# Coppermine Photo Gallery v1.5.x: Documentation and Manual

# Alpha/Beta (Testing) version

Dear Tester,

Thank you for taking the time to test Coppermine Photo Gallery. Please be rough on the program so that we can track down and eliminate bugs from our public release of version 1.5.x

Please understand that this is still alpha/beta software that is meant to be used for testing purposes and evaluation, but not for production use. Therefore, there is currently no support for cpg1.5.x yet.

While testing cpg1.5.2, please make certain to note any odd behavior you encounter. This could include typographical errors, misleading instructions, or any other out-right error. If you encounter a major error, please switch the debug mode to "on" in the configuration panel and copy the text from the debug window of Coppermine into your posting if a supporter or developer explicitely asks for it. This will greatly aid the development team in hunting down the problem.

## No support for alpha and beta versions

The coppermine group is readily supplying support on the official Coppermine forum for versions that have officially been released. However, there is no support for versions that are in alpha or beta stage, i.e. under development. Only stable releases are being supported.

If you need support, you should use the most recent stable release.

Of course you're welcome to post your test report when using a version that is still under development. However, it's a thin line between a valid test report and asking for support: if you post something in relation to a development version and your posting clearly shows that you haven't even bothered to read the provided documentation and search the board first, you will get a harsh answer or no answer at all.

## Areas to be particularly mindful of

- Please test every facet of CPG, from the installation on to every feature available (and in as many themes and languages as possible).
- If you have the ability to test GD and ImageMagick, please test all of them.
- Particularly the features that are new in this version of coppermine (compared to the previous version) need to be tested thoroughly.

Please report your test results to the testing board, but before starting a new thread please make sure that the potential bug you're going to report hasn't been posted before.

## Feature list

This is an incomplete list of features (taken from the changelog) that are new or have been changed dramatically in cpg1.5.x and therefor need close reviewing. You don't have to review all of them (of course, the more reviews the better). There is another list of new features in cpg1.5.x that you might want to browse as well.

Major new features

- Added support for HTML5 <video> and <audio> tags {Nibbler}
- Added config option to count admin views {eenemeenemuu}
- Added functionality to allow use of editpics.php by non-admin users (thread 59414) {Aditya}
- Added config option to allow users rating their own files {eenemeenemuu}
- Added browser agents for stats {GauGau}
- Added a timestamp to the generated form_token to increase security, now we can also set the lifetime of a token. {SaWey}
- Added the albmgr.js to carry out the album and picture manger functionality - thread 57113 {Sameera}
- Implemented admin tool to convert keyword separator {Paver}
- Added AJAX picture and album managers {Sameera}
- Added previous and next tabs, plus dropdown list of tabs (with configuration option) {Paver}
- Added AJAX filmstrip {Sameera}
- Reworked upload form to show flash-based form or single file form - all other options removed {Paver}
- Added group-based access levels (thumbs,intermediate,full-size) {Paver}
- Added the new upload page which uses swfupload (http://swfupload.org) {Abbas}
- Added pagination of comments {Nibbler}
- Added Akismet option for comment filtering {GauGau}
- Re-did ban users page with pagination, sorting and multiple edits. Allowed email bans. Allowed ban by user name for non-existing accounts. {GauGau}
- Resized full-size pop-up to fit on the screen {GauGau}
- Added DivX support (thread ID 32380) {GauGau}
- Removal of outdated files by updater {GauGau}
- Updater can now be run using cookie authentication; fallback mechanisms existing as well {GauGau}
- New javascript based multi-processing queue for batch add {Nibbler}
- New category hierarchy system {Nibbler}
- Added "reset to default" feature for config {GauGau}
- Added export feature (gsoc2007 - drhammond) {Nibbler}
- Added feature "allow user to assign album keyword" {GauGau}
- Voting is now customizable in max- and min rate + ajax enabled {SaWey}
- Added login method to config, possible to set it to username, email address or both. {SaWey}
- Added ajax filmstrip feature {Abbas}
- Added new installer, renamed old one until this one is stable {SaWey}
- Added two more levels of access for guests: no access, thumbs only, thumbs + intermediate only, thumbs + intermediate + full-size {GauGau}
- Added possibility for users to create albums in admin allowed categories {SaWey}
- Added feature "delete files older than XXX days" {Frantz}
- Added optional contact form with captcha option {GauGau}
- Added admin option to display redirection page or jump directly to target page with success/failure message at top of screen {GauGau}
- Added 'insert from list' selection for keywords field when editing files {GauGau}
- Added browse-by-date meta-album {GauGau}
- Improving ability of category manager to deal with large numbers of categories. {Nibbler}

## The report format should include

- Server OS
- Web Server Software (Apache, IIS etc.)
- GD1, GD2 or ImageMagick Test
- PHP Version
- BB Integration / Bridging (if any)
- Themes fully tested (by fully tested, we mean as many different features as possible using that theme)
- Major Errors
- Client OS and Browser(s)
- Fresh install or upgrade (if upgrade, from which version of cpg)
- Source: did you install using a package (if yes: which one), a SVN tarball, a SVN checkout (if yes: which revision)
- Browser language / tested coppermine language

If you can and your testbed can be accessed publicly, provide a link to your testbed. If you can't, do that, it usually helps to attach screenshots to your report.

