OTFG Step 7: Import Notes
Welcome back to This Old Blog. This week we're going off the Flickr grid by setting up a custom photo sharing application at a private web site. (this one!)
Flickr has a fantastic feature called notes that lets people add a layer of information on top of a photo. Here's one of my photos with notes so you can see it in action: moon 8/31. As you hover over the image, you can see boxes I've drawn, with notes underneath. It's great for pointing out some little detail in a photo that might otherwise be missed. Matt's memory maps idea is another great example of notes in action. Check out the memory maps tag at Flickr to see hundreds more.
I don't plan on adding notes to my photos here. To me, notes is one of those magical features that just happens—I have no idea how it works. I don't even know where to begin building it. But that doesn't mean I won't want to build it someday, so I figured I might as well throw my existing notes on photos into a database in case I want to recreate them down the road.
To accomplish this, I took a look at the notes data available through the Flickr API and mapped everything to a local table, notes. Here's the structure: otfg_tables_4.txt. And I set up another PHP script to do the work: import-flickr-notes.php. If you've been following along with the previous scripts, you know the drill on this one: runs in the browser, authenticates at Flickr, add your details to the top, might set your house on fire, etc.
This script pulled in 48 notes for me across 19 photos.
Ok, after importing notes I have every bit of information I could possibly want from Flickr residing on my server. That means it's time to start thinking about how I want to show my photos.
Next Up: Drink Me (Resizing Photos)
Flickr has a fantastic feature called notes that lets people add a layer of information on top of a photo. Here's one of my photos with notes so you can see it in action: moon 8/31. As you hover over the image, you can see boxes I've drawn, with notes underneath. It's great for pointing out some little detail in a photo that might otherwise be missed. Matt's memory maps idea is another great example of notes in action. Check out the memory maps tag at Flickr to see hundreds more.
I don't plan on adding notes to my photos here. To me, notes is one of those magical features that just happens—I have no idea how it works. I don't even know where to begin building it. But that doesn't mean I won't want to build it someday, so I figured I might as well throw my existing notes on photos into a database in case I want to recreate them down the road.
To accomplish this, I took a look at the notes data available through the Flickr API and mapped everything to a local table, notes. Here's the structure: otfg_tables_4.txt. And I set up another PHP script to do the work: import-flickr-notes.php. If you've been following along with the previous scripts, you know the drill on this one: runs in the browser, authenticates at Flickr, add your details to the top, might set your house on fire, etc.
This script pulled in 48 notes for me across 19 photos.
Ok, after importing notes I have every bit of information I could possibly want from Flickr residing on my server. That means it's time to start thinking about how I want to show my photos.
Next Up: Drink Me (Resizing Photos)
http://www.bitterpill.org/bp/2004-12/phun-with-fotonotes.html
Looks like the fotonotes.com site has pretty much all the flickr functionality.