Caption issue when attaching images to blog

[nmf]

A while back I shot a number of images over an event lasting several days. All to the best of knowledge were edited and captioned the same but when I tried to attach images from the first and last days to WordPress blog posts from my Photoshelter based archive using their plugin I was unable to do so. The only difference in my whole workflow to the best of my knowledge was that I had cut and pasted some names from an organisers created web page when captioning though each was copied to a plain text file and then into the caption dialog.

I have since "cleaned" the caption and keywords fields of two test files by recaptioning using blank dialogs where relevant. I then typed the caption into one and the keywords into the other which I would have thought would have removed any errant formatting that may have been carried over. However the file with no caption will now attach but the one with a caption but no keywords will not suggesting the issue is indeed with the caption field. I have also discovered that the original file will attach to the post if I choose to not add the caption suggesting this is the cause of the problem. I am guessing, though have as good as zero programming knowledge, that some kind of character has been introduced that causes a conflict.

I have uploaded and successfully attached files to posts using the same workflow since the event.

Can anybody suggest a cause for the problem please as whilst even if I can get the images attached the posts will be buried now amongst others I would like to at least know how to resolve the problem, if not avoid it, should it happen again.

Many thanks to anybody who can help.

-------------

Mac 10.6.8 / images originally captioned using Photo Mechanic 4.6.9 / tests carried out using Photo Mechanic Version 5.0, build 13764

[Kirk Baker]

A while back I shot a number of images over an event lasting several days. All to the best of knowledge were edited and captioned the same but when I tried to attach images from the first and last days to WordPress blog posts from my Photoshelter based archive using their plugin I was unable to do so. The only difference in my whole workflow to the best of my knowledge was that I had cut and pasted some names from an organisers created web page when captioning though each was copied to a plain text file and then into the caption dialog.

I have since "cleaned" the caption and keywords fields of two test files by recaptioning using blank dialogs where relevant. I then typed the caption into one and the keywords into the other which I would have thought would have removed any errant formatting that may have been carried over. However the file with no caption will now attach but the one with a caption but no keywords will not suggesting the issue is indeed with the caption field. I have also discovered that the original file will attach to the post if I choose to not add the caption suggesting this is the cause of the problem. I am guessing, though have as good as zero programming knowledge, that some kind of character has been introduced that causes a conflict.

I have uploaded and successfully attached files to posts using the same workflow since the event.

Can anybody suggest a cause for the problem please as whilst even if I can get the images attached the posts will be buried now amongst others I would like to at least know how to resolve the problem, if not avoid it, should it happen again.

Do you get any specific error messages during the import of the images to your blog?

-Kirk

[nmf]

Once I have selected the image a dialog opens allowing me to chose the method to attach the image (Flash or HTML - I use the latter), image size and whether to include the caption on the post. Once OK'd the image usually uploads quickly and shows in the draft post but with this set of images including a caption the dialog clears to white and hangs. I've waited several minutes for a change but with no joy.

I don't see this as a problem with Photo Mechanic in itself, and am in contact with Photoshelter aswell, but wondered if anybody had experienced or recognised the issue or knew if any kind of code could be left in the files caption dialog despite my attempt to write over it that could cause some kind of corruption, and if so if there was a way to clear it other than to re edit all the images from scratch.

Thanks for your help.

[Kirk Baker]

Once I have selected the image a dialog opens allowing me to chose the method to attach the image (Flash or HTML - I use the latter), image size and whether to include the caption on the post. Once OK'd the image usually uploads quickly and shows in the draft post but with this set of images including a caption the dialog clears to white and hangs. I've waited several minutes for a change but with no joy.

I don't see this as a problem with Photo Mechanic in itself, and am in contact with Photoshelter aswell, but wondered if anybody had experienced or recognised the issue or knew if any kind of code could be left in the files caption dialog despite my attempt to write over it that could cause some kind of corruption, and if so if there was a way to clear it other than to re edit all the images from scratch.

If you want to upload one of your images here, I'd be happy to look into the image itself and see if I can spot anything odd in it.  Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your JPEG file.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[nmf]

I've attached the image with the caption which will not attach (...no keywords.jpg) and the version without a caption which will attach in case having a comparison helps.

Thanks

Nigel

[Kirk Baker]

Nigel,

I compared the files and I don't see anything encoded improperly in any of the text.  You don't have accented characters in the caption at all.

Maybe it's a length issue?  How long can a caption be?  Does the metadata parser handle both IPTC and XMP?  (Your files have IPTC and XMP in them.)

-Kirk

[nmf]

Thanks for checking.

As I don't really understand how the various aspects work you've lost me a bit re "Does the metadata parser handle both IPTC and XMP?". The best answer I can give is that the files are created from CR2 RAW files from two different Canon bodies which are sorted and captioned in PM then edited via Bridge / CS6 with the final caption details added in PM before uploading to Photoshelter and then attached to the blog post. To the best of my knowledge my workflow hasn't changed from before, was used for editing other files from the event that have been successfully used and has been used since for editing files which have then also been uploaded to the same blog. I'll try and do some research though into the terms and see if I can find a cause from them.

The caption for the image I sent was 316 characters long. I know from another discussion we had a while ago that each character is only roughly the same length as the unit used in programming but I am pretty sure the figure quoted at that time for maximum caption length was in any case much higher.

Thank you for your help. I think it is starting to look as though I'll have to re-edit the files from scratch and hope that resolves the problem. I'll let you know if I ever work out the cause in case it helps somebody else in the future.

[Kirk Baker]

Nigel,

As I don't really understand how the various aspects work you've lost me a bit re "Does the metadata parser handle both IPTC and XMP?".

Something on your blog software must be parsing the metadata of the files and is hanging up.  So I'm wondering if the parser in the upload module has problems with particular kinds of metadata.  Have you done any Google searches for problems similar to yours?

-Kirk

[nmf]

Thanks for the additional information. I did some quick searches when I first spotted the problem but tend to end up wasting a lot of time following the wrong threads when I have little knowledge of a subject, such as programming in this case. I'll try to follow up using the information you have given me to see if I can identify where the problem lies.

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

While it won't lead to an immediate solution here, this may help you.  I run into image upload problems on my own Wordpress blog and I know it can be very hard to find out where the failure is..  There is a Wordpress extension that helps you read your local PHP error log.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/error-log-monitor/

Sometimes that can really help you track down the issue.  Note: this doesn't mean we can necessarily help you debug Wordpress PHP errors, but it may help you in your search.

[nmf]

Thanks. Hopefully it will help me track back to where the problem crept in. There are so many parts to the whole process that it could be anywhere but the more I can tie it down to a particular part of the workflow the easier it should be to resolve or at least prevent it happening again.

Cheers