Ok, since there have been so may questions asked about this Mod I am compiling a FAQ and posting it in this thread. I will be amending THIS post when there are new questions to add.
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1) Are the resized images Photoshop-like in quality?
When the image is resized to a smaller size, an unsharp mask is also applied to slightly sharpen the image. Just like with all images, the bigger and better image that you start with, the better it will look when sized down. So, if you start with a good quality image and the size of the image is such that there is enough information in the file, then you will have a very nice thumbnail when it is sized down.
2) Is this by installation only, or can I get the mod and instructions?
When you purchase this, you will receive an package with all the files necessary and the instructions to install it.
3) Will it work to provide the required thumbnails for Mods that use thumbnails, too, like Recently Viewed and Instant Search?
Some of these Mods that are made by other developers will include the Thumbnail URL (path) as part of the product array that is built - some do not. Since this image mod requires the files to be in the File System, it uses this field in the products array to find where the file is. So, Mods like ezUpsell which DO include this field it will work fine with. I unfortunately can not speak for all Mods that have been posted on this forum or for all Mods that are developed by other people as to whether this piece of information was added to their products array or not. The good news is that if it is not there, then it will not break the function of the add-in. It will just function as it always has.
4) Does this mean that the mod allows different sized thumbs for product page, product listing, shopping cart, and popup?
Yes - There will be 4 settings in Admin. One for Product Page, one for Catalog pages, one for Pop-up and one for the thumbs that are created for the popups.
5) Can you set the quality options to decide how much the images get compressed?
For JPEG images (which most product images should be as GIF images are only 256 colors and JPEG is 16M colors) the image quality is set by default to 80. This has proven to give the best quality/file size combination. The size of the files created are very comparable to those produced by Photoshop.
GIF files are set to 256 colors.
6) What if I have created a custom thumb, can you override the ones generated by this mod?
Not by default with this Mod. I am sure that if you are good with Smarty, and you understanding PHP then you would be able to write your own section of code to exclude certain things from being processed - but the way this is set up by default, that is not included. Personally I do not think that this is necessary. The images created are 100 times better than what you would have with X-Cart by default.
7) Once I install this mod, what do I have to do to get the thumbnail image to display?
Once this is installed, it will automatically generate new images for the different places they are called. The key to this is to start with a larger image. So, lets say that when you add a product, you insert an image as a thumbnail that is 400px wide. When that product is displayed on the product listing page, a new image will be generated for it that is, say, 100px wide. This setting (100px) is something that can be set within Admin also. There is nothing special that you have to do to make this work after it is installed.
8) Does it do it on the fly?
Yes... and no... Yes, the new images are generated on the fly, but they are also stored in a cache directory. This keeps the server from having to generate a new one when this exact image is called for again.
9) My images are not stored in the database, is that a problem?
Actually this Mod will only work if your images are stored in the File System, so no problem there. However, if you do have your images stored in the database, it will not prevent the images from displaying. They will just display as they normally would in an un-modified installation.
10) How do you tell the store to use the new thumbnail images?
This happens automatically. New images are automatically generated and displayed where they are needed (and normally called). The width for the thumbnail on the product listing pages is set in Admin, as well as the width of the image on the individual product page, the width of the popup image and the width of the thumbnails for the detailed images. Again, the key here is to start with an image that is at least as large and what your popup will be.
11) Can I set the dimensions of the images? How is that done?
All the widths of the images are set within Admin. There are 4 settings. One for the Product Listing pages, one for the Product Page, one for the Detail Image Thumbnails and one for the width of the Popup Image.
12) What is required for me to use this Mod?
First you have to make sure that you ahve GD support turned on in PHP. To do this, you can go to Admin in X-Cart, click on "Summary" in the right hand Admin menu. Scroll down to the Environment section and look for the entry for PHP. There should be a version number beside of this and a link titled "Details >>". Clicking on this link will open a new window with all the details about your PHP installation. Scroll down and look for a section simply named "gd". It should look something like the following:
GD Support enabled
FreeType Support enabled
FreeType Linkage with freetype
GIF Read Support enabled
GIF Create Support enabled
JPG Support enabled
PNG Support enabled
Outside of having GD Support enabled in your PHP configuration, the only other thing that is necessary is that your product images be stored in the File System.
13) What version of X-Cart will this Mod work with?
This Mod was intended for X-Cart version 4.0.x . I have not tested it with any previous version.
14) Do you have examples of sites that are using this Mod?
Yes. You can see this Mod in use at:
http://www.AngelaCarolPearls.com
http://www.AngelaCarol.com
http://www.RideQuality.com
There are a whole host of others, but I do not have the owners permission to post the links to the sites.