| Dynamic Mopics is the often misunderstood image module for osCMax. It allows for multiple images to be added to products dynamically, without having to manually add each image to each product. It does away with having to use an html based admin panel to add your images, which is much faster an more efficient. Unfortunately, if you are an internet illiterate, this will cause you some issues, so you need to educate yourself a bit. You need to understand how to FTP images to your server. FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol and it just a way to upload files to your server quickly and easily. For instructions on how to FTP, see our internet literacy section. Below find the Dynamic Mopics options as well as instructions on how to set it up. - Big Image Types :: The types (extensions) of big images you use, seperated by commas.
- Thumbnail Image Types :: The types (extensions) of extra thumbnails you use, seperated by commas.
- Big Images Directory :: The directory inside catalog/images where your big images are stored. If you want the default osCommerce behavior to work, simply empty this field and leave it blank.
- Thumbnail Images Directory :: The directory inside catalog/images where you extra image thumbs are stored. This only matters if the next setting is set to true.
- Main Thumbnail In "Thumbnail Images Directory" :: If you store your product's main thumbnail in the "Thumbnail Images Directory" set this to true. If it is in the main image directory (uploaded via osCommerce admin), set it false.
- Extra Image Pattern :: Your custom defined pattern for your extra images file names. imagebase is the base of the main thumbnail. Place the counting method between brackets {}. Current counting methods can be 1, a, or A.
Detailed Setup instructions These instrcutions are included in the Dynamic MoPics mod v3.0 and were written by Joshua Dechant, the author of this most excellent mod. Configuration refers to the options available in the osCMax admin panel under Configuration >> Dynamic MoPics 1. Requirements osCommerce MS2 (November 2002 - MS1 should be ok, but I make no guarantees)
2. Summary Show extra images for a product, including larger versions (and a large version of the thumbnail). The script looks for the images based on a pattern input by the site admin. Extra images must be FTPed up to the site.
3. Configuration Big Image Types: These are the types (extensions) of larger images you use. Listing more options will require more processing time, so it is reccomended to only list the types you use. For example, if you only use .bmp and .jpg for larger images, and have more .jpg files than .bmp files, you would want to enter them as "jpg, bmp" The order is also the preference order as well. For example, if you are using "jpg, gif, bmp" and you have a file named "image.gif" and one named "image.jpg", the module will find "image.jpg" first and use that image. Thumbnail Image Types: Exactly the same as "Big Image Types", except it is for the type of thumbnails you use. Extra Image Pattern: Your custom defined pattern for extra images. imagebase is the base of the main thumbnail. Place the counting method between brackets {}. Current counting methods can be 1, a, or A. See the next section below for more explanation of the pattern. Big Images Directory: The directory inside catalog/images where your big images are stored.
- This is set to images_big by default. If you want to restore image function to match the old standard osCommerce 2.2, simply delete this setting and leave it blank.
Thumbnail Images Directory: The directory inside catalog/images where you extra image thumbs are stored. Main Thumbnail In "Thumbnail Images Directory": If you store your product's main thumbnail in the "Thumbnail Images Directory" set this to true. (you can do this by typing in "thumbs/imagename.jpg" into the image input on the add product page & then FTPing the main thumbnail up into the thumbs/ directory). If it is in the main image directory (uploaded via the osCommerce admin), set it false.
