Creating Photo Galleries
If you've taken some photos of an event or program, you might consider creating an online photo gallery with links from your website. Our community server allows you to upload photos with "tags" and other descriptive information.
All photos are posted to a centralized web site where users can click on links by year and event name. If you would like to create your own photo album, just e-mail the IT support group with the following information:
- The name of your department
- The event name or description for your gallery
- The names of employees (and net IDs) of staff who need to upload photos to the site
Online galleries are arranged by department and include albums by event or academic year. Anyone can view an album but you must have permission to upload or delete photos.
The community server allows you to "tag" photos. Tags act as virtual albums; they assist in searching and categorizing photos and also appear on the main photo page under the "popular tag" section.
Uploading Photos
Before uploading your photos, please make sure you select high-quality pictures for your gallery. Read through our photo guidelines if you need examples, otherwise we will delete any items that are blurry, out of focus, dark, etc. All photos should be resized prior to uploading so they are approximately 500 wide.
- Once you have permission to create your gallery, go to the main community server web page and log in.
- You will see a section of recently added photos and albums. (An album is a group of photos with similar "tags.")
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link to "All Galleries." A new page will appear with a list of Student Affairs departments and links for each gallery.
- Find the gallery that was created for you, then click on the link to access it.
- Look for the link to "Add picture" on the lower right side of your screen. Unless you are logged in, you will not see this option. Once you click on "Add picture," a new screen will appear.
- In the first field that appears, click on the "upload photo" button at the far right. A new pop-up window will appear on your screen. Under "Select Photo to Upload," browse to the photo on your network drive that you want to upload to your gallery. Go back to the field above it and add the "Friendly Name/Description" of your photo. Once you have completed these steps, click "Upload. Another screen will appear where more information needs to be added.
- Under "Subject," you can type another brief description, which will change the name of your photo from an ID number to a more descriptive filename. Under "Tags," create a descriptive tag that users might search on, such as "Orientation 2008" or "Thwing Study Over." The more descriptive the tag, the better. Tags are helpful for users who are looking for a specific photo, department, or subject.
In some cases, tags may already have been created for your gallery. To view existing tags, click on the "Select Tags" button and place a checkmark next to the tag that matches the photo. Click the Save button and the photo will be added to your gallery. To add more photos to your gallery using the "Quick Add" feature, keep this window open before reading the instructions below.
Using the Quick Add Feature
Once you've added a photo using the steps above, you can use the "Quick Add Feature" to add more photos to your gallery. This option appears at the bottom of your page, once you've uploaded your first photo to the gallery.
Next to the "Quick Add" option, click on the "Browse" button to locate the photo you want to upload. Once you upload the photo, click on the "edit" button and change the filename to a more descriptive name. Select a tag for your photo once you have modified the filename. If you don't modify the name, users won't know what the photo is, so we recommend you take the time to add decriptions whenever possible.
The Quick Add feature is especially handy if you take the time to rename your images prior to upload. The more descriptive the filename, the easier it is for users to identify the people/place/event in the photo.