The digiKam application offers a variety of functionality through plugins. For example, the export functionality (which includes the ability to publish photos) is implemented via so-called Kipi plugins, and the application comes with a handful of plugins that support several popular services. To manage these plugins, choose Settings | Configure digiKam, switch to the Kipi Plugins section, then enable and disable the desired plugins.

Using the MediaWiki Export Plugin

As you would expect, digiKam comes with plugins that can be used to export photos to popular services like Flickr, SmugMug, and Facebook, as well as different web applications like Piwigo and Gallery. Additionally, digiKam features the dedicated MediaWiki Export plugin that makes it possible to publish photos to Wikimedia Commons [1]. Using the plugin couldn't be easier, but before you proceed, you should create a Wikimedia Commons account.

Once you've done that, select one or several photos in a digiKam album and choose Export | Export to MediaWiki. This step opens the export dialog window (Figure 1). In the Upload Settings section, select Wikimedia Commons from the Wiki drop-down list, enter your username and password in the appropriate fields, and press Log in. Under Information, specify the author's name and choose a license.

Figure 1: Exporting photos to Wikimedia Commons.

If you want to resize photos before uploading them to Wikimedia Commons, enable the Resize photos before uploading option under Options, then adjust the quality and size settings. Switch to the Items Properties tab and specify the title, description, and categories for each photo. Hit the Start Upload button, and the plugin takes care of the rest.

As the name suggests, the MediaWiki plugin can be used to export photos to practically any MediaWiki-powered service, and the tool comes with several predefined profiles, including Wikipedia, Wikia Photo, and others. Better still, you can easily create a custom profile for any other MediaWiki-based service, provided you have its API URL and a valid account. Press the New button next to the Wiki drop-down list in the Upload Settings section, enter a descriptive name and the API URL into the appropriate fields, and press Add. To finish, specify login credentials, press the Log in button, and you're done.

Export Photos to Google Drive

Besides popular photo-sharing websites, digiKam can push photos to several mainstream file storage services including Dropbox and Google Drive. Using cloud storage export plugins is not particularly difficult. To upload photos to your Google Drive account, select the photos you want to export and choose Export | Export to Google Drive.

During the first run, you'll be prompted to link the export tool to your Google Drive account by following the instructions provided. Once you've done that, use the export dialog window to add or remove photos as well as to specify an existing destination album or create a new one (Figure 2). In the Options section, you can also enable and configure resizing options. Press the Start Upload button to export the photos to Google Drive.

Figure 2: The Google Drive Export plugin lets you save photos to your Google Drive account.

Export Photos via DLNA

Pushing photos to various web services is only one of digiKam's export talents. The DLNAExport plugin can be used to share photos in digiKam albums with any DLNA-enabled device on the same network. This way, you can stream photos from digiKam to a TV or view them on a mobile device (Figure 3).

Figure 3: You can stream photos to DLNA-enabled devices with the DLNAExport plugin.

To share photos via DLNA, choose Export | Export via DLNA. In the DLNA Export wizard, select either HUPnP API or miniDLNA from the Choose the implementation drop-down list. Each implementation has its advantages and drawbacks. For example, although miniDLNA supports thumbnails and works with all DLNA-compatible devices, it can't handle hierarchical folders and virtual albums. Moreover, miniDLNA relies on the older UPnP 1.0.0 protocol. HUPnP uses the latest UPnP protocol and supports hierarchical folders and virtual albums, but it doesn't support Sony devices and thumbnails.

If you choose the miniDLNA option, you have to install the miniDLNA package on your system. On Debian and Ubuntu, this task can be done by running the apt-get install minidlna command as root. Press the Find button in the DLNA Export window and specify the path to the miniDLNA binaries (usually it's /usr/bin).

Once you've selected the desired DLNA implementation, press Next and select the collection you want to export. You have three options here: You can pick the desired albums in the My Albums section or select tags under the My Tags tab to export photos containing specific tags. If you have saved searches in digiKam, you can select them in the My Searches section to export photos matching specified search criteria. Note that tags and searches cannot be used with miniDLNA, because it doesn't support virtual albums. Press Next again and hit the Start button to start the DLNA server. You can then access the shared photos from any device on the network using a dedicated DLNA client, or DLNA-enabled software.