Backlight 5: image download not working?

Backlight 4, 5 & 6 Support
#21

Actually, I don’t think you can download individual images with the download button in Client Response albums.

Historically (If memory serves), downloads weren’t allowed in Client Response albums because the purpose of Client Response was to be an image choosing and approval method that would lead to final delivery (which could be a private regular album that had downloads enabled).
But download ability was requested, so it was added in the form of a zip file. @Ben would remember better than I do.

In the Change Log, back in 2021 the ability to download a zip file of selected images (from the photo/ folder) was added. A few months later, the ability to download hi-res images from the photos-for-download was added.

I’m not sure why that download button still shows up. Maybe it just comes along for the ride when choosing to allow downloads. Should be easy to hide with custom css. Or maybe @Matt will remove it for CR enabled albums.

If you want to hide the download button so as not to cause confusion with your clients, this should do it:

.album-template-id-15 .fb-image-download {
 display:none;
}
#22

The download option via Client Response is currently what’s saving me, and it’s definitely a great feature.

However, let’s say I don’t want to use this plugin and instead want the native Backlight download to work with manual uploads. I genuinely need to create albums without using Publisher and deliver images in formats like PNG, for example, but this is not working.

I recently purchased Backlight specifically for this purpose. Hiding the download button is not a solution for me.

Thank you for your response, and I’m looking forward to a proper solution.

#23

Totally doable.
But you can also do that with Client Response, only the download would be in the form of a zipped folder.

#24

The code I posted only hides the download button on the image page (the one that doesn’t do anything now anyway). Having it gone would eliminate any confusion your clients might have.

#25

Yes, I will hide the icon for now. Thank you for your help, and I hope the team will address this in a future update.

#26

I doubt it will since a provision for downloading selected images already exists via the zip folder.

What some have done is created another album template (via cloning) of their CR template and then didn’t enable Client Response in the Add-ons section.

Once the client has made their choice, delete the unchosen images and assign the cloned template to the album, making it a regular album with the one button download available.

Of course, the client would then need to download one at a time rather than getting them all in a zip folder.

#27

Tried to look at this, but I’m getting a 403 error. Did you restrict it or take it offline? I’m trying to catch up on this conversation so that I can decide whether there’s a legitimate issue here that needs fixing, or enhancement to be made. I’ve been away from the CRG for a while, so don’t really remember the specifics of what’s going on under-the-hood around downloads.

#28

Thank you for your response and your interest in this topic. I was experiencing some issues with my hosting earlier today, but the link is now working again. Thanks.

#29

Again, let me preface by saying this code was written a long time ago, and I don’t remember anything about it. I’m just reading along, and trying to connect the dots.

But it looks like there’s nothing inherent about the CRG features that would prevent or disable downloads from working. The feature should be available so long as two things are true:

  • downloads are not disabled
  • the image data has a download URL

That first condition is invoked in both the grid and the slideshow. That second condition, however, is only invoked in rendering the grid, and the slideshow doesn’t consider it at all. That’s probably a bug.

So what’s happening in your gallery is that you’ve enabled the download feature, but your images do not have any download available.

Mechanically, when you click the slideshow button, it looks at the thumbnail, and tries to find an associated download button, then clicks it programmatically. In your case, the slideshow is looking for that button and not finding it.

Backlight has a quirk in that you upload images to a specific album, and that album’s settings – at time of upload – will determine the renditions that get built, and at what size. If you later change those settings, or assign a different template to that album, then the images don’t change to match the new settings.

So my best guess is that downloads were disabled for the template when your images were uploaded, then you changed the template settings or assigned a template with downloads enabled. But those pre-existing images do not have a rendition corresponding to the template’s download configuration.

Unless I’ve missed something in the code, if you configure your template for whatever downloads you want available, then re-upload your images to the album using that template, I think individual downloads should work.

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