Photos

Photos contains LENA’s shared library. By default, it displays photos that are not in the trash — both those used in albums and those not yet assigned. Uploading a file to the library does not automatically add it to an album.

Library view

Photos are grouped by the date taken from EXIF, the information a camera stores in a JPEG file. Reading it requires the PHP exif_read_data function on the server. The date added is used when a capture date is unavailable. The newest items appear first.

Up to 60 photos are loaded initially. Load more photos retrieves the next batch without reloading the entire page.

Adding photos

There are two ways to add photos:

1. Select Add photos or Choose photos, then select one or several files.
2. Drag files from the computer over the open library and drop them in the displayed area.

LENA accepts JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF. Each file is processed separately. If only part of a batch fails, valid files remain added. The summary gives the successful and rejected counts, reasons and up to 10 file names; for a longer list it also reports the remaining error count.

Before upload, the browser rejects files exceeding the active size limit. The server independently checks the limit again. By default its source is Maximum Size in the Joomla Media options, but an administrator can select a separate LENA limit.

After a successful import:

• the original file is retained;
• the initial title is the file name without its extension;
• alternative text and description are initially empty;
• small, medium and large variants are created;
• the orientation of copies generated from a JPEG may be corrected from EXIF data; the original remains unchanged;
• the photo becomes active and can be assigned immediately.

The original and display copies

For each photo, LENA retains the original and creates three smaller copies, called variants:

Variant	Maximum length of the longer edge
Small	480 pixels
Medium	1280 pixels
Large	2560 pixels

The copies preserve the image’s proportions. LENA does not enlarge photos smaller than the specified size. Square gallery thumbnails are cropped when displayed; the original file is not cropped.

Variants are saved as WebP if the server supports that output format. Otherwise, LENA uses PNG, then JPEG, depending on GD capabilities. These sizes are fixed in version 1.0.3 and have no separate settings in the administrator area.

Search and view selection

Search checks the photo’s:

• title;
• alternative text;
• original file name.

Words separated by spaces may match text with other characters between them. The Show list switches between Published and Trashed. In this filter, Published means active photos, or photos not in the trash. It does not mean every photo is already visible in a gallery on the website. The cross next to search clears the phrase.

Opening photo details

Select a photo to open a large viewer. Side arrows and the keyboard arrow keys move between photos. The details panel shows:

• file name;
• dimensions after accounting for orientation;
• MIME format and file size;
• date taken, if available;
• date added;
• UUID;
• original path;
• albums containing the photo.

The three-dot menu lets you download the original or add the photo to an album. The original retains the uploaded file’s metadata. If you do not want information such as GPS location stored on the server, remove it from the file before uploading.

Editing title, alternative text and description

Complete the fields in the viewer and select Save changes:

• Title — the panel name; on the frontend it is the fallback when alternative text is empty;
• Alternative text — a concise description of the image for uses including screen readers;
• Description — a plain-text note of up to 10,000 characters.

Title and alternative text can each contain up to 255 characters. The photo description is stored and available in the administrator area, but the standard LENA 1.0 frontend does not display it.

A badge on a thumbnail indicates that its Description field is not empty.

Adding photos to an album

Use the enlarged viewer’s menu to add one photo. To add several:

1. Select the check markers on the relevant thumbnails.
2. Select Add to album from the bulk-action bar.
3. Search for and select the album.

The list contains published and unpublished albums you can edit; it excludes trashed albums. A photo already assigned to the chosen album will not be duplicated.

Rebuilding thumbnails

Rebuild thumbnails recreates variants for all active photos from their retained originals. It is available when the library is not filtered by a search phrase.

Use it after missing-variant problems or changes to image generation. It covers the entire active library, can take some time and requires the page to remain open. Trashed photos are not processed.

Rebuilding uses the folder recorded in each original’s stored path, not only the current global folder option.