Google AJAX Feed Slide Show Widget

This is a wordpress plugin that displays a photo slide show as a sidebar widget or in lined in your posts using a shortcode. The plugin uses Media RSS as a source and Google AJAX Feed API Slide Show.
You can easily display a slide show from photo feeds from all popular sites, such as Expono, PhotoBucket, Flickr, and Picasa Web Albums.

If you use Flickr I recommend you to run their media RSS feed trough this yahoo pipe to get medium size images since they only has small defined as thumbnails.

If you got questions, comments or feedback please leave a comment.

Example

Latest photos from expono.com using shortcode.

Loading...

Se my sidebar “Photos” for widget example.

Screenshots

Shortcode syntax

Don’t forget to set the height or make sure the classname has a height if you don’t it won’t work. If you want the images to be linked to it’s source you have to set the link_target parameter.

Example
[mj-google-slideshow feed_url="http://www.expono.com/go/rss" width="300" height="300" link_target="google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_BLANK" /]

Required parameters:

  • feed_url = URL to the feed

Optional parameters:

  • display_time = value in ms, default 2000
  • transition_time = value in ms, default 600
  • scale_images = boolean value, default true
  • maintain_aspect = boolean value, default true
  • pause_hover = pause slide show when mouse is hovering (boolean), default true
  • full_control_panel = boolean value, default false
  • full_control_panel_small = boolean value, default false
  • link_target = If images are linked to its source, accepted values (false, google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_SELF, google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_BLANK, google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_PARENT, google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_TOP) default false
  • thumbnail_size = Thumbnail size to use, this only works on feeds that expose different sizes. Accepted values (GFslideShow.THUMBNAILS_LARGE, GFslideShow.THUMBNAILS_MEDIUM, GFslideShow.THUMBNAILS_SMALL) default GFslideShow.THUMBNAILS_LARGE
  • num_results = Number of images to display
  • classname = class name for the surrounding html container
  • width = slide show width in pixels
  • height = slide show height in pixels

Boolean types accepts values (1, on, true) everything else is evaluated as false.

Styling

The sidebar main element uses classname .gglslideshow. The slideshow container uses the classname supplied from the widget option dialog.

Example style

.gss a img {border : none;}
.gss {
   text-align:center;
   background-color: #000;
   padding: 8px;
}

Requirements

WordPress 2.8

Installation

1. Download the installation zip file and unzip leaving the directory structure in tact.
2. Upload the newly unzipped ‘google-ajax-slideshow’ folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` folder
3. Activate the Google AJAX Feed Slide Show Widget plugin from the ‘Plugins’ menu.
4. Add the widget to your sidebar from the ‘Widgets’ design page.

Download

google-ajax-slideshow

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  • Rodrigo Mattos

    Hi,

    I am having issues uploading the feed onto your code:

    [mj-google-slideshow feed_url="http://www.expono.com/go/rss" width="300" height="300" link_target="google.feeds.LINK_TARGET_BLANK" /]

    I have Picasa… I change your URL feed for my own picasa album feed and it doesn't work properly when I paste the code onto my WordPress page.

    Please see this example page: http://miamibeachrealestatecenter.com/?page_id=2

    My Picasa album feed is: http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user

    I already downloaded the plugin – what is the issue? Please help!!

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    Well its hard for me to see whats wrong cause you keep changing the example page you suggested i should take a look at. 🙂

    I tried with the URL below as you suggested and it works like a charm for me. http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user

    As a reminder if you try to use photos from your expono account they need to be public to work with this plugin.

    I hope you get it to work.

    cheers!

  • kangan

    Hi Marting
    I am trying your Slideshow Widget that uses Google AJAX Feed API. and installed the plug in OK. When I used your url with extension .rss it is working OK with your images displaying nicely. However when I use the .wmv format slide shows produced by the google picasa its not working. Any advise would be greatly welcome. Do we have to have a particular format? if so how do I convert the picasa .wmv format? Many thanks!

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    It can only display images.
    For more in depth details you can find them over at google:
    http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/slideshow/i

  • kangan

    Hi Martin
    Many thanks for your feedback. What would be the best way to create our own media rss links using our photos?

