Configuration - Multimedia

Part of: GEDCOM Configuration

Enable Multimedia Features

GEDCOM 5.5.1 allows you to link pictures, videos, and other multimedia objects into your GEDCOM. These links will be shown in the GEDCOM file using the OBJE tag (Example shown below which points to Media item No 6).

1 OBJE @M6@

The link will point to the media items reference number which will be contained in the GEDCOM file in the format shown below. (Please note in this case the media depth is set to 0.)

0 @M6@ OBJE
1 FILE media/Example.jpg
2 FORM jpg
3 TYPE photo
2 TITL Example Photo
1 _PRIM Y
1 _THUM N
1 CHAN
2 DATE 04 FEB 2006

If you do not include multimedia objects in your GEDCOM, you can disable the multimedia features by setting this value to No.

General

Keep Links

When a multimedia link is found starting with for example http://, ftp://, mms:// it will not be altered when set to Yes. For example, http://www.myfamily.com/photo/dad.jpg will stay http://www.myfamily.com/photo/dad.jpg. When set to No, the link will be handled as a standard reference and the media depth will be used. For example: http://www.myfamily.com/photo/dad.jpg will be changed to ./media/dad.jpg

Multimedia Directory

The path indicated in this setting must be set as a readable and writable directory. This is where PhpGedView will store media files (ensure you include the trailing "/" in this setting). PhpGedView does not require this directory's name to be "media". You can choose any name you like. When entering this directory its location is relative to your phpGedView directory. That is, in the example shown it will be a directory "media" contained in the phpGedView directory. It is recommended, however, to use the default setting media/ unless you have some specific reasons to move it somewhere else.

Important: The directory must be accessible to the webserver so must exist within a directory the webserver can access.

The table below gives examples of legal and illegal locations of the media directory, assuming that your PhpGedView installation is in /home/www/phpgedview directory. The examples include relative and absolute paths of files to assist in configuration. The relative path is what you type in the Multimedia Directory field.

Legal Media Paths

Absolute path	Relative path	Comments	Legal
/home/www/phpgedview/media	media/	default	Yes
/home/www/phpgedview/pictures/media/	pictures/media/		Yes
/home/www/media	../media/		Yes
/home/media	../../media/	not accessible to webserver	No
/home/www/pictures/phpgedview	../pictures/phpgedview		Yes

With version 4.1.2 there is a new feature, Media Firewall, which allows you to protect the images from being accessed directly. Only the first two examples, default and the pictures/media forms will work with Media Firewall.

Multimedia Directory levels to Keep

This setting allows you to select the depth of directories within your defined media folder/directory.

Depth Value = 0

In this case ALL files are contained in the media directory

media_directory|--File 1
               |--File 2
               |--File 3

Depth Value = 1

This will allow the user some ability to organise their files to avoid overwritting files with the same name etc.

media_directory|--Directory 1|--File 1
                             |--File 2
                             |--File 3
               |--Directory 2|--File 1
                             |--File 2
                             |--File 3

In this case directories could be created for indiviuals, family groups, media type and the the list goes on.

Depth Value = 2

This will allow even greater segrgation of files by directory/folder structure.

media_directory|--Directory 1|--Directory A|--File 1
                                           |--File 2
                                           |--File 3
                             |--Directory B|--File 1
                                           |--File 2
                                           |--File 3
                |-Directory 2|--Directory C|--File 1
                                           |--File 2
                                           |--File 3
                             |--Directory D|--File 1
                                           |--File 2
                                           |--File 3
               

A value of 0 will ignore all directories in the file path for the media object. A value of 1 will retain the first directory containing this image. Increasing the numbers increases number of parent directories to retain in the path.

For example, if you link an image in your GEDCOM with a path like C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Pictures\Genealogy\Surname Line\grandpa.jpg, a value of 0 will translate this path to ./media/grandpa.jpg. A value of 1 will translate this to ./media/Surname Line/grandpa.jpg, etc. Most people will only need to use a 0. However, it is possible that some media objects kept in different directories have identical names and would overwrite each other when this option is set to 0. Non-zero settings allow you to keep some organization in your media thereby preventing name collisions.

