Mike DelGaudio

The first idea that came to mind for Zoomify was encouraging Real Estate agents to use Zoomify in creating Virtual tours of thier properties for sale. If you have great images of a property with lots of detail, use Zoomify to really draw your visitors into the property.

Navigate through this image just like you would a Google Map

Using Zoomify, you can upload and view extra large images, and see all the detail using a Google Maps-like pan and zoom navigation.

So, how does this work? It’s pretty easy, once you get past the initial configuration….Steps 1,2,3 below only have to be done the first time, of course.

1. Go and download Zoomify Express, a small client you download that will chop up your image into something that is pan-and-zoom able. This gets installed (unzipped actually) on your PC.
2. Zoomify your image by dragging it onto the Zoomify Converter.exe You can get detailed directions on the Zoomify site.
3. Install the YD-Zoomify plugin by Yann Dubois. If you don’t know how to install plugins on Wordpress, read Installing plugins on the Wordpress site. (if you install from the Wordpress auto-installer, you’ll want to replace the zoomifyViewer.swf file that comes with that version to the new version that came with your zoomify software install. FTP is your friend here. )
4. Upload your Zoomified image folder to Wordpress. Zoomify creates a folder named the same as your image, which contains an xml file, and one or more subfolders with a ton of images. I used FTP to upload these files to [wordpressInstallDirectory]/wp-content/uploads/[imagefoldername] — substitute the items in brackets with values from your own system.
5. Place the Zoomify command in your post. You’ll need to enter a code into your post where you want the Zoomified image to appear. You do this as follows:
   • Enter <!-- YDZOOM( 'fullURLToTheUploadedFolderOfImages', widthInPixels, heightInPixels, 'uniqeNameForThisZoomify') --> where:
   • fullURLToTheUploadedFolderOfImages, which goes in single quotes, is the full URL, including http:// to the location of this folder. something line ‘http://www.example.com/wp-content/uploads/myiamge’
   • widthInPixels, not in quotes, is the width of the area where you want to place the Zoomified image.
   • heightInPixels, not in quotes, same as width, only height.
   • uniqueNameForThisZoomify, in quotes, is and arbitrary name for this Zoomified image, make sure it starts with a letter. Each Zoomify instance you add to your post needs its own name.

A word of caution because it bit me…. The domain name you use for referencing the folder must match exactly the domain in your browser (for example http://example.com) otherwise you’ll get an “error loading” message. So if your browser says “http://example.com” but your fullURL entry above says “http://www.example.com” you’ll get an error because they don’t match. Make them match, or go learn about crossdomain.xml files and Flash.

Good Luck Zoomifying your images.

If you host your own Wordpress blog, then Vague Dream has just the thing for you. They’ve created the Picasa Web Matrix that allows you to integrate a little badge of photos from Picasa Web Albums you designate.

So, if you are a Wordpress blogger, and want to show your Picasa Web love, then give it a try!

If you want to upload pictures to PIcasa Web Albums, you’ll need Picasa, the photo editing software from Google. If you don’t have it, you should.

[tags]Mike DelGaudio, Picasa, Picasa Web Albums, Vague Dream, Picasa Web matrix[/tags]