  • Gus

    OK, How do I get the “feed URL”? (Yeah, I'm in over my head, I know). I'm trying to make this work with a picasa album, but I have no idea how to generate a URL to put in there. Are there simple instructions for this, or do I need to learn Java?

    This widget is exactly what I'm looking for, just can't figure out how to make it work.

    Thanks

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    I suggest you use one of the photo sharing sites that i mention at the top of this page.

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    I recommend you contact or look for support on the picasa service.

  • http://happybatatinha.com.br/ Tábata Kotowiski

    Hi, Martin! I loved your plugin. It's simple and functional. I tried to install it and it appears in my blog an err like this: Warning: uniqid() expects at least 1 parameter, 0 given in /home/happybat/public_html/blog/wp-content/plugins/google-ajax-feed-slide-show-widget/google_ajax_slideshow.php on line 53

    After this err, the photos appear in slideshow normally, just how it has to be, but could you help me to take off this err mensage above de slideshow?

    Sorry my poor English. I'm from Brazil. Thansk anyway!

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/M7UNV76X6EHZSLV743FN77IA2E Karl

    I am using latest wordpress 2.9.2, and I get this notice when adding to page or widget:
    Warning: uniqid() expects at least 1 parameter, 0 given in /nfs/c04/h01/mnt/58451/domains/phuketfootball.com/html/wp-content/plugins/google-ajax-feed-slide-show-widget/google_ajax_slideshow.php on line 53

    The slideshow did however work(even if the notice appears) with the RSS from expono, but refuses to load RSS from flickr. Pity, such a nice plugin!

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    You need to upgrade to PHP 5.

  • Rodrigo Mattos

    I would like to align “LEFT” or “RIGHT”. What code should I implement and where?

    Please advise. Thanks.

    Heres the code:

    [mj-google-slideshow classname=gss" feed_url="http://www.expono.com/miamibeachrealestatecenter/album/8631/rss" width="600" height="400" scaleimages="false" fullcontrolpanel="false" pause_hover="true" /]

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    The plugin itself doesn't supply any specific way for positioning. You can position it with regular HTML, support and discussion about that is out of scope for this page.

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    Upgrade to php 5 to remove the warning.

    I found a bug when i tried to use it with flickr, this has been fixed in the latest version 1.2 (submitted today).
    I created a pipe to use with flickr since they use small square thumbnails on their media rss.
    The pipe is here: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=7848

  • Sdown

    I'm new. it took me 20 min to figure this out! It wasn't until I copied & pasted the above link (modifying user to me) that I finally got this to work. If you're new to it all like me, I found nothing on picasa.google that gave me the URL that is the one I copied above. So save yourself some time & copy, paste, edit the username & it'll work. Good luck

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  • michaelmiles

    First, excellent!

    For some reason, I have yet to get the sidebar widget to work, might just be from the template I'm using.

    In page works fine though!

    Thought this might be a nice feature, randomization. Not out of the box with google, but found a solution here for your reference: http://bit.ly/9qL1kN

    I was already using the google ajax slideshow 'from scratch' per previous Expono post, this does clean up my website of course 😉

    Thanks! http://www.michaelmiles.com (never did see your tweet, but I always seem to find your work! 😉

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    I'm always happy to hear when someone enjoys my work. 🙂

    Thank you for the information about randomization.
    Would be a neat feature to have.

    /cheers!

  • http://twitter.com/CraigMJamieson Craig M. Jamieson

    Just a quick comment. Your plug-in rocks! Thank you so much! In use at http://www.networksboise.com

  • http://www.shinesf.com Trip

    I just installed hte plug in and it is working, but the images displayed are very low reolution. Is there a settign i am missing of could i be using the wrong Flickr RSS feed?

    http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_poo

    is the group feed i am displaying incorrect? It lookd like I am blowing up thumbnail images to 270X270 rather than using a higher quality image

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    I explain why this happen when using Flickr on this page, you should read it.

  • Triphoss

    I have read this entire page, and several others. I don't see anything about image resolution, but then i am not a programmer, so maybe only people who write code should understand how to use this plug in.

  • dragonfly

    Thanks for the great plugin! Would you consider allowing for flickr sets, and not just the main feed? This would allow for multiple slide shows /galleries.

