Presenting the newest display function for photo sets…
February 25, 2009, 9:51 PM
Yes, I found the coolest new feature for the photo sets. It’s called “lightbox”, and basically, it allows you to enlarge the photos on the page without going to a separate page. What I usually do for photo sets, you may recall, is if you click an image, you go to a separate page where you are presented with an enlargement of the image and the caption. Thus it usually looks like this in this excerpt from the Weekend with Katie photo set:
A Red Line train to Glenmont arrives at Metro Center on the Shady Grove platform.
So that’s what a photo set image normally would look like, and that’s the way it links to the enlargement. With me so far? Good. Now, here’s the new style:
A Red Line train to Glenmont arrives at Metro Center on the Shady Grove platform.
This ought to streamline things a bit. After all, I switched the video players to YouTube, which enabled the videos to not leave the page. Now the enlargements are the same, complete with caption. A better presentation, don’t you think? It’s done using a script, and all the data is fed to it in the link tag. Not bad. No database to synchronize with using this method. And I tested it out, and it works equally well in Firefox (my browser of choice), Safari (for Windows), and Internet Exploder, with the best presentation being in Safari, in my opinion.
At this point, I believe my plan is going to be to do photo sets with this style going forward, but only the three 2008 photo sets published at this time will be actively retrofitted. Like the black border that first appeared in Million Worker March, I don’t intend to retrofit older sets. It’s too time-consuming, and with no major redesign planned at this time, I see no need to retrofit the older material.
Otherwise, I got the opportunity to photograph another train separation at Glenmont today, this time a few Alstoms, and this time, from the stairs. Take a look, as Alstom 6058 separates from Alstom 6176…
And just FYI, don’t get used to lightboxing in the Journal. I’m just trying out the feature here, and I’m not making this a habit on the Journal. It would start making the Journal a bit of a process, and I like the Journal to be quick and on the fly, to where I can do it from anywhere and in minimal time. That would be too much work for this section.
So there you go. We’ve got a new digital camera (see previous entry) that I’m sure will produce some great work, and then a new way to present the goods. I’m digging it!
Web site: All about Lightbox 2, which powers these new displays...
Song: Alstom ONIX motor sounds. The Red Line's been very much into the Breda rehabs lately, and so I've been hearing more than my fair share of Alstom motors. This is very much hindering my quest to get those last five 4000-Series cars: 4028, 4061, 4067, 4069, and 4075.
Quote: "Ben thinks that The Schumin Web is more fun than pointing out the size of Ann Coulter's adam's apple to your friends." - My Facebook status right now. It's taken straight from an old Randi Rhodes outtro from her Air America days. All you need to finish it off is to say, "This is Air America Radio."
Categories: Schumin Web meta, WMATA