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Installation

Installation is done as with any standard Joomla extension following these steps:

1. Download all files to your PC
2. Use the standard Joomla Extension Manager to install the files.

Note that the component is required to be installed for the module and plugin to work. Both the module and plugin installations are optional.

Using the backend Image browser

The Easy Image Gallery browser can replace Joomla's own media manager to handle all your image management needs and more. You can access the browser in the administrator backend by choosing any option in the Components / Easy Image Gallery menu option. The browser displays a hierarchy of all the directories from your website images/ folder on the left side and the contents of a selected folder on the right.

Folders

The Folders panel enables you to navigate all available folders with just one click. To see a folder contents, click on its name and the contents will appear on the panel to the right. Also, several action icons can appear for a folder. Click on them to perform these tasks on the folder:

	Delete the folder and all its contents.
	Rename or relocate a folder and its contents.
	Add a directory within the selected folder.

Note that some icons might not appear depending on the properties of a folder.

After clicking on an icon, a pop-up window will be shown where you can confirm or enter the details of the action.

On the right side, the contents of the selected folder are shown as thumbnails or as a detail list, you can select the display mode at any time with the following tool bar icons on the top right:

	Thumbnail view.
	Detail view (Joomla classic format)

Thumbnail View

Thumbnails are shown for all images in the folder at once, keep in mind the display may take a few seconds longer the first time while thumbnails are being cached for the first time. Some images might be marked as "Disabled" (see below) and they will appear in a lighter shade of colors.

The standard Joomla filter fields above the images simplify the display of images according to your needs.

Depending on the number of images or your personal preferences, you may want to alter the size of the thumbnails to get a close-up or quick-browsing experience, use the following tool bar icons on the top right to switch thumbnail sizes:

	Small thumbnails.
	Medium thumbnails.
	Large thumbnails.

For an even more personal experience you can set custom thumbnail dimensions by clicking on the icon in the tool bar at the top right to set specific sizes for each thumbnail mode.

Thumbnails are shown according to the current ordering set for the folder images, to change the ordering just drag and drop the thumbnails in the desired order. Clicking on an image will open a pop-up window where you can edit its details or perform several actions (see below).

Detail View

The detail view resembles a classic Joomla list with images properties shown one by line: Clicking on the thumbnail or image filename will open the Image Details pop-up window (see below) but you can also perform other actions within the Detail view such as clicking on the column headers to sort the display of images, or selecting one or more rows and clicking on the following action buttons from the tool bar:

	Enable the image(s) for display on the frontend.
	Disable the image(s) from being shown in the frontend.
	Remove the image(s).

You can also click on the Enable/Disable icon shown on every row and set the image ordering using the standard Joomla methods (be sure to click on the Ordering column header first to enable ordering options).

Image Details

Clicking on an image in the browsing view opens up an Image Details pop-up window where you can edit image properties and/or perform several actions: The buttons at the top allow you to Delete the image, Save field changes or Cancel and go back to the browser view. Also the following fields are user-modifiable (click on Save button to apply changes):

Folder	This is the current folder of the image. You can select a new folder from the drop-down to relocate the image to another folder.
Filename	The name of the image file, you can edit the value to change the filename. This is a required field.
Title	An optional title assigned to the image. This value can be used by display modules on the frontend of the website.
Description	An optional description assigned to the image. This value can be used by display modules on the frontend of the website.
Link	An optional link URL assigned to the image. This value can be used by display modules on the frontend of the website.
Enabled	Enable or disable an image. This settings does not removes a file from your website, it just marks an image as Disabled and will not be included in frontend displays.

Adding more images

Adding more images to your images/ folder can be done in multiple ways: You can use the default Joomla Media Manager, transfer them using an FTP client or using Easy Image Gallery's own upload option:

Just click on the Browse button to select an image file then click on the icon to start the upload. For multiple images, you can put them together in a .ZIP file and upload that file. Easy Gallery will unpack and store the images included.

There is no need to manually update Easy Image Gallery, it will automatically detect any missing or added images by itself.

Showing images on your website

The Easy Image Gallery component can support multiple frontend displays including image slideshows, banner displays and more. It does this by providing a common source of data based on the files and information you entered in the backend administrator pages to be used on separate applications.

By default, Easy Image Gallery provides an implementation of li-slider slideshow JavaScript program featuring over a hundred transitions and many other features (you can read more about li-slider here.) and it is available as a Component View, a Module and a plugin. Each method can be copied and examined to develop your own extensions in an easy way (PHP knowledge is required).

Each Easy Gallery extension provided uses the same group of configuration settings but they have their own set of values. Read about how to enable each extension next and then read about how to configure each option below.

