Smugmug Displays

[Donald]

Apparently, if you click on "Browse available fonts", it opens a Google page in a new window, and you can scroll through the hundreds of fonts available - with examples of them all.

Good one Andrew. Thanks for that.

I'm starting to get my site as I want it. Also want to thank Ken Curtis who sent me a fabulous PM and gave me excellent ideas and advice.

[wlou]

Donald, what a great site. What I liked the most was when the image opened and filled the screen! It was like being there in the scenery, transported in a different world (from my own). It is refreshing to see you using a different format size. I think the rectanglar or panoramic is more like the way I see a landscape, with a "wide vision", when the eye is tacking it all in. This is different than a "focus vision" that puts the emphasis on a particular object, something that you excell at.
The site was very easy to navigate. Bravo!

[Donald]

Donald, what a great site. .... The site was very easy to navigate. Bravo!

Thank you Louise. The aim was to try and make it 'clean' and easy to use. I'm quite pleased with it so far.

[IShootPeople]

I consider myself to be a pretty savvy user when it comes to technology and to design. However, I will admit to becoming quite annoyed and frustrated with the new Smugmug system. I'm one of those stubborn techies who hates to look at instructions or tutorials if I can get away with it, so I admit that I have not looked at them yet. However, there are many subtle things about the site that I hate not being able to change. I do think there is more customization than before, but it's almost a tease. I'm able to change more things, but not the things that now bother me about my possible new site.

So far I have worked on 3 different designs, but have not liked any of them quite enough to go live with the new look. I will be reserving my final judgment until I have more time to sit and putter about with this.

[Andrew76]

Kim, I think that Smugmug gives you quite a bit of creative freedom, and services for the price they charge. A step up from this, or say Zenfolio, would be your own private domain, and platform.

What are the specific things that you would like to change? Maybe someone here can offer advice, there's been quite a few suggestions already that have been helpful to me.

[DanK]

I just watched one of the webinars here: http://news.smugmug.com/2013/07/31/n...-and-tomorrow/. If they don't offer any more after today, you can find a recorded one here. I strongly recommend it. It provided some very helpful descriptions of how to do things. It also showed just how customizable the new system is. I was very impressed. It will take me a while to figure out what I want, given the tremendous flexibility of the system, and I'm sure it will still take some time to get all the details just as I want them, but I have given up any thought about possibly switching to another site.

Re one of the earlier concerns: in many cases, you can control size, placement, and aspect ratio.

[davidedric]

Right, I'm about to start watching the video, but I am confused. It may be the change in hierarchy that has thrown me But one quick question - where do I find the visitor view?

A second quick question, for Donald. If I didn't see the Smugmug logo on my browser tag, I wouldn't have known where the photos were hosted. I assume that you have your own domain, which is what appears in the URL on your Smugmug page, but how is that mapping done?

[IShootPeople]

I can eat my words now... After diving into it a bit more, I found the majority of the places where I wanted to make changes and I've now unveiled my new site. Of course, it just highlights the need for me to take better pictures when the site looks that nice and clean!!

[Andrew76]

A second quick question, for Donald. If I didn't see the Smugmug logo on my browser tag, I wouldn't have known where the photos were hosted. I assume that you have your own domain, which is what appears in the URL on your Smugmug page, but how is that mapping done?

Dave, I'm not Donald, so I hope you don't mind my answer?

The new site allows you to remove the 'Smugmug' headers, and footers off the page. If you'll notice in the very bottom right hand side of Donald's page, it still has a small tribute to Smugmug. Pretty cool feature, in my opinion.

[wlou]

Hello Kim. I just visited your smugmug site: nice! Everything works except "About Me". Is it intentional?

[IShootPeople]

Yes, I haven't finished the About Me yet. I'm probably going to create an outside page for that, since I'm not sure what kind of page I can create within Smugmug.

[DanK]

I haven't yet found a 'visitor view' toggle, but I have been checking by logging out. The more I play with this, the more I like it. You can completely change the design of your site in minutes, and you can switch back and forth.

[Donald]

I haven't yet found a 'visitor view' toggle, but I have been checking by logging out. The more I play with this, the more I like it. You can completely change the design of your site in minutes, and you can switch back and forth.

I agree Dan. I think it's a massive improvement and what was, previously, an excellent tool has now moved up several gears. I am very impressed.

I, too, have not found a 'visitor view' toggle. my work around, given that my 'home browser' is Firefox was to open my site in either IE or Chrome. I could then see it as a visitor and toggle between browsers as I was making changes.

