Posted by Richard Wong on January 27, 2007 at 2:12 AM
Hey there fellow NPN webmasters. I've been looking into ways I could get an stock photo image search function onto my website, but I can't seem to figure it out. I've had some php thing loaded on my web server for a while but don't know how to use it. Does anyone here have any insight as to where I can start researching an easier way? Javascripting and all that techno-jargon is over my head but if I have to then I'll learn it.
Here's some photogs sites that have the type of search I had in mind. I'm open to any other ideas as well.
There are two types of search engines. One that scans and indexes your pages and allows searching them, and another that uses a database with optimized keywords etc.
If you want more powerful search features you will need to enter your image information (title, description, keywords etc.) into a database and create the code to search through them. Or, you can use an off-the-shelf package like Coppermine that will do it for you.
Guy
Posted by Richard Wong on January 27, 2007 at 7:36 PM
Thanks Guy. Google seems to be a text based search. I looked at some other photo and stock sites and it looks like Lightbox might be a good place to start. I like that coppermine is free, but not fond of the interface and albums. Unless there's a way to code those features out? I'll keep looking around in the meantime. Thanks.
Posted by Walter Rowe on January 29, 2007 at 10:55 AM
Guy - I noticed your web site is based on JSP (Java Server Pages). Did you write it entirely yourself? I currently use Coppermine, but at times feel it is a bit "heavy" for what I want.
Posted by Martin Beebee on February 9, 2007 at 11:28 AM
I use PHP with a MySQL database for image searching (www.martinbeebee.com). I built it myself, and at times I wonder why I bothered -- I have ultimate control, but since I'm not a programmer by trade, there are some functions I just haven't been able to figure out how to do.
If you know PHP, you can try building one on your own, or find some existing code online and modify it to your liking. If not, you can use the functions in Dreamweaver to build it for you, or go with off-the-shelf software like Coppermine, which seems to be popular; if you know how to code, you can probably tweak the interface a bit. I may switch to something like Coppermine in the future just to get a bit more functionality.
Discussion
4 repliesHere's some photogs sites that have the type of search I had in mind. I'm open to any other ideas as well.
http://www.michaelhardeman.com/
http://www.davidsanger.com/
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/
Thanks in advance!
An example of the first type is the free Google search engine (http://www.google.com/coop/cse/).
If you want more powerful search features you will need to enter your image information (title, description, keywords etc.) into a database and create the code to search through them. Or, you can use an off-the-shelf package like Coppermine that will do it for you.
Guy
If you know PHP, you can try building one on your own, or find some existing code online and modify it to your liking. If not, you can use the functions in Dreamweaver to build it for you, or go with off-the-shelf software like Coppermine, which seems to be popular; if you know how to code, you can probably tweak the interface a bit. I may switch to something like Coppermine in the future just to get a bit more functionality.
Martin