As with any other HTML/CSS content in the dynamic environment of a Joomla site, you must consider the results may vary depending on where on the page you place the slideshow. We have included strong predefined style values but you may want to change them according the specific needs of your site.

Using the Component View

The component view can be accessed by creating a menu option on your website.

Use the standard Joomla Menu Manager to edit and add a menu option then click on the "Select" button in the Menu Item Type field and click on "Image Gallery" option from the "JoomlaXTC Easy Image Gallery" section shown in the pop-up window.

Set all menu options as desired (read below on how to configure the different Gallery options). Once the menu option is saved you can navigate your website and click on it to see the slideshow.

Using the Module

The module extension must be installed first, then it can be configured like any other module in Joomla's Module Manager.

Depending on the settings, you can enable multiple modules at once but keep in mind CSS might conflict between module instances if different skins are used.

Using the Plugin

The content plugin can be embedded in any Joomla Article or other items supporting Joomla content plugins as a custom tag with some special parameters. Being a plugin, all other parameters are set using Joomla's Plugin Manager and are shared among other plugin instances.

The format for the plugin is as follows:

{easygallery folder_path,width,height}

These are the parameters to specify in the tag:

folder_path	The full source folder path within the images folder. For example, to display all images from "images/sampledata/parks/" folder you must specify the value as "sampledata/parks". Disabled images will not be included for display.
width	The width in pixels for slideshow images. Keep in mind the actual size of the display can be different depending on the skin used.
height	The height in pixels for slideshow images. Again, keep in mind the actual size of the display can be different depending on the skin used.

This is an example plugin tag: {easygallery sampledata/parks,640,400}

Once enabled in the Plugin Manager, the plugin will translate the embedded tag into a slideshow of the images from the selected folder path.

Content plugins need careful planning depending on how you set Joomla to display your contents, for example a plugin slideshow gallery might look just great when reading the article in full page but might not look that great if the article is shown in a blog view along with other articles.

Gallery Options

As mentioned before, all extensions share certain groups of settings (since they all use the same slideshow system), this is a complete list of the different configuration parameters available:

These parameters are used to select the source folder along with the image dimensions to use in the slideshow. Other parameters are described below:

Auto Zoom	Some images might have a different aspect ratio than others, which could cause the slideshow to look uneven. This parameter defines the way an image will be rescaled within the dimensions specified. When disabled, the complete image will be rescaled to fit the dimensions area, leaving empty spaces on the sides if needed. When enabled, the image will be zoomed automatically to fit the dimensions without leaving any blank space to the sides. In both cases, the images will keep their original aspect ratios without distortion.
Shuffle	This parameter overrides the sorting order of the folder images to present them in random fashion.
Start Image	Regardless of the image sort order, the slideshow will start at this image. Set a value of 1 to make the slideshow start at the first image.
Skin	The image slideshow can be styled using one of the predefined CSS styles or "skins" available. Select a skin from the drop-down to apply. You can add additional skins in the component skins/ folder.

Gallery Display Options

The slideshow can be configured in many ways using the following parameters, they are arranged in sections for an easy understanding as follows:

Animation

Animation Type	Regular This will perform slideshow transitions using all effects in sequence, one at a time. Random This will perform slideshow transitions effects in random order. Regular-Custom Transition effects are done in sequence according to the value selection of the next field. Random-Custom Transition effects are done in random sequence according to the value selection of the next field. Regular-Exception Transition effects are done in sequence using all but the effects selected in the next field. Random-Exception Transition effects are done in random sequence using all but the effects selected in the next field.
Transitions	Use in conjunction with the previous parameter to specify which transitions to use. You can learn more about how each transition effect works by visiting this page.
Auto Play	Enable or disable automatic slideshow changes.
Delay	How long each image slide will be shown (in milliseconds).
Transition Duration	The duration of the transition effect (in milliseconds).
Vertical Sections	How many columns a transition has (if blinds/squares transition is used).
Horizontal Sections	How many rows has a transition (if blinds/squares transition is used).
Repeat	With this option you can tell the slider how many times to repeat the slides. Use a value of 0 for infinite repeats.

Captions

Enable Captions	Enable or disable image title and description captions to be shown for each image.
Caption Type	Choose the content text for caption area.
Caption Position	Position of caption within the slide.
Caption Animation	The animation direction of the caption when they appear.
Caption Show Time	Time before the captions are shown (in milliseconds).
Caption Delay	How much time before the next slide the caption to disappear (in milliseconds).
Caption Size	Caption size (in pixels). Depending on orientation, this will set the height/width of the caption area. Combine this value with the Font Size parameters below to fine-tune the display according to your needs.
Caption Opacity	Caption background opacity. A decimal number between 0 (transparent) and 1 (opaque).
Title Font Size	Enter the font size for the caption's title (in pixels).
Description Font Size	Enter the font size for the caption's description text (in pixels).

