Batch add is limited by two php.ini settings:
1. max_execution_time - Default of 30 seconds.
If this is the issue, you will get a warning about the maximum execution time being exceeded. This error can occur if you have too many directories in /albums, or it may happen if you are trying to upload an abnormally large number of files. You may increase this setting in php.ini, or you may attempt to set the time limit in the script if the server permits.
The time limit may be changed by adding the following declaration near the beginning of the file:
set_time_limit(x);
where x is the number of seconds you desire. A setting of 0 removes the time limit restriction. Remember that this call is subordinate to the setting in php.ini, so you cannot use it to overcome a restriction there. More information can be found in the PHP manual:
http://us4.php.net/manual/en/function.set-time-limit.php2. memory_limit - This setting has a default of 8MB.
For more on addressing this issue see the stick topic "Allowed memory size of X bytes exhausted"
Other notes:
Batch add works by creating multiple processing threads for each image in the directory. An HTML page is then generated which creates links to the processing script. As each link is called, an image is processed. This is a very fast process, but it very resource hungry, and some server administrators have deemed it 'insane'. If your server administrator requests that you stop batch adding, we recommend that you consider using the XP Publish utility, multiple HTTP uploads (if suitable for your intent), or that you get a new host who can handle your needs.
Finally, you must not FTP files to the /albums/userpics directory. Coppermine 1.3 does not permit this action, and the /userpics directory will not be available from the batch add script. The /userpics directory is exclusively reserved for Coppermine's use.