Need Help Creating a Photo Website

[portraitsbytracy]

I currently have a website through photobiz.com, but am looking for something a little more versatile and creative like a FLASH site. I have no knowledge of how to create my own and there are so many options out there for purchasing templates that I'm not sure what to even look for. I'm OK with purchasing a template as I have FrontPage for editing, but wanted something like what I have now where clients can view their own private password-protected gallery of proofs and place an order right online. Photobiz is very limited in layout/color/background options, limits galleries to only three with 15 photos each, and the proof galleries condense my photos down to under 50KB when uploaded so I'm always explaining to clients that "their photos will not look that grainy when actually printed." Can anyone offer any advice or suggestions to a website novice? I just want something relatively easy to use or create that has the photo options I'd like, outside of spending big $$ to hire someone else to do it.

[mson]

A lot of people on here seem to like Smugmug and Zenfolio. Zenfolio seems to be the popular favorite at the moment. I hate FrontPage and I would suggest you not use it. I've been looking at slideshowpro but I'm not sure it will suit my needs. Let us know what you end up with.

[portraitsbytracy]

A lot of people on here seem to like Smugmug and Zenfolio. Zenfolio seems to be the popular favorite at the moment. I hate FrontPage and I would suggest you not use it. I've been looking at slideshowpro but I'm not sure it will suit my needs. Let us know what you end up with.

Don't those sites charge a commission or percentage of your sales to use them? That's the one advantage with photobiz. I'm only charged a monthly fee of $25, and nothing for my sales. I've never used FrontPage, didn't realize it wasn't very good for website development.

[Adaptive]

If you are looking for a flash site I am a flash developer and can create something custom. Or I have some templates (similar to the ones you can buy on template sites) that I can modify for you for very cheap. Also I can do HTML and CSS pages for you that you can edit on your own.

I have to warn you though, you can't edit flash in Frontpage so don't get stuck buying a template that you can't modify!

Also alot of people here on POTN like www.bludomain.com but I don't like how you don't "own" the website and you have to jump through all kind of hoops and wait for the bludomain staff to upload your changes. For me it's a hassle and a pain in the neck but maybe for someone like you it might be a blessing!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[PhotosGuy]

Another option: Free JAlbum.net - Will build excellent galleries & now has free hosting, too. A few skins incorporate shopping cart features & some of those aren't free.
http://jalbum.net/hosting/

Purplenova now allows JAlbum and Picasa photo album hosting directly from the desktop. Take a look at http://www.purplenova.com/index.html

Example skins - JAlbum skins seem easy to modify & there's a lot of help in their forums. Some subforums are dedicated to only one skin, which makes it easier to get info.
http://jalbum.erica59.com/jalbum.html

[portraitsbytracy]

I have to warn you though, you can't edit flash in Frontpage so don't get stuck buying a template that you can't modify!

Also alot of people here on POTN like www.bludomain.com (http://www.bludomain.com) but I don't like how you don't "own" the website and you have to jump through all kind of hoops and wait for the bludomain staff to upload your changes. For me it's a hassle and a pain in the neck but maybe for someone like you it might be a blessing!



How exactly does bludomain work? Do I need editing software other than Frontpage? I really don't know anything about building a website. How is their support? Does it come with an option to have private galleries for clients to see their proofs, or how does that usually work? I know a photographer I've used in the past gave us a link to a page with all our proofs on it, but I don't think it had a shopping cart set up for us to order off of. Is that possible with bludomain?

[TXLEBER]

After a year of using Smugmug, I decided to go with Bludomain and Exposure manager. Bludomain allows me to have a very professional and snazzy website. Exposuremanager allows my clients to purchase prints. I could use Bludomain's shopping cart feature, but I'd have to fulfill the orders myself. I didn't want to deal with billing or shipping so I decided not to use Bludomain's shopping cart. This may be what you're looking for though.

As far as cost goes:
$100 Bludomain template (some cost as much as $400)
$100 Hosting fee (for Bludomain)
$100 Exposuremanager Annual fee (you may not need this if you fulfill orders yourself)

As opposed to Smugmug Pro:
$149 Annual fee
Includes hosting and Order fulfillment

[portraitsbytracy]

After a year of using Smugmug, I decided to go with Bludomain and Exposure manager. Bludomain allows me to have a very professional and snazzy website. Exposuremanager allows my clients to purchase prints. I could use Bludomain's shopping cart feature, but I'd have to fulfill the orders myself. I didn't want to deal with billing or shipping so I decided not to use Bludomain's shopping cart. This may be what you're looking for though.

As far as cost goes:
$100 Bludomain template (some cost as much as $400)
$100 Hosting fee (for Bludomain)
$100 Exposuremanager Annual fee (you may not need this if you fulfill orders yourself)

As opposed to Smugmug Pro:
$149 Annual fee
Includes hosting and Order fulfillment

Thank you for all the info! I actually don't mind the billing/shipping part of it, as I like to preview the prints before presenting them to clients, just in case, and I'm just starting so it's not that crazy busy. I've read through Bludomain's site, and it seems the way to go, very nice flash sites, if a novice like me can navigate setting one up. Not really sure of the differences between the $100 and $400 ones... not bad for an extra $100 for the shopping cart feature though.

