OTFG Step 1: Setting the Stage
This weekend I took my first step toward going off the Flickr grid (aka OTFG). I set up a database to store information about my photos, I downloaded all of my original photos from the Flickr servers, and used the Flickr API to gather information about those photos. This first step is key for me because I don't want to loose the years of work I've already put in to adding titles, captions, and tags to my photos at Flickr. Luckily, Flickr has a fantastic API that lets you tap into their photo database.
If you want to follow along at home, my setup includes PHP 5 and MySQL 5.
I started by whipping up a quick database structure to hold info about photos. I'm sure this will change over time, but this is what I felt was the bare minimum I needed to get back out of Flickr. I made two tables: one for photos and one for tags. The table
You can grab the SQL required to create the tables here: otfg_tables_1.txt.
And you can set them up in a new database like this:
Next you'll want to set up a user to access this database. Fire up MySQL and run something like this:
Remember the MySQL username/password you set, you'll need them in a bit.
And with that, the stage is set and ready to be filled with photos! Coming up: How I grabbed my photos and put stuff in the db.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that I'm building this as I go. That means the code I'm sharing hasn't even been tested in the real world. I'm merely showing the steps I'm taking as a guide (and hopefully for some input). In other words, don't try this at home unless you're comfortable with what's going on here.
If you want to follow along at home, my setup includes PHP 5 and MySQL 5.
I started by whipping up a quick database structure to hold info about photos. I'm sure this will change over time, but this is what I felt was the bare minimum I needed to get back out of Flickr. I made two tables: one for photos and one for tags. The table
photos includes fields for a PhotoID, title, description, date the photo was added, date the photo was taken, longitude and latitude of the location (if available), whether or not the photo is public, and the location of the photo on the local filesystem. (I decided to store the files in the local filesystem instead of in the database because that seemed more intuitive to me.) The table tags will store all of the tags associated with the photos.
You can grab the SQL required to create the tables here: otfg_tables_1.txt.
And you can set them up in a new database like this:
shell> mysql -u [username] -p [password] [database name] < otfg_tables_1.txt
Next you'll want to set up a user to access this database. Fire up MySQL and run something like this:
mysql> grant all on *.* to [username]@localhost identified by '[password]';
Remember the MySQL username/password you set, you'll need them in a bit.
And with that, the stage is set and ready to be filled with photos! Coming up: How I grabbed my photos and put stuff in the db.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that I'm building this as I go. That means the code I'm sharing hasn't even been tested in the real world. I'm merely showing the steps I'm taking as a guide (and hopefully for some input). In other words, don't try this at home unless you're comfortable with what's going on here.