What do you need to run Lightbox Photo™ Gallery Software? Since this is server software, it needs to be run from a server. This can be one that you manage, or it can be run from an outsourced ISP. That system needs to have installed PHP 4.3.1 or later, MySQL 3.23.58 or later, Apache 1.3 or later (or IIS will work as well), Zend Optimizer v3 or later, a default mail system, FTP for uploads, and a browser for admin.
At its heart, Lightbox Photo™ Gallery is an online gallery and digital asset manager. You can use it (depending on the version) to generate thumbnails, watermark images, create a dynamic user registration system, price, and sell your images online. Each of these can be used as-is or integrated into an existing Web site.
The installation of Lightbox Photo™ Gallery is really very easy and straightforward. You download the product and unzip the package. You then upload the files to your server via the binary mode. What I did was to create a directory under my main site and called it "gallery"; I then uploaded what I had unzipped into that directory.
You then have to change permissions to make some of the directories ready for use. All of this is neatly explained in the documentation. Under Linux and Mac, you may be able to do this yourself. Under Windows, you may have to have your hosting provider handle these permissions. The Lightbox Photo™ people also have the option that they will set it up for you if you can set up permission for them to get onto your site.
Once everything is uploaded, you simply run the setup program that is located in the directory you installed it in. In my case, it was the gallery directory. Then it is as simple as following the on-screen directions. Keep in mind that when you order this software, it is tied to a domain, so you will have to put it at that domain. To run on multiple sites you will need multiple licenses.
Now that it is installed, there are a couple of files that you will have to manually delete, but then you should be ready to continue to set up your site. To do this, you sign into your admin page, which gives you the ability to configure a lot of features, including how images and orders are handled, customers, photographers, licensing, shipping, payments, promotions, as well as other information. You can get an idea of the areas from the screen above. Click on the screen to get a larger image.
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