Hotlink to server

[xtreme-eyewitness]

First off...I love Serendipity!!

I currently have a blog and using Lightbox. At first I was adding my pictures by using the add feature and downloading them to the site. Well after i began running out of space on that site i have begun hotlinking them. This is working ok or at least i can't tell a difference other than... I can't get the thumbnails to open as a larger picture.

Is this normal? I haven't changed the way i was doing it before other than just hotlinking.

Any help would be great!

Thanks!

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

When you insert hotlinked images, do you still use the option "I want to link to..." and choose the full link to the full version?

Regards,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

Here are the steps i take when adding images.

I go to Add Media
In the field, "Enter an URL of a file to fetch:" i insert the full url of the full size image.
then for the "Fetch method:" i select Hotlink to server"
I then update the image name and then change my folder. I then "Go and enter properties".

When i go to insert the image into a new entry i do the same thing as i did when i would upload the image to the server instead of Hotlinking.

Image size: I want to use the thumbnail
Image alignment: first choice
Image insertion: I want to display it as an image
Target for this link-Popup window (via target=_blank)

That's it... I hope that helps, i know that's more than what you asked but i want to make sure that it answers more than just your question.

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

What is entered in the field "Target for this link-Popup window (via target=_blank)"? This should contain the full hotlink URL?

Thanks for your good answer, this was perfect

HTH,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

Thank You

It's a drop down box that has 4 options to choose from:
none, Popup window (via JavaScript, adaptive size), Isolated Entry and Popup window (via target=_blank).

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

Yes, but is there no input box next to this dropdown, where a URL can/should be entered?

Regards,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

nope, the only thing is a drop down.
Right above it is the show as a link option and the direct link is in that text box. I do not use this option as i want the thumbnail instead of a text link.

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but my hosting company is still using version 1.1.2

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

Ah, that's important information. I believe this hotlinking issue was fixed in s9y 1.3.

Regards,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

Great!!

So a simple upgrade to the newest version should fix the issue? I am going to do a backup and export the info that i have so far. i shouldn't lose any information after the update, correct?

[xtreme-eyewitness]

ok, so i went through and upgraded to the newest version.
I now can't log into the admin area. it just loads a blank window. I can't find anything for a fix, have i done something wrong?

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

A blank page most usually means a PHP parse error that could happen when corrupted files got uploaded. do you have access to your PHP error logs? those could tell you which file is garbaged. Try to re-upload the s9y 1.3 release and make sure your FTP client reports no errors!

HTH,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

well i tried it again... no errors on ftp upload. I'm still getting the blank page. i am unable to see a php error log since do not have access to the "backend".

The only thing that happened during upgrading was the permissions of, "serendipity_config_local.inc.php" i fixed it and it ran through fine. of course now when i do the upgrade the database has already got the appropriate tables and it tells me that everything is good. But still a blank admin area. I can however see the blog frontpage.

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

The PHP error log is indeependent from s9y. It is specific to your web provider. You might need/want to contact your techincal support of the provider, he can point you to the apache/PHP/CGI error logs.

Did you make sure that you extracted all files to the templates/default/ directory? there are new template files in the s9y 1.3 release that you definitely need.

How exactly did you upgrade? how does your serendipity_config_local.inc.php file look like now?

Regards,
Garvin

[xtreme-eyewitness]

OK!!! I don't know what happened but for some reason the template directory was empty on my server. I just uploaded the files and this worked!!
The only thing is now is that the images are still only thumbs and are not clickable. This all goes back to your earlier question about the text area verses drop down box. There is still no text area with an URL in it.

The other problem that i am having now is for some reason the Hotlinked images delete themselves from the gallery. When i go to the Media Gallery, it will have: "Deleted the hotlinked file entitled 100_1379" at the top of the page. Do you know what that means or why that's happening?

Thanks for all of your help!!!!

[garvinhicking]

Hi!

How did you perform the upgrade exactly? When it says that media files are deleted, this should only happen if you somehow reinstalled s9y instead of installed it. Your serendipity_images Database table should hold the hotlinks, as they are no real files on disk, only "stubs".

I just tried with my s9y 1.3, and I can perfectly upload a hotlinked image and when I click on the image to insert it from the popup, I get the options:

"Image size", radio: "thumbnail", "large"
"Image alignment", 3 radio options
"Image insertion", radio: "display as image, display as link to this url".

There you need to choose "display as link to this url" and in the input field, there should be the full file location entered that you don't need to change. Clicking on "done" then properly does inssert the link to the full file...

Regards,
Garvin