Links

Active Link URLs	To activate or disable link URLs. When enabled, clicking on a slide image that has a Link assigned will open a new browser window for that URL. This parameter must be enabled to activate the Modal modes below.
Modal Mode	When a link is included and the link points to YouTube, Vimeo, an image or QuickTime move, the slider will recognize what is the link type and will display the link in modal window. If you need video support you need to activate PrettyPhoto (also supports images).

User Interface

Timer Display	Select where to show the timer bar for next image display.
Pause on Mouse Over	If the slider is in play mode and you move the mouse over the slider, this option pauses it.
Tooltip	When you hover the small slide buttons, a tooltip will popup. Choose the type of tooltip contents here.
Tooltip Size	Defines the tooltip width size in percents of the slider from 0 to 100. If you use text tooltip and have more text than the width, the tooltip will expand upwards (this is changeable through the skins CSS).
Show Buttons	Show or hide all buttons.
Play/Pause Buttons	Show or hide Play/Pause buttons.
Next/Prev Buttons	Show or hide Next/Prev buttons.
Autohide	Automatically hides the buttons after a certain amount of time if the mouse is not over the slider.
Button Show Time	How long to wait before showing the buttons if they are hidden (in milliseconds).
Button Show Delay	How fast the buttons appear if they are hidden (in milliseconds).
Button Hide Time	How long to wait before hiding the buttons if the mouse is not over the slider (in milliseconds).
Button Hide Delay	How fast to hide the buttons if the mouse is not over the slider (in milliseconds).

Gallery Advanced Options

In addition to the slideshow configuration parameters, the following settings enhance the functionality of the Gallery: Please notice the Advanced options area differ on included standard Joomla features between extensions types.

Gallery Advanced Options

Load jQuery

Select what copy of jQuery library to load. This setting is important if there are already another extension loading the javaScript jQuery library. Easy Image Gallery is programmed according to the recommended jQuery standards to function along other jQuery programs, however not all developers follow the rules and could cause javaScript conflicts if their program is not friendly to others. In an environment such as Joomla where multiple extensions can coexist, this is one of the main causes of javaScript failures.

Customizing the Gallery

Adding new display types is easy. Just upload your images into a folder and let Easy Image Gallery do the management for you!

There are two main ways to customize the gallery output, keep in mind a certain level of HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript knowledge may be required to develop some of the more advanced customizations.

Adding new Skins

The easiest way to add a new skin is to copy one of the built-in skin CSS files and adapt it to your desired style. Just locate the corresponding folder in the components/com_jxtceasyimage/skins/ folder and make a copy with a different name. The new skin folder will be included automatically in the Skin parameter options for you to choose.

Skins are CSS-based, so just edit the skin.css file as you wish and put any custom images in the skin's images/ folder.

Adding new display modes

Adding new display modes may require editing HTML, PHP, CSS and/or javaScript code. You can code additional Joomla extensions to use Easy Image Gallery information, just include a few lines of code in your program:

require_once JPATH_ROOT.DS.'administrator/components/com_jxtceasyimage/support/helper.php';
$images = ezimgHelper::getImages('samples/demoimages');
			

The first line will enable Easy Image Gallery functions in your extension, and the second line is an example of how you can obtain the list of images from a folder.

You most probably have a loop where you want to include the URL of each image, so in order to obtain the corresponding image URL take a look at the following sample code:

foreach ($images as $image) {
  $url = ezimgHelper::getCacheFile($image,$width,$height,$zoom)
}
			

The second line above will return the complete URL of a rescaled image. Just feed an image object (as returned from the getImages() call), the desired width and height, and whether to Zoom or not the thumbnail as 0 (no) or 1 (yes) values.

The module extension contains commented code with more detail about image object properties. An easy way to add additional module displays is to just copy the "default.php" file with a different name and select it in the module's Alternative Layout parameter.

Additional Views & Modules

Besides the basic view, Easy Image is constantly updated with new slideshows. Here is a reference for other available modes:

Slideshow

Basic Gallery Options

Image Folder	Choose an image folder from your server.
Width	The width of the slideshow.
Height	The height of the slideshow.

