Create a backup of your SmugMug customisations

24

Comments

  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    This extension has now been updated to version 0.1.9. This fixes a bug that happened if you had a folder with more than 50 galleries in it (previously, only the first 50 galleries would be backed up).

    If you've installed the extension already, Chrome should update you to this version automatically within a few hours. To manually update, click the menu button, then Tools->Extensions. Tick the "developer mode" tickbox at the top right, then click "update extensions now". You should see the version number next to the Unofficial SmugMug Extension for Chrome update to 0.1.9 after a couple of minutes.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    How simply wonderful. Thank you. Took a few minutes to process, and then how gorgeous is this to see the entire folder structure, and to be able to navigate through it, and see images too.

    Can I ask, I have not worked with a .json extension - how do I use it?
    It does not work to drop the file into Chrome, for example. Will I be able to see the data the way I see it on this image?

    i-kpznxxx-X3.jpg
  • einateinat Registered Users Posts: 193 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    Thanks!
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    ChancyRat wrote: »
    Can I ask, I have not worked with a .json extension - how do I use it?
    It does not work to drop the file into Chrome, for example. Will I be able to see the data the way I see it on this image?

    i-kpznxxx-X3.jpg

    If you reopen the backup tool, there's an "open backup file" button at the top which will allow you to open that json file.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    If you reopen the backup tool, there's an "open backup file" button at the top which will allow you to open that json file

    Too cool. Utterly cool. Thank you.
  • SergeBerrardVisualsSergeBerrardVisuals Registered Users Posts: 177 Major grins
    edited October 18, 2013
    once again, thanks a lot Lamah, your solution rocks !
  • einateinat Registered Users Posts: 193 Major grins
    edited October 22, 2013
    Once I backup is created - how do I use it?
    I've downloaded the extension, installed it, created the backup and saved the file.
    Immediately following this, I did see the "SM" sign in the address box and managed to open the file.

    But I want to view it now, and I don't know how.
    I am logged on to my google account, so I can see that the extension is still there on the tools page.
    I am also logged in to my SM account on g-chrome.

    But that "SM" sign is not there, so nothing promts me to open the __.json file.

    Help?

    ===============

    Later......
    I got it, had to enter the sight through http://www.einatix.smugmug.com/
    not through my own domain.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2013
    I just want to thank you again for this program - and bring this thread to the top of the list in DG, so more people know about it. As I customize new SM, I continually back up my site. Very reassuring, so easy, and such a beautiful interface.
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited October 29, 2013
    einat wrote: »
    I've downloaded the extension, installed it, created the backup and saved the file.
    Immediately following this, I did see the "SM" sign in the address box and managed to open the file.

    But I want to view it now, and I don't know how.
    I am logged on to my google account, so I can see that the extension is still there on the tools page.
    I am also logged in to my SM account on g-chrome.

    But that "SM" sign is not there, so nothing promts me to open the __.json file.

    Sorry for the slow reply! Ensure that you are viewing your site through the .smugmug.com domain name, not your custom domain name.
  • FergusonFerguson Registered Users Posts: 1,345 Major grins
    edited October 30, 2013
    This is extremely impressive. Thank you very much!
  • CraigSnapsCraigSnaps Registered Users Posts: 1 Beginner grinner
    edited October 31, 2013
    Interesting stuff. I am new to this GIT stuff, although I am somewhat comfortable with HTML & CSS.

    QUESTION: How can I implement/use the code in your GitHub site.

    Thanks,
    craigsnaps@gmail.com
    craigsnaps.com

    Lamah wrote: »
    I have created an extension for Google Chrome which allows you to back up your SmugMug site's customisations. Backed-up content includes the settings for the content blocks you've added to your pages (particularly the contents of Text, HTML and CSS content blocks), gallery descriptions, and theme CSS.

    It's important to create a backup of your site, because it's easy to accidentally click the wrong button and trash a customisation or page that took a long time to build (I've done this a couple of times already!). It's also possible for some accident or crash at SmugMug to lose information, so it's nice to have a backup you control.

    The tool doesn't have an automatic restore feature, so it can't recreate backed-up pages for you. The intention is that you would copy and paste information from the backup to recreate pages yourself.

