[Imc-web] Fwd: syndication

Stuart Levy slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu
Sun Oct 5 15:20:27 CDT 2008 

On Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 07:47:38AM -0500, Brian Dolinar wrote:
> Hey IMCstas.
> 
> We're again having tech problems with syndication I'm wondering if any ucimc
> tech-savvy folks can look at.
> The images from ucimc.org are showing up at usimc.org as oversized pictures.
> There's something in our Drupal software that's causing this.
> Can anybody help?
> 
> See Amy's email below.
> Amy Dalton graciously handles much of the design for usimc.org.
> 
> Thanks, BD

First, I'm a geek but not a drupal geek, and certainly not a drupal admin.

After some digging and a test post on ucimc, it looks as though
the reason we're sending 400x300 preview images,
both on our own site and to indymedia.us syndication, is that our
drupal installation is set to scale Preview images to that specific size.

It looks as though the indymedia.us version just reflects the
teaser/preview size for the original site's version of the article.
That is, IIUC, each originating site including ucimc.org
needs to configure the preview-image size for their local site
to be something that won't be out-of-place on indymedia.us.
That might be 250x250 pixels or so -- maybe Amy Dalton can suggest a specific size?

Not sure which drupal image-related modules we have installed
(Image Assist?  Image Attach?), but the drupal generic Image documentation,
    http://drupal.org/handbook/modules/image
suggests that the place to do this is in
    administer >> settings >> image
which on our site may well be
    http://www.ucimc.org/admin/settings/image/

Can anyone with ucimc drupal admin permissions check this?
It probably sets Preview images to 400x300, or similar,
and we could set them to something like 250x250
to make our material fit in.

If Drupal thinks like Plone, then changing this setting might trigger a
flurry of image resize processing, though I'm not sure.  If they do it
right, it should just invalidate the image caches, so that images would
be resized only if & when someone tried to look at them.


There may be a less drastic way to do this,
involving pointing our RSS-feed at a newly defined View,
having that View use images with some new "IndyMediaSized" tag
instead of "Preview", and set 250x250 as the size for "IndyMediaSized" images.
But I don't know how to set that up.

In the mean time, changing "Preview" image size should work,
and should keep from driving Amy crazy or uglifying indymedia.us
while some better way is being thought out.


As for the layout annoyance -- where text for ucimc articles
appears below the image, rather than having the first paragraph
hanging to the right of the image -- it appears that our current
article-entry system adds an extra <p> tag after the image,
when you create an article with the  "Publish! >> image",
    http://www.ucimc.org/node/add/image
link.  I'm not sure where this comes from, either.
Is it template-based, a la SimpleNews module?
Just removing that <p> might do the trick.

