JSON badge with random images

[robnyman]

Hi all,

First, let me apologize if I have missed anything, but I feel that I have searched hi and lo for a good solution.

What I want to do is a very common desire, and which is, for instance, one of the default script badges offered by Flickr. In my web site, I want to present 10 photos taken randomly from all my pictures which are in public galleries.

Preferably, I'd like to get this information as JSON so I can add it dynamically, but I'd be content with just a script-block to include too.

I have seen the functionality which offers a random image (random.mg), but the only option there is to get an automatically generated link to the gallery/album, not the actual image with the other ones as thumbnails to the left. Also, I then had to provide album ids and keys, which kills the point of being flexible with new albums.

Therefore, I humbly ask: is there a good solution for this?


Best regards,
Robert Nyman

[scotticus]

Hey Robert,

I am going to start working on this today and make it a priority. It has been on our list of things to do for a long time. I've written down your suggestions, and please let me know if you have any other feature requests you would like to see it in, etc..

Thanks for your patience,
Scott.

[Wachel]

This would be a great idea. I liked the flickr badge but I felt that there could be some "upgrades" to it. Maybe you could take some of the suggestions below and try them out.

-have the option to display one larger photo or several smaller ones like the OP said.

-option to pick the gallery the photos come from or make them random from all public galleries.

-be able set the width in pixels to fit in a person's blog, etc.

-have the option to NOT have any logos with it (i.e. the clean look)

-choose background color or have it be transparent

I don't know how easy these options would be to implement but it sure would be nice to see some or all of them in the badge.

Thanks!
Mike

[bernd]

a badge like that might be just what I was looking for :)

[robnyman]

Sounds great! As for suggestions, I think Michael pretty much covered general thinkable scenarios, especially the clean look option (maybe I'm biased, but I like raw JSON code which I can control, code and style completely myself).

I'm fairly experienced in JavaScript, and have developed a couple of other JavaScript badges, so if you need any coding help, testing input etc, let me know.

Other badges:

tumblrBadge: http://www.robertnyman.com/2008/09/1...-badge-script/

FriendFeedBadge: http://www.robertnyman.com/2008/09/1...-own-web-site/


/Robert

Originally Posted by scotticus

Hey Robert,

I am going to start working on this today and make it a priority. It has been on our list of things to do for a long time. I've written down your suggestions, and please let me know if you have any other feature requests you would like to see it in, etc..

Thanks for your patience,
Scott.

[robnyman]

Hi,

I'm just wondering if there's any update with the JSON badge?
I want to phase out Flickr now. :-)


Best regards,
Robert

[scotticus]

Hey robnyman, we're getting very close on it. I don't want to be too specific date wise (never a good idea for code releases) , but I will say that it will be before the holidays, and that it will be well worth the wait. So far they blow the flickr badges away, and I think you will be quite happy with them.

Originally Posted by robnyman

Hi,

I'm just wondering if there's any update with the JSON badge?
I want to phase out Flickr now. :-)


Best regards,
Robert

[robnyman]

Sounds great! Can't wait! :-)

Originally Posted by scotticus

Hey robnyman, we're getting very close on it. I don't want to be too specific date wise (never a good idea for code releases) , but I will say that it will be before the holidays, and that it will be well worth the wait. So far they blow the flickr badges away, and I think you will be quite happy with them.

[jimmytomatoes]

Originally Posted by scotticus

Hey robnyman, we're getting very close on it. I don't want to be too specific date wise (never a good idea for code releases) , but I will say that it will be before the holidays, and that it will be well worth the wait. So far they blow the flickr badges away, and I think you will be quite happy with them.

Anything ever happen with this? I would love to have a SmugMug badge myself!

Happy Holidays

[photolord]

I have a blog and wanted to utilize what I had been doing for sometime with Flickr. I switched over to Smugmug for a pro setup with Smugmug and am looking to utilize a badge/widget on my wordpress blog.

[explorish]

hi,
i'm also interested in this type of badge. any help where to be found, appreciated!
cheers

[lireo]

Any update on the status of the badge?

[scotticus]

Hey guys, I should have posted a link here awhile ago for those searching, but badges were released a couple of months ago. You can find some more info here:
http://www.smugmug.com/help/showing-photos

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with setting them up.

[robnyman]

Originally Posted by scotticus

Hey guys, I should have posted a link here awhile ago for those searching, but badges were released a couple of months ago. You can find some more info here:
http://www.smugmug.com/help/showing-photos

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with setting them up.

Ok, as far as I can see, this is not close to what we were discussing. What was desired was a JSON-based badge, with complete control over the presentation, output code and what to do with it - as far as I can see, this is just a Flash badge.

For instance, take a look at the right-hand side of http://robertnyman.com/ for a good example


Best regards,
Robert

[scotticus]

Sorry robnyman, you are correct, this is not a JSON badge, but a flash badge. However, you do have pretty complete control over the presentation, and it can be customized in almost every way.

I doubt we will becoming out with what you're looking for any time in the near future, but it should be relatively easy with the API. If I get some time in the next week I'll see if I can whip something up and post it back here.

Sorry for the confusion.

-Scott.

Originally Posted by robnyman

Ok, as far as I can see, this is not close to what we were discussing. What was desired was a JSON-based badge, with complete control over the presentation, output code and what to do with it - as far as I can see, this is just a Flash badge.

For instance, take a look at the right-hand side of http://robertnyman.com/ for a good example


Best regards,
Robert

[robnyman]

Originally Posted by scotticus

Sorry robnyman, you are correct, this is not a JSON badge, but a flash badge. However, you do have pretty complete control over the presentation, and it can be customized in almost every way.

I doubt we will becoming out with what you're looking for any time in the near future, but it should be relatively easy with the API. If I get some time in the next week I'll see if I can whip something up and post it back here.

Sorry for the confusion.

-Scott.

Yes, but it's quite a difference between Flash and JSON when it comes to performance, being more unobtrusive, controlling exact rendering, styling it (as opposed to just formatting for pre-defined Flash movie) etc.

I'm sure it will be useful for some people, but personally, I would never use a Flash badge with all its cons.

Besides, as far as I can see, the only existing option is to create a badge for one gallery. What is desirable, by me at least, is a way to get random pictures from all of my public sets - a perfect way to showcase a wide variety of pictures.

If you have the time to put together something JSON-based, I'd really appreciate it! And, hopefully, in line with the badges I've written for Tumblr and FriendFeed (mentioned earlier in this thread).

Thanks!


Best regards,
Robert