Tipped by ProBlogger Darren Rowse, I’m adding the PhotoDropper WordPress plug-in to four of our weblogs this morning.
What is it?
With the Photo Dropper plugin, you can now search millions of Flickr photos and add them to your WordPress posts with just 1 click, all without leaving your WordPress dashboard. Attribution links are automatically added underneath the images to comply with the Creative Commons license rules. It’s the easiest way to add photos to your blog. Period. And best of all – it’s Free!
I’m not a member of the images-incite-interest delegation. I believe mere prose is sufficient to attract attention if it is the right prose, and I’m only interested in a picture if it does that work that could be done by a thousand words.
But: I am a prototype without a production model, and many people writing here take exactly the opposite position, that pictures can make the post. That’s what makes horse races. And to be completely frank, sometimes the images our authors come up with knock me out.
These are the weblogs I’ve upgraded:
- BloodhoundBlog
- BloodhoundRealty.com
- DistinctivePhoenix.com — Cathy likes photos more than I do
- TheBrickRanch.com — we host it, and Teri likes photos, too
If it seems to work for people, I’ll add it everywhere.
A word of caution: A Creative Commons license does not put an image in the public domain. Russell Shaw, for example, loves to make image mash-ups in photo-editing software. People similarly inclined should make sure the photographer permits you to mess with his or her images, rather than simply displaying them.
How do you use it?
1. Once you have the plugin activated, you will see a “Photo Dropper Browse Photos” panel right under your Write Post (or Write Page) editor. Enter keyword(s) for a photo you would like for your post (Example: “sunset”, “black cat”, or “HDR bridge”) and click the Search button.
2. The search will return photos matching your keywords.
3. Once you find a photo you would like to add to your post, click on any of the sizes (”S”mall, “M”edium, “L”arge) to add that photo and attribution link to your post.
Here’s a Heard Museum photo I snagged in a split second:
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photo credit: Patricia Glogowski
Slicker than whale snot, to say the honest truth. I would imagine something like this could be a huge time-waster, so that’s a consideration, too. If you spend more time looking for the perfect image than it would take to write a thousand words, you may not be making optimal use of your time. But my expectation is that BloodhoundBlog and the other three blogs I upgraded are going to get a lot more visually interesting.
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing, real estate photography, technology
photodropper says:
Glad you like the plugin. One thing I’d like to note is since this seems like a commercial blog, I’d set the plugin options to “exclude non-commercial licensed photos” since you don’t want to post photos that are marked non-commercial (a little dollar sign with a strike through it on the photo page).
February 22, 2008 — 9:44 am
Drew Meyers from Zillow says:
Freaking great plugin – I’m going to put this on zillow blog, my personal blog, and geekestate.
February 22, 2008 — 9:58 am
Greg Swann says:
> One thing I’d like to note is since this seems like a commercial blog, I’d set the plugin options to “exclude non-commercial licensed photos” since you don’t want to post photos that are marked non-commercial (a little dollar sign with a strike through it on the photo page).
Thanks. I’m on it now. Amazing plug-in — this from a non photo-phile!
February 22, 2008 — 10:05 am
David G from Zillow.com says:
WOW! This is freakin’ awesome. It may just be the final push I needed to start a personal blog again.
February 22, 2008 — 10:29 am
Greg Swann says:
Good on ya, Drew. Be sure to observe the advice in the first comment about commercial blogs. The switch is in Options/Photo Dropper. I would swear that yours and David’s personal blogs are non-commercial, if asked to testify in court. YMMV.
February 22, 2008 — 11:03 am
Sean Purcell says:
I was just talking to Brian yesterday about the fact that I don’t know how to get pictures into my posts. Now.. I still don’t! Help!
The install directions say to use an FTP (?) program to upload this plug-in to the WordPress plugiin directory (?) Then it says to go to the Admin panel (?)
Apologies for my Luddite background but I would really like to use this and a more elementary explanation would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
February 22, 2008 — 11:09 am
Derek says:
Depending on the photographer, giving credit isn’t enough. I’d be extremely careful using photos even when given giving credit where credit is due.
February 22, 2008 — 11:22 am
Greg Swann says:
> Depending on the photographer, giving credit isn’t enough. I’d be extremely careful using photos even when given giving credit where credit is due.
The creative commons license is what permits republication, and the plug-in manages the rights. RE.net webloggers should be sure to observe the fist comment in this thread: Switch off images that don’t license commercial republication.
February 22, 2008 — 11:32 am
Greg Swann says:
> The install directions say to use an FTP (?) program to upload this plug-in to the WordPress plugiin directory (?) Then it says to go to the Admin panel (?)
CJ, would you consider giving a DaBlogmother tutorial on FTP?
Sean, CJ probably has enough at her tutorial site that you can work out using the plug-in once you have it installed.
February 22, 2008 — 11:35 am
Todd says:
A quick request/reminder from the fringe. That plug-in looks really cool, and yes use it to enhance your blog posts with properly licensed Flickr photos. But and old UNIX adage I was raised on is “Give back”.
I urge everyone to open their own Flickr account and add lots of photos that you spent the time and energy taking, then assign the same generous license to them.
I challenge all users of the PhotoDropper plug-in to post one photo up to Flickr for every one you pull down.
February 22, 2008 — 11:39 am
Greg Swann says:
Good thinking, Todd.
Cheryl Johnson sends this along:
February 22, 2008 — 12:25 pm
Teri Lussier says:
>I urge everyone to open their own Flickr account and add lots of photos that you spent the time and energy taking, then assign the same generous license to them.
This gives me the kick in the pants to really do something with that Flickr account I opened once upon a time and didn’t take another look at. I opened the account under TBR.
Now I’m assuming that I can direct credit for my photos to and from, back and forth: flickr to TBR? Which I’m assuming means traffic?
And I’m assuming that all my photos of pretty houses posted on flickr offers up maybe even another opp to pee on a tree or two?
Am I’m assuming a lot?
February 22, 2008 — 4:20 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Am I’m assuming a lot?
I think so. Your Flickr photos are going to link back to your Flickr account page, which might send some traffic back to you. But I wouldn’t bet on it. Todd is just saying “pay it forward” — you share in the library of photos, you donate photos back to the library.
February 22, 2008 — 4:33 pm
Cheryl Johnson says:
Here you go http://www.dablogmother.com/2008/02/using-ftp.html
February 23, 2008 — 6:56 am
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, CJ. You’re the best.
(Mac hacks: We use Fetch, which costs $25 a license, but we also sometimes deploy CyberDuck, a free alternative. Both are more than adequate for any FTP task we might discuss here.)
February 23, 2008 — 7:07 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
Thank you, Greg. P. S. to Sean I notice you mentioned inserting pictures in posts …. this one might help there http://www.dablogmother.com/2008/01/i-learned-anoth.html
February 23, 2008 — 7:41 am