    You can find out more about this feature and download this extension on my website here:

    http://www.sherlockphotography.org/Customisations/Backup

    This extension is open source under the MIT License, you can read the sourcecode here:

    https://github.com/Sherlock-Photography/smugmug-chrome-ext
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2013
    Are you actually interested in modifying the extension (which is 95% JavaScript code), or do you just want to use it? If you just want to use it, you don't need to visit GitHub, just click the green button on this page to download the extension.
  • FergusonFerguson Registered Users Posts: 1,345 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2014
    This thread hasn't had any activity and to give new-comers a chance to find it, posting this to pop it back to the top.

    It's not only a nice thing to back up all your work, it is MUCH easier to browse those customizations with this tool than online.

    Very nice and useful tool.
  • brandofamilybrandofamily Registered Users Posts: 2,013 Major grins
    edited February 10, 2014
    I am not seeing the SM icon any longer. Reloaded and now it's there.
  • psenior1psenior1 Registered Users Posts: 125 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2014
    just used the backup feature, awesome - thanks Lemah.
    website - http://www.snrmac.com
    facebook - my facebook page please LIKE me!
  • James LyallJames Lyall Registered Users Posts: 202 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2014
    A question for Nicholas Sherlock
    I cannot thank you enough for your superb backup utility, which I use regularly. It provides a reassuring feeling of security that customisations will not be lost should a glitch occur in the system.

    One of the details which you display in the content block of Photo/Slideshow is "SplashDelay", which shows up as 6 for me.
    This discovery prompted my posting:
    http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=245105
    Do you have any thoughts about whether this SplashDelay value might be customised?

    Many thanks.
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2014
    Yes, I've tried it out and you can indeed tweak that to a different delay. Calling this procedure difficult is probably an understatement.

    First, be on a Mac or a Linux machine (not Windows) and use Google Chrome. Enter the customiser for the page that has your slideshow on it. In Chrome's menu, click View -> Developer -> Developer tools, a panel should appear at the bottom of your window. Switch to the Network tab. Now open the settings of your slideshow, and click the Done button without making any changes. At the instant you press the Done button, two entries should be added to the Network window which are just labelled "1.4.0/". Right click on the first of those two lines and click "copy as cURL":

    e1Bic8sh.png

    Pop open a text editor like TextEdit or something and paste it in. Search for the text "SplashDelay%22%3A%22", immediately after that text is the delay in seconds, so if it was "5" to start with, it'll look like "SplashDelay%22%3A%225" in the file. You can edit that 5 to whatever you like, I chose to change to 1 second, so it becomes "SplashDelay%22%3A%221". Now copy the entire tweaked command, open up a Terminal window, paste it in, and press enter to execute. In response, you should see text from the server that starts with '{"stat":"ok",' and contains the new value you chose like '"SplashDelay":"1"'.

    Back over on SmugMug, publish your customisation changes. Assuming you didn't just break your slideshow widget (or other potentially more annoying outcomes like being unable to edit the page in the customiser), it should now be using your tweaked splash delay.
  • James LyallJames Lyall Registered Users Posts: 202 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2014
    Many thanks Nicholas
    First, be on a Mac or a Linux machine
    I'm afraid that rules me out straight away!
    I can, however, understand the path that you followed, but, as you say: "Calling this procedure difficult is probably an understatement."

    Maybe the programmers, at the heart of SmugMug, might one day return this facility which we had on the legacy version.

    EDIT: Nicholas, I tried on my Windows system using Chrome. Managed to get the Network window and copied as cURL. (This actually shows two instances of "SplashDelay").
    I edited the second one (in Notepad) as you indicated. Then got stuck as 'opening a Terminal window' is not in my skill-set!
    Good fun though!
    I am assuming that the delay of 6 is a hangover from my legacy site. I remember setting it in the past.
    Many thanks for your efforts.
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2014
    cURL is the tool that sends the request to SmugMug's servers, and while it's included with MacOS and Linux, it doesn't come with Windows. You can install it here:

    http://www.confusedbycode.com/curl/#downloads

    You probably want this download from that page (32-bit, with administrator privileges):

    http://www.confusedbycode.com/curl/curl-7.34.0-win32.msi

    After installation, you must restart your computer. After restarting, cURL will be available for use, so in the instructions when I said "open a terminal", press Windows Key + R on your keyboard to pop up the run menu, type in "cmd" and click Ok. A terminal box will open with a blinking cursor. You should be able to right click on it to paste in your cURL command.
  • James LyallJames Lyall Registered Users Posts: 202 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2014
    Thank you Nicholas for your very clear instrucions.
    With your help, I have successfuly changed the SplashDelay time. wings.gif

    Your backup utility confirms the amended delay time.
    You certainly do have a comprehensive knowledge of coding.
    I have learnt much and enjoyed much!

