The Better Upload File Template has been superceded by the Better File Uploader plugin.

As any regular reader of danandsherree.com likely knows, Sherree and I use the Upload File tool in Movable Type to put a lot of photos on this site. The tool works pretty well, but requires a lot of manual intervention: specify a file, an upload folder, a new entry or HTML, and a thumbnail and its size. If there are many photos to add, it becomes a lot of work!

I edited the Upload File templates to better suit our needs: "Show me the HTML" is the default option, clicking "Create a thumbnail…" will resize a thumbnail to the proper dimensions, and a "For...

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Current version: 1.05 (Updated 2005/10/4)

Simply, Better File Uploader is a Movable Type plugin that allows you to create default settings for file uploads. Create default settings to: • Specify a folder to upload to • Append year/month/ to the upload path • Create a new entry or show HTML • Select a thumbnail size • Build photo galleries quicker

Better File Uploader is also the successor to A Better File Upload Template.

Installation

Better File Uploader requires the BigPAPI plugin. BigPAPI is included in the below distribution. Better File Uploader requires Movable Type version 3.2 or higher. • Download BetterFileUploader.zip and unzip. • Upload to your plugins/ folder, preserving directory structure. The result should one file in the...

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Uploading a File

Problem

You want to upload a file such as an image or PDF and perhaps create an entry for it.

Solution

Click the Upload File button in the Weblog Toolbar.

Discussion

Movable Type offers an interface for uploading files onto your web server for use on your site. You can upload files to your Local Site Path or any directory beneath it.

To upload a file click the Upload File button in the Weblog Toolbar. Choose the file you wish to upload from your system and decide where you'd like to upload it. For example, if you are uploading an image, and you typically keep...

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If you use the Upload File feature in Movable Type, you've no doubt got a folder full of uploaded files. If you use the default "Local Archive Path" or "Local Site Path" destination, you've got a folder full of uploads mixed in with your web pages. I always want to keep my uploaded files separate from all of the web pages just for organization. But now my /uploads/ folder has over 1300 files in it and finding anything is impossible. I needed a better organization method and I didn't want to have to actively think about it.

2005/04/19 Update: The method has been refined quite a bit with The Easy Way, using JavaScript.

2005/05/10 Update: This method is superceded by...

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After you have uploaded a file, you have the choice of either creating a new entry using that uploaded file, or just displaying the HTML used to link to the file. For example, if you have uploaded an image, and would like to create a new entry with a link to that image in a popup window, select Create a new entry using this uploaded file, and press POPUP IMAGE. If you are already editing an entry, then you won't want to create another new entry (and perhaps lose the one that you are working on); so in that case, click the Show me the HTML button and click POPUP IMAGE. This will display the HTML code for...

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Better File Uploader allows you to create default settings for file uploads. Create default settings to specify a folder to upload to, append year/month/ to the upload path, create a new entry or show HTML, select a thumbnail size, and build photo galleries quicker.

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Posting photos and images to your weblog entry is easy in Movable Type.

1. Prepare your image for the web. First make sure your image is a manageable size. Whether you are using software that comes with your digital camera or specializied photo software such as Adobe Photoshop or PhotoElements, reduce the image size of your image so that it will comfortably fit in the space provided by your weblog at a resolution of 72 dpi. Most cameras take images at high resolutions so that they will be able to print out well on photo paper. Your computer's screen resolution however is a low 72 dpi (dots per inch). So if you want to see what your image will look like on your weblog, view it at...

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The Better File Uploader plugin for Movable Type has been updated to version 1.06. This release fixes a small bug: The "enable easier photo gallery creation mode" checkbox wouldn't actually disable that mode. The option will now correctly be disabled if the button is unchecked, removing the For Photo Gallery button from the file upload screen.

Download the plugin, or learn more about Better File Uploader.

If you found this article useful, please consider supporting this site through a donation.

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Better File Uploader is at version 1.04 now.

An astute user pointed out a problem with Advanced Archive Publishing and your selected upload directory. (Advanced Archive Publishing is the thing that gives the Local Archive Path and Local Site Path options. If you're not using Advanced Archive Publishing you've only got a Local Site Path option.) Better File Uploader now works correctly under both circumstances, as you can see in the screenshot at the right.

If you found this article useful, please consider supporting this site through a donation.

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In a nutshell, in MT3.16 when you upload a file and select the file to be displayed as a "popup", the resulting link to that popup returns an error. (the slash before the filename is parsed as its html hex entity %2f rather than / ). This is a known issue in 3.16 and there are a couple temporary fixes floating around. I employed the hack described at danandsherree.com. An alternative (unofficial) fix can be found on the MT Support Forum. The latter changes subroutines other than upload_file, thus I prefer the one from danandsherree since it addresses only the upload subroutine -- it's working fine for me.

