tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-226302602011-10-27T20:12:53.178-07:00This is the home page for the Google Flickr Picture Viewer. Its a google homepage module I threw together in my spare time that lets you choose flickr pictures to view and navigate on your google homepage.Paul Russellnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22630260.post-1140242518013926952006-02-17T22:00:00.000-08:002006-02-23T18:27:02.326-08:00<div class="maintext"> <div class="toc"> <table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <br> <ol> <li> <a href="#whatandhow">What It Does and How It Works</a> </li> <li> <a href="#installation">Installation &amp; Quick Start</a> </li> <li> User Preferences </li> <ul> <li> <a href="#search">Pictures by Search</a> </li> <ul> <li> Search (check box)</li> <li> Search: screen name</li> <li> Search: tags(, separated)</li> <li> Search: uid </li> <li> Search: # of pics </li> </ul> <li> <a href="#favorites">Pictures by Favorites</a> </li> <ul> <li> Favorites (check box)</li> <li> Favorites: screen name</li> <li> Favorites: uid </li> <li> Favorites: # of pics </li> </ul> <li> <a href="#interesting">Pictures by Intresting</a> </li> <ul> <li> Interesting (check box)</li> <li> Interesting: # of pics </li> </ul> <li> <a href="#moduletitle">Module Title</a> </li> </ul> <li> <a href="#navigation">Navigation</a> </li> <li> <a href="#bummers">Bummers</a> </li> <li> <a href="#licenseandwarrantee">License &amp; Warranty</a> </li> <li> <a href="#feedback">Send Feedback</a> </li> </ol> </td> <td width="*" align="right" valign="middle"><a style="border:none;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/russelldad/95956337/" title="Photo Sharing"><img style="margin-right:2em;border:solid gray 1px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/19/95956337_3b6a05c298_o.jpg" width="373" height="421" alt="google_flickr_viewer_screenshot_02" /></a> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <a name="whatandhow" ></a> <h2>What It Does and How It Works</h2> <p> This Google ig module lets you choose groups of Flickr images to have randomly displayed on your homepage. You can select images using any combination of the three main features <a href="#search">Search</a>, <a href="#favorites">Favorites</a> and <a href="#interestign">Interesting</a>. </p> <p> As soon as it loads on the page this module collects info about pictures from Flickr based on picture criteria you provide in the user preferences. Then it randomly displays 1 or 2 images randomly selected from the image info it got from Flickr. The number of images displayed depends on the size of the images. The module will fit as many pictures as possible without running out of vertical space... </p> <a name="installation" ></a> <h2>Installation &amp; Quick Start</h2> <ol> <li> Goto <a href="http://www.google.com/ig">http://www.google.com/ig</a> and sign in (top right)</li> <li> Click on "Add Content" on the top left of the page.</li> <li> Click on "Create a Section" on the resulting left menu.</li> <li> Enter the url to the <a href="http://russelldad.googlepages.com/google_flickr_viewer_v1.0.xml">google_flickr_viewer_v1.0.xml</a> module into the "Create a Section" text box and click "Go". You can get the url by clicking on this text box and copying the text <input style="font-size: 0.85em;" size="90" onclick="javascript:this.focus();this.select();" value="http://russelldad.googlepages.com/google_flickr_viewer_v1.0.xml" type="text"> </li> <li> You'll get a mild warning message about the fact that Google didn't write this module... Click "OK" unless you think I'm evil... I'm not, but if I were I probably wouldn't admit it here.</li> <li> Once installed just follow the onscreen instructions to start viewing your pictures.</li> </ol> <h3>Quick Start</h3> To get started fast: <ol> <li> Click edit at the top of the module</li> <li> Check the search box</li> <li> Enter "russelldad" for the "Search: screen name"</li> <li> Enter "googleigold" for the "Search: tags"</li> <li> Click save</li> </ol> You should see a bunch of my Flickr pictures. You can change the user preferences to see almost any picture on Flickr. Keep reading if you want to know how all the user preferences work. <a name="search" ></a> <h2>Search Feature &amp; User Preferences</h2> <p> The Search feature lets you get the latest images uploaded to Flickr filtered by the Screen Name of the user that posted them and/or Tags that are applied to the pictures. There are 5 user preferences (available via the edit link at the top of the module) that control the behavior of the Search feature. Each contains "Search" as the first word in the preference name. </p> <ul> <li> <span class="up">Search (checkbox):</span> This is the on/off switch for the Search feature. To collect images by Search, check this box. If this box is not checked, regardless of the settings for the following Search user preferences, no images will be displayed using Search. </li> <li> <span class="up">Search: screen name:</span> This user pref takes a single <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/signin/#113">Flickr screen name</a>. When a screen name is provided the search results will only provide pictures that were posted by that user. If no screen name is provided