This website contains various elements that are used to present content. The
website itself is written primarily in asp.net and the C# language and some javascript. Navigation
is mainly through the Site Map in the menu at the top of most pages and links
in individual pages to other pages on the site. The
site uses some custom controls and pages that are described in the following
sections.
Custom Controls and Pages
Home pages are the basis of most pages on the site and contain information about an individual
or a family or an ancestral family name. The page has a header identifying the page and a description and
may contain the following sections:
Bio: a brief life sketch of the person or family.
Images: one or more images.
Links: links to other pages on the site (such as parents, siblings, etc.) or to external sites.
Galleries: one or more Gallery Page links in Gallery Tree Views.
There may also be a home gallery containing all the media on the home page. Galleries open in a new tab
as a gallery page.
Documents: list of one or more documents. See Document List Control.
The list shows the document title and type, links to a PDF and/or Word version of the document, and a link
to the online version of the document if there is one. The online version opens in a new tab as
a Document View Page.
Audio Files: list of audio files. When selected in the Now Playing list the audio file can be played with the
Audio Player Control. Metadata for the audio file is shown
and a thumbnail image may also be shown.
Videos: list of videos. When selected in the Now Playing list the video can be played with the
Video Player Control. Metadata for the video is shown.
Home pages are constructed from directives in a home page content XML file.
Gallery Pages display thumbnails of all the media files in a selected gallery (see the
Gallery Tree View Control
section for how to navigate to
a gallery). Media file types are: Image, Document, Audio, and Video. Thumbnails representing the
media files are displayed in a grid form.
Across the top of the gallery page are four settings
groups: View, Files, Metadata, and Download. The View setting determines which setting groups are available.
The View group has a drop down menu with three options: Files, Metadata Edit, and Download.
The next sections explain the three views and what setting groups apply.
View : Files
The Files view is the default view. In Files view the View, Files, and Metadata
settings groups are available. The view displays the media thumbnails with the media file name shown
above the thumbnail and an ID number below the thumbnail. The ID number is not associated with the media file -
it's just for convenience.
Hovering over a file name displays the full file name which may be truncated in the view.
Clicking on a thumbnail opens a new browser tab displaying the appropriate view
of the media file. For example, an image file displays the image (usually larger than the thumbnail) in
a new browser tab. Clicking the image in the new tab will enlarge it to it's full size. Right clicking on
the image in the new tab may allow you to save the image to the computer if the browser has that option.
Clicking a document file thumbnail does one of the following depending on the format of the document:
a PDF file opens in a new tab, a Link opens the document in a
Document View Page
in a new tab, a Word file prompts to open or save the Word file.
Clicking on an audio file thumbnail displays an audio player in a new tab. Clicking on a video file
thumbnail displays a video player in a new tab.
The gallery page navigation control allows moving to different pages of files in the gallery.
The Files settings group contains a drop down menu to change the thumbnail size and options
to set the number of files per 'page' and the number of 'columns' per row in the grid.
The 'sync nav' option keeps the page navigation location unchanged when the view is changed.
The Metadata settings group controls which metadata tags are shown below the
thumbnails in the Files view. The metadata is divided into an
Information (basic media information) section and a Details (technical information) section. The drop down
has options to view either or both sections or no metadata. The 'tag names' option displays tag names
in front of the metadata values. If 'tag names' is checked and the 'empty data' option is checked all
tags are shown even if there is no data for the tag. The 'hover' option enables display of
metadata when the mouse pointer hovers over a thumbnail. When checked, the hover option displays
both metadata sections regardless of the drop down setting.
Clicking the default buttons above the View, Files, and Metadata options sets the options to their default values.
View : Metadata Edit
The Metadata Edit view provides for editing the sidecar (XML) files that contain the metadata for each
media file. In Metadata Edit view the View and Files settings groups are available.
Metadata is stored in a "sidecar" file in XML format. These are text files that conform to XML standards.
In the Metadata Edit view the thumbnails are displayed on the left and a metadata editing panel is shown on the right.
At the top of the editing panel are options to:
Always create a metadata file if it is missing (if not checked a prompt to
create the file will be shown).
Always update the metadata file version (if not checked a prompt to update the version will be shown.
Note: the version is not user editable but is included in the sidecar file).
Always set the missing title tag (if the title is blank it will be
automatically set to the title of the media file or the file name).
