Hi Community
Maybe someone can answer me following question - highly interested in the opinion of Matthew / Rod.
In the last years I used TTG CE4 as the basis for my website (main domain in the root of my webspace) Additionally I have setup a Wordpress instance in a sub domain using the TTG CE4 Wordpress template to align the overall look and feel. You can have a look here. In the Tab the Wordpress content is located with a link back to http://videografic.de/.
In the future I will do it the other way: A new Wordpress instance (this will be the main domain in the root of my web space) should be the basis of my website and hopefully an integration of TTG CE4 respectively Backlight 3. I’m still interested in using TTG software because of it’s nice interaction to Lightroom CC. I will still use following parts of Backlight: Customer Response galleries and cart functionality. Hence I need to populate the corresponding galleries via the publisher function of TTG.
How can this (the co existence or Wordpress as the basis and Backlight) be achieved? Backlight in a subdomain?
Let go of CE4.
Designing in Backlight is soooooooo much easier than in the Lightroom Web Module.
You will still be able to publish images from Lightroom.
Besides, CE4 is old tech. It may not run on your site with newer versions of php.
If you want WordPress as the basis of your site you can do that and use Backlight albums (they will go in the galleries/ folder.)
Install WordPress as usual.
Install Backlight as usual EXCEPT do not upload the index.php and .htaccess files from (from the root of the unzipped Backlight-Installer folder)
To match design you’ll need the Backlight WordPress add-on.
Design in Backlight and export your WP theme to WordPress. This is easy to do in Backlight.
Hi Rod, Thx for quick response.
WordPress and Backlight are installed on webspace rootlevel in the same domain with the execptions you mentioned - did I understand that correct?
One Point to further clarify: I do not only want to install WordPress but also want to make use of a professionally Photography WordPress Template. Any Problem with the co existence of WordPress and Backlight in this case?
There is no problem with using a different WordPress theme.
You just won’t be able to exactly match the design between your WordPress pages and your Backlight albums and album sets.
If you’re going with a different theme then you won’t need the Backlight WordPress add-on
Perfect.
I will setup a xamp Server in the next weeks to test everything locally.
After that I will have to spent same extra money for Backlight to complete my new site locally before going live …
Dvdfan001, I will add my 2 cents. A little over 2 weeks ago I was forced to upgrade my web sites that were TTG pre CE through CE4. With out any notification my soon to be former hosting company made a change in their PHP and none of my galleries work… A Photographers’ web site without images. Kicking and screaming I made the change to Backlight 3. The learning curve is way better. I have 2 sites in BL3 development that are way better right now than what I had and I am not anywhere finished because of how easy it is to do a lot of things. I have run into a few problems, but Mathew and Rod are very responsive to questions and helping solve problems that come up. My biggest problem right now involves the copying of CE4 fragments to BL3 and the embedded HTML that is not compliant with HTML5. I would highly recommend making the switch to BL3, it is way faster and easier than I ever thought it would be. Invest a little time playing with BL 3 and learning just what it will do. I am glad I am making the move and it will be lots easier to update my sites in the future. Now that I am done with my clients today, I have a bunch of html to clean up.
One further question: In case I will use backlight published galleries (populated via LR Integration): is it essential to use the cart plugin to make the content (the photographs) be part of a Webstore? Or do I have the choice to use woo commerce WP plugin to setup my Webstore (to sell the photographs in the galleries created from backlight?)
Woo Commerce is for WordPress and does not integrate with Backlight albums. If you wish to sell from your Backlight albums, you’ll need the TTG Cart add-on.
Backlight albums can appear in WordPress posts using the [backlight] shortcode. But I doubt these would integrate with Woo Commerce either since they are being inserted from a Backlight album and still not really a part of WordPress.
Ok, this is also my thinking. Nevertheless I will most likely update from CE4 to Backlight because of LR integration. As Rod already stated it will be possible to use WordPress and Backlight generated albums in combination - so WordPress is the basis and I will be able to integrate the Backlight albums together with the cart plug-in as a Webstore and a customer response gallery with corresponding Backlight plug-in in my Wordpress site. Most likely I will have a few questions how to link to these two Backlight pages from Wordpress in detail at a later point in time…