Gallery Server Pro 2.3 beta released

Today I am releasing the near-final version of Gallery Server Pro 2.3, with the full release expected by May 31. This is a significant release, with new features such as user albums, self-registration, album paging, and more. Read my previous blog entry for more details. A bonus feature not previously announced is support for changing settings in the Site Admin area in a Medium Trust environment (GoDaddy users rejoice!).

Play with an online demo of 2.3 beta here. The demo has self-registration and user albums enabled. Create a new account and notice how an album is automatically created. You have administrative rights to your album but not the others. I configured it so you have read-only permissions to the rest of the gallery, but you may want to give greater or less access. For example, you can set up your gallery so that each user can only view their own album but no others.

The demo also has album paging set to show a maximum of ten thumbnails per page. This is probably lower than what you would set in a production app, but it helps illustrate the idea.

Download the Gallery Server Pro 2.3 beta here.

Just like the current version, out of the box it will run on a 32-bit operating system running .NET 2.0 or higher. If you have a 64-bit OS, replace System.Data.SQLite.DLL in the bin directory with the 64-bit version. MS .NET 3.5 users should use the 3.5 version of web.config (look in the root directory).

The installation instructions for the 2.2 version of GSP also apply to 2.3, so read the Admin Guide for more information.

Please report any issues in the forum or with the contact form.

Unfinished items in the beta

• Do not try to upgrade your existing gallery to the beta, as the Upgrade Wizard is unfinished. The RTM version *will* allow you to easily upgrade from previous versions. The beta should be installed as a new web application and is to be used for testing purposes only.
• I will not provide an upgrade path from the beta to the final release. It *may* be possible to upgrade to the RTM version by simply replacing the web files, as no database changes are anticipated, but I make no promises.
• The restore function cannot restore from versions earlier than the beta. I expect to add support for this by the RTM.
• There are a few minor bugs, usability tweaks, and features that need to be completed.