[jcuknz]

I am glad that though I have forgotten much of what I once knew about HTML I can copy and change and have control over my site which is a KISS arrangement

[ShaneS]

This question relates to smugmug but it is a bit off topic. Are most of you using smugmug as a place to display your images or as a sales portal? I have my own website/domain but my traffic is seriously lacking (link below) and if I decide to make an effort to sell my images that would be a big problem as I do not have a 'name' and am lacking in exposure that would generate traffic.

So, for those of you that use smugmug as a sales portal, how much success have you had and do you feel that the exposure is better than a stand along website?

Thanks in advance

[Donald]

Are most of you using smugmug as a place to display your images or as a sales portal? I have my own website/domain but my traffic is seriously lacking (link below) and if I decide to make an effort to sell my images that would be a big problem as I do not have a 'name' and am lacking in exposure that would generate traffic.

So, for those of you that use smugmug as a sales portal, how much success have you had and do you feel that the exposure is better than a stand along website?

Thanks in advance

Shane
Primarily, my site is about displaying my images. I don't use the 'shopping' facility on SmugMug, but I do invite people to contact me if they are interested in purchasing. But that is more of a gesture than any real marketing. And that is the issue.

I am not a natural marketer. I'm not good at pushing myself up there and drawing attention to myself or my products. And no matter how good a website presence you have, if you don't market it and what's in it, then you're not going to get traffic.

I often quote photographer Alain Briot because I do like his writing. In an article on the Nature Photographers website, he writes; "Improving the quality of your work improves - drum roll - the quality of your work --- surprise! Improving the quality of your marketing improves - drum roll - the quality of your marketing --- second surprise! In other words, they each affect what they are supposed to affect. Working on your photographs increases their quality and has no direct effect on your sales. Working on your marketing increases how much money you make and has no direct effect on the quality of your photographs."

The first of a two-part article on the subject is here. The second part is here.

[DanK]

This question relates to smugmug but it is a bit off topic. Are most of you using smugmug as a place to display your images or as a sales portal? I have my own website/domain but my traffic is seriously lacking (link below)

Shane,

I generally don't try to sell my images. I doubt I would make enough to make it worth the hassle. However, I am considering selling on Smugmug because it appears to be relatively effortless after you set it up. In the meantime, I use smugmug for two sets of images. If you look at my site, you will see a few folders, under which there are a small number of galleries. These are the ones to which I want to give public exposure. All of the rest of my galleries are images that I want to be able to share--for example, photos of family events--but that I don't want to display publicly. This is easy to do with smugmug. all of the galleries of that sort are unlisted, as is the parent folder under which I nest them. Therefore, they show up only when I am logged on, but from there, I can get links to them that I can send to others.

I seriously doubt whether moving your photos from one site to another will make a great deal of difference in exposure. I think you have to do something else to let people know where your images are. I have never tried to market my work, but Smugmug's stats show where some of my viewers come from. I generally get about 200 hits a day, but a large number appear to be people viewing my images from other sites, like this one. (I post pictures on most sites by embedding links to my Smugmug site, so I think when people view them, Smugmug lists them as views in their statistics.) For example, Smugmug reports that over 2300 of my recorded views were from this site. So, one thing that may increase traffic is posting on various site--particularly if your posts contain images that people find interesting.

Good luck.

Dan

[Donald]

Another question for you folks.

I've put a request for Comments on this page on my site.

As you'll see if you go there, I written in that I'm having problems with that gallery/page.

The Comment Block seems to insist that people log in before they are allowed to comment.

And that gallery block which is one of those headed up 'Area Reserved for Default SmugMug Content'. I don't know what that is and how I can get rid of it.

Any ideas?

[wlou]

I went to your new SmugMug web site and yes it is asking me to log in. Are you saying it should not be so? Did the old site not make this request for someone wanting to leave comments? Usually, when a site ask me to log in I simply exit, why do they want that info after all? It is a beatifull site you have created, I am proud to show it to everyone I know.

[Donald]

I went to your new SmugMug web site and yes it is asking me to log in. Are you saying it should not be so?

I don't think it should. The old Smugmug never did. Anyone could leave a comment.

I've sent a request to SmugMug Help about it, but I suspect they're being inundated with questions since the launch of the new SmugMug a couple of days ago.

It is a beatifull site you have created, I am proud to show it to everyone I know.

Thankyou.