Your test results will not merely be used to fix problems but will also be used to tout the compatibility of Coppermine with multiple browsers and operating systems. That is why this information is important even if you find that nothing is wrong - we'd love to hear your success stories as well.

Thanks for your participation and your time in making Coppermine the premiere open-source photo gallery!

### One issue per thread!

We have a strict "one issue per thread" policy on the entire coppermine forum that applies for the test board even more than for the support board: to enable the dev team to track each potential bug thoroughly it's absolutely mandatory that you only post one issue (potential bug) per thread. If you should find multiple potential bugs, then it's perfectly OK to start multiple threads.

### Example test reports

To give you an idea how your test report could look like, here's an example (make sure that you populated the stuff in red with actual content from your case):

When testing cpg1.5.1 on my testbed at http://example.com/my_coppermine_folder/ using a subversion checkout from 2009-07-13 (revision 1234) I noticed that whenever I'm logged in as admin and click on the admin menu item "export" I get the error message "foo bar blah".
My server testbed runs on Ubuntu Linux 9.04 and Apache 2.2.10 with GD2 as image library under PHP 5.3.0. I don't use bridging and have only tested using this the classic theme. I have performed a fresh install. I get the above mentioned error message no matter what browser I use (I have tested with IE7 and FF3.5 on Windows XP Home SP3 English). The default language in my browsers is set to English.

Here's another example of the same test report:

Coppermine version: cpg1.5.1
Testbed URL: http://example.com/my_coppermine_folder/
Server OS: Ubuntu Linux 9.04
Web Server: Apache 2.2.10
PHP Version: 5.3.0
Image library used: GD2
Bridging: none
Themes tested: classic
Client OS: Windows XP Home SP3 English
Client Browser: IE7 and FF3.5
Install type: fresh install
Source: subversion checkout from 2009-07-13 (revision 1234)
Browser language: English
Coppermine language: English
What happened (potential bug): I get the error message "foo bar blah"
How to replicate (what I did when the problem showed up): I'm logged in as admin and click on the admin menu item "export"

Above mentioned examples are meant to give you an idea how your report could look like - you should provide more data depending on the type of issue you report:

- When reporting a spelling mistake, you don't have to go through all that data, as the operating system won't have an impact on the spelling, so a valid bug report that deals with a spelling mistake only could just be something like
  Using the SVN checkout rev 1234 of `lang/english.php` the line `$foo = 'Helo world';` should actually read `$foo = 'Hello world';`
  or
  When clicking on the login link, the word "`Helo`" on the login screen should actually be "`Hello`". I am using the package cpg1.5.2
- When reporting a layout glitch, provide more details about your browser, your resolution etc.
- When reporting upload issues, make sure that you have done exactly as suggested in "Asking for support on upload issues". Wannabe-bug reports that show you haven't done as suggested there are invalid and will be ignored.

### Invalid test reports

We'd really see your test report for the brand new version, so don't get discouraged if there are some rules to follow. What we certainly don't need are reports like this:

I have downloaded the new version. It doesn't work.

Please do yourself and us a favor: don't file such silly reports, as they will only lead to frustration and will be ignored or deleted, and of course you will be laughed at.

If you have no idea why this example report is bad, then you should not even consider testing the new version in the first place. Instead, you should use the stable release.

For all who have read on to this point, here are some more hints for you: released packages have version numbers. Files have revision numbers. There's a reason for that. Don't post crap like "I have the latest version". Post the actual version or revision number. And don't just post that something "doesn't work". We need to know what actually happened ("`after doing X, Y happens`"), as detailed as possible.

If you think that the rules here are totally obvious, then think again: we wouldn't be writing them down if they were obvious for everyone. In fact, we used to have a hard time in the past when we were flooded with invalid test reports. That's why we needed to clarify the rules.

## Availability

Warning: cpg1.5.x hasn't been released yet - only a svn checkout is currently possible (cpg1.5.x folder).

When testing alpha software (i.e. unreleased subversion checkouts), make sure that your checkout is up-to-date.