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Smugmug multi-word keywords broken (also SM Lightroom Plugin broken)
Ferguson
Registered Users Posts: 1,339 Major grins
In Lightroom you can have multi-word keywords. For example, I had a gallery with "Vacation May 2009".
Previously I used JF's plugin, and this was uploaded as one keyword.
When it is displayed in SM (the original from JF's upload) it appears as
Vacation May 2009
Note no quotes.
When you publish with the LR plugin (2.0.2.1 just downloaded), it comes out as:
Vacation; May; 2009
In otherwords three separate keywords. This is not entirely a plugin problem. If I key them in from the Smugmug screen without semi-colons and without quotes, it ALSO adds in semi-colons.
To make it more interesting, if I key in:
"Vacation May 2009"
With quotes, into SM's web interface, and save it, then display it again -- it comes up:
Vacation May 2009
without quotes. Then if I save THAT it puts in semi-colons and now I have three keywords and not one multi-word keyword.
I never used the regular SM plugin before, and just used JF's for upload, so I very rarely ever hand-edited before the new smugmug, so not sure if this is a new "feature" or not. But it sure looks wrong, especially the part about adding the quotes and having them automatically removed and THEN having them made into individual keywords.
A bit more: You can also add a single semi-colon at the end of the three:
Vacation May 2009;
On the first save this is treated much as quotes, meaning that the result (if you edit again) is:
Vacation May 2009
But if you save THAT you end up once again with;
Vacation; May; 2009
Just plain broken I think.
Previously I used JF's plugin, and this was uploaded as one keyword.
When it is displayed in SM (the original from JF's upload) it appears as
Vacation May 2009
Note no quotes.
When you publish with the LR plugin (2.0.2.1 just downloaded), it comes out as:
Vacation; May; 2009
In otherwords three separate keywords. This is not entirely a plugin problem. If I key them in from the Smugmug screen without semi-colons and without quotes, it ALSO adds in semi-colons.
To make it more interesting, if I key in:
"Vacation May 2009"
With quotes, into SM's web interface, and save it, then display it again -- it comes up:
Vacation May 2009
without quotes. Then if I save THAT it puts in semi-colons and now I have three keywords and not one multi-word keyword.
I never used the regular SM plugin before, and just used JF's for upload, so I very rarely ever hand-edited before the new smugmug, so not sure if this is a new "feature" or not. But it sure looks wrong, especially the part about adding the quotes and having them automatically removed and THEN having them made into individual keywords.
A bit more: You can also add a single semi-colon at the end of the three:
Vacation May 2009;
On the first save this is treated much as quotes, meaning that the result (if you edit again) is:
Vacation May 2009
But if you save THAT you end up once again with;
Vacation; May; 2009
Just plain broken I think.
0
Comments
Vacation May 2009 >> Will result in Vacation | May | 2009
Vacation May 2009; >> Will result in Vacation May 2009 | next word
Vacation May 2009; Vacation; May; 2009; >> Will result in Vacation May 2009 | Vacation | May | 2009
You can use a comma or semicolon in either case as a separator.
I perhaps wasn't clear. I tried that.
Start with nothing.
Edit, add: Vacation May 2009;
Save
Edit again, and see: Vacation May 2009
(Notice no trailing punctuation).
Save again.
Now you have: Vacation; May; 2009
Editing and changing nothing should -- well, change nothing. It does.
BUT HOWEVER... I realize the above is a bit cosmetic, as one can work around it manually, the real issue comes in the plugin. THERE IS NO WAY TO FORCE PUNCTUATION IN LIGHTROOM, so far as I know.
So when lightroom sends the phrase (as one keyword) "Vacation May 2009" it immediately becomes three keywords. Which is WRONG. And as best I can tell there is no workaround.
Lightroom will not hold the last separator, so you could set these keywords as Vacation May 2009, Z in LR to hold your keywords in place.
You can use individual keywords as well to allow for more search options, like: may+2009 or vacation+may or vacation+may+2009 or vacation+2009
I will see what we can do from the LR Plugin Side to add a keyword separator to the keyword block upon upload. I am not sure its possible for us to add this, but I can see what can be done.
Please try this.
Open an image with NO keywords.
Edit and add a keyword like
A B C;
Save.
Open the image again, edit. Just hit save (you'll see the ; is missing).
Open the image again, and you will see the keywords are:
A; B; C
That's just wrong. IT is not caching or anything, it is that you are stripping the final punctuation when it is saved, and not putting it back on display if it's multiple words.
HOWEVER AGAIN...
Suppose you enter:
A B; C D;
Which should be two keywords. What happens then is correct -- for whatever reason it continues to maintain them as separate phrases. Which is completely inconsistent with the first example.
So if I understand you, the only way to have a keyword phrase is to have multiple keywords on a photo?
Yes, but 11,000 images aren't done this way. Yes, I probably could change them quickly in lightroom. Not sure I really want them coded that way, but it's a consideration if I MUST have multiple keywords to have multi-word keywords. However, having done so I'm not sure I want to upload that many (is it smart enough to send JUST the keywords and not the image)?
I suspect there are two issues here, but it all relates to how you internally communicate a single keyword that has multiple words. That the edit screen mis-handles it as well says the issue is beyond the plugin.
But what's happening for me is that as the lightroom plugin syncs up -- for reasons unknown whole galleries are showing a need to re-publish -- all my keywords are being slowly changed.
In thousands of images.
That's really annoying. I hope there's going to be a way to "fix" it as well, and get it back how I had them.
Now having uploaded if I call it up in edit and save -- they go separate ways again.
1) I deleted an image from a gallery, and from the collection in smugmug's plugin. Not there at all. The image had the keyword "Cardboard Regatta".
2) I put the image back in the collection in lightroom, and did a "Publish now".
3) It CORRECTLY came up as one keyword having two words.
Example #2:
1) I took an image in the gallery with the keyword "Cardboard regatta" and in lightroom removed it (no keywords at all).
2) I published, and CORRECTLY smugmug shows no keywords.
3) I put the keyword back "Cardboard regatta" and it showed modified in the collection (notice the image stayed in the collection the whole time, and stayed in the gallery the whole time).
4) I published, and it INCORRECTLY showed up as two separate keywords of one word each.
So update and initial publish are NOT consistent. And it's update that is killing me -- something (maybe this) is making it think it needs to republish LOTS Of images, and as it does so it separates the keywords.
I haven't seen Smugmug acknowledge this issue with updating keywords yet...but this is clearly a bug. You might move this to (or report it in) the "report a bug" section of the forum.
Should I open a help desk ticket instead?
Is there a misunderstanding I have somewhere?
Wow, just confirmed this with my site ;^(..
I've always entered multi word kewords using quotes like this "A B C" giving me one keyword A B C. This works but like you say if you then reopen the edit box for any reason, to work on the title or caption or anything & then save again the one keyword then becomes three A; B; C; That's just nuts!
It seems this only happens if you use the photo Title, caption, keyword edit box, if you use the bulk caption keyword editor this does not happen.
DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
I can start a new thread there or... are there moderators around who could just move it and carry the context...?
Here is an example for them so they know what we are talking about:
The photo below shows comments & a single multi word keyword that was set in legacy SM.
So I go into edit photo deatails to make use of the new Title Field & update my comments, I make no changes to the keyword feild but after saving the update I now have 4 separate keywords instead of 1!