Width of Generated Thumbnails

This is the width (in pixels) that the program will use when automatically generating thumbnails. The default setting is 100.

Automatically Generated Thumbnails

Should the system automatically generate thumbnails for images that do not have them. Your PHP installation might not support this functionality.

Use Thumbnail

This option determines whether images associated with persons, families, or sources are shown by using a thumbnail image or whether the main image is used. Several pages, such as the Media Viewer page, also honor this setting. The Manage Media and Media List pages, on the other hand, always use the thumbnail.

When this option is set to Yes, all pages, except the Charts, will show the thumbnail image exactly as it is in the database. This means that no size checks are performed, and if the thumbnail is larger than normal, the display results can be surprising.

When this option is set to No, your browser will reduce the main image to thumbnail size before showing it on the Person, Family, and Source pages. This image will have a width of 150 pixels, and will be shown with a border (when the existing thumbnail is used, there is no border). The Media Viewer page will show the main picture with a maximum width of 300 pixels. If the main picture is smaller, the Media Viewer will show it in full size.

You should avoid setting this option to No because PhpGedView will send the full-sized image to the browser even when the browser will be showing a smaller version. Thus, this option can result in excessive data transfer between PhpGedView and the browser.

Show Highlight Images in People boxes

If you have enabled multimedia in your site, you can have PhpGedView display a thumbnail image next to the person's name in charts and boxes.

Currently, PhpGedView uses the first multimedia object listed in the GEDCOM record as the highlight image. For people with multiple images, you should arrange the multimedia objects such that the one you wish to be highlighted appears first, before any others. Needs replacement reference MarekZ 07:48, 6 April 2008 (EST)

Use Media Viewer

When this option is Yes, clicking on images will produce the Media Viewer page. This page shows the details of the image. If you have sufficient rights, you can also edit these details.

When this option is No, clicking on images will produce a full-size image in a new window.

Use Thumbmail for Main Picture on Individual Page

Depending on how you want to store your images, it may be better for you to use thumbnails for the picture next to the name on the Individual page.

If your main images are very large, they can take a long time to download and if your thumbnails are high enough quality they could be used in place of the full resolution image. Set this item to Yes to use thumbnails or leave it as No to use the full resolution image. Note:' this feature is removed in version 4.1.4

Show File Name in Media Viewer

The Media Viewer can show the name of the Media file being viewed. This option determines whether that file name is shown to users or not.

You may want to hide the file name for security reasons.

Show download link in Media Viewer

The Media Viewer can show a link which, when clicked, will download the Media file to the local PC.

You may want to hide the download link for security reasons.

Media Firewall

Media Firewall enforces your PGV privacy settings. Without the Media Firewall, PGV can "hide" the urls to your private media items, but if someone figures out the right urls they can easily view them. The Media Firewall ensures that nobody can view your confidential images.

Media Firewall can also watermark your images to make it harder for someone to take and post them on another site. You can choose to watermark images for only certain user types, if you wish.

Use Media Firewall

Select if you want to use the Media Firewall feature

Media Firewall Root Directory

Directory in which the protected Media directory can be created. When this field is empty, the default index directory will be used.

Protect Thumbnails of Protected Images

When an image is in the protected Media directory, should its thumbnail be protected as well?

Who can view non-watermarked images?

If the Media Firewall is enabled, users will see watermarks if they do not have the privilege level specified here. see Privacy File for list of privileges.

Add watermarks to thumbnails?

If the Media Firewall is enabled, should thumbnails be watermarked? Your media lists will load faster if you don't watermark the thumbnails.

Store watermarked full size images on server?

If the Media Firewall is enabled, should copies of watermarked full size images be stored on the server in addition to the same images without watermarks?

When set to Yes, full-sized watermarked images will be produced more quickly at the expense of higher server disk space requirements.

Store watermarked thumbnails on server?

If the Media Firewall is enabled, should copies of watermarked thumbnails be stored on the server in addition to the same thumbnails without watermarks?

When set to Yes, media lists containing watermarked thumbnails will be produced more quickly at the expense of higher server disk space requirements.