Web Integration

Of course, you can use picdrop under your domain and with your logo etc. If you want, none of your clients will notice that you use our service for your work. You can find more information in your account settings.

Web-integration: your picdrop galleries under your domain

With picdrop’s web-integration you can run picdrop under your own domain so that we remain invisible to your clients.

The web integration will transform your picdrop URL www.picdrop.com/maxmiller/gallery to your own domain, e. g. maxmiller.com/client/gallery.

You can finde the neccessary files right here. And here is our instatllation manual for the web-integration.

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What does the picdrop Web-Integration do exactly? Below we'll explain briefly and concisely just that. Maybe this will make it easier for you to decide if the picdrop Web-Integration is right for you!

• The Web-Integration of picdrop works as a redirection from your website to the corresponding picdrop gallery.
• The Web-Integration above all has an influence on the appearance of your gallery links.
• The gallery link to a fictitious gallery in picdrop WITHOUT Web-Integration looks like this: www.picdrop.com/youraccountname/galleryname
• WITH the Web-Integration, the link will appear like this: www.yourwebsite.com/clients/galleryname (path 1), or like this: https://picdrop.yourwebsite.com/galleryname (path 2).

All galleries and associated gallery links created before the Web-Integration was installed will remain unaffected by the Web-Integration. The links do not change when the Web-Integration is installed on your server. The picdrop Gallery link will still be displayed in picdrop even after the Web-Integration has been installed. When you select picdrop from your Web-Integration, you can find the corresponding gallery link adapted to the Web-Integration. Both links work in parallel.

Please note: picdrop CANNOT be installed directly on your server. This is because picdrop is a very complex program that we are constantly fine-tuning for you. Furthermore, perfectly adapted servers and the interaction of several functions belong to picdrop. The use on other servers, therefore, is not possible.

 

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The web integration and installation instructions can be found in your picdrop Account Settings under the menu item "Website".

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You can install the web integration on your server in just a few minutes. All you need is a little basic knowledge about the function and operation of your website. And you need your own webspace / server (running Apache) with PHP support and your own domain that is pointing to your webspace. In addition, your website must have a valid SSL certificate.

All this is no problem for you? Here you can find the detailed instructions for installing the web integration on your server: Installation guide for the web integration of picdrop

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If your server meets all basic requirements (Apache, PHP support and a valid SSL certificate), but still displays error messages during installation, please send us an email to hello@picdrop.com. In this email please tell us your username and the exact address under which your (non-functioning) web integration is located. We will immediately send you a customized web integration that should fix all problems.

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You have managed to install the web integration on your server. The gallery overview can easily be called up via the new address (www.yourname.com/picdrop/), but when you call up individual galleries via their addresses (www.yourname.com/picdrop/gallery), your website only spits out errors.

The solution is very simple: please also upload the file ".htaccess", which is included in the ZIP of our web integration. It seems to be missing.

Unfortunately, uploading this file is often forgotten as it is not displayed on many PCs. Some operating systems view the .htaccess file as part of their system files and therefore hide it. If you can't find the file, show the "hidden files" (or similar) in the settings of your operating system or your FTP program. After that, you can also see the .htaccess file and upload it to your picdrop folder.

If that doesn't work or you need help, you can reach us anytime at hello@picdrop.com.

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There can be several reasons for this.

1. You are using an exotic server that does not run with Apache or does not support PHP. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything for you at the moment.
2. Your website does not have a valid SSL certificate. In order for the web integration to be accessible at your URL, the connection to your website must be encrypted using SSL. Your website uses a secure connection if your links start with https:// If your website does not have a valid SSL certificate, your clients will be automatically redirected to the picdrop URL of the gallery (www.picdrop.com/accountname/galleryname).
3. During the installation, you first named the address in the browser and then renamed the folder. Unfortunately, this is not possible and can cause errors. Please delete the folder again, upload the web integration again, rename the folder first if necessary and then move it up via your browser to complete the installation.
4. Have you possibly uploaded your image data to your own server? Note: You must continue to upload your images to your picdrop space and not to your own server. The web integration is "only" a kind of redirection that ensures that you can use picdrop with your own address.
5. Complications may occur if you have Wordpress or other additional software running on your server. In this case, please contact your webmaster, as we have no influence on this.
6. Still nothing? Write us an email to hello@picdrop.com and we will see what we can do for you!

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There can be several reasons for this error:

1. Deactivated cookies for you or your clients:
Make sure that cookies are activated in your browser and that your clients have also activated picdrop cookies for third parties. Access to password-protected areas is not possible without cookies. Alternatively, deactivate the password to allow your client access to the gallery.

2. An outdated web integration on your server:
You are still using an old web integration. Please download and install the latest version of the web integration. You can find the download of the web integration again in your account settings and you can simply overwrite your old web integration.

3. Other installations on your server (Wordpress and Co.)
Probably other applications such as the popular Wordpress or Drupal, Joomla or a framework are running on your server or storage space. They often save certain addresses like www.yourname.com/gallery etc.... If you or your client try to call picdrop via your web integration, this application "kidnaps" the entered address and displays error messages instead of picdrop. To eliminate or exclude these applications as error causes, please change your Wordpress or other programs on your server and exclude your picdrop folder from their functional range. If you have detailed questions, please contact your programmer or system administrator or the manufacturer of the corresponding program to change this behavior.

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Do you use picdrop’s web integration on your server according to our instructions and you experience this phenomenon:

• The link directly to your account works and you see your gallery overview. So e.g. www.yoursite.com/picdrop works perfectly.
• But all links to the individual galleries in your web integration show an error page. More precisely: a 404 error page with the design of your own website.

In this case it is very likely that you have installed the web integration correctly on your server. A file with the name .htaccess also ended up in your web integration folder. Apparently there is another .htaccess file on your server in a main folder, which gets in the way of the web integration.

Technical explanation: What exactly is an .htaccess file?

An .htaccess file is a configuration file for Apache servers, among others. In a .htaccess file several functions can be controlled: e.g. password protection for individual areas of your server, rules for automatic redirection of URLs, etc.

Possible conflicts produced by multiple .htaccess files

If you use Wordpress for your website, then you most likely already have another .htaccess file on your server that ensures that for a given URL, the appropriate file is always loaded on your server. If the .htaccess file does not find a matching result on your server, a 404 error page will be displayed. All of this is handled by the .htaccess file in the main folder of your server.

The web integration of picdrop also provides an .htaccess file. In this file is therer are rules, how the links to your galleries must be forwarded in the background, so that your galleries can be displayed. 

Now it can happen that the .htaccess file in your main folder can not find a rule for a gallery URL and is then always automatically redirected to an error page. So the .htaccess file in your web integration directory is bypassed and can't resolve the link to a gallery.

How can I get rid of the 404 error page?

To do this, you need to make adjustments to the .htaccess file in the main folder that belongs to your website. You need to add an exception in this file that explicitly excludes the web integration directory on your server from being handled by your .htaccess file. 

Unfortunately, we can't provide a universal solution for this, as it may look different on every website. If you are not familiar with this yourself, the person who usually takes care of your website, i.e. your webmaster, is the right person to talk to! Feel free to forward the link to this article so you can quickly find the right approach!

One more note about WordPress plugins

Especially when using WordPress it can also happen that plugins, e.g. plugins to speed up your site or for search engine optimization, repeatedly make changes to the .htaccess – even a web integrations that previously worked, can suddenly point to the 404 error page after some plugin updates. If you are suddenly experiencing these 404 error pages it might be good idea to check your latest plugin updates!

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