Shozam Community

Hi, I have an existing website that I wish to integrate shozam into...i need a little advice!  The connection settings are fine when I have entered all my details, but i cant get the view settings correct?  where it asks where my photo album will be viewed in my site? 

In my existing website, do I make a folder up for all the info from Shozam to go into?  I have done this, but it doesnt work....do i need to make up another website inside the existing one for the photo album to have an index page? if so, how would i do that?  I hope this isn't too confusing, I know what to do in my head but can't physically do it on my computer...!!

Can anyone help, I use Microsoft Expression Web.

Thanks for all you help,

Fiona

www.caledonianlabradoodles.co.uk

Fiona,

It all depends on what type of integration you want to achieve. It is best to first review the information available in the online FAQs.

You can create a new folder in the local copy of your Web site (on your computer) and have Shozam generate the gallery in there. This will allow you to use Expression Web to upload the gallery together with your site. However, you should generally not edit the gallery files outside of Shozam because the next time you use Shozam to update your gallery, it will overwrite your changes.

The best type of integration is done using Shozam Business Edition to add custom HTML code to your pages (on the HTML tab in Step 5) which allows you to insert at the top of every gallery page the same type of masthead you have elsewhere in your site.

The simplest type of integration is to just link from your Web site to the URL of the gallery and have it open in a new window. When the viewer is done, they would close the gallery window and thus get back to your main Web site.

And then there are other options in between. If you have Shozam Advanced Edition, you can create navigation links at the top of the gallery pages (Step 5 --> Link tab) that a user can click on to get back to your main "home" page on your Web site.

A solution that can look elegant but technically is not recommended (not only that it requires some more HTML knowledge but it is also deficient in terms of having your gallery extra optimized for search engines) is to create a page on your Web site for your gallery (using Expression Web), place an IFRAME (inline frame) in the middle of the page (where you want your gallery to appear) and point the IFRAME to the location where your gallery is online.

Take your pick; you should find a solution that works for you depending on the Shozam edition you have, the technical skills you possess and specifically what you envision as an end result.

Hi Razvan,

 Many thanks for your reply.  I have the advanced edition, when you say i can link it back to my website i understand this.  but do i still have to upload the gallery into my existing website?  or where do i find the url for the gallery to link to my website?  sorry, im not too technical!!

thanks for any information

fiona 

Fiona,

Where you upload your Web site is less relevant, as long as it is somewhere on the Web. However, it is likely that a convenient location would be in a dedicated folder on your Web site. You would upload the gallery into that location and once it is there and you have the working URL for the online gallery, you will just link to it.

hi razvan,

 thanks for your reply, i understand the bit where to upload the files to, but in the test the viewing settings it never works.....i have only created a folder in expression web inside my exisiting website........for all the shozam files to get uploaded into, but what exactly do i write in the "view settings" area?  i wrote my website in, but i think i need to have a new page for it to go..., or do i?  if so do i  make up a new page, then write , www.mysite.co.uk/gallery.htm  or do i just put the folder name after the website......i apologize for sounding so dumb!! i did build my own website but just cant get the hang of this!!!

thanks for any more help you are able to offer.......

Fiona 

 It would probably help us more to give you advice if you could give us a link to where in EW did you generate the gallery?  Of course, what did you name it?  And, did you upload your EW file to where?

Cowboy 

hi cowboy!

 I have not yet uploaded any files to EW at the moment, i just wasn't sure of what to do.  I have made up a new folder in EW called shozam, ..... but where would i put this name -  in the sub-directory box in connection settings?  then upload it to EW?  What would I then do with the files in EW to get them live on the web?

generate the galley in EW?  i generated it, in the software shozam, so not quite sure what you mean.

in the view settings, i have no idea what to place in here, as i dont understand how to view the file if there is no page for it?  i guess i cant view it till i have uploaded the files??

 cant apologize enough for being so dumb!!!  Gosh, I hope this makes sense,

thanks again for any help, i know you guys must be getting frustrated!!!!!

Fiona  

Fiona,

First of all, you need an mental adjustment.  You are not dumb or stupid for coming here to seek information to help you move beyond the basics of Shozam.  You are willing to learn and that is a great attribute. 

That being said, generate a sample gallery into the folder (directory) of shozam.  Call it sample.

Upload your EW web to your server.

You should now have a link of www.yourdomain.com/shozam/sample where you can view the gallery


Cowboy

Hi Cowboy,

I finally got it, it was a simple mistake by just putting all the files into a special folder called "web"........to link it from any page on my existing site, do I just link it to the link/addy on the address bar when its all been uploaded? 

thanks for your time,.....

fiona