Gallery and pictures., HELP Options

[SCCA Stang]

hey looks good.....


BTW... Kicks, I think for creating a great looking home page we should change his "below avatar saying"???? don't know what it is called???? to something other beginner, reguardless of the fact that he has 44 posts.... just a thought

Ben

[99Spyder]

I am glad that everyone likes what is going on. Once I get the info from Marcus I will start up a thread and have people submit their desired pic. To keep times accurate I would assume that we will keep to members that are listed in the "DSMCentrals Official Best"?

Should we list 1/4 mile times only? 1/8 and 60' if available?
What about members without timeslips? Picture without time?

[xian 1g]

spyder, are pulling up the images with times already photoshopped on them? or are you pulling up the times from a db table and then having them overlayed on the pics?

if it's the latter, frick'n awsome... if it's the first, that would mean that we'd have to photoshop all the pics first... = teh pain in teh ass, as well as updating them.

[99Spyder]

Yeah the prototypes where photshopped. Once all of the sizing was set up on the first one you can duplicate the text layer on to another image so really all that has to be changed is the text itself, resize the image, and save it.

I have been looking into placing text over an image. I am able to place it where I want it, in the right color, but have not replicated the shadow yet. The concept here would be to use a comma seperated text file like a database. For example each line of the text file would include:

PicName,MemberName,Car,1/4time,1/8time,60time

That way the randomizer could choose an entry from the text file and know all of the information to display. Then to add new images we just add another line to the text file.

I think that I would prefer to Photoshop them for the start though to get things started and then further this concept.

For those who don't care...sorry about the technical garbage!

[awd4kicks]

Um wow...I didn't even consider database info for the pictures. I just assumed we would have to photo shop them.

As far as which pics to pull. If we can pull from the garage and the photoshopped picture storage then that would be best. If we can only pull from one I would prefer the photoshoped pictures with times listed. If you plan to store the photoshoped pictures in their respective garages then it will be the best of both worlds.

For picture information, I think you've got it covered. I think only one Best 1/4 mile time is sufficient, but I like the idea of the 1/8 and 60 ft. times for those who use them as comparrisons.

Marcus

[mitsu90]

what about the people that have not made it to the trck yet and have no time?

[turbohcar]

NICE guys, I like it already! Keep it up.

[99Spyder]

Xian really got me to thinking earlier, Photoshopping a bunch of images and then updating as times improve could become tedious. Therefore additional changes have been made... Here is the Example Page link again.

All of the text that is displayed now is dynamic. It is currently being pulled from the main website file but should be able to be placed in a seperate text file as mentioned earlier. The shadowing effect is created by writing the same information in to different colors with the black slightly offset. The pictures are even being pulled directly from the garage now

The only drawback of using this method is that the text will have to remain on the lower left side. Given the ease of updates this will provide I think it is a worthwhile sacrifice.

[black92_tsi_awd]

what about the people that have not made it to the trck yet and have no time?

You could still have the member name and car info, just no times....right?

[natedogg]

Very nice! You a web magician, spyder!

[xian 1g]

thanks spyder. that is awsome, I've been working for month in my spare time trying to figure out how to write the code to tie the member number -> member name -> highlighted image -> car information from the db. i'm soooo going to look at the code to see how it was defeated.

Marcus, yeah, the pm i had from mike had the db as the plan all the time. I once shot a demo page for temporarily relief on the front page that was basically the random ad_var image like what spyder did...

[soccerdude61587]

id recommend side by side columns it would allow for a clear picture of the car.

[SCCA Stang]

spyder...... great work.... I like the later of the two.... although.... I hope that the times posted are just random and not already set with the pics, because i know my car won't run a 10.XX @ 139. I don't want someone that can run that fast calling me out on something like that.

Natedog is right..... you are a web magician.... hey, thats what we can use under your avatar instead of beginner.....

Ben

[99Spyder]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I don't think what I am doing is as impressive as Xian is thinking. I do not have access to the site or the database yet so I was working strictly off of a comma seperated input file. Those interested *might* be able to see the input file at this link - Input File.

I have it working great on my local system but when I upload it sometimes the database functions do not load properly. I think that I am going to use a different method to read the input file and see if that works any better.

Anyone know what type of webserver/database combo DSMCentral is hosted on?

Stay tuned... (pun intended)

[xian 1g]

I can probally get that information for you. Send me a pm as I don't believe that information needs to be public. If it takes me a day or two to get back to you, my apologies now. I've been with out internet for over week and am trying to get all caught up.

xian.