search will choose from all of the public pictures posted to Flickr. </li> <ul> <li> <span class="upref">Search: screen name</span> and <span class="upref">Search: tags</span> can be used together to select pictures posted by a specific person tagged with specific tags. </li> <li> If you're not sure what someone's screen name is look at one of their pictures. You'll see their screen name next to the words "posted by". </li> </ul> <li> <span class="up">Search tags:(, separated):</span> This user preference take a comma separated list of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/tags/">Flickr tags</a>. When a tag or tags (comma separated) are provided, only pictures tagged with one or more of the provided tags will be displayed. If no tags are provided, search will choose from pictures with any tag. </li> <ul> <li> <span class="upref">Search: screen name</span> and <span class="upref">Search: tags</span> can be used together to select pictures posted by a specific person tagged with specific tags. </li> <li> If you're not sure what someone's <span class="upref">Search: screen name</span> is look at one of their pictures. You'll see their screen name next to the words "posted by". </li> <li> If you're not familiar with tags definitely read Flickr's <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/help/tags/">tag FAQ</a>. </li> </ul> <li> <a name="searchuid" ></a> <span class="up">Search: uid:</span> (power users only) Proper use of this user preference can shorten the time it takes for images to display. Improper use may drive you mad. In order to do a Flickr search by screen name, Flickr requires the super secret Flickr userID that relates to that screen name... That means before the search can happen this module needs to ask Flickr what the super secret Flickr userID for that screen name is. Once the module knows, only then can it do the search. Unfortunately the userIDs are not easy for people to remember (example: 22987453@N00 ). If you like your pictures to load faster, you can provide the userID instead of the screen name. It should cut the lookup time in half. There are two ways to find the screen name: </li> <ul> <li> Check the Search feature, enter screen name, and click save. After the pictures display. click help (bottom right). The userID for the screen name you provided will appear at the bottom of the help. </li> <li> View a Flickr picture and look in the url for something that looks like 22987453@N00<br> IMPORTANT: If you ever want to change users. you should delete any value you have in the userID field as it overrides anything you type in the screen name field. </li> </ul> <li> <span class="up">Search: # of pics:</span> This user preference determines how many unique pictures will be collected from flickd during the search. It has a maximum of 500, minimum of 1, and it defaults to 100. Collecting images from Flickr is time consuming. The higher the number you provide, the longer it will take Flickr to display pictures. On the other hand, the smaller the number, the more likely you’ll see the same pictures over and over... Life is all about balance... </li> </ul> <a name="favorites" ></a> <h2>Favorites Feature &amp; User Preferences</h2> <p> Favorites lets you get the latest <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/favorites/">Flickr favorites</a> for a given screen name. There are 4 user preferences (available via the edit link at the top of the module) that control the behavior of the Favorites feature. Each contains "Favorites" as the first word in the preference name. </p> <ul> <li> <span class="up">Favorites (checkbox):</span> This is the on/off switch for the Favorites feature. To collect images by Favorites, check this box. If this box is not checked, regardless of the settings for the following Favorites user preferences, no images will be displayed using Favorites </li> <li> <span class="up">Favorites: screen name:</span> This user preference takes a single <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/signin/#113">Flickr screen name</a>. That screen name's favorite photos will be displayed. This is most commonly used to view the pictures you've marked as favorites. </li> <li> <a name="favoritesuid"></a> <span class="up">Favorites: uid:</span> (power users only) Proper use of this user preference can shorten the time it takes for images to display. Improper use may drive you mad. In order to do a Flickr search by screen name, Flickr requires the super secret Flickr userID that maps to that screen name... That means before the search can happen this module needs to ask Flickr what the super secret Flickr userID for that screen name is. Once the module knows, only then can it look up that user's favorites. Unfortunately the userIDs are not easy for people to remember (example: 22987453@N00 ). If you like your pictures to load faster, you can provide the userID instead of the screen name. It should cut the lookup time in half. There are two ways to find the screen name: </li> <ul> <li>Check the Favorites feature, enter screen name, and click save. After the pictures display, click help (bottom right). The userID for the screen name you provided will appear at the bottom of the help. </li> <li> View a Flickr picture and look in the url for something that