Can folders and galleries be mixed in the same list on a page rather than in separate widgets?

jfriend

I'm putting together a chronological archive that has a folder structure like this:

2004
----Gallery 1
----Gallery 2
----Big Trip A
---------Gallery X
---------Gallery Y
---------Gallery Z
----Gallery 3
----Gallery 4

I would like a presentation on a page that shows thumbnails in a grid for Gallery1, Gallery2, Big Trip A, Gallery 3, Gallery 4 all in one grid, all sorted per my settings. But, when I try to do this, Smugmug puts the folders into a separate block like this:

In that image, I want the 2004-02-02-Test-Folder to be in the same grid with the galleries, not in a separate grid with only folders. Is there a way to customize the design to get that?

denisegoldberg

I've used the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget when I want to mix folders and galleries. Unfortunately I've never been successful at specifying the order of the items in the widget. It's OK for me when I just have a few items (even though they are not in my preferred order) but I don't see it working for the structure you are building.

I'm using "Items I choose" as the selection method. I wonder if one of the other methods would work better.

Jtring

I do very much the same thing, and for what may be about the same reason. I'm showing various trips, some of which reasonably fit in one gallery and some of which are best subdivided into several. For an example, look here. I've found the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget using "Items I choose" works fine with a few big caveats. You can't edit your selection. So you have to go through, pick what you want in the order you want (without error), and save. If you want to change the selection, you have to delete the old selection and reselect anew (again without error). No order except selected order works. There was widespread agreement this needed to be fixed back when the new SmugMug came out, but it's never happened. Maybe someday.

jfriend

@Jtring said:
I do very much the same thing, and for what may be about the same reason. I'm showing various trips, some of which reasonably fit in one gallery and some of which are best subdivided into several. For an example, look here. I've found the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget using "Items I choose" works fine with a few big caveats. You can't edit your selection. So you have to go through, pick what you want in the order you want (without error), and save. If you want to change the selection, you have to delete the old selection and reselect anew (again without error). No order except selected order works. There was widespread agreement this needed to be fixed back when the new SmugMug came out, but it's never happened. Maybe someday.

Yeah what you have is exactly what I was looking for. Great it is doable, but the inability to edit seems like a bit of a back-breaker. I guess I need to just figure if I can do this without too much manual effort as I have a big project in front of me. Thanks for the link because that is indeed what I'm trying to do for exactly the same reason you are.

jfriend

@denisegoldberg said:
I've used the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget when I want to mix folders and galleries. Unfortunately I've never been successful at specifying the order of the items in the widget. It's OK for me when I just have a few items (even though they are not in my preferred order) but I don't see it working for the structure you are building.

I'm using "Items I choose" as the selection method. I wonder if one of the other methods would work better.

Hi Denise. When you say "one of the other methods", what else did you have in mind that I could go investigate? After the big Smugmug redesign and my fully customized site getting completely broken (years ago), I haven't had the interest in trying to rebuild things so I'm a total rookie at any of this customization now.

--John

jfriend

@Jtring said:
I do very much the same thing, and for what may be about the same reason. I'm showing various trips, some of which reasonably fit in one gallery and some of which are best subdivided into several. For an example, look here. I've found the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget using "Items I choose" works fine with a few big caveats. You can't edit your selection. So you have to go through, pick what you want in the order you want (without error), and save. If you want to change the selection, you have to delete the old selection and reselect anew (again without error). No order except selected order works. There was widespread agreement this needed to be fixed back when the new SmugMug came out, but it's never happened. Maybe someday.

Hmmmph, just found out that "Items I Choose" in the Folders, Galleries and Pages widget is limited to 48 items (seems like a weirdly odd and small number to limit it to). That messes up that option for me. It might have been a deal killer anyway that you can't sort or change the order so there's really no way to maintain the presentation without starting over every time you want to edit. I guess it's not meant for what I'm trying to do.

I was really just hoping for a page style option that would lump folders in the same sort order and same grid with galleries and I wouldn't have to manually create custom pages for every single page in my hierarchy.

denisegoldberg

@jfriend said:
Hi Denise. When you say "one of the other methods", what else did you have in mind that I could go investigate? After the big Smugmug redesign and my fully customized site getting completely broken (years ago), I haven't had the interest in trying to rebuild things so I'm a total rookie at any of this customization now.