Display Options

Layout	Select a layout to use. Add custom layouts to the tmpl folder of the view/module.
Slide Delay	The delay between image transitions.
Transition Type	Select a transition effect to use.
Transition duration	The duration of the transition effect.
Enable links?	Enable or disable image links (if available).
Enable loop?	Makes the slideshow work in a continuous loop mode.
Start in pause mode?	Makes the slideshow start in pause mode.
Auto Zoom	Automatically zooms images to fit the slideshow area when needed.
Enable Thumbnails	Enable or disable thumbnail navigation
Thumbnail width	Thumbnail width (in pixels).
Thumbnail height	Thumbnail height (in pixels).
Caption type	Choose the contents for the caption area.
Caption height	Set the height of the caption area (in pixels).
Caption opacity	Set the caption area transparency.
Title font size	The height for title text font (in pixels).
Description font size	The height for description text font (in pixels).
Caption Delay	Delay to show the caption after the image is shown (in milliseconds).

UnoSlider

Based on a popular slideshow engine, this mode offers a great variety of transition effects with support for captions and animated layers in a responsive markup ideal for mobile devices.

Basic Options

Image Folder	Choose an image folder from your server.
Width	The width of the slideshow.
Height	The height of the slideshow.
Theme	Select a view style for the slideshow. Place additional themes in the themes folder of the component view directory.
Auto Zoom	Automatically zooms images to fit the slideshow area when needed.
Enable Captions	Disable or enable captions and their contents.
Enable links	Enable or disable image links (if available).

Navigation Options

Show Indicator	Enables or disables the position indicator.
Autohide Indicator	Makes the indicator dissapear after a while.
Show Navigation	Enables or disables the navigation buttons display.
Autohide Navigation	Makes the navigation buttons dissapear after a while.
Autohide Next	Includes the Next button on navigation autohide.
Autohide Previous	Includes the Previous button on navigation autohide.
Autohide Play	Includes the Play button on navigation autohide.
Autohide Stop	Includes the Stop button on navigation autohide.

Slideshow Options

Enable Slideshow	Enables animated slideshow mode
Slide effects	Select one or more effects to use for image transitions.
Randomize effects	Apply the selected effects in a random order, or sequentially
Speed	Duration of the transition effect.
Timer	Enables or disables a graphic timer for the next image.
Hover pause	Stops the slideshow on mouse hover.
Continuous	Enable or disable slideshow after a manual change.
Infinite	Makes the slideshow work in a continuous loop mode.

Certain transition animations are applied in blocks, use these settings to fine-tune how they work:

Animation Options

Vertical Blocks	Set the number of vertical blocks.
Horizontal Blocks	Set the number of horizontal blocks.
Duration	Duration of the animation (in milliseconds).
Delay	Delay from block to block (in milliseconds).
Transition / Variation	Type of block animation / variation. This sets the animation style for each block on the image.
Pattern / Direction	Transition pattern / direction. This sets the block order for animation.
Flash Color	Set the color to use for flash effect.

Advanced Options

Animated Layers	If enabled, image description contents will be shown as animated layers (see below).
Layers CSS	Custom CSS required for animated layers (see below).
Load jQuery	Select the method to load jQuery library.
Alternative Layout	Select any alternative layouts you may have.
Module Class Suffix	A CSS class to be assigned to the module (see Joomla documentation).
Caching	Select caching method (see Joomla documentation).
Cache Time	Cache life time ((see Joomla documentation).

Animated Layers

As explained above, UnoSlider can display animated layers. This requires certain markup code to be present on image descriptions (you can edit them with Easy Image component) where you define the animation method for each one. In addition to that, your content overlays will require CSS code for visual styling and positioning.

To setup an animated ayer, you must set the image description with certain HTML markup, for example:

<div class='unoslider_layers'> 
	<div class='slide_right example1'>This will slide in from left to right</div> 
	<div class='slide_left example2'>This will slide in from right to left</div> 
	<div class='slide_top example3'>This will slide in from bottom to top</div> 
	<div class='slide_bottom example4'>This will slide in from top to bottom</div> 
	<div class='fade example5'>This will just fade in</div> 
	<!-- you can use whatever you want, not just a text --> 
	<div class='fade image'><img src='image.jpg' /></div> 
</div> 

Notice the different classes applied to each block: slide_right, slide_left, slide_bottom, slide_left and fade. These classes define the animation method for the block.

To define the position for each block within the slideshow area, you must specify this by using additional CSS markup such as this:

			.example1 { 
			  color: #cccccc; /* font color */ 
			  font-size: 23px; /* font size */ 
			  position: absolute; /* IMPORTANT for positioning */ 
			  top: 30px; /* 30px from top side */ 
			  left: 50px; /* 50px from left side */ 
			}
			

Set the corresponding CSS statements according to your needsand include this markup in the Layers CSS parameter or add to your existing template CSS file.

Please notice this feature is unique to UnoSlider mode and will not work or even break on other slideshow modes.

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