Adding Instagram Photos to a WordPress Blog

/ Cole Camplese / 3 Comments

As I make the slow switch back to publishing here at my self-hosted wordpress site from my beloved tumblr, one of the things that is bothering me is that publishing an instagram photo is not one button simple. With the iOS instagram app I can easily push my photos to my tumblr as well as other services like twitter, Facebook, flickr, etc but not to a self-hosted space. So, since I am returning to a place I haven’t been to in a while I thought I would ask the Internet how to do it, and what do you know, my old ed tech blogging buddy D’Arcy Norman had it solved! What a surprise, right?

Just like D’Arcy I am using the ifttt (if this, then that) service to make the magic happen. Unlike D’Arcy I decided to only pull instagrams over that I use a specific hashtag (#cc) on, so I am using a different recipe. That way I can still post to various places without flooding a specific channel … I may change my mind on that in the future, but for now that is the way I like it. It also takes anything coming in and drops it into a category aptly named, “instagram” … nice. I am also playing around with the “Add Linked Images to Gallery” wp plugin (again, just like D’Arcy) to make a local copy of the instagram image. Who knows how long my facination with my wp space will last, but I am enjoying getting it back in shape and publishing here again.

20121212-201652.jpg

Speaking of the new Flickr app, I decided to add it to my iPad mini even though it isn’t a universal app. It isn’t pretty in 2x mode, but I do like the results and I actually looked at my contacts photos on Flickr for the first time in ages.

There is something really interesting to me about how apps take web experiences and turn them into more social spaces for me. I never browse Flickr photos via the browser anymore, but now with a serviceable app I just spent time discovering stuff people I like shot and posted. Interesting.

Flickr App Football Star

/ Cole Camplese / Leave a comment

20121212-181448.jpg

So I post about dumping Flickr and they go and release an app that actually makes the service look a little useful to my mobile-centric life.

One thing I am left wondering is why in the hell Flickr, Instagram, and tumblr can’t do a real app for the iPad? I’ve largely replaced my 11″ MacBook Air with a combination of my iPhone and my new iPad mini. Here’s the rub — I create most of my content on the iPad mini. It is big enough that creation is a breeze, but small enough I can take it anywhere. Add to it the Verizon LTE and it has become my creation tool of choice. If only the people who make these apps and host these services would realize that iPhone only apps are a joke.

I need an iPad ready Instagram, tumblr, and Flickr app!

Flickr App

/ Cole Camplese / Leave a comment

20121211-230808.jpg

I bought a Mophie Juice Pack in Philly last week while in town speaking at the Middle States conference. My relatively new iPhone 4S was struggling with lasting even a three-quarter day while on the road. The case itself is a little bulky, but it saved my bacon everyday over the weekend in Tampa. I’m not sure it is a daily case, but when on the road it is a must have.

Traveler

/ Cole Camplese / 2 Comments

To Flickr?

/ Cole Camplese / 11 Comments

I just got the following from my friends at flickr …

Turns out it is time to re-up for another year of flickr pro. But it might not be. I have been a member since February 21, 2004 and used to absolutely love it, but with the rise of instagram, tumblr, and (yes, even) Facebook my use of flickr has really dropped. It used to be a vibrant community where I enjoyed sharing images and connecting with my friends all over the planet. Then that community moved and the web changed. The rise of really good cameras in phones coupled with apps that let you transform ordinary shots into compelling images has challenged what flickr has stood for. At least for me … one thing about bailing is that I still find flickr an amazing place to consume creative commons images for use in my work — I hate the idea of not giving back.

The question I have is if it is important to keep photos in a place like that anymore? I like the workflow of an app like instagram where I can shoot, edit, transform, and share quickly across a host of networks — none that I really own or control however. At the end of the day I don’t really have real control of my photos at flickr or the service, but perhaps I’ve been fooled by the fact I’ve been paying $25.00 a year since 2004. It could go poof tomorrow just like any of the others. If I had time to really make this happen I would figure out how to get my photos out and into this space, but that isn’t going to happen in the next 14 days. Any advice from the Internet?