    Many thanks again.
  • James LyallJames Lyall Registered Users Posts: 202 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2014
    Nicholas, I have been fiddling with my site after successfully altering SplashDelay, and have come across an arcane feature.

    For a slideshow block, when a new splash image is selected, the 'Playback' tab of Slideshow does actually display an option for adjusting the Splash Delay!
    This option disappears after publishing but reappears when a fresh selection is made for Splash Delay.

    There seem to be many hidden features in this new SmugMug - frustrating!

    Nevertheless, I am glad to have had the experience of digging through the undergrowth with your help!
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2014
    Please submit that as a bug report in the bug reporting section, it definitely shouldn't be working like that!
  • James LyallJames Lyall Registered Users Posts: 202 Major grins
    edited February 12, 2014
    Lamah wrote: »
    Please submit that as a bug report in the bug reporting section, it definitely shouldn't be working like that!
    Thank you Nicholas.
    Done it!
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2014
    Nicholas, I'm updating my visitor sitemap, and have one question: I opted for the fields for name (gallery, folder, etc.), and permalink. Only those 2. In the results, the CSV tab correctly contains the permalink. In the HTML tab, the link reverts to non-permalink. Is that intentional? Thanks.

    PS: Everyone, check out his backup program - it's awesome in a 1000 ways. iloveyou.gif
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2014
    The HTML tab always uses the current URL for the gallery rather than a permalink, yeah. This is because it's expected that you would keep your sitemap up to date, whereas the CSV might be used to create links that are shared on other websites (which might drift compared to your authoritative source depending on how often they are updated).
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2014
    Thanks. I'm not completely following the whos/whens/wheres, but I think I get the drift...
    I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it's expected that I keep the visitor sitemap up to date. I have a tendency to change gallery titles but not be rigorous about updating the sitemap. I was hoping having the sitemap with permalinks would help avoid 404 errors for visitors.

    Plus, right click copying one link off the visitor sitemap, is an easy way to grab gallery URLs. There again having the permalink would be useful for that.
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2014
    Okay, I'll see about adding permalink support for the HTML view on the next version.

    Note that following permalinks is actually a little slower for your browser, as it has to load the permalink page, which then redirects the browser to the current location of the gallery on your site. For me, this adds about 300ms of delay to the pageload (the impact is lower for those in the US, and considerably higher for those on mobile connections).
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited February 25, 2014
    Lamah wrote: »
    Okay, I'll see about adding permalink support for the HTML view on the next version.

    Note that following permalinks is actually a little slower for your browser, as it has to load the permalink page, which then redirects the browser to the current location of the gallery on your site. For me, this adds about 300ms of delay to the pageload (the impact is lower for those in the US, and considerably higher for those on mobile connections).

    Very interesting, thanks for this tidbit and for thinking about adding a permalink option as well as the regular links.
  • thenickdudethenickdude Registered Users Posts: 1,302 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2014
    I've now released version 0.3.0 of this extension which solves the issue with the "SM" icon disappearing from the address bar during page load and after navigating through galleries (it it now reshown after about 500ms delay). Chancy, this version also includes a tickbox on the Save Gallery List page which allows you to use Permalinks instead of regular links (though note that folders cannot have permalinks, only galleries may have permalinks).

    If you've installed the extension already, Chrome should update you to this version automatically within a few hours. To manually update, click the menu button, then Tools->Extensions. Tick the "developer mode" tickbox at the top right, then click "update extensions now". You should see the version number next to the Unofficial SmugMug Extension for Chrome update to 0.3.0 after a couple of minutes.

    If you haven't installed the extension already, you can get it here by clicking the green button:

    http://www.sherlockphotography.org/Customisations/SmugMug-for-Chrome
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