Group multiple events for 1 date

[nielsvl95]

What Happened

All pictures are added in seperate events.

Expected Behavior

Pictures from the same date should be grouped in 1 event

Steps to Reproduce

1.Add photo library

2. Open folder
3. Look at multiple events for 1 date

Platform Information

Elementary OS 6.0 Beta 2 Photos app version 2.7.1

[jondale]

I came here to report this same issue. I installed shotwell to see if it has the same issue and it does not.

[jeremypw]

I think the reason separate events are shown is so you can customise each event name by right clicking on it. I would support, however, another level of (virtual) folder for each day analagous to those already given for each month. I guess it is possible Shotwell added this after elementary forked it. I do not think it would be have been removed by elementary.

[marco4mp]

Hi! @jeremypw. I think it's a bug. Because, separating each photo of the same day into different folders, in my opinion, doesn't make sense.

Example I took 7 photos in August on two different days. 5 photos on Aug.22 and 2 photos on Aug.5.

Shotwell: In August, it shows two folders (two different days) and separates the photos according to the day they were taken.

elementary Photos: In August, it shows seven folders. One photo for each folder. 🤔

(Excuse my English, I try to do my best 😢)

[jeremypw]

I just discovered there is a way to merge all the events on one day into a single event.

• Open the month the events occur in
• Select the events you want to merge in the events page
• Secondary-click on the selection to get the context menu
• Choose "Merge Events"

You can split out events from a merged event by selecting them and choosing "New Event" from the context menu.

[jeremypw]

I'll see if I can create a PR that changes the default behaviour so that a single event is created by default for photos on the same day. Or, maybe better, a separate folder per day.

[marco4mp]

Hi @jeremypw. I have new info! I was wondering why this problem did not catch my attention before (elementary 5.1) since I do a lot of work with photos. So I installed Elementary 5.1.7 on a virtual machine to check Photos. And what I thought. Photos on elementary 5.1 have a different behavior, that is, the same as Shotwell.

In both versions I tried the same folder with pictures from three different dates.

elementary 5.1.7 - Photos 2.7.0

Clicking on the year folder:

Clicking on the month folder:

elementary 6 - Photos 2.7.3

Clicking on the year folder:

Clicking on the month folder:

[marco4mp]

So, the current version of Photos (2.7.3) makes the mistake of using each picture as an event by itself. An "event" should be a kind of "album" containing pictures taken on the same day (like Photos 2.7.0 or Shotwell).

[jeremypw]

Hmm - I'll have to look at where that regression appeared - I assume it was not intentional. If I can revert that regression this PR will not be necessary.

[jeremypw]

The only possible relevant commit I found so far relates to replacing some deprecated code in the way photos were timestamped (unfortunately one of my PRs!) I'll see if that is the culprit.

[jeremypw]

Yeah, that's the culprit. Unfortunately, photos that are already imported will not be affected by simply reverting the change so I will have to find a way to have both the old and new timestamp give the same result.

[marco4mp]

Thanks!