• Quick Start
• PP Parameters
• Tips

When you receive the product you will receive a .zip file. The zip file will contain the following files

• pictureplatform_as2.fla (+ swf)
• preview.fla (+ swf)
• contents.xml
• /caurina/ folder
• index.htm, style.css, swfobject.js, AC_RunActiveContent.js
• Readme.htm

Do the following steps to start using Picture Platform AS2;

1. Unzip the .zip file.
2. Open Flash 8 (or higher).
3. Open pictureplatform_as2.fla.

The way the Picture Platform AS2 works is as follows;

You can edit the content.xml files to create all the visuals you need. PP is set up so you won't need to edit the .fla file. In the xml file you can edit settings and the categories for the picture galleries. Of course you can edit the .fla to your needs. And you can also use the preview.fla/swf as a container to load PP externally, that way you can hook up PP quickly in any website without having to edit it within another .fla.

Quick guide;

1. Make sure all your pictures are in the appropriate/sepperate folders, one folder for each cattegory (both thumbnail and high resolution images)
   
2. Open the contents.xml;
   Remove existing or create as many <cat> xml nodes as you need to display categories. For example the first <cat> node is as follows
   

   <cat category="1" Name="MIRO SANTANA Photography" Folder="MIRO" 
   			rows="3" 
   			cols="3"
   			jumpcolsauto="false"
   			jumpcols="1"
   			Xdis="100" 
   			Ydis="50" 
   			XdisOffset="25" 
   			YdisOffset="25"
   
   			stylejump="6"
   			stylethumbsmovein="1"
   			stylethumbsmoveout="1"
   			styleHRnextprev="3"
   			>

   Now make sure you verify these three things;
   - Verify you have the category numbers correct in the xml nodes attribute category="1" , category="2" and so on
   - Verify the "Name" xml node attribute of your categories Name="MIRO SANTANA Photography" and so on.
   These texts will be displayed on the category buttons.
   - Verify the names of the folder xml node attribute, they need to be the folders where your category pictures are placed, Folder="PictureFolder1", Folder="PictureFolder2" etc
   
   
3. Remove existing or create as many <image> xml nodes as you need to display images in a category. <image> node look like this;
   

   		<image>
   			<imagename>miro1.jpg</imagename>
   			<imagetitle>IMAGE DESCRIPTION</imagetitle>
   			<imagetext><![CDATA[Lorem ipsum dolo]r sit amet etcerera ...]]></imagetext>
   			<imagenamethumbnail>miro1_thumb.jpg</imagenamethumbnail>
   		</image>

   Now make sure you verify these things;
   - node <imagename> contains the high resolution file name of the picture
   - node <imagetitle> contains the picture header/title displayed when you hover your mouse over a high resolution image
   - node <imagetext> contains the picture description displayed when you hover your mouse over a high resolution image
   - node <imagenamethumbnail> contains the thumbnail file name of the picture
   
   imagetitle and imagetext may contain special characters and can contain html formatted texts so you can use hyperlinks and such in your text.
   
   
4. On the top of the XML file, adjust any values in Nodes <parameters> and <parametersextra> to your liking. These are the default values for PP.
5. ( Optional: If you like, adjust any of the parameters from <parameters> in the <cat> nodes so that you can override visuals for a specific category. See the example above for the Miro category, where "cols" (columns) "rows" "jumpcolsauto" "jumpcols" and so on have been given values which will override the default values of PP.)
   
   
6. Now you're ready to implement the PP in flash. Either copy the "PICTURE PLATFORM" MovieClip from the pictureplatform_as2.fla to your own fla (don't forget to also copy-paste the [PICTURE PLATFORM clips] folder) or use the LoadMovie method to externally load it in your own works, just as the preview.fla sample does.

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In the XML file you have a large number of parameters which you can configure. All the parameters in xml node <parameters> are default values for PICTURE PLATFORM. You can also specify individual values for each category within the <cat> nodes. The parameters in node <parametersextra> are applied for the whole of PICTURE PLATFORM.

Some tips to keep in mind when working with Picture Platform AS2;

• Creating New shapes for buttons or fonts for the category menu
  You can add new shapes for buttons in the .fla. You can also create different fonts for the category menu so you can recycle PP .swf in different websites without having to edit the .fla each time (simply set the xml parameter "fontcategory")

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