-with-a-single-file-element/

Best,

David

On Apr 10, 2009, at 12:19 PM, Beaudet, David wrote:

>
> The easiest user experience would be an interface that lets the user
> select multiple files at once and since the browser doesn't allow for
> that, but unfortunately, that requires either Flash or an Applet.
>
> Is something like one of these or equivalents out of the question?
>
> http://www.uploadify.com/demo/ (the demo appears to be broken under
> Flash 10)
>
> http://jupload.sourceforge.net/
>
>
>
>

david at kineticode

Apr 10, 2009, 7:21 PM

Post #6 of 18 (2788 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 10, 2009, at 5:57 PM, Beaudet, David wrote:

> I agree it looks fine, but you cannot select multiple files at
> once. If there are > 5 or so files, that's going to be a pain to
> have to click browse, then select file, then add every time, no?

Yeah�

David

david at kineticode

Apr 10, 2009, 7:26 PM

Post #7 of 18 (2780 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 10, 2009, at 7:21 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Apr 10, 2009, at 5:57 PM, Beaudet, David wrote:
>
>> I agree it looks fine, but you cannot select multiple files at
>> once. If there are > 5 or so files, that's going to be a pain to
>> have to click browse, then select file, then add every time, no?
>
> Yeah�

Supporting an archive file is the only way I can see to work around
that without adding a Flash dependency. But maybe that's not so bad if
we can use something like Uploadify (jQuery, but hey, whadyagonnado?).

Thoughts?

David

phillip at communitybandwidth

Apr 19, 2009, 7:48 AM

Post #8 of 18 (2732 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On 10-Apr-09, at 11:26 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Apr 10, 2009, at 7:21 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:
>
>> On Apr 10, 2009, at 5:57 PM, Beaudet, David wrote:
>>
>>> I agree it looks fine, but you cannot select multiple files at
>>> once. If there are > 5 or so files, that's going to be a pain to
>>> have to click browse, then select file, then add every time, no?
>>
>> Yeah�
>
> Supporting an archive file is the only way I can see to work around
> that without adding a Flash dependency. But maybe that's not so bad
> if we can use something like Uploadify (jQuery, but hey,
> whadyagonnado?).
>
> Thoughts?

Either approach sounds good. Perhaps it can be a configuration option,
i.e., either the archive file, or the Flash uploader, or both.
Admittedly, for < 5 media assets, the Flash uploader is probably going
to be easier for non-technical users, and for > 5 the archive would
probably be faster.

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

david at kineticode

Apr 19, 2009, 10:02 PM

Post #9 of 18 (2728 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 19, 2009, at 7:48 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:

> Either approach sounds good. Perhaps it can be a configuration
> option, i.e., either the archive file, or the Flash uploader, or
> both. Admittedly, for < 5 media assets, the Flash uploader is
> probably going to be easier for non-technical users, and for > 5 the
> archive would probably be faster.

I doubt if it'd be much faster. Users are usually uploading images,
which are generally already pretty compressed. So creating the archive
will require more work.

Best,

David

phillip at communitybandwidth

Apr 20, 2009, 8:29 AM

Post #10 of 18 (2722 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On 20-Apr-09, at 2:02 AM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Apr 19, 2009, at 7:48 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:
>
>> Either approach sounds good. Perhaps it can be a configuration
>> option, i.e., either the archive file, or the Flash uploader, or
>> both. Admittedly, for < 5 media assets, the Flash uploader is
>> probably going to be easier for non-technical users, and for > 5
>> the archive would probably be faster.
>
> I doubt if it'd be much faster. Users are usually uploading images,
> which are generally already pretty compressed. So creating the
> archive will require more work.

True enough.

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

marshall at mroch

Apr 20, 2009, 9:37 AM

Post #11 of 18 (2724 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 20, 2009, at 11:29 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:

>
> On 20-Apr-09, at 2:02 AM, David E. Wheeler wrote:
>
>> On Apr 19, 2009, at 7:48 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:
>>
>>> Either approach sounds good. Perhaps it can be a configuration
>>> option, i.e., either the archive file, or the Flash uploader, or
>>> both. Admittedly, for < 5 media assets, the Flash uploader is
>>> probably going to be easier for non-technical users, and for > 5
>>> the archive would probably be faster.
>>
>> I doubt if it'd be much faster. Users are usually uploading images,
>> which are generally already pretty compressed. So creating the
>> archive will require more work.
>
> True enough.

Selecting 30 images to zip is a lot faster with drag and drop in the
OS than browsing for each one individually in a file dialog... the
compression isn't the important thing.

What if there was just one uploader, and you could upload 5 things at
a time, but if one of those was an archive, it asked if you wanted to
extract it?

--
Marshall

david at kineticode

Apr 20, 2009, 3:27 PM

Post #12 of 18 (2712 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 20, 2009, at 9:37 AM, Marshall Roch wrote:

> Selecting 30 images to zip is a lot faster with drag and drop in the
> OS than browsing for each one individually in a file dialog... the
> compression isn't the important thing.
>
> What if there was just one uploader, and you could upload 5 things
> at a time, but if one of those was an archive, it asked if you
> wanted to extract it?

