Organizing a photo drive
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I've been tasked with organizing a photo drive for my church. We've been given a Dell computer with Windows XP Home and a 76 GB hard drive that could be used to store the images. I am looking for a low cost software solution that can meet the following requirements: Allow users to upload multiple images efficiently. (not one at a time) Allow users to enter metadata for the pictures to help keep track of them. Store the images in raw format (doesn't shrink them). Easy to use for users uploading images. Naturally, an off the shelf solution would be ideal. I haven't found such a product. Not having IIS limits my options. I was thinking I could install an FTP server on the computer and I could write an application that would get input from the user and upload the images, but this would require the user to download and run the program, and I fear that some of the inexperienced users might have troubles with this. If I was to do this, would there be a way to make this easier by creating an application that would run in the browser? What technologies would facilitate this? I'm not afraid to learn anything, but I need to be able to program it in less than say 20 hours or so ( I know c# well, but know just enough web programming to be dangerous.) I'm not opposed to using an online service, as long as users aren't required to register and the images sizes are preserved. Any suggestions? Kevin Shaffer www.kevinshaffer.net
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I've been tasked with organizing a photo drive for my church. We've been given a Dell computer with Windows XP Home and a 76 GB hard drive that could be used to store the images. I am looking for a low cost software solution that can meet the following requirements: Allow users to upload multiple images efficiently. (not one at a time) Allow users to enter metadata for the pictures to help keep track of them. Store the images in raw format (doesn't shrink them). Easy to use for users uploading images. Naturally, an off the shelf solution would be ideal. I haven't found such a product. Not having IIS limits my options. I was thinking I could install an FTP server on the computer and I could write an application that would get input from the user and upload the images, but this would require the user to download and run the program, and I fear that some of the inexperienced users might have troubles with this. If I was to do this, would there be a way to make this easier by creating an application that would run in the browser? What technologies would facilitate this? I'm not afraid to learn anything, but I need to be able to program it in less than say 20 hours or so ( I know c# well, but know just enough web programming to be dangerous.) I'm not opposed to using an online service, as long as users aren't required to register and the images sizes are preserved. Any suggestions? Kevin Shaffer www.kevinshaffer.net
Shaffer wrote:
Not having IIS limits my options.
To using the Apache webserver? ;P
Shaffer wrote:
I was thinking I could install an FTP server on the computer and I could write an application that would get input from the user and upload the images, but this would require the user to download and run the program, and I fear that some of the inexperienced users might have troubles with this. If I was to do this, would there be a way to make this easier by creating an application that would run in the browser?
An ASP.NET application would indeed be a good fit; no installation issue's, no fuss with different operating systems and/or missing frameworks. If the server is accessible over HTTP (your remark on using FTP suggests that it is), then I'd go for a webserver and .aspx-pages.
Shaffer wrote:
Any suggestions?
One of the Club Site Starter Kits[^] might be a good starting point to build on.
I are Troll :suss:
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I've been tasked with organizing a photo drive for my church. We've been given a Dell computer with Windows XP Home and a 76 GB hard drive that could be used to store the images. I am looking for a low cost software solution that can meet the following requirements: Allow users to upload multiple images efficiently. (not one at a time) Allow users to enter metadata for the pictures to help keep track of them. Store the images in raw format (doesn't shrink them). Easy to use for users uploading images. Naturally, an off the shelf solution would be ideal. I haven't found such a product. Not having IIS limits my options. I was thinking I could install an FTP server on the computer and I could write an application that would get input from the user and upload the images, but this would require the user to download and run the program, and I fear that some of the inexperienced users might have troubles with this. If I was to do this, would there be a way to make this easier by creating an application that would run in the browser? What technologies would facilitate this? I'm not afraid to learn anything, but I need to be able to program it in less than say 20 hours or so ( I know c# well, but know just enough web programming to be dangerous.) I'm not opposed to using an online service, as long as users aren't required to register and the images sizes are preserved. Any suggestions? Kevin Shaffer www.kevinshaffer.net
You could check out www.hotscripts.com or google "PHP photo sharing" or "ASP photo sharing". If you want to write your own solution and IIS is a limitation. You could use Tomcat or Apache and write a PHP scripts to do what you want.
FolderTrack
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Shaffer wrote:
Not having IIS limits my options.
To using the Apache webserver? ;P
Shaffer wrote:
I was thinking I could install an FTP server on the computer and I could write an application that would get input from the user and upload the images, but this would require the user to download and run the program, and I fear that some of the inexperienced users might have troubles with this. If I was to do this, would there be a way to make this easier by creating an application that would run in the browser?
An ASP.NET application would indeed be a good fit; no installation issue's, no fuss with different operating systems and/or missing frameworks. If the server is accessible over HTTP (your remark on using FTP suggests that it is), then I'd go for a webserver and .aspx-pages.
Shaffer wrote:
Any suggestions?
One of the Club Site Starter Kits[^] might be a good starting point to build on.
I are Troll :suss:
I didn't realize that Apache could serve .aspx pages. I've googled the setup. Does this work well? Would I be putting myself through a lot of pain trying? If I wrote a special purpose ftp program, could I write it as an active X control and embed it within the webpage? Would Silverlight be an option for this? I couldn't figure out if the FTPRequest object was supported in Silverlight (without trying of course).
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I didn't realize that Apache could serve .aspx pages. I've googled the setup. Does this work well? Would I be putting myself through a lot of pain trying? If I wrote a special purpose ftp program, could I write it as an active X control and embed it within the webpage? Would Silverlight be an option for this? I couldn't figure out if the FTPRequest object was supported in Silverlight (without trying of course).
Shaffer wrote:
I didn't realize that Apache could serve .aspx pages. I've googled the setup. Does this work well? Would I be putting myself through a lot of pain trying?
It's not as easy as installing WinZip, but it's no rocketscience either; installing Apache with ASP.NET support is described here[^]. Cassini[^] might be an alternative.
Shaffer wrote:
If I wrote a special purpose ftp program, could I write it as an active X control and embed it within the webpage?
In theory, yes, but it would cause a lot of pain with security and permissions. I'd go for the FileUpload[^]-control :)
Shaffer wrote:
Would Silverlight be an option for this?
From what I've heard here, it would be an option. I haven't Silverlighted yet, so I can't say whether it's a painless solution.
I are Troll :suss: