New Update Introduces Multiple File Upload

Version 1.2.9.5 of CataBlog is here, and with it is a new way to upload multiple images into your catalog. You may now select multiple files for upload and create an upload queue. As each image upload finishes, a mini editor is created so you may set the title and description of the newly upload image without disrupting the next upload. This interface might lack a few refinements, including great error handling and a cancel button, but it's a start.

UPDATE:
CataBlog 1.2.9.7 has been released, this is a bug fix or patch release for multiple file uploads. If you experienced problems with uploading multiple files in the past, please download the new version and try it again. Thanks for your continued support of CataBlog and report any error messages or difficulties you have below or at the wordpress.org forums.

Looking forward to feedback about the new upload interface, cheers and have a great weekend. 🙂

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30 Responses to New Update Introduces Multiple File Upload

  1. John says:

    Hi Zach,

    Thanks for this great plugin and all the hard work. I updated today to 1.2.9.5 and had a blocking bug when uploading one image. The selection goes well but when the upload finishes I got a flash security sandbox violation error. I had to downgrade to 1.2.9.2.

    • Zach says:

      Hi John,

      I’m sorry to hear that the flash upload isn’t working for you. I was pretty much planning on bugs, and I am hopefully going to have them all fixed for version 1.3. Here are some questions I have for you:

      Are you able to upload using the standard WordPress media uploader in the same installation you are experiencing the CataBlog upload issues?

      Are you running WordPress on Xampp or a server local to your personal computer?

      Could you please give me more specifics about your setup? What Browser, Operating System, version of Flash, version of WordPress, and any and all other variables you could think of that might affect your experience with CataBlog.

      Have you tried uploading in different browsers?

      Also, could you please copy and paste the full error message and post it here, or email it if there is private information in the error message? Thanks for your continued interest in CataBlog and I hope we get this problem cleared up. Cheers

    • Zach says:

      John, could you try again with CataBlog 1.2.9.7 and see if you can upload now. Thanks

  2. C. Scott Gilbert says:

    I updated to 1.2.9.5 over the weekend — things looked great — but then tried to ad an image today. Just wanted to upload a single image — and the upload fails with an [object Object] error.

    Below are my server stats. I am trying to upload a small PNG file — only 12 K.

    Server Statistics

    CataBlog Version: 1.2.9.5
    MySQL Version: 5.0.77-log
    PHP Version: 5.3.6
    PHP Memory Usage: 25.25 MB
    PHP Memory Limit: 256 MB
    Max Uploaded File Size: 2M
    Max Post size: 8M
    Thumbnail Disc Usage: 0.18 MB
    Full Size Disc Usage: 1.17 MB
    Original Upload Disc Usage: 0.45 MB
    Total Disc Usage: 1.8 MB

    • Zach says:

      Are you perchance using Internet Explorer 9? Did you try uploading in a few different browsers? A bug for IE9 has been reported and I am working on it.

      • I tried it under the latest versions of FireFox on a Mac (os x 10.6), Apple Safari on a Mac, IE 8 under Windows XP, and the latest version of FireFox on XP — same error.

        I also tried uploading multiple files — and tried JPGs instead of PNGs.

        Nothing worked.

        Thoughts?

        • After the error pops up — the screen says currently uploading 1 of 1 — and the bar appears 100% full (blue) — but a second bar appears below with a NaN% error listed. At that process everything stops.

        • Zach says:

          Ok, so I have now released a minor update that should give us better feedback when there is an error. If you could download and try again with CataBlog 1.2.9.6 and report back the error that would be awesome. Thanks.

          Also, I have now successfully uploaded with all major browsers using Flash Player 10 on Mac and Windows with my test server. So I am now unsure and very curious what is causing this issue….

        • Zach says:

          CataBlog 1.2.9.7 might fix the multiple file upload errors you are experiencing. It did for some other users.

  3. Kawaharai says:

    Hi Zach,

    Can you add Thumbnail Background Image feature?
    So, it will merge a transparent image in PNG format with the background image.

    And also, when the plugin generating transparent images, it will have black background. Can i change the background color?

    Thank you.
    And sorry for my English.

    • Zach says:

      Hi Kawaharai,

      The CataBlog Options thumbnail tab lets you set a background color, I believe if your server has a version of GD that works with transparent PNG or GIF images it should work exactly as expected.

      All I can say about adding a Thumbnail Background Image feature is that it won’t be happening anytime soon. There are many other features I have planned, including a Gallery or Collections feature that will let people create and order specific lists of catalog items. Another very important feature I want to add is a template management system for the new Public feature. Multiple languages, customizable fields, the list goes on. I will add your request to my list, but it will have to go to the bottom, as this is only fair.

      Again thanks for your interest in CataBlog and have a wonderful day.

  4. Wuss says:

    Hey Zach. Just ran into a major problem that’s breaking my entire navigation :(, and it’s a bit of a crunch because I’m working on a deadline, and it looks like Catablog may have really may have thrown a kink in my plans.

    I deactivated Catablog, and I noticed my navigation was being pushed down, and I was getting this PHP warning message

    “Warning: preg_split() expects parameter 2 to be string, object given in…” And then it gives me the file path on my server to wp-includes/formatting.php.

    Formatting.php obviously was not altered at all, but something about deactivating Catablog is making my WP install throw errors,and ultimately breaking the theme I’m building out.

    I found this, may be of use…

    http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/13958

    Basically says custom post types that use taxonomies breaks the WP menu. In my situation, the menu actually still works, but the error message is physically pushing it down.

    Activating and deactivating Catablog doesn’t seem to help at all. I’m hesitant to delete the Catablog install, because I have a deadline to meet in 24 hours and the last thing I need is trying to delete it to fix it, and finding that it didnt work and I’m even screwed more. 🙁

    I hate to bother you going into your weekend, but this is a fairly big issue as it actually breaks one of the core functionality of WP (menus). I would be extremely grateful if you could take a peek as to what may be causing this. I appreciate it, and thanks for the plugin, regardless if you can hit this bug in time or not. 🙂

    • Wuss says:

      So I did a data wipe under “system”, and deactivated it, and that seemed to do the trick.. so HWEW. Please don’t go through any additional effort on my behalf, I’m just some guy on the internet you owe nothing to :). Still probably a good idea to look into the issue though. Not sure if it’s a WP issue, or plugin issue.

      • Zach says:

        That makes sense, since wiping away all the custom post types and categories will also wipe away all custom navigation items of their type.

        How this bug happens is you make a navigation item of a custom type, then the custom type disappears and the menu system tries to load the custom navigation item, but can’t since their is no custom type to describe, name or otherwise reference.

        One solution that WordPress could implement is to automatically delete any custom navigation items if their type is not loaded and defined. Or to ignore the navigation items if their type is not loaded. That is up to the core development team I guess…

        I am curious if you are still planning on using CataBlog for your site? Does this bug make you want to not use WordPress custom post types or taxonomies? Again thanks for your support and please accept my sincere apologies for last nights responses.

        🙂

      • Zach says:

        Not sure if you’re up to date on the comment you made so I thought I would ping you. Read below….

    • Zach says:

      Understandably I would be worried too. As it says in the plugin description, no guarantee.

      That said I am pretty sure I never used the preg_split function in CataBlog, and have never run into your problem. Without looking over your entire theme’s code I can’t offer much support.

      What features of CataBlog did you implement, did you turn on the “public” feature?

    • Zach says:

      Your navigation being pushed down by a PHP warning is not CataBlog’s fault. Turn of warnings in your php.ini file, I get plenty of warning from the core WordPress if I leave them on.

      If you are unsure how to do this please contact your hosting company.

    • Zach says:

      First off let me apologize for my abrupt (rude) answers before. I was a little offended that you claimed CataBlog caused this issue, when it was obvious to me that this is a core code issue. That being said it is not your fault that you did not know this.

      This bug pertains to any developer that uses custom post types or taxonomies in their navigation menus. Wether it be from a plugin or in the theme’s functions.php file. This bug is not specific to CataBlog, but instead all WordPress developer need to be aware of this bug and its shortcomings.

      So, now we know that your issue is actually part of the new “Public” feature which enables you to put CataBlog Items and CataBlog Categories into your Navigation Menus. But, since the custom post types and taxonomies are not changing name, I don’t understand why it doesn’t go away when you reactivate CataBlog.

      Are you sure you are not reactivating CataBlog while keeping the Public feature off? Try reactivating CataBlog and make sure the Public feature is on.

      Also, have you tried refreshing your Permalinks, just loading the Settings > Permalinks page should do it.

      Also, since the bug seems to have been around since 3.0 of WordPress, perhaps you are experiencing a half fix or a fix in progress. Apparently WordPress 3.2 will fix this issue completely.

      Also have you made sure debug is off in your wp-config.php file and that no other plugin or theme code is turning it on? What about your php.ini file, I don’t have time to go into setting up a server for production vs development, but all warnings and errors should be logged to a file and not displayed on screen in a production environment. Ask your hosting company or IT department for more information.

      A good test for other plugins / theme code is to try your site in TwentyTen with no other plugins loaded except CataBlog, do you still get the preg_split() error message?

      Also, I confirmed that I do not use preg_split() once in the CataBlog code.

      Good luck and please let us all know if you find a solution.

  5. Steve Young says:

    Just wanted to let you know that our upgrade to this version went very well, no errors or bugs found in our regression testing. (It works as well as it did before the upgrade)

    We will do some testing on the new features over the next week or so. Thanks for your efforts, it is a great product.

  6. AlexeyR says:

    Hello, Zach.! Thanks for the good catalogue plugin firstly.
    It is better of some other I looked. I start version 1.2.9.5 of CataBlog.
    Have problem with flash upload. Error 2049. The same problem solved in WP 3.1.2 by changing web and wordpress urls to full “www.alexeyr.ru”. But CataBlog still send 2049 error.
    Is it possible to stay standart single file upload as alternative similar to wp?
    It will be good to create catalogue item without image if it relates your point of view. Also I can add image by image later in catablog, but cant do it first time.
    Help solve this problem expect ftp way!
    With regards, Alex.

    • Zach says:

      If you want to do single uploads disable JavaScript in your browser and the flash upload won’t load. I will look into the bug you reported, thanks.

  7. RKD says:

    Hey Zach, tnx for taking the time to make this great plug in!
    Question, where are the product codes stored in the Mysql wordpress database? can’t seem to locate them.
    Any plans to add more description fields to catablog items soon?

    Thank you!

    • Zach says:

      The product code, along with the price, main image, sub images and other “meta” data is stored as an escaped array in the post meta values, the meta value key is catablog-post-meta. I plan to let users customize the fields and add, delete and modify these custom fields, it’s just a big change that touches a lot of functionality in the plugin and I don’t want to rush deliver it. Hope my answer helped shed some light on your question, cheers.

  8. Pedro says:

    Hello,
    Why does using $new_item -> setLink($new_item->getPermalink()); in admin_create() , not save the link to the item?
    Later when I call getLink(), ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?> it does not return the link.

    • Zach says:

      Pedro,
      are you sure you are saving the item after you set the link.
      ex: <?php $new_item->save(); ?>

      Keep in mind that the first line of code in your comment is setting the catalog item’s link parameter with the permalink of the item, this should only be executed if the public feature is enabled and the catalog item has a permalink.

      If you could be more specific about your end goal and what you wish to have CataBlog do I will try and give you some implementation advise. If I completely missed the mark on my advice let me know.

      Cheers

  9. Glynn Martindale says:

    Hello Zach.

    I am very interested in your file uploader and was wondering if this can be customised, where the files shown as uploaded in the upload list, generate a single product each (become a product in themselves). These in turn will have options that can be applied to them, but this will be to do with products settings in the cart. I thought of maybe inserting the product short-code into the correct uploaders output file to achieve this.

    Here are three links to examples of this functionality used by two online printers:

    http://www.bloomwebdesign.co.uk/images/Example-1.jpg
    http://www.bloomwebdesign.co.uk/images/Example-2.jpg
    http://www.bloomwebdesign.co.uk/images/Example-3.jpg

    Many thanks.
    Glynn Martindale – Bloom Internet Media.

  10. Tom says:

    I’m at the latest version of catablog and still can upload multiple files…any news on this

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