Thread

So, I finally have managed to upgrade to EE 2 and I am now restoring the data from my galleries via Solspace’s Importer.

In one case, the Gallery in question was mainly used to hold images and their captions for another Weblog. Now the Weblog has been upgraded to a Channel and if imported as originally intended, the Gallery would also become a Channel.

But, is there a better approach? Is there a good way to have the images, usually about 2-4 per Channel entry, straight in the main Channel?

I’ve looked at Channel Images, but it seems to be overkill. I am not setting up a whole gallery for each Channel entry, I am just showing 2-4 images within the entry itself.

It’s a tough thing to answer, really, without knowing more about the channel/weblog field structure and how you like to handle the images administratively.

Channel Images may feel like overkill to an extent, but it’s a very powerful solution to a variety of issues that the native file uploader doesn’t address - like multiple images associated with an entry within a single uploader field.

Another option is Pixel & Tonic’s Assets module, which also brings a suite of additional benefits with it.

A favorite of mine is Pixel & Tonic’s Matrix for this sort of thing.  The fieldtype’s flexibility - capable of storing any kind of data via Matrix-supported field types - is what makes it such an attractive option, from my perspective. Turn any field into a spreadsheet with fix columns and flexible rows - you can get pretty creative with how you use it.

Any of those three options would provide an excellent experience for you in managing the images associated with a channel entry.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for your reply! Is Channel Images the only one of these three solutions that allow you to associate multiple images to an entry without making several uploader fields available?

I did look at Assets, as well, but I couldn’t make it from the documentation whether it added any capability of having multiple images per uploader field or if it is mainly concentrated on the image structuring on the server.

Matrix…hrm, that’s one I’ve glanced at, but I admit, I don’t quite get how it works. But it sounds like there I could have multiple images in a single field. Though…I don’t imagine it actually uses the native File Manager and its various functions then?

All three I mentioned, once installed, provide you with a fieldtype that would give you the ability to associate multiple images with an entry through that single field.  Actually there’s a fourth one - Channel Files - but Channel Images is much more specific to IMAGES so it’s likely the better alternative of those two.

Matrix is the one of those options that really is just a recalibration of native functionality, in a way.  It takes a single field and breaks it up into a series of fields. You define the columns - each column being a fieldtype.  So for multiple images being associated with an entry, for example, you might have columns like Image, Caption and Alt Text.  For each of these columns, you specify a fieldtype - and so the EE native file field can easily be the one you use for image. Caption can be text with multiline checked (same idea as textarea), for example.  And so on the entry screen, you just add a row to the matrix field for each image you want within that entry.

Beyond its usage in your gallery is where you really wind up benefiting, potentially. While Assets and Channel Images are fantastic for handling files, Matrix can handle files, but also data. So if you have a staff list for example, and for each staff person you want to display one or more phone numbers for each (a silly example, but you’ll get the idea) - within a single field, you can provide the content editor with the ability to quickly and flexibly enter 4 phone numbers for one staff person, 2 for another, etc. with the simple flexibility of the rows in the matrix field.  And there are a variety of fieldtypes that are supported by Matrix, including many other third party developer’s add-ons. And Matrix is supported by a few other third party add-ons, including Low Variables, for example.

So for me, Matrix is the most flexible option because I tend to apply it to tasks outside just images.  It just comes down to whether you envision needing that same kind of flexibility outside of your images.  If not, one of the dedicated image management modules like Channel Images or Matrix, offer you a bit more horsepower and a broader feature set for sure.

Hope that helps.

Oh, thank you, that’s an excellent explanation of how Matrix works. That looks like a really interesting option for me. I think I am tempted to grab most of the Pixel & Tonic add-ons; I know I definitely need Playa. 😊

You’re very welcome. Matrix certainly is a very powerful add-on with a lot of different potential uses for user-scalable fields.