Created by Chibipaint

When I started using Wordpress as an online “creative diary,” I wanted the ability to sketch right into the blog. I searched and hadn’t found anything, but I obviously didn’t look hard enough and missed the fact that there was already one for the Shi-Painter. However, the applet, “Shi-Painter,” didn’t want to work with my tablet. The plugin didn’t seem to have the ability to edit or delete the source file (which was saved in the plugin directory). On top of all that, the documentation was in Japanese, which I can’t read and frankly, I’m not sure if a lot of people who wanted to use this can either.

So here we are.

Download

You can find the plugin here (Wordpress Extend)

Installation

If you downloaded it from the link, then extract the zip file into your blog’s plugin directory. If you installed it via Plugin > Add New, then you don’t need to do anything beyond its own instructions.

Features

1. Add a new painting from the Add Image prompt/popup found in any post/page editor (Posts > Edit, Add New and Pages > Edit, Add New).
2. Edit and delete paintings (including source files) through the plugin’s own manager (Chibipaint > Manager)
3. Load templates (PNG and CHI files only, remote template loading is subject to your server’s settings)
4. Set preset sizes and templates

Walkthrough

How to add a new painting?

1. Go to Post/Page > Edit/Add New.
2. Click on the Add Image button ( ). It can only be found in Add Image.
3. Click on the Chibipaint Tab.
4. Specify the canvas size or template. If you specify a template, the canvas size values will be ignored (so you don’t have to delete them). If you are manually inputting a template’s address, then leave the drop down menu option to specify. Once you’re done, click on “Set Settings”
5. Start drawing! Once you’re done, click on the Send Pic button.
6. Once your image is successfully saved, it will send you to the media library page, where you can change the title of the image, description or add it to your post.

How to edit existing paintings?

There’s two ways of doing this, depending on how you saved your paintings:

Saved as image file only:

1. Determine the location of your image file. The best way to do this is by going to the media library and copy (Ctrl/Cmd+C) the address in the File URL textbox.
2. Repeat step 1 to 4 from “How to add a new painting?”, where you paste the address into the Template URL textbox. Leave the Preset Template to specify. Click on Set Settings.
3. Edit the image, then click on the Send Pic button.

Saved as layer (.chi) file only:

1. Go to ChibiPaint > Manager.
2. The page will list all the paintings you have done in thumbnail form since you’ve installed the plugin (future versions will have multiple pages. Filtering/Sorting may be implemented).
3. Select the painting you want to edit, then click on edit.
4. Edit the image, then click on the Send Pic button.
5. Once successfully saved, the plugin will send you to the Media > Library page. If the thumbnail for your painting does not reflect the changes you’ve made, you will need to:
   • clear your cache.
   • access the PNG file itself
   • If the above two options do not work, post a message here or send me an email

FAQ

Q: Why Chibipaint?

A: Mainly it’s because the documents are understandable (written in English) and the licence allows me to make changes to the applet without getting into trouble. On top of that, it has features that I haven’t found in other drawing applet such as rotate canvas (your painting will not be saved rotated, it’s just to make it easier for you to paint), and grid overlay. More information on Chibipaint can be found here. The applet supports tablet pressure sensitivity via JTablet.

Q: What is a CHI file?

A: When you click on Send Pic, it will always ask you if you wish to save the image with a layer file. That layer file is typically saved with the .chi extension (as recommended by the author of the applet). On your server, they are always saved in the /src/ folder within the current upload folder (usually /wp-content/uploads/YYYY/MM).

Q: Why can’t I do <insert function here>?

A: Two possible reasons:

1. I have thought of it but implementing it isn’t of the highest priority. I wrote this plugin so I can draw sketches and save them directly to the server.
2. I haven’t actually thought of it yet. Whatever the reason is, if you want to see a feature in the plugin, feel free to reply to this page.

Q: Why does the java applet give me a HTTP 200 error?

A: From what I can tell, this depends on the server. The plugin attempts to upload the drawing to wherever you set your upload folder to. However, if that folder doesn’t exist or have the proper permission, then the java applet will give you a HTTP 200 error. If you can’t upload files through Media > Add New, then you will have to manually create the folder according to your settings (Miscellaneous).

I would recommend you keep from using this plugin with free webhosting servers. Their settings tend to be a bit more restrictive.

Changelog

Version 1.2β: March 13, 2010: Redirecting on file save has now been made an option. When you start a new drawing, it shows up as a checkbox at the bottom of the settings page. When editing, just click on the Edit w/o Redirect link. This will be reworked in the future for visual consistency.

Version 1.1β: March 8, 2010:

• Upload method has been altered to work without relying on move_uploaded_file…it looked at me funny…
• Some server apparently have issues with uploading into the src folder, so now the folder can be changed to whatever you want it to be. More on this later…

Be warned that any settings found in the options page is BLOG WIDE. It will affect all users on it. I would rather not have to create a new table to deal with this issue or add personal options (since you can only access them from profile.php). This should be the final edit to the plugin, but since it hasn’t been thoroughly tested by anyone but myself (and a friend), it is still under beta.

Version 1.0β: March 7, 2010: More functional changes and features added, mostly to the Manager and Options. Plus, considering the changes in the two updates, it’s about time the plugin gets upgraded to 1.0b

• The Manager’s Edit link is bigger and more noticable
• Clicking on the image or the name of the image will no longer check off the checkbox. This was misleading and could potentially cause accidental deletion.
• New columns, Author and Date Posted have been added. Needless to say, the date under the title has been removed.
• Pagination! It’s set to 15 results per page, which can be changed in the Options page. Max value is 100, even if you try to input 999.
• Upgrade option really does work this time! No more deleted options.
• Users below level 9 can see what level the user level access is set to.
• Author names have been added to the image metadata. It won’t change on edit.
• That said, anyone who is below level 9 administrator can only view their own drawings. Level 9 administrators can view all.
• Preset sizes will be checked to ensure they fit the format and are in fact numbers (divided by the x). Sizes and Templates will be checked for duplicates

Be warned that any settings found in the options page is BLOG WIDE. It will affect all users on it. I would rather not have to create a new table to deal with this issue or add personal options (since you can only access them from profile.php). This should be the final edit to the plugin, but since it hasn’t been thoroughly tested by anyone but myself, it is still under beta.

Version 0.2β: March 6, 2010: Functional changes have been made:

• The error when initalizing the canvas has been fixed. The canvas will now actually show up.
• Images saved into the Media Library by the applet were not correctly reporting their metadata to the library, this has been fixed
• Alongside the media library fix, editing existing images will actually update the image’s thumbnail et al on save.
• Mass Deletion feature implemented.
• User level setting implemented. It’s best to keep the lowest level you choose to 2, since 0 and 1 can’t actually upload files
• Nonce implemented
• “Reinventing the wheel” codes removed. As a note, get_children was not used to select existing entries due to the inability (of the code or the author) to use partial searching.

Version 0.1β: First public release, had a few bugs (namely with how the java applet was linked to) fixed.

Links

• For bugs and help required, please post here (Wordpress Support)
• For feature requests, please post here
• To find all posts about Chibipaint, click here