HOWTO: Your own photo hosting site

ericc · 01-20-2007, 06:21 PM

I started writing this about a year ago but circumstances and politics on DPR annoyed me to the point that I stopped working on it. I'm presenting this here for your reference.

This document describes one of the many ways to create an image-hosting web site. I've done this enough times and I went to the trouble to take notes. I also went through the software setup a couple times while writing this to make sure I had it right. Several DPR members beta tested it as well. It should be reasonably accurate, but....

Caveats

Web hosting is a very complex subject and there are volumes that could be written about it. As it stands, this document is 33 pages or so and was written over a rainy weekend. You make the connection.

This work has no guarantees, either expressed or implied. The instructions may not work and/or you could lose money. If that happens, I'm sorry, and that's all you will get. I will not provide technical support. All the items I've mentioned in the document have user forums or technical support. If you find something that is blatantly wrong, I will fix it, but I will not split hairs or argue the merits of one thing versus another. Take it or leave it.

I'm sorry to have to be a lawyer, but I don't have the time, patience, or desire to get into a protracted discussion. I wrote this document to help my friends on DPR and PentaxForums, but it's not worth arguing over. If you find this useful, I'm happy. If you think it's trash, that's fine too.

Oh shut up already and give us the link...

http://www.ericcloninger.com/files/I...structions.pdf

Enjoy

Jonas B · 01-21-2007, 07:38 AM

Thank you Eric.
I downloaded the document and also had a quick read. I'm sure this can come to good use on of those days when I finally get moving. There is something tempting in running your own place with limits set by yourself (and bandwidth) only.
I saw Thank you note also... some good people there making me feel comfortable knowing somebod tried to follow the instructions and found them working. I hope you keep it updated, like once a year or so maybe? Every second year?

regards!

roy · 01-23-2007, 03:58 PM

thanks eric. finally got it uploaded and will probably try to setup in the morn.

foxglove · 01-23-2007, 05:47 PM

I was wondering what had become of that...

When I have the time, I'll have a look and see if it really is something I'll want to do. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it all down, I know that's a lot harder to do than it sounds!

Julie

roy · 01-24-2007, 08:12 AM

i tried to install this last night and it told me i had a PHP problem and i found out that it costs extra for ''mySQL'' so i guess i'll delete off our site. that's after at least a 2 hour upload of all the files..

ericc · 01-24-2007, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by roy

i tried to install this last night and it told me i had a PHP problem and i found out that it costs extra for ''mySQL'' so i guess i'll delete off our site. that's after at least a 2 hour upload of all the files..

Hi Roy,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. For future reference, there is another way to install Gallery where you put a 10K PHP file on your server and it pulls the files from the gallery server to your server via HTTP. Takes about 2 minutes to get the whole package installed.

-E

roy · 01-24-2007, 10:51 AM

what would that be eric.
i've wanted to do this for quite some time but all my research told me i don't have the knowledge to set it up. i maintain our website but i do it all in M$ FPage. that's the extent of my web knowledge.

roy · 01-24-2007, 10:53 AM

forgot to say that your instructions were superb..

Rak · 01-25-2007, 05:17 PM

Running your own website is always more fun than uploading to a service such as Google albums. I've experienced over two years of success with Krevtek - Stunning Digital Photography of USA Travels by Rakesh Patel. I'm currently making my own gallery in PHP and a few days ago, I went to the site of the Gallery program you mentioned to check out their demo and see how everything is coded.

However, for the guide, I'd advise against mentioning Gallery if this is a how-to guide. The reason I'm saying this is because, as roy pointed out, not everybody has MySQL and not every web host even supports PHP. Since most (if not all) PHP photo gallery sites have their own sets of instructions that apply to people with different requirements. In your guide, I would recommend just pointing a link to the ones you think are the best.

Otherwise, it's superb work and it's a great way to help the community

.

roy · 01-25-2007, 07:36 PM

you know, i don't even know what PHP or mySQL is. i've wanted to do this and also setup a simple talk board forever but i don't have the time or the inclination to learn all the web information needed to it. it would be great if there was a WYSIWYG means of doing it.
roy

ericc · 01-25-2007, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Rak

However, for the guide, I'd advise against mentioning Gallery if this is a how-to guide. The reason I'm saying this is because, as roy pointed out, not everybody has MySQL and not every web host even supports PHP. Since most (if not all) PHP photo gallery sites have their own sets of instructions that apply to people with different requirements. In your guide, I would recommend just pointing a link to the ones you think are the best.

I mention right from the start in both this thread and the document that this is only one of the many ways to do a photo website. This was not intended to be the definitive work on the subject. It was intended for a group of friends who wanted sites like mine and I obliged them by documenting the steps.

ericc · 01-25-2007, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by roy

you know, i don't even know what PHP or mySQL is. i've wanted to do this and also setup a simple talk board forever but i don't have the time or the inclination to learn all the web information needed to it. it would be great if there was a WYSIWYG means of doing it.

Hi Roy,

There are domain hosts that specialize in hosting Menalto Gallery sites. If you aren't tied to your existing host and want a Gallery site, I can get you a couple of names.

-E

roy · 01-26-2007, 08:14 AM

thanks eric but we've been using readyhosting.com for years with the dog club and i was just going to use their extra bandwidth to post it on.. we don't use but about 10% of what we get.. 1gig storage and 200g data transfer a month.

carpents · 01-26-2007, 08:18 AM

And here I thought you dropped it because your reviewers took too long!

I keep coming back to this document every time pbase ticks me off.

jaws · 01-26-2007, 10:30 PM

This site is i think a good cheap alternative to get a website up and running, I am a Builder (houses) and used their services even though they state the site is for photographers, it was easy to get up and running and to update photos.
I have no affiliation with at all except for the fact that they host and templated my website.
Websites for Photographers and Artists
Cheers,
John
Sorry Ericc was this rude of me to post this on your thread, remove if it was.