For this next step I’m going to explore practical uses for phpThumb() within ExpressionEngine.
Since writing Part 1 of this I’ve added a gallery feature to this site that allows photos or images to be uploaded with each blog post. These appear as small thumbnails in rows under each post and are integrated with a JS lightbox script so they can be clicked on to view at a larger size. This functionality will form the basis for the following post.
One of the things that is most often misunderstood and feared by end users is the manipulation of images for website use. There are addons available for ExpressionEngine to help with this, allowing the end user to upload virtually any size of image and have it resized automatically to suit. The huge advantage of this kind of method of working with files is that should the design of the website change there’s no need to go back and resize a load of images, a simple parameter change and it’s all done.
I’ve used these addons on and off for sites I’ve developed over the years, but quite often I’ve hit various limitations such as the need to create rounded corners, or cropping images to the top rather than the centre. What I’ve continually fallen back on is an extremely useful collection of scripts called phpThumb() which I’ve always managed to crowbar into doing what I’ve needed.
I’ve been using ExpressEngine from Ellislab for some time now, in fact it’s the basis for every web job I do these days, and tonight the family got a new arrival; MojoMotor.
Priced at a give-away $49.95, it’s well worth a look for those simple websites that don’t require the power and depth of ExpressEngine.