ADD A NEW MEDIA ITEM

Adding multimedia files (MM) to the GEDCOM is a very nice feature. Although this program already has a great look without media, if you add pictures or other MM to your relatives, it will only get better.

What you should understand about MM.
There are many formats of MM. Although PhpGedView can handle most of them, there some things to consider.

• Formats
  Pictures can be edited and saved in many formats. For example, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, etc. If the same original picture was used to create each of the formats, the viewed image will appear to be the same size no matter which format is used. However, the image files stored in the database will vary considerably in size. Generally, .jpg images are considered to the most efficient in terms of storage space.
• Image size
  The larger the original image, the larger will be the resultant file's size. The picture should fit on the screen without scrolling; the maximum width or height should not be more than the width or height of the screen. PhpGedView is designed for screens of 1024x768 pixels but not all of this space is available for viewing pictures; the picture's size should be set accordingly. To reduce file sizes, smaller pictures are more desirable.
• Resolution
  The resolution of a picture is usually measured in "dpi" (dots/inch), but this is valid only for printed pictures. When considering pictures shown on screen, the only correct way is to use total dots or pixels. When printed, the picture could have a resolution of 150 - 300 dpi or more depending on the printer. Screen resolutions are rarely better than 50 pixels per inch. If your picture will never be printed, you can safely lower its resolution (and consequently its file size) without affecting picture quality. If a low-resolution picture is printed with too great a magnification, its quality will suffer; it will have a grainy appearance.
• Color depth
  Another way to keep a file small is to decrease the number of colors that you use. The number of colors can differ from pure black and white (two colors) to true colors (millions of colors) and anything in between. You can see that the more colors are used, the bigger the size of the files.

Why is it important to keep the file size small?

• First of all: Our webspace is limited. The more large files there are, the more web space we need on the server. The more space we need, the higher our costs.
• Bandwidth. The more data our server has to send to the remote location (your location), the more we have to pay. This is because the carrying capacity of the server's connection to the Internet is limited, and the link has to be shared (and paid for) by all of the applications running on the server. PhpGedView is one of many applications that share the server. The cost is normally apportioned according to the amount of data each application sends and receives.
• Download time. If you have large files, the user (also you) will have to wait long for the page to download from the server. Not everybody is blessed with a cable connection, broadband or DSL.

How to upload your MM
There are two ways to upload media to the site. If you have a lot of media items to upload you should contact the site administrator to discuss the best ways. If it has been enabled by your site administrator, you can use the Upload Media form under your MyGedView menu. You can also use the Upload option on the Multimedia form to upload media items.