  • http://governlife.com art

    i am having issues getting this widget to work, Im using Photobucket to upload my photos. i made sure to place the FEED for that album into the “FEED URL” perameter, next i made sure to set the width and height. But when i go to the page i still get a ” FEED COULD NOT BE LOADED”

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    Sounds like the Feed URL you used doesn't return a correctly formatted Media RSS

  • http://darnoji.0fees.net darnoji

    I use WordPress 2.9.1. Unfortunately I cannot activate the pulgin. There is no message about the error. Please help me

  • http://governlife.com art

    i signed onto “flickr”, “photobucket” and “expono”…i tried the urls feeds from all three, and none have worked. i even used “yahoo pipe”. i noticed your FEED URL is short and sweet, while the FEEDs ive been getting are thesse long lines of code. when i used your code on my site it worked like a charm. very frustrating. can you please help?

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    could you supply one of the urls you are trying to use?

  • http://governlife.com art
  • http://governlife.com art
  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    The URL's should start with http:// and not feed:// you have probably looked at the url from safari and it rewrites it for you.

  • http://governlife.com art

    what is the best way to solve this issue?

    thank you for letting me know this!

  • http://governlife.com art

    GOT IT TO WORK!..thank u very much!..one final question about this..is there a way to get the photos to have better quality?…it seems as though the images are slighty pixelated..and the original photos were of better quality

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    Flickr only has small images in their feed though there is a work around using a yahoo pipe (http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=7848…) to rewrite it. Otherwise use another service that provides larger images in their Media RSS.

  • http://governlife.com art

    ive been googling sites for hours trying to find who has a ” high resolution rss feed”…i end up right back at flickr or photobucket…..hey im no web designer, i get these instructions and i follow them to the ” T “…however it always seems to be something….if you know of a particular site that will allow photos to have a higher resolution in the rss feed could you please enlighten me, i feel like im close but just like the little issue with safari changing the rss address, im certain its something just as simple, yet hidden from the average person

    once again thanx for your help

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    expono.com has high resolution images in their rss feed.

  • Mitch

    Hi there.

    Nice work, this runs really clean and smooth on the site. Very easy install, started working right away. No difficulties. I do have a question though. How do I have the captions that are on the photos within PWA show up within the slideshow?

    Thank you for your work and have a great day.

    Mitch

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    There is no caption feature available.

  • http://twitter.com/CraigMJamieson Craig M. Jamieson

    Hi, I was wondering if your plug-in has been tested with the newly released WP 3.0? I am currently using it on my blog and it is the ONE plug-in that I will not risk losing by going to 3.0.

    Thanks for your help!

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    It has not been tested with WP 3.0. If you do test it please let us know if it works.

  • http://twitter.com/CraigMJamieson Craig M. Jamieson

    Thanks, Martin! Will do,

  • http://twitter.com/CraigMJamieson Craig M. Jamieson

    Upgraded to WP 3.0 without and problems. Xlnt! Thanks!

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  • Gregcarv

    anyone figure out how to get it to show full images instead of just thumbnails?

  • Librarian Annie

    Hi, I am sure you figured this out- but in case others need to. I found that what the author says to do about regarding “Styling” is really easy. All I did was add a class called #gss to my style.css (under the sidebar section). I increased the padding-left and padding-right to 18 px and the album centers beautifully in my widget.

    Many thanks to martinj for a great widget!

  • http://www.martinj.net martinj

    Set link_taget to false if you don't want linking.

  • Ianrhett

    Martin – first, thanks for sharing code! It seems like I can only point the slideshow at one service (Flickr, photobucket, etc.) I'd like to be able to pull a feed for a search term across all photo hosting sites. Basically, I want to pull all images with a certain tag (let's say “chocolatecake”) from anywhere it gets posted. I'm thinking your plugin probly won't do that, does it?

  • rince

    I might be to stupid, but I can not get the sidebar widget working in WP 3.0.1 . The plugin displays a gray box in my sidebar with the correct title, I see 'Loading …' for about two seconds and that is it. The feedurl I am using is: http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=72157624958524239&nsid=43354226@N04&lang=en-us
    And yes, I have set a height and width in the settings. Any ideas what might go wrong here?