I just meant one of the other selection methods on the Folders, Galleries, and Pages. I'm not sure if they would behave differently.

denisegoldberg

@jfriend said:
I was really just hoping for a page style option that would lump folders in the same sort order and same grid with galleries and I wouldn't have to manually create custom pages for every single page in my hierarchy.

I have two pages on my site where I mix folders & galleries.

The Kaleidoscope page is where I keep links to my most recent galleries. That's where I use the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget - and I gave up on keeping it in sequence.

The other is the Travel page. I wanted my trips to show in sequence with the most recent first so I knew mucking around with order in a Folders, Galleries and Pages widget wouldn't work. Instead I chose to create a folder for every trip, even though some of the trips have a single gallery. It's kind of stupid in that folders that contain single galleries require 2 clicks to get to the photos when one should have worked. But I decided that was the easiest to maintain. You can see it at https://www.denisegoldberg.com/Travel. The first 4 folders contain only a single gallery, but the couple of folders contain 2. Not ideal, but it works.

jfriend

@denisegoldberg said:
I just meant one of the other selection methods on the Folders, Galleries, and Pages. I'm not sure if they would behave differently.

That screenshot gave me an idea to point the Folders,Galleries & Pages widget at a Folder (that itself contains both folders and galleries). Almost worked! That does indeed get folders and galleries into the same widget, but it puts all the folders first and won't let me specify an order. It appears it gets the order from the Organizer and the Organizer also won't let you put folders anywhere but first. So, now they're in the same widget, but in the wrong order.

jfriend

@denisegoldberg said:

@jfriend said:
I was really just hoping for a page style option that would lump folders in the same sort order and same grid with galleries and I wouldn't have to manually create custom pages for every single page in my hierarchy.

I have two pages on my site where I mix folders & galleries.

The Kaleidoscope page is where I keep links to my most recent galleries. That's where I use the Folders, Galleries, and Pages widget - and I gave up on keeping it in sequence.

The other is the Travel page. I wanted my trips to show in sequence with the most recent first so I knew mucking around with order in a Folders, Galleries and Pages widget wouldn't work. Instead I chose to create a folder for every trip, even though some of the trips have a single gallery. It's kind of stupid in that folders that contain single galleries require 2 clicks to get to the photos when one should have worked. But I decided that was the easiest to maintain. You can see it at https://www.denisegoldberg.com/Travel. The first 4 folders contain only a single gallery, but the couple of folders contain 2. Not ideal, but it works.

Yeah, I remember using that same work-around in the old Smugmug (create an extra level of hierarchy so everything is a folder so they all group together). But, for the scale I'm doing things here, that won't be practical for the work involved setting up the site or for people browsing the site.

FYI, in checking out your Travel folder, I see you were in Acadia in October. We were there about a week earlier than you, then headed off to New Hampshire and Vermont for more fall colors (the White Mountains of New Hampshire were ablaze with colors). That's some very pretty countryside and quite different than what we get in California.

Allen

When it's time to edit any of my "Folders, Galleries, and Pages" widgets I first open the page in a new tab.
That way when I edit in one tab I have a quick view in the other tab of what was there for "Items I Choose".
BTW, you only have to delete back to your edit. Everything before that will not change.

There's no reason you can't also add multiple of these widgets. That way if one section changes you don't have to redo it all.
A little margin adjustments and you can make multiple boxes look like a single box.

denisegoldberg

@jfriend said:
FYI, in checking out your Travel folder, I see you were in Acadia in October. We were there about a week earlier than you, then headed off to New Hampshire and Vermont for more fall colors (the White Mountains of New Hampshire were ablaze with colors). That's some very pretty countryside and quite different than what we get in California.

You picked a good time to visit!

I live close enough to Acadia (4 1/2 hour drive) that I try to get there twice a year - usually early spring and sometime after Columbus Day. I'd love to see the park in the snow but I haven't yet managed to time a trip to see it. I think that would have to be a last minute trip.