How to import media in bulk
In TNG, Import Media means to add media to TNG that have already been uploaded to your media collections folders. Importing the media will have them now show up in your media table. By using this process you would not be completing the links to people or places at this same time, like you can do for one single image. This Media Import process might be useful with a lot of census records or multiple image selections from a book, for example.
So, go to Administration and click on the Media tile. Click on the “Import” tab. Decide on the collection to receive the images, and select a tree. If you don’t select a tree, then the images will be visible in all trees. Once you click the “Import” button, all media in the media collection folder you selected that have not already been imported into TNG will now be imported.
Now for a bit of explanation. You must have the media already uploaded into your TNG site, in the media collections folders. This can be done if you have an ftp file transfer account for your TNG site. Or, you can use the “Upload Media” feature (see below) to first copy images from your home computer to your media collections folders.
One other cautionary. You only want to import new images, not ones that you have imported before. Otherwise, TNG will add the image again, duplicating the first set. As an example, I intentionally imported a small set of images twice. See the results on the left, when I went to Search Media.
The original two images (#1, #3) have a thumbnail image. The second set (#2, #4), a duplicate set, do not sport a thumbnail, but show the same file name. Since this is not what I want, I have to go back into the media table and manually delete the duplicates.
Creating Image Thumbnails
Image thumbnails are those small-sized images that represent your photos but do not occupy a large space on the screen. Thumbnails have a visual appeal to your visitors over using text. People can quickly see any photo items of interest to them, so this enhances their experience visiting your site.
Adding thumbnails is easy to do at the same time you are adding the images to TNG. But perhaps you have to regenerate thumbnail images on your site, for whatever reason. TNG has a handy tool for that purpose. Most likely, if you are using TNG as a backup to your home computer family tree, and importing GEDCOM data, you will need to generate thumbnail images and thumbnail links for any new images.
To do this, go to Administration >> Media, and click on the Thumbnails tab. The next page has two sections: ”’Generate Thumbnails”’ and ”’Assign Default Photos”’.
Generate Thumbnails
Clicking on the ”’Generate”’ button will go through all of your images, JPG, GIF and PNG files, and create a thumbnail if one does not already exist. The thumbnail image file will be created in the same media collection folder as the image itself. TNG will add a prefix (or suffix) to the filename. By default, it is “thumb_”, but you can change that in Setup >> General Settings >> Media if you wish.
If necessary, you can regenerate fresh thumbnails on all of your images, using the first checkbox.
If you suspect that some images are still not showing a thumbnail, the problem might be with a missing or incorrect file pathname. Use the second checkbox to have TNG re-evaluate thumbnail pathnames and to then recreate correct paths. Otherwise, the Generate button could be regenerating invalid thumbnail names.
Assign Default Photos
When you add or edit a person, you have the opportunity to assign a default photo (actually, a thumbnail image) to that individual’s profile page, pedigree charts and family group sheets.
You can add default thumbnails, individually and manually, by going to a person’s profile page, then following the steps illustrated, below. Click on the Choose default photo, select a photo, which will add the thumbnail to that profile page. Before saving, check on the media edit page, ”’Media Links”’, that you have the photo linked to the right person, that you have created a thumbnail image and that the Default Photo box is checked. That should put the thumbnail on the top of the individual’s profile page. This can also be done for family images on family pages.
There is something satisfying in going through the old photos and selecting an attractive sepia image to be featured on the profile page for that ancestor.
If you need to set up profile thumbnails in bulk, then on the Media >> Thumbnails page, click on the ”’Assign Defaults”’ button to have TNG go through all individuals, families, sources and repositories of the selected tree and assign the first photo for that person to be the Default Photo. If you check the “Overwrite existing defaults” box, then TNG will override any previous selection.
