[jasonashaw]

I want to configure the iamges folder to be external to volusion (such as: https://s3.amazonaws.com/<my bucketname>/public/) instead of the default v/vspfiles/templates/90/images

However, when I input the new string into the admin interface and save it, it reverts back to v/vspfiles/templates/90/images. How do I make this change stick? And will it work?

And if it doesn't, what are my options? Many of the image calls are in files that aren't accessible to me.

Thanks,
Jason

[wpmccabe]

In your product page, under Advanced Options you have:

PhotoURL Small [TEXT : 100]
PhotoURL Large [TEXT : 100]

This field causes the loaded thumbnail images for a product to be replaced by an image url. This is an overwrite meant mostly for anyone uploading products in a CSV file who knows the file location of their images and doesn't want to upload again.

If you use this field to reference an image url that is off-site, make sure you know that image location is stable. If it is removed or changed, then your product image will also be changed or even unavailable.

Also bear in mind that if you are referencing an outside source, an http:// url prefix may cause a browser popup message telling a customer that this page may not be secure. A https:// reference will be secure. A relative path (see Example Value) is even better because the image is hosted on your ftp.

Hope this helps!

[jasonashaw]

Originally Posted by wpmccabe

In your product page, under Advanced Options you have:

PhotoURL Small [TEXT : 100]
PhotoURL Large [TEXT : 100]

This field causes the loaded thumbnail images for a product to be replaced by an image url. This is an overwrite meant mostly for anyone uploading products in a CSV file who knows the file location of their images and doesn't want to upload again.

If you use this field to reference an image url that is off-site, make sure you know that image location is stable. If it is removed or changed, then your product image will also be changed or even unavailable.

Also bear in mind that if you are referencing an outside source, an http:// url prefix may cause a browser popup message telling a customer that this page may not be secure. A https:// reference will be secure. A relative path (see Example Value) is even better because the image is hosted on your ftp.

Hope this helps!

Thanks William, but unfortunately this is not the problem I am trying to solve. The product images are easy (thanks to the image URLs) although it would be nice if volusion matched the 4 images sizes instead of only allowing 2 (e.g. you need to select one of "*-0.jpg", "*.-1.jpg" or "*-2t.jpg" for all the images that will show up in search results, on the product pages or as thumbnails for accessories.

The issue I am dealing with is all the non-product, navigational images such as the template background images, buttons, etc... These eat up more bandwidth than anything because they are essentially called on every page load. If I could change the Config_ImagesFolder to point to my external bucket, then all would be fantastic. At least for this part.

Thanks,
Jason

[jasonashaw]

FYI, the Config_ImagesFolder setting apparently cannot be changes. According to Volusion, it is not changeable, even though it is listed as something that is configurable in the interface. You can change it via a bulk upload, but the instant you make any change, anywhere on your site (like saving a product), it defaults back. So at this point in time it is not possible to host the myriad of navigational images on a platform other than Volusion.

Looks like abug to me, but Volusion says it isn't a bug. Stuck paying for bandwidth, again...

[carsonreinke]

If you want to host template images at another location, just reference those with an absolute URL (i.e. https://s3.amazonaws.com/<my bucketname>/public/css/Imports.css). I'm not sure if Amazon's Simple Storage is really meant for this purpose though, you are probably better off with some simple hosting. There is no way around the product image hosting, other then changing the two Photo URLs.

[jasonashaw]

Originally Posted by carsonreinke

If you want to host template images at another location, just reference those with an absolute URL (i.e. https://s3.amazonaws.com/<my bucketname>/public/css/Imports.css). I'm not sure if Amazon's Simple Storage is really meant for this purpose though, you are probably better off with some simple hosting. There is no way around the product image hosting, other then changing the two Photo URLs.

We are using Amazon S3 (about 50-times less expensive image hosting than Volusion), but you can only use it for images where you can specify the link (like those called from the main template such as the banner). But it doesn't work for anything like buttons or other template images because you can't specify the S3 location. You could if the Config_ImagesFolder setting actually worked.

FYI, for anyone who is interested I'd be happy to share more about the Amazon.com S3 image hosting. It is really easy once I figured it out - which took a while. I ended up using a program called Bucket Explorer which enable you to upload and manage your S3 buckets. The Amazon S3 isn't accessible via FTP so you need to use an application. Very happy with Bucket Explorer - works well, works fast, and the developer has been super responsive with the questions I had. http://www.bucketexplorer.com

[jasonashaw]

Originally Posted by carsonreinke

If you want to host template images at another location, just reference those with an absolute URL (i.e. https://s3.amazonaws.com/<my bucketname>/public/css/Imports.css). I'm not sure if Amazon's Simple Storage is really meant for this purpose though, you are probably better off with some simple hosting. There is no way around the product image hosting, other then changing the two Photo URLs.

FYI, I was not able to get any of the *.css files to work. There must be some sort of security somewhere which prevents hosting the css files eleswhere. If anyone has figured this out I'd love to hear how you did it because the css files account for a lot of bandwidth.

[carsonreinke]

Just modify your template, and make the reference an absolute rather than a relative URL. Yes, you cannot host product photos and buttons through this, but you can get other portions of your template to another location. If you are using SSL, you will need to make sure your third party hosting has SSL and you can reference without the protocol (i.e. minus "https:"). Not sure if S3 supports non-SSL, but it would be something like this: //s3.amazonaws.com/<my bucketname>/public/css/Imports.css.

Also, S3 is $0.10/GB transfer, GoDaddy is $0.02/GB transfer, so you might want to consider a simpler provider.