looks like 22987453@N00. </li> </ul> <li> <span class="up">Favorites: # of pics:</span> This user preference determines how many unique favorites pictures will be collected from Flickr. It has a maximum of 500, minimum of 1, and it defaults to 100. Collecting images from Flickr is time consuming. The higher the number you provide, the longer it will take Flickr to display pictures. On the other hand the smaller the number, the more likely you’ll see the same pictures over and over... Life is all about balance... </li> </ul> <a name="interesting" ></a> <h2>Interesting Feature &amp; User Preferences</h2> <p> Interesting lets you get the latest <a href="http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/">Interesting pictures</a> from Flickr. There are 2 user preferences (available via the edit link at the top of the module) that control the behavior of the Interesting feature. Each contains "Interesting" as the first word in the preference name. </p> <p> <div class="warning"><span class="warningword">WARNING:</span> Interesting pictures may offend some audiences... Flickr pictures are identified as interesting based on a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/">complex Flickr algorithm</a> which keys off the viewing behavior of other people that use Flickr. What some people find interesting, others may find offensive... Some of the pictures you will see via the interesting feature include, but are not limited to: </p> <blockquote><i> bubbles, sunsets, naked people, clothed animals (not really offensive, but definitely strange), close up shots of all sorts us stuff (eyeballs, crayons, flowers, shoes), cute kids, old people, snow drifts, antique furniture and much more... It's the naked people that most people get hung up on... </i> </blockquote> <p> If you are offended by any or all of these things, or are planning to show your Google IG web page to a group of neo-conservatives I strongly recommend you do not use the Interesting feature. </p> </div> <ul> <li> Interesting (checkbox): This is the on/off switch for the Interesting feature. To display Flickr's recent pictures, check this box. If this box is not checked, regardless of the settings for the following Interesting user preferences, no images will be displayed using Interesting. </li> <li> Interesting: # of pics: This user preference determines how many unique Interesting pictures will be collected from Flickr. It has a maximum of 500, minimum of 1, and it defaults to 100. Collecting images from Flickr is time consuming. The higher the number you provide, the longer it will take Flickr to display pictures. On the other hand, the smaller the number, the more likely you’ll see the same pictures over and over... Life is all about balance... </li> </ul> <a name="moduletitle" ></a> <h2>Module Title</h2> <p> This user preference lets you change the title that appears at the top of the module. I tried really hard to come up with a good name, but all of the descriptive ones can be a little dull to look at day after day, so I leave it to you the user to come up with the module name you want to see at the top of your chosen pictures. Change it as often as you like... </p> <h2>Navigation</h2> <p> Once the module loads and displays pictures, you may want to see some other random pictures from your selection. To do so click on the word "random" at the bottom of the module. Back &lt;&lt; and forward &gt;&gt; navigation is also available to pictures you have already viewed. </p> <a name="bummers" ></a> <h2>Bummers</h2> <p> With all the user preferences available to be used in different combinations, it's likely that this module will run into a problem either with the user preferences people provide, or with Flickr. Sometimes when Flickr gets really busy it <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/website/#121">acts weird</a>. Not to worry, if something goes wrong, the module will display any images it can. You'll be alerted to any problems by the appearance of the word bummer at the bottom of the module. Just click on the word bummer to see an explanation of what went wrong and what you can do to fix it. </p> <p> Want to see bummers in action? Check the Search feature and type in <tt>"ksjdakjsdhksjdlkajsdlk"</tt> for a screen name. Then click save. One bummer coming right up. </p> <a name="licenseandwarrantee" ></a> <h2>License &amp; Warranty </h2> <p> This module is provided without any guarantee. I hope it will make you happy. If not, please stop using it immediately. You are free to take the source code and use it in any way you like as long as you do something nice for someone else in return. Pay it forward... </p> <a name="feedback" ></a> <h2>Sending Feedback or Reporting Bugs</h2> <p> Feedback can be sent to me at <i>parussel+googleig (at) gmail.com</i>. Thanks, praise, undying adoration and even bug reports are welcome. </p> <p> Unless you're a close friend or relative of mine, feature requests are unlikely to be implemented. I need to get on to all my other projects... </p> <span class="signature"> Share and Enjoy, <br> Paul </span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/22630260-114024251801392695?l=googleflickrpictureviewer.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Paul Russellnoreply@blogger.com6