[crash331]

Or use photocart. It's what i use.

http://www.picturespro.com

For flash galleries, I would just use simpleviewer.

[Adaptive]

One thing that sucks about blu is their customer service though. They are a very small organization and they really should expand for the volume they deal with. But they are just trying to do it cheap for max profits.

If you decide to go that route good luck

I really can't stand bludomain but they have good product for someone who doesn't want to do much work and won't edit the site that much. But if you constantly want to make changes to your site and if you want to do custom stuff bludomain is not good for you.

[TXLEBER]

Thank you for all the info! I actually don't mind the billing/shipping part of it, as I like to preview the prints before presenting them to clients, just in case, and I'm just starting so it's not that crazy busy. I've read through Bludomain's site, and it seems the way to go, very nice flash sites, if a novice like me can navigate setting one up. Not really sure of the differences between the $100 and $400 ones... not bad for an extra $100 for the shopping cart feature though.

No problem..glad to help. I read a lot about different services and decided to go with bludomain despite all the bad publicity they've gotten. I've had pretty decent luck. The most I've had to wait for an answer to any of my questions was about 3 days. Most of the time they get answered within 24 hours. I just expect not to expect the best customer service and that's kept the frustration level pretty low.

I went with the $100 templates. (I ended up getting a second one after changing my mind on the first one) I looked at all the $400 templates and I didn't find one that fit me that I thought was worth a $300 more. The first template I bought (Audrey, which is currently my active template) came with the shopping cart/proofing section included in the price. I'm waiting for Bludomain to activate my second template (Sadie). This one doesn't have a shopping cart, but does allow for larger pictures on the slideshow feature. Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions. :D

[portraitsbytracy]

Thanks for all the input everyone! Reading through Bludomain's various templates it was hard to decipher the real differences and what I really want or need. I didn't see much difference between the $100 & $400 ones either, TXLEBER, other than the designs. I didn't think about the slideshows allowing larger photos. Do they charge you for a whole new template then if you decide to switch? I emailed customer service for a general question, received an automated reply that they are very busy and will respond as soon as possible, and then received a response within 12 hours. Of course, I'm a potential new client, so that could be prioritized...

[TXLEBER]

Yeah, they charged me another $100 for the other template. It has something to do w/ them going through the time to set everything up. I don't mind though. I get to use both templates at the same time. I'll use one for a business site and the other for family/personal events. The main thing that made me change my mind about my current template was that the portrait oriented shots looked really small on the screen. The Sadie template allows you to put three different portrait oriented shots up as one display. If I wanted to use the shopping cart with this template I'd have to pay another $100 for that feature. Since I decided to go w/ Exposuremanager that wasn't a deal breaker.

[crash331]

bludomain....so that is where everyone gets their god-awful 100% flash sites with music. Sorry, but these things just scream cookie cutter design hack to me. Not to mention they are usually a pain in the ass to navigate and load. Stick with html, people. A 100% flash site makes it hard to navigate, hard to bookmark, hard to get stuff to work right, and it's usually annoying (x10 if it has music).

[crash331]

Wow, after playing with these templates for a few more mins, I just have to reiterate how much they suck.

Heh, not to mention I found a template which uses copyrighted music. Sounds like a great home for a photographer!

[portraitsbytracy]

bludomain....so that is where everyone gets their god-awful 100% flash sites with music. Sorry, but these things just scream cookie cutter design hack to me. Not to mention they are usually a pain in the ass to navigate and load. Stick with html, people. A 100% flash site makes it hard to navigate, hard to bookmark, hard to get stuff to work right, and it's usually annoying (x10 if it has music).

So Crash, just curious, what is your web address? I'm very interested to see it. I thought bludomain had a lot to offer somebody that doesn't want to spend a lot or knows much about creating websites for themselves.

[KoloheBoy]

With Bludomain, would I be able to upload my own photos and edit my site? or they do everything?

[TXLEBER]

With Bludomain, would I be able to upload my own photos and edit my site? or they do everything?

You can upload your own photos. You get issued a website that is a portal for you to make your own updates/changes. You can change colors, text and images...you just can't change the "structure" of the template.

[KoloheBoy]

You can upload your own photos. You get issued a website that is a portal for you to make your own updates/changes. You can change colors, text and images...you just can't change the "structure" of the template.Ahh perfect :)

Thanks for the reply.

Aloha,
Ed

[ohheyseth]

bludomain....so that is where everyone gets their god-awful 100% flash sites with music. Sorry, but these things just scream cookie cutter design hack to me. Not to mention they are usually a pain in the ass to navigate and load. Stick with html, people. A 100% flash site makes it hard to navigate, hard to bookmark, hard to get stuff to work right, and it's usually annoying (x10 if it has music).
What is your website url?

[Deanpaul]

Hi
Does anyone know of a UK website sorage just like Zenfolio.

Many thanks