Please let me know at which code location the images source paths are generated with the query string. I want to disable this. If there is no image in the cache, then none should be displayed, or possibly a wildcard image.

Zenphoto can only protect where it is involved -> PHP pages. Direct file system access bypasses Zenphoto. You can do this via htaccess server side only. Note that not all server systems support htaccess like nginx and IIS which ZP generally also runs on although not tested.

Zenphoto treats original and cached images differently. Why put images on the net if you don't want them to be indexed at all?

If you don’t want to use the original images on your theme, modify your theme. Or even move the albums folder outside the webpath.

You have been pointed to the rules of visibility and protection before.
http://www.zenphoto.org/news/an-overview-of-zenphoto-users/
Again direct file system access is something different.

The "on the fly" creation is a feature we don't intend to change. You surely will find the image functions and already know about the image processor. We/I will review the "secure image processor" options as soon as I have time for this again.

I again like to remind you to be a bit careful about your tone. If intended or just caused by writing I don't care.

If you do not like my tone, then complain to Google Translator.

Why put images on the net if you do not want them to be indexed at all?

You completely misunderstand that. First, it's my pictures and second, I decide. I decide that only the thumbs should be indexed. Most search engines stick to it. The disguising of paths and all the protecting and secure humbug, I think nothing of it. This is an endless struggle that I find meaningless.

What do you currently want to write in the robots.txt, if only the thumbs are to be indexed? Well, bad luck, because it does not work! Either resize and thumbs, or none.

I always use the original paths to the files. I do not have a problem with that. Every protecting and secure is just a hurdle for myself, not for image thieves and hackers and bots. But on the contrary. With pure paths I can fight bots better. Rather, the creation of files using query string is very questionable.

I have already spent a lot of time in Zenphoto and I think slowly, it is lost time. I had experienced the same thing a few years ago with Joomgallery. It is a pity.

It is a pity that you are so stubborn and will not meet me if I want to adapt Zenphoto for myself. And that again and again.

I always get the impression that such CMSs are not made for the general public, but only for the programmers themselves. This is best seen when complicated things are installed that only they themselves find good. And no argument can dissuade them. They fight and protect it.

I partially agree to that.

the software should be made to fulfill the needs of users and not just for the pleasure of their developers.
and at the same time, the software is built over time: you can not always flip the table and there are historical stuffs that can not be changed easily.
for example, i tried piwigo years ago.
but I don't like their philisophy with a template framework and a lot of code to disable some unwanted behavior.
I prefer zenphoto philosophy, where I can create only my needs.

but nobody is perfect

after reflection, it is possible that cached image generation from a link may have disadvantages.
to be honest, I remember that sbillard gave answers (at the time) to my needs for cached image generation for images inserted into my blog.

I have a gallery for years and I never saw any trouble with that.

I do not have sufficient technical skills to know how to modify this behavior (for example, a cached image is not generated by a hotlink if the cached image does not exist, or cached images can only generated by zenphoto itself, or something like that).
but at some point, there must be a zenphoto module that generates these cached images (on the fly, or in a batch).

and as often on free software, you can get involved to upgrade the software, discuss them with each others, and propose changes via pull request.

Let me put history in perspective. The original architect of zenphoto choose to make using the file system a prime architectural feature. You may disagree with that choice, that is your right. Personally, that is the reason I choose zenphoto in the first place.

The key "feature" of this design is that you can use any tool you like to add images to your gallery and not be concerned about steps to make the image viewable to your public. The only alternative would be to have some intervention that "blesses" your newly uploaded images. Some software do this by insisting that uploading be done only by the program. Zenphoto deliberately chose not to follow that path.

Another approach would be to ignore images until some process is run to "bless" them. Again, zenphoto choose not to take that path as it was considered both an added burden and a source of confusion. (Why is my image not showing? Oh, forgot to run the discovery process.) There is one way that you could mimic this process, though. You can set your options so that new images are unpublished. Then you could cache them and publish them at your discretion. This is not appealing to me, but if it fits your needs....

Vincent is correct in his assertion that software should be designed for the user, not the developer. But he is also right that this is an open source project and anyone can make improvements to it if all agree with the implementation. What has not been said, and probably should be said, is that this software cost you nothing. This is because the developers volunteer their time at no compensation to build it. I have not direct knowledge, but I suspect the reason for Gallery's demise is that the developers got tired of bitching and moaning about the software not doing this or that and the complainers not being willing to make any effort to contribute to the cause.

Anyway, the Gallery scripts still run and may do so for quite a while. Maybe no new features, but if it did what you want, why did you change?

@wibbi I am sorry if you misunderstood your tone and this is just a common general misunderstanding of written text. But to me it often sounds and sounded like you are new and complain about Zenphoto not being like the tool you used before or like you personally would like to have things. Sometimes without understanding why things are like they are with Zenphoto and that not everything can be changed just because of your personal requirement. You simply cannot expect that. As you said you decide what you use. But we also decide what we work on.

the software should be made to fulfill the needs of users and not just for the pleasure of their developers.

Generally true. As mentioned already this is not our main job but indeed primarily (lots of) unpaid spare time and we don't sell anything to you so there is no actual "entitlement" that we need to fullfill someone's specific needs. We also simply can't fullfill wishes just because - as it sounds to me - one new user thinks things should be different that worked for years and never caused trouble. Sounds a bit harsh maybe and we of course want users to use it. It's just part of the reality.