4. Pattern Explanation You setup your pattern in your osCommerce Admin >> Configuration >> Dynamic MoPics. The specific entry for the pattern is labelled "Extra Image Pattern". In your pattern, "imagebase" and a counting method must be specified. "imagebase" defined: In your pattern, "imagebase" is the name of the product's thumbnail, minus the extension. For example, if a product had a image of "productImage.jpg", the imagebase for this product would be "productImage". And if for example, a product had the image "dvds/animation/a_bugs_life.gif", the imagebase for this product would be "dvds/animation/a_bugs_life". Ok? counting defined: In your pattern, between brackets someplace you need to specify a counting method. Current counting methods can be "1" (1, 2, 3, etc); "a" (a, b, c, etc); or "A" (A, B, C, etc). The pattern by defaut, "imagebase_pic{1}", places the counting at the end, but it does not have to be. imagebase{1}, {1}_imagebase, huh_imagebase_{1}_yeah, etc would all work equally well. Confused yet? Let's get into some examples to help clarify some things. Simple Example: Suppose we define our pattern as "imagebase_{a}". We will assume that we have set thumbnail types of "gif, jpg" and large image types of "jpg". Suppose our product's main thumbnail image is "realm_of_chaos.gif" and we have uploaded it through the osCommerce Admin's product editor page (In this type of case, we need to set 'Main Thumbnail In "Thumbnail Images Directory"' to false). We'll also assume the big images directory is "images_big/" and the thumbnail is "thumbs/". To clarify, our settings are: - Big Image Types: jpg
- Thumbnail Image Types: gif, jpg
- Extra Image Pattern: imagebase_{a}
- Big Images Directory: images_big/
- Thumbnail Images Directory: thumbs/
- Main Thumbnail In "Thumbnail Images Directory": false
And our product's image for the example is "realm_of_chaos.gif" Now, we want a big image for the main thumbnail. How do we get it? Simple: Create the larger image and save it as "realm_of_chaos.jpg" (remember our larger image types are only jpg in this example). The upload the image (via FTP) to your catalog directory images/images_big/. That is, the big image for the main thumbnail should be at `images/images_big/realm_of_chaos.jpg` Hey that was simple enough. Now how do we get some extra images for this product? That is pretty simple too. Our imagebase is "realm_of_chaos". And our counting method is a, b, c, etc... Our thumbnail image types are gif or jpg. We can use either type, and mix and match. Since gif is listed first, it takes preference over jpg. We can make them "realm_of_chaos_a.gif", "realm_of_chaos_b.gif", "realm_of_chaos_c.jpg", etc... The just upload them to the `images/thumbs/` directory. And for the larger images, they would be named the same as the extra thumbnail, except be jpg, and upload to the `images/image_big/` directory. Are you lost? No problem. Here is a simple make for the options for the extra images in this example: Main thumbnail's large image:
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos.jpg Extra thumbnails:
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_a.gif --or--images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_a.jpg
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_b.gif --or-- mages/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_b.jpg
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_c.gif --or--images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_c.jpg
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_d.gif --or-- images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_d.jpg
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_e.gif --or-- images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_e.jpg
images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_f.gif --or-- images/thumbs/realm_of_chaos_f.jpg
etc… Extra thumbnails' large images:
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_a.jpg
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_b.jpg
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_c.jpg
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_d.jpg
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_e.jpg
images/images_big/realm_of_chaos_f.jpg
etc…
More examples and clarification Login to your store admin and click "configuration" then click "dynamic mopics" Set the settings as follows: Title ----Value Big Images Directory----images_big/ Thumbnail Images Directory----thumbs/ Main Thumbnail In Thumb Directory----true Number of Pics per Row----4 Mo Pics Extension----_pic Main Big Pic Extension----_big Mo Pics Thumbnail Image Type---- gif Mo Pics Big Image Type----jpg Things to keep in mind: 1. All thumbnails should be named with a .GIF extension. 2. All popups should be named with a .JPG extension. 3. IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES WE USED "FROG" AS THE IMAGE NAME, YOU MUST TAKE CARE TO NAME ALL YOUR IMAGES THE SAME "FROG". Sample Image Notes FROG.GIF (Primary Image) frog_big.jpg (Primary Image Thumbnail) frog_pic1.gif (second thumbnail) frog_pic1.jpg (second popup) frog_pic2.gif (third thumbnail) frog_pic2.jpg (third popup) FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU PRIMARY IMAGE IS NAME "FROG.GIF" THEN ALL YOUR IMAGES MUST START WITH "FROG" FOR THIS MOD TO FIND AND DISPLAY THEM. in admin when you create a product, on the portion where you either type in or click browse to upload the image, DO NOT CLICK UPLOAD. instead type into this field "thumbs/frog.gif , it must be a gif as this will be the primary product image thumbnail. i.e. the image at the top of that products page. And according to step 1 above all thumbnails must be type gif. Click preview and then insert, do not worry if you get a red error X at this point in the image preview. Upload this image into catalog/images/thumbs/frog.gif Now for this images popup (being a popup must be type jpg). Also note that this only applies to the primary images popup. Take your large frog image and make sure its a jpg named frog_big.jpg, and upload it to /images/images_big/frog_big.jpg. That takes care of the primary product image and its popup, but what if you want 5 images for this particular product! well my friend your in luck! for this products second image and so on we do things a little different. these will all be named as follows, remembering to use gif for small and jpg for popup. ALL IMAGES OTHER THAN THE PRIMARY GO INTO /IMAGES/THUMBS/ , THIS INCLUDES THE LARGE POPUPS!! frog_pic1.gif (second thumbnail) frog_pic1.jpg (second popup) frog_pic2.gif (third thumbnail) frog_pic2.jpg (third popup) so on and so on. | 
