Hello everybody,

I want to announce the availability of the alpha build of SmugLoader v0.5, an application that helps in managing your SmugMug photos, and videos. Enjoy it, if possible.

It is an open source project that aims to be what Star Explorer is, but free. You can find more information at:

sl.bulcu.ro

Please read carefully the information (features, limitations, issues) at the link above.

The download page is at Kenai.

You can put any question you might have here, in this thread.

Have a nice weekend.

The 3rd alpha build of SmugLoader is available at the same location. The second wasn't announced because it didn't live to long.

I'm still hoping that somebody will start to test it, because it needs to be tested, and give me some feedback, please. :

Have fun,

I downloaded the 4th alpha and have an upload running right now.

The first bit of feedback I have is that a "pause/resume" button would be nice. If you hit pause, it would finish uploading the in progress files but not upload anything new until you hit resume.

Originally Posted by BeachBill I downloaded the 4th alpha and have an upload running right now. The first bit of feedback I have is that a "pause/resume" button would be nice. If you hit pause, it would finish uploading the in progress files but not upload anything new until you hit resume.

I want to thank you for taking time to test it, and let you know that I greatly appreciate any feedback.

Your idea is interesting, and I will most likely implement it for the next alpha :-), although I can't see fully yet the importance of it. It would be nice to have support from SmugMug for resumable uploads though.

Can you elaborate on the idea, and some scenario, please?

Thanks again,

I pointed it at a directory on my computer that holds 2,369 images in 113 folders (9GB), let it create the categories/subcatergories then started the upload (over my wifi connection) I was streaming a movie (via wifi) on my TV while my son was working on the Internet via a third wifi connected computer. Needless to say, once the SmugLoader upload started the movie streaming slowed way down. This is where I could use a "pause" button... they resume the upload when I'm done watching the movie. ;-)

Originally Posted by BeachBill I pointed it at a directory on my computer that holds 2,369 images in 113 folders (9GB), let it create the categories/subcatergories then started the upload (over my wifi connection) I was streaming a movie (via wifi) on my TV while my son was working on the Internet via a third wifi connected computer. Needless to say, once the SmugLoader upload started the movie streaming slowed way down. This is where I could use a "pause" button... they resume the upload when I'm done watching the movie. ;-)

I see now :-)

I have every reason to implement it.

A workaround for the current version would be to close the application. You will stop the 7 ongoing uploads (they will not be on SM), but upon the next startup, SmugLoader should display the files that were not uploaded, including those 7 that were uploading. That happens, because there is an upload status saved in a database.

Thanks,

Originally Posted by udy A workaround for the current version would be to close the application. You will stop the 7 ongoing uploads (they will not be on SM), but upon the next startup, SmugLoader should display the files that were not uploaded, including those 7 that were uploading. That happens, because there is an upload status saved in a database.

I was wondering what may happen if I tried closing it, but I just decided to let it go...

Another thing I just thought of (it's still doing a very good job of uploading my images, only one error so far)...

How about adding a status at the bottom of the screen that says either "## of ## files remaining" (counting down to zero) or "## of ## files uploaded".

Originally Posted by BeachBill I was wondering what may happen if I tried closing it, but I just decided to let it go... Another thing I just thought of (it's still doing a very good job of uploading my images, only one error so far)... How about adding a status at the bottom of the screen that says either "## of ## files remaining" (counting down to zero) or "## of ## files uploaded".

I don't know if you read the application's page (see the first entry in this thread), but there are plans for a paged table, which should give the user the ability to see all the photos in the queue, 50 (or 100) per page.

Your idea is a bonus for the paged table, and I will maybe implement it before that.

Regarding the error, it could be some temporary connection issue. But that failed upload will be there at the next startup of the application. Have you noticed the disabled "Retry" button? It is there for retrying exactly in such situations, but the feature is in plans.

Thanks for your feedback,

Does / will it work on Macs?

Originally Posted by Andy Does / will it work on Macs?

It's a java application. I don't know what's the status of the java platform on MacOS, but the recommended version is 1.6, because there is at least one feature not present in version 1.5.

I tested it on Ubuntu Linux (I developed the application for a while using Ubuntu ), and it worked.

Please give it a try if there is no trouble. :-)

Looking good, downloads working great. Is there a way to modify the upload queue (delete files from the queue)?

Originally Posted by xcitant Looking good, downloads working great. Is there a way to modify the upload queue (delete files from the queue)?

I'm glad you appreciate it.

There will be a way, but first I have to finish the paged table I wrote about in a previous post in this thread.

For now, if you could just organize the collection externally somehow. If not, just bear with me, please :-P

I let the upload run all night and the attached image shows what I was left with. The two that say "progressing" weren't really doing anything. They were just stuck. I closed the application and ran it again, all nine failed images were queued up and I was able to successfully upload them on the second pass. So the error recovery works good.

Originally Posted by BeachBill I let the upload run all night and the attached image shows what I was left with. The two that say "progressing" weren't really doing anything. They were just stuck. I closed the application and ran it again, all nine failed images were queued up and I was able to successfully upload them on the second pass. So the error recovery works good.

I'm happy that the recovery worked.

I have to investigate the progressing stuck issue.

I'm now working on a list of issues/features to work on. The most important would be the paged table navigation of upload queue.

The 5th alpha of SmugLoader v0.5 is available, and brings with it the following enhancements:

- upload status notification (Total, Uploaded, Failed, Remaining)
- added the posibility to change the albums' visibility (unlisted/public) before creating them in batch upload; the previous behaviour was that the albums were created unlisted. By default, all albums are created unlisted, but the user can now change individual album's visibility with contextual menu. The user can change the default to 'public'.

I hope that the enhancements will help.

Other enhancements are in the pipe.

Originally Posted by udy - upload status notification (Total, Uploaded, Failed, Remaining)

I downloaded the new version. Haven't used it yet, but the status area is SWEET! The other enhancements sound good too.

I'm thinking about firing up a complete download of my site before going to bed tonight...

SmugLoader has reached another alpha, the 6th.

The new features, and improvements are:

• The upload button has Pause, and Continue abilities (thanks for the push, Bill)
• The delete Category action now offers the possibility to delete all its albums, and subcategories. That way, when the user deletes a category, the category's albums and subcategories don't end up in the Other category. The downside is that the user loses the pictures. So take care! (This feature will be implemented for subcategories too)
• Some UI changes with the tree components.

And there's more in the pipe.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Andy Does / will it work on Macs?

Please give me some feedback, if you'll try it.

Thanks

Following Nick's feedback, a new alpha build is available, having to do only with UI annoyances:

• removed some UI elements that had no action;
• added missing action to a Cancel button;
• added the in use SmugMug API version to the About window.

A build that looks smoother.

The 7th alpha archive was incomplete.

Sorry for that. The new archive will be available in a few minutes.