I expect to support both.

David

marshall at mroch

Apr 20, 2009, 4:13 PM

Post #13 of 18 (2718 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 20, 2009, at 6:27 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Apr 20, 2009, at 9:37 AM, Marshall Roch wrote:
>
>> Selecting 30 images to zip is a lot faster with drag and drop in
>> the OS than browsing for each one individually in a file dialog...
>> the compression isn't the important thing.
>>
>> What if there was just one uploader, and you could upload 5 things
>> at a time, but if one of those was an archive, it asked if you
>> wanted to extract it?
>
> I expect to support both.

That's good. My point was just that forcing the user to choose between
two different interfaces is bad, when one interface can do both.

--
Marshall

phillip at communitybandwidth

Apr 22, 2009, 6:16 AM

Post #14 of 18 (2702 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On 20-Apr-09, at 8:13 PM, Marshall Roch wrote:

> On Apr 20, 2009, at 6:27 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:
>
>> On Apr 20, 2009, at 9:37 AM, Marshall Roch wrote:
>>
>>> Selecting 30 images to zip is a lot faster with drag and drop in
>>> the OS than browsing for each one individually in a file dialog...
>>> the compression isn't the important thing.
>>>
>>> What if there was just one uploader, and you could upload 5 things
>>> at a time, but if one of those was an archive, it asked if you
>>> wanted to extract it?
>>
>> I expect to support both.
>
> That's good. My point was just that forcing the user to choose
> between two different interfaces is bad, when one interface can do
> both.

+1

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

david at kineticode

Aug 17, 2009, 3:41 PM

Post #15 of 18 (1599 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Apr 10, 2009, at 10:28 AM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> I have a client who uses Bricolage to manage photo galleries.
> They're tired of the old pattern of adding image subelements one-at-
> a-time in a story profile. What they really want to be able to do is
> upload all of the photos at once and have all the necessary
> subelements created for them.

Point is moot now, since the client unfortunately went out of
business. :-(

Anyone else interested in sponsoring this feature?

Best,

David

phillip at communitybandwidth

Aug 23, 2009, 10:03 AM

Post #16 of 18 (1549 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On 17-Aug-09, at 7:41 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Apr 10, 2009, at 10:28 AM, David E. Wheeler wrote:
>
>> I have a client who uses Bricolage to manage photo galleries.
>> They're tired of the old pattern of adding image subelements one-at-
>> a-time in a story profile. What they really want to be able to do
>> is upload all of the photos at once and have all the necessary
>> subelements created for them.
>
> Point is moot now, since the client unfortunately went out of
> business. :-(
>
> Anyone else interested in sponsoring this feature?

Sorry for the slow response. I think it's an interesting feature, if I
understand it correctly. Basically, it's:

* Upload a .zip full of photos
* Those photos are un-archived and created media assets that are then
related to the current story

I guess the use-case is a bit less useful now that the UI is
AJAXified, and adding sub-elements is less of a pain. But, still, I'd
be interested to hear what you're thinking.

Phillip.

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

Attachments:

smime.p7s (2.38 KB)

david at kineticode

Aug 23, 2009, 2:51 PM

Post #17 of 18 (1547 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On Aug 23, 2009, at 10:03 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:

> Sorry for the slow response. I think it's an interesting feature, if
> I understand it correctly. Basically, it's:
>
> * Upload a .zip full of photos
> * Those photos are un-archived and created media assets that are
> then related to the current story

Yes, plus support a Flash-based multi-upload widget.

> I guess the use-case is a bit less useful now that the UI is
> AJAXified, and adding sub-elements is less of a pain. But, still,
> I'd be interested to hear what you're thinking.

Um, I described it [here](http://marc.info/?l=bricolage-devel&m=123938453223267
), plus ensuing discussion.

Best,

David

phillip at communitybandwidth

Sep 1, 2009, 1:13 PM

Post #18 of 18 (1389 views)
Permalink

Re: Uploading Multiples [In reply to]

On 23-Aug-09, at 6:51 PM, David E. Wheeler wrote:

> On Aug 23, 2009, at 10:03 AM, Phillip Smith wrote:
>
>> Sorry for the slow response. I think it's an interesting feature,
>> if I understand it correctly. Basically, it's:
>>
>> * Upload a .zip full of photos
>> * Those photos are un-archived and created media assets that are
>> then related to the current story
>
> Yes, plus support a Flash-based multi-upload widget.
>
>> I guess the use-case is a bit less useful now that the UI is
>> AJAXified, and adding sub-elements is less of a pain. But, still,
>> I'd be interested to hear what you're thinking.
>
> Um, I described it [here](http://marc.info/?l=bricolage-devel&m=123938453223267
> ), plus ensuing discussion.

Just finished re-reading the thread... Approximate investment require
for the "sponsorship"?

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

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