Always set the missing file metadata tag (if file metadata
is blank it will be automatically retrieved from the media file).
When a thumbnail is clicked in the thumbnail view on the left side of the metadata
edit page the metadata edit form for the media file will be activated on the right side of the page. The
metadata values will be populated with the metadata from the media sidecar file. In edit mode the thumbnail
view on the left is disabled until the edit is closed. Option buttons appear above the metadata values edit form.
Option buttons:
Save: Save the current edits. Once saved you cannot revert to the original data, but you can continue editing.
Clear: Clear the values in the edit form.
Revert: Revert the values in the edit form to the last saved values.
Copy: Makes a copy of the current tag values. The last copied tag data is avaiable for pasting on
future image edits, including between different galleries. The copied tag data is also used during a Paste All
operation as explained below. Each user has their own single saved metadata store.
Paste: Paste the last copied tag values into the form. Revert is available after a paste.
Title: Fill in a blank title from the media file title or file name.
File MD: Get metadata about and embedded in the media file.
Close Metadata Edit: You must close the current metadata edit form to select another media file
from the thumbnail view. A warning will appear if there are unsaved edits for the current media file metadata.
Paste Metadata to all files button.
When no media file is selected for metadata editing the 'Paste Metadata to all files' button is active.
Clicking the button displays an edit form populated with the values that were last copied during a metadata edit for an individual
media file. After clicking 'Paste metadata to all files' a warning is shown explaining that the Paste All cannot be undone.
The 'Cancel' button aborts the Paste All.
The 'Continue' button proceeds with the Paste All using the values in the Metadata
edit window. The values can be edited before clicking Continue. The check boxes next to each value indicate which metadata
tags will be affected. Check only the tags you want to be changed for all files in the gallery. Checking a tag that has a
blank value will erase the values for the tag in all metadata files. The exception to this is the Title tag which
is not erased by Paste All if it's value is already set in a metdata file. The File Metadata value is always overwritten by
Paste All with new data from the image file.
The 'Show Help' button displays help for Paste All.
The "Always" Metadata Options at the top of the metadata edit panel will apply to
Paste All the way they are set except that Update Version is always applied.
After a Paste All operation completes a window appears showing the status and results including
the number of files processed, pasted, created, and updated. To exit Paste All click the 'Close' button
in the Paste All Results window.
View : Download
The Download view provides a way to download gallery files from the website to a zip file on the local computer.
In Download view the View, Files, and Download option groups are available. The thumbnails in the gallery show a checkbox
below each image. Individual files can be checked or cleared for downloading. The 'Check All/Clear All' button checks
or clears all file checkmarks. The 'files' drop down menu allows selection of which files will be downloaded. All: all
files associated with the media - full image and thumbnail (as available), metadata file, document, audio or video files
(per media type) ; Media: media files only, Images: full image and thumbnail (as available) only ; Metadata: metadata file only.
Click the button next to the Download settings group title to execute the download. A prompt to
request the download zip file name and location will appear.
Gallery Tree View controls display lists of media file galleries in a hierarchical view.
Clicking on nodes in the hierarchy either expand the node in the hierarchy
or open a Gallery page in a new browser tab. Sometimes a link to a gallery will appear
outside of a gallery tree view.
A Document List control displays a list of documents. It contains links to one or
more of the following for each document: PDF document, Word document, Web link.
Clicking a PDF link opens the PDF document in a new browser tab. Clicking a Word link
opens a dialog with options to open or save the Word document. Clicking a Web
link opens a document view page in a new browser tab.
A Document View page displays an online version of a document. For example a
journal or a family history. The page has navigation controls to move through the
pages of the document. Some documents have a two pane view showing possibly a
handwritten version of the page on the left and a transcribed version of the
page on the right. Pages may also have footnotes. Although online documents
cannot be downloaded, most online documents also have a PDF and/or Word file
version that can be downloaded from the gallery containing the document.
An Audio Player control displays an audio player which has controls on it to play
and pause the audio and a volume control. It also has a buttton to reset the audio
to the beginning.
A Video Player control displays a small video view and information about the video.
It also has a drop down control to select other available videos. It displays
a link that will open the video in a new browser tab page. Videos should work
in any of the major browsers: Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Safari. Some
Linux distributions with Firefox support videos or can be augmented with libraries to support videos.