Posted by kate on May 4, 2005 08:11 AM filed under MT3.16

PING URL for this...

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Question

When trying to upload a file, I received an error message saying it was too large. What is the size limit, and can it be changed?

Answer

The default setting for the size of uploaded files is 1MB, to prevent denial-of-service attacks. If you wish to increase this size limit, use the CGIMaxUpload setting in mt-config.cgi1.

For example, to increase the size limit to 1.5MB, use: CGIMaxUpload 1500000

Remember to uncomment the setting2 in mt-config.cgi. Save and transfer the configuration file back to your server in ASCII mode.

1 In versions prior to 3.2,...

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In Movable Type 3.16, using the Upload File feature to create a pop-up doesn't work quite right. If specifying a directory to upload to (such as a dynamic upload directory), the "/" character get converted to its HTML entity - "%2f." Obviously, that renders the file path invalid, and your pop-up doesn't work.

Reverting to an earlier-version subroutine seems to fix it. Just replace the subroutine _process_post_upload (starting at around line 1900 in lib/MT/App/CMS.pm. (The MT license prohibits me from recreating the code here, though copying and pasting it yourself is easy enough.)

If you found this article useful, please consider...

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I've added a minor feature to the Better File Uploader plugin: fast selection of HTML. Just click in the textarea where your HTML is shown and it'll get selected for you - no more careful selections to ensure you've got everything.

Download the plugin, or learn more about Better File Uploader.

If you found this article useful, please consider supporting this site through a donation.

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Thanks to some great feedback, the Better File Uploader plugin has a few new features: • Per-weblog settings. • Default option: local archive path or local site path. • Thumbnail size: longest side or fixed option.

If you found this article useful, please consider supporting this site through a donation.

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A very minor update to the Better File Uploader and Better Entry Preview plugins: their documentation links reflect their URI here on Eat Drink Sleep Movable Type (it previously pointed to danandsherree.com).

If you found this article useful, please consider supporting this site through a donation.

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What do all these folders do?

This tutorial is written by LMT guest author Arvind Satyanarayan of Movalog.

There are several folders in the default distribution of Movable Type. This tutorial will attempt to guide you through them all so that you feel more comfortable with what they do and contain.

extlib/

This directory contains perl libraries and files that support Movable Type. These are the modules that are needed by Movable Type to run (for example those modules listed in mt-check.cgi are normally found here) Some plugins also require some special perl modules to be installed, and normally you can install these perl modules into the extlib/ directory. For example, the BlogTimes plugin requires the GD perl module to be installed. Obviously you can get your host to install it and then that module would be available server wide. However, if you uploaded the files provided on the BlogTimes page into your extlib/ directory, you would have the GD module installed just for your installation without having to go to your host....

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Installing Movable Type requires uploading many files to a web server using an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program. The files must be loaded in the proper format and then the correct permissions must be set for each of the files in order for MT to work. If you are new to FTP then the Movable Type instructions (see MT Installation Manual: Uploading Files) can seem a little confusing.

FTP

Installing Movable Type requires that you know how to use an FTP program. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. There are many FTP programs available; typing "FTP" into Google will yield several. For my Mac, I use Fetch. Transmit and Cyberduck for the Mac have also had good reviews. Leech FTP has been recommended as a good Windows FTP client, as well as...

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Almost everytime I upload a photo or image to danandsherree.com, I upload a 640 x 480 pixel image. I use Movable Type's Upload File feature to help by creating a 128 x 96 pixel thumbnail image. The Upload File feature generates some HTML so that clicking the thumbnail shows the big image. The problem is, the HTML always specifies border="0"; I want border="2" so that it's obvious the thumbnail is a link. I finally remedied that problem, and it was pretty simple.

You'll need to modify lib/MT/App/CMS.pm. Open it up and search for "border="0"" - you'll find it at line 1890.

my $link = $thumb ? qq(<img src="$thumb"...

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Installing Movable Type with FTP

Problem

You want to install the Movable Type software using FTP.

Solution

Download an FTP application, uncompress the software onto your desktop and take care of any necessary configuration before uploading.

Discussion

• An FTP (file transfer protocol) program is used to send the files from your computer to your server. If you don't yet have an FTP program, there are many available for free. SmartFTP is a good FTP program for Windows, and offers a free trial version. Transmit is a good FTP program for Mac users on OS X, and it has a free...

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Question

How do I modify the HTML code that is used for uploaded files?

Answer

You can make changes to the page in which popup images display by modifying the Uploaded Image Popup Template, listed on the Templates : System tab1.

If you wish to make changes to the HTML which appears in the Entry Body field for the uploaded image, this must be done directly in the Movable Type source code.

Please note that you must be comfortable with Perl in order to make these changes, as support staff cannot provide assistance with modifications to the...

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