   Stuart in Champaign

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: ald <ald at riseup.net>
> Date: Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 7:40 AM
> Subject: Re: syndication
> To: Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com>, ald at riseup.net
> 
> 
> hi brian,
> 
> the uc-imc drupal code often sends oversized images. i am totally out of
> the loop with drupal development but i've been meeting to grit my teeth
> and try to elbow my way into the conversation with regards to the specific
> question of syndication. i have been ignored in the past by tech folks
> regarding my feedback on website issues and it really is difficult to keep
> trying to raise points when people ignore you. so maybe if there is a way
> you could help my comments get thru, as i am trying to respond to your
> question -- we could help each other in that way.
> 
> basically the rss code output needs to be configured in a way that sends
> the proper feed. then there is additionally a dilemma sometimes in terms
> of how it interacts with the contacts database. i do not always know which
> is which. however i am fairly sure that for urbana champaign the problem
> is in the output feed.
> 
> i have put together three examples of feeds with images to try to address
> this. one thing that is confusing to me is how different the code is
> between them. for this reason i do not know how to suggest a change.
> whereas when errors occur in the other code base's feeds they are simple
> and i can tell what is wrong. so here are the examples -- i am giving you
> the link to the original article on the home imc site, the link to the
> page where it shows up on the imc-us archives, and the feed as it appears
> in the mir "abstract" field when I get it.
> 
> the third one is the one we want to mimic -- twin cities feed.
> worcester's works but looks a bit awkward.
> urbana-champain's are oversized so it creates a "big" problem, literally,
> that has to be fixed by hand.
> 
> let me know if this is helpful. i'm assuming you'll need to forward this
> to "someone" and maybe they could also suggest how to have this
> conversation among the drupal development crew (whoever that is!!!)
> 
> from the margins of technophilia,
> amy
> 
> -------------
> 
> (1) UNWORKABLE:
> Urbana-Champaign Code with Oversized Image:
> article link: http://www.ucimc.org/node/3452
> syndication visible here:
> http://www.indymedia.us/en/topic/elections_vote/archive.shtml
> 
>  <div style="width: 400px" class="image-attach-teaser"><a
> href="/node/3452"><img src="http://www.ucimc.org/files/images/Unity March
> 061.thumbnail.JPG" alt="" title=""  class="image thumbnail" width="400"
> height="300" /></a></div>
> <p>It was a beautiful day for the fifth annual Unity March, an event
> organized by Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice. This year's
> march was dedicated to passage of the coming Township referendum on the
> ballot this election day, a measure that would raise funds to help the
> poorest of the poor in Champaign. A diverse crowd of approximately 150
> people marched to stamp out poverty. </p>
> <p><a href="http://www.ucimc.org/node/3452">read more</a></p>
> 
> -------------
> 
> (2) WORKABLE:
> Worcester code with properly-sized image appearing after intro text
> article link: http://worcester.indymedia.org/node/40123
> syndication visible here: http://indymedia.us/en/topic/housing/archive.shtml
> 
>  On Thursday, September 25th, members of the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure
> Team, residents from 244 / 250 Pleasant Street, and neighbors stood
> outside buildings that for months have been plagued with issues as
> serious as broken sewer lines, and thousand dollar electric mis-wirings.
> <div class="field field-type-image field-field-main-image">
> 
>  <div class="field-items">
>          <div class="field-item"><img
> src="
> http://worcester.indymedia.org/files/imagecache/article_mainimage/files/DSCF8608.JPG
> "
> alt="DSCF8608.JPG" title=""  /></div>
>      </div>
> </div>
> 
> -------------
> 
> (3) IDEAL:
> Twin Cities code with properly-sized image appearing before intro text
> article link:
> http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/oct/september-deadly-bicyclists-memorial-ride-begins-saturday-morning
> syndication visible here:
> http://indymedia.us/en/topic/transportation/archive.shtml
> 
>  <p><img
> src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2906782421_0bbddc3d10_o.jpg"
> align=left width=250">Between September 11 and September 27, at least
> four bicyclists were killed on Twin Cities streets.  On Saturday, riders
> are invited to take part in a memorial ride visiting the sites of these
> recent crashes, leaving from Saint Paul in the morning and traveling to
> Uptown and Downtown Minneapolis, followed by an afternoon ride to Blaine.
>  The stepped-up assault of car culture on cyclists is not limited to the
> Twin Cities; activists in the Midwest are also mourning the apparent loss
> of a participant in August's PNC2RNC bike ride after a car struck her
> bike.</p>
> <p><a
> href="
> http://tc.indymedia.org/2008/oct/ghost-bike-memorial-ride-honor-fallen-bicyclists
> ">Memorial
> Ride to Honor Fallen Bicyclists</a>: meet 10:30am Saturday at Summit and
> Snelling in St. Paul<br />
> <a href="http://www.bikemap.net/route/89109">Route</a> | <a
> href="http://www.ghostbikempls.org/">Ghost Bike MPLS</a> | <a
> href="http://tcstreetsforpeople.org/">TC Streets For People</a></p>
> <p><a
> href="
> http://twincities.indymedia.org/2008/oct/september-deadly-bicyclists-memorial-ride-begins-saturday-morning
> ">read
> more</a></p>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, October 4, 2008 7:14 pm, Brian Dolinar wrote:
> > Hey Amy.
> >
> > Why are ucimc.org images buggin out at usimc.org?
> >
> > BD
> > --
> > Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
> > 303 W. Locust St.
> > Urbana, IL 61801
> > briandolinar at gmail.com
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
> 303 W. Locust St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
> briandolinar at gmail.com

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