I'd like my website to store 100x100 thumbnails for various URLs in my database. From what I've read so far, this isn't really feasible with PHP on a Linux computer. Is there a reliable service that can do this for a monthly fee? I'd like to be able to download the thumbnails to my own server after they are created. Or another solution, is, I could setup a windows/php server in my home, that will automatically create screenshots every hour based on the queue, and then send them to my web server. But, I don't really know where to begin. Thoughts?
Girafa was $20 /month. Seems a bit high. Thumbshots.org wants a text ad link on my homepage to use their services. Not possible in my case. I'm using SnapCasa.com right now, but it isn't the most reliable. I would really like to have screenshots generated on the fly if possible.
I'll give it a try. How easy would it be for me to download the created thumbnails to my server? (assuming they allow that) Also, do you know how long it takes for them to create a screenshot? (is it instant, 5 mins, or queued for hours?)
Well, it is quite easy to store the images. And it takes like a few hours to create new thumbs but it takes ages to update them That is the down about it.
I signed up, but their instructions on how to generate the MD5 hash for each URL are very confusing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work.
Most of these services are very slow or unreliable. I think I'm gonna go ahead and make my own dedicated server to create screenshots. Does anyone have experience with the PHP function imagegrabwindow()? http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.imagegrabwindow.php
I am more than happy to be a beta tester for your service I didn't work with them but the user notes seem helpful in addition to the examples. Notice that there is a similar function imagegrabscreen which might be faster.
Oh thank you! Glad to see more people joining TextAdMarket. (I have a really cool marketplace I'm building at the moment for TextAdMarket. Once I finish this screenshot business, I think it will boost the usefulness of my site.)
I ended up building my own WAMP server. Working really well so far. I have it taking screenshots in IE. It makes the browser go fullscreen, but I can't seem to get rid of the scrollbars. I'm not very family with the COM() function in php. Ideas? Here is my code:
Wow I am glad it worked for you straight! Yes in the PHP page of this function or the other you will find a user note that is very useful. Can you tell how fast the process is going? How long does it take it for a snapshop?
Thanks everyone for this thread I was goin to add may be this might help (not mine) www.findmotive.com/2006/12/13/php-crop-image/ But Danltn's script works great for me - thanks Danltn
Good to hear it, it all works fine, which is the main idea when you're doing tricky stuff like screenshots, but some of the code isn't ideal. I'll have a quick look over it when it gets accepted by PHPClasses.org and provide a new link for you to that then. Enjoy, Dan
Thanks for all the tips and examples guys! I have it all working, and was able to crop out the scrollbars that IE puts in there. Working like a charm, pumping out a screenshot every 5 seconds. I was also able to turn this into a scheduled task on my WAMP server so it takes new screenshots automatically every few minutes. I'll be adding these thumbnails to the marketplace listings on TextAdMarket.com tomorrow. Website screenshot thumbnails bring more life to directory-type pages.
It's working great. Checkout my site listings: http://www.textadmarket.com/buy.php They look much better with screenshots!
Good to hear it worked out for you! If you're interested here's the final link for the screenshot class: http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/4608.html It's still in 0.1beta. Dan