[Digikam-users] How to make a new top-level album?

[Chris G]

On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 12:01:59PM +0100, Sven Burmeister wrote:
> Am Samstag, 14. November 2009 09:57:17 schrieb Chris G:
> > What I (and I think the OP) want to do is to have independent digikam
> > 'collections' (if that's what you want to call them) at the top level.
> > 
> > When I go into the Configure Digikam menu it looks like it's offering
> > me a way to do this and it's certainly what I *thought* was being
> > offered by this 'new' ability that 0.10.0 is supposed to have.
> > 
> > It shows me my existing directory tree under Local Collections so
> > under that I see a branch with /home/chris/pictures.  Then there's a
> > button which says "Add Collection", it seems obvious to me that if I
> > click on that button I should be able to add another collection at the
> > same level as /home/chris/pictures and be able to select *either*
> > /home/chris/pictures or the new collection.  But it doesn't work.
> > 
> > I'm pretty sure this is what the OP was complaining about, it simply
> > doesn't work the way one expects (and hopes).
> 
> I'm not sure I understood correctly what you mean, but for me it works this 
> way:
> 
> "Add collection" does not mean "create collection", so if I want two 
> collections in my /.../pictures/ folder I create two folders in there which 
> will contain the albums, one named "spring", the other "fall".
> 
That's a rather subtle, not to say silly, distinction!  In the
computer sense surely Add means the same as Create doesn't it?


> After that I open digikam's settings and click on "add collection" to select 
> one folder, then I add another collection and select the second folder. That 
> way digikam now shows both collections and each of them can have multiple 
> albums.
> 
Which doesn't do anything that I couldn't already do.  It's simply
another directory/folder under the digikam top-level.  The only extra
function it provides is the ability to have the new 'collection' in an
un-connected hierarchy which you can do anyway with a symbolic link.

What I want to be able to do is to start up digikam seeing only one or
the other collection and *nothing* else.  I want totally separate
collections where I won't be distracted by any other ones I may have.


> If I click on "add collection" the window title reads something like "select 
> the folder that contains your collection", which seems to mediate exactly what 
> needs to be done.
> 
Yes, but it doesn't produce what I want.  :-)


> I did not try yet, but if you have a collection that includes /.../pictures, 
> it does not make sense to have another collection pointing to 
> /.../pictures/spring, as that one would already be contained in the former.
> 
It does in fact allow you to have more than one collection with the
same name, I managed to create a second 'pictures' collection so that
I actually had two 'pictures' hierarchies under My Albums.


I think what I would really like is the ability to remove "My Albums"
completely, it's superfluous and wastes space.  I *know* they're my
albums, who else's could they be?

Then I want to be able to start digikam up showing different top-level
directories/folders/collections called (say):-

    family pictures 
    pictures for sale
    personal

with each being totally independent, i.e. if you're looking at 'pictures
for sale' you can't see 'family pictures' or 'personal' up at the top level.

You could either select which you want when digikam is started, i.e.
it would present a list of collections to select from, or you could
specify on the command line.

-- 
Chris Green