Importing My Media Files

[RickGleason]

I'm as new as they come. Just yesterday I downloaded the TNG software, set up an account and received a domain from Simply Hosting. My nearly 24,000 names are on the site. Little camera's indicate photos are waiting to be linked up. So there lies the first question, no doubt followed by more to come. 

I just read the Import Media Using GEDCOM page in the TNG Wiki. I believe I have a basic understanding of what is expected but, I'm still wondering how to proceed.

I've been using Reunion for the Mac software for years. My photos of individuals are spread among many folders. They all begin with the folder name "People" and then within that folder very often the photos are put within folders bearing that person's surname. Then within the surname folder they are put into another folder bearing the individual or their husband's name. In some cases, depending on how many photos I have available for a particular surname, I may just put an individuals photo in a "Miscellaneous" folder among the list of Surname folders. Often times, because I might not have many photos attached to a single individual, I would put their photo within their surname folder in another folder named, again, "Miscellaneous." I've attached a screenshot of my file folder layout to give you a better idea of the situation. 

After reading the Wiki page mentioned above It appears that the way my photos are organized, spread among numerous multiple folders (probably hundreds), the process of pointing to each would be extremely tedious and time-consuming, assuming you could enter that many paths in the Setup >> Configuration >> Import Settings screen. So, here comes the question. Is there any way to make this process easier? Do I need to reorganize all these photos on my computer (and there are hundreds, likely more) into a limited number of folders in order to make the process of setting the paths easier? That's an awful lot of files contained in a few folders! As I understand it, if I do that I would have to export another GEDCOM file overwriting everything that's on the site. Not a big deal I suppose. We haven't even gotten to my equal number of headstone photos that are likewise organized, nor the hundreds of documents, some histories and other media that I will need to move to the website. Is there anything else I'm missing?

My organization of these numerous files have worked well over the years within Reunion. It isn't perfect and I occasionally stray from "the norm." But, I'm not so sure it is an ideal system for moving them to my TNG website.

Thanks you so much for your help and consideration in this matter and, as you might guess, it is very much appreciated! 

http://bit.ly/ClearfieldDescendants

[theKiwi]

You just need to tell TNG that your photos are in the folder "People" - plus whatever precedes that that is written to the GEDCOM file.

TNG will then import the rest of it as the path to the folder.

If you also have photos in that "Places" folder that are linked to your people in Reunion, then tell TNG that your photos are in whatever that folder that enclosed People and places is

If you look at the WikI article again, the first graphic called "Macintosh" is applicable to you, and then the first coloured graphic - look in the box called "Local Photo Paths" up to the first comma. You're going to use the equivalent string from your GEDCOM file up to either the People folder, or if you're going to use Places too, the folder that encloses both of them.

Then you will FTP into the photos folder on your TNG site either the contents of the People folder - all the folders and subfolders, or the People and Places folder and all their contents.

Or if you do want to re-organise your computer first, set up a structure on your computer that matches what TNG is expecting to see - so a folder that looks like this

http://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php?title=File:FolderSetup.gif

with the various TNG categories separated into their own folder. Reunion can then automatically "learn" their new locations if you go to the Reunion Preferences ------> Multimedia and Rebuild the multimedia links.

Then you'd upload the contents of each of those folders to the respective folder on your TNG site, and use the settings as I've shown in the Wiki article (but edited to allow for you username and actual folder paths).

 

Roger

[RickGleason]

Roger,

Thank you! I'll follow your directions and let you know my results. I sure appreciate your help and guidance.

I've seen your TNG site and have shown it to others as one of the best.

Edited September 2, 2017 by RickGleason
missed a word

[RickGleason]

Not having much luck. I did decide to organize my folders on my computer to mirror what TNG should be looking for. For a start, I put ALL my headstone photos (429) into the following path on my computer:

Users/rickgleason/Documents/Genealogy/headstones - No problem, Reunion still kept them linked to the individual records.

I then copied the same path into the Setup >> Configuration >> Import Settings screen and saved it. (This is where I think the problem might lie). You wrote I needed to tell TNG where the photos are "plus whatever precedes that that is written to the GEDCOM file.' My question would be, how do I know exactly what is written in the GERDCOM file in that regard? (Sorry, I remain a "Newbie". 😳

I then transferred those headstone photos via FTP into the public/html/headstones folder. But I still don't see them on my website. 

I've spent the majority of the day trying to get this to work. I've experimented and tried variations of the path name, in configuring the Import Settings. I've uploaded the GEDCOM file several times. I've reread the message above and the other materials but, to no avail. There's obviously something I'm missing.

Because I have a Mac my file names include spaces and parenthesis, (ex. Lines, Richard (1924-1955).jpg) which I know Windows machines wouldn't allow. I assume this isn't the problem?

I will continue plugging away, researching the subject, hoping to resolve it. If I do, I'll post a message here. Any additional suggestions would be appreciated. I'm sure it'll be obvious once I find out what I'm doing wrong... but until then... it remains a mystery. Then I'll be able to move on to my photos, documents, etc.

Thanks in advance!

I've included a screenshot of the FTP view that shows some of my files.

 

[theKiwi]

5 hours ago, RickGleason said:

I then copied the same path into the Setup >> Configuration >> Import Settings screen and saved it. (This is where I think the problem might lie). You wrote I needed to tell TNG where the photos are "plus whatever precedes that that is written to the GEDCOM file.' My question would be, how do I know exactly what is written in the GERDCOM file in that regard?

You need to open the GEDCOM file with a Text Editor - eg the free BBEdit from http://barebones.com/ - and see what is written as per the example in the wiki. You wrote

Users/rickgleason/et

but you'll find that it starts with

~/

before the "users" probably.

Also, if you're in this trial and error phase, you need to make sure that each time you are trying a new import that you have to delete all existing media from the media table before you start a new import - easiest way to do this is to use the Tab in Setup for Table Creation to create a new set of empty tables each time.

Roger

[RickGleason]

Lots of progress so far today! Still having some issues with photos, documents etc., but it comes with the turf. Hopefully with what I've accomplished today, I'll be able to figure it out on my own.

I'm grateful to all those who have contributed to this thread. 

I'll work with these additional issues and expect progress today... but if I hit a brick wall on this importing of media subject... I'll be back.

Meanwhile I've run into an Error Message in Generating Thumbnails that I'll create under another topic. 

Thanks again to all!