That does never mean that things could not be improved or reconsidered. I don't think I am really stubborn or against changes per se actually but there is only so much time and anyone has just to accept that we might not agree to everything.

For example the protection of the image generation by some internal measure is on my list. I think of an internal token set by option or code that is partly used and checked in the url via query. This would ensure only links generated by Zenphoto internal code would trigger image creation.

One addition to:

but I suspect the reason for Gallery's demise is that the developers got tired of bitching and moaning about the software not doing this or that and the complainers not being willing to make any effort to contribute to the cause.

To my knowledge it was actually primarily lacking time because of the actual main job taking over. Lots of open source tools are started in times where time is plenty and then over they years are abandoned.

Job and rather unpleasant private stuff have been the cause for some development delay in the last past three years as well (that "mysterious major release"). But be assured I have no plans to abandon Zenphoto.

Hey vincent3569, I also tested Piwigo, a few years ago, have invested a lot of time, and then it was all lost time. But I do not remember what was so terrible about it.

One year before Gallery3 went into hibernation I switched from a pure HTML Gallery to Gallery3. I had tried some photo CMS and Gallery3 was the best because of its simple structure and many useful features. The message from the end of Gallery3 was a shock to me. I had invested a lot of time.

Why do I want to leave Gallery3? Because I think about the future. Gallery3 has no support, except in a Yahoo group. Gallery3 / Menalto has no future. I am not so flexible and do not have so much time to switch to another CMS at any moment. I've been trying for a long time to test Zenphoto again and try to make some adjustments.

The file structure is very good. Also the recognition of the files. But, I do not publish immediately at detection, because then still title and description is missing. At Menalto, the tree structure is even more consistent, with cleavage in resize and thumbs. That is very convenient. Always bad is a dump (and rename). Order must be.

I still have a little problem. I first upload the photos to a editing folder. There I add title and description, maybe even sorting. Then I move the photos to their final place. It is not so good that in Zenpghoto the resize and thumbs are not moved.

You misunderstand me. I do not want to complain. I program myself and make everything freely available. It is rarely thanked. Everyone wants to have everything for free. But I do it because I enjoy programming. My gallery is also freely accessible and many elaborate collected information is published in it. Partly very detailed descriptions with thousands of characters. I am a historian, by the way.

You understand me wrong even with Zenphoto. I do not want you to change Zenphoto. I want to customize Zenphoto for me. I do not agree with everything in Zenphoto. But I do not have to take Zenphoto as it is, because I can adapt it to my needs. Core hacks is such a bad word. Better would be modding!

It would be nice of you to get support by modding. You know your software best and know where what is. I do not like stiff software like a rock. But, if I do not like something, then I'll say it out!

My Idea: https://github.com/zenphoto/zenphoto/issues/1144

All right, so we sorted out the misunderstanding.

"Modding" for personal requirements is what open source allows and that's fine that way. Still we don't need to agree to everything regarding your requirements or specific workflow (like your editing of title etc.). We will never satisfy everyone, that is an impossible task and otherwise we would wear ourselves down.

I generally agree to your idea on the ticket but as mentioned it needs time and proper investigation.

wibbi
some tips to improve (or not) your workflow

• it is better (I think) to add relevant infos on pictures with a photo editor (like lightroom or other): you can add title, tags, gps data, location, copyright,...
  so you don't have to edit them in zenphoto and you don't have the risk of loose them because they are stored in your pictures

• you can unpublish an album until you have done all the job you have to do (order of pictures, description of album,...)

• you can have a folder tree for your physical albums (where your pictures are stored) and have a logical order that is different in zenphoto: you can arrange/order them whatever you want in album edit by drag and drop, and you don't need to physically move them (so your zenphoto informations and orders for albums and pictures are kept)
  that logical order doesn't change physical order (for albums tree and, as far I can see, for cache tree)
  example:
  you can have album structure per years and subalbums per events (2017/20170101_travel_to_scotland, 2017/20170106_wedding_of_mary, 2018/20180101_travel_to_japan, 2018/20180106_wedding_of_paul) and then you can reorder theses albums/subalbums as you want in a logical way in zenphoto album edit (why not whith this logical structure: travel/20170101_travel_to_scotland, travels/20180101_travel_to_japan, weddings/20170106_wedding_of_mary, weddings/20180106_wedding_of_paul)

Hey! All good! Thanks for answers! I'm realy happy on this moment! Wohooo!
Look at my (modding) solution: https://github.com/zenphoto/zenphoto/issues/1144#issuecomment-372967813

OK, i'ts only a modding solution, not a general solution. For a general solution, $ _GET can be replaced by a "normal" variable.
On the moment untested for the backend. time ...

The getImageURI() modding also works in the backend as I just tested.

If the "on the fly" really should be made more secure, then the $_GET must be completely banished (from the "on the fly", not in general).
That's no problem, according to the source code. $_GET just needs to rewrite to a normal array that will be filled first.

That needs more testing and code reviews in several other areas. For example it will for sure break image embedding via TinyMCE and tinyZenpage. THe latter is scheduled for rework but not for 1.x anymore.