very unhappy with the new SmugMug - see this email I just sent them

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It is time for my SmugMug account to be renewed, and I am debating whether it is worth having a website with them anymore. I am embarrassed with the new design, and ever since they forced me into the "New SmugMug" I have stopped contacting editors and publishers, because I am embarrassed about the way my website is laid out. This has taken a toll on my income and I don't know that I can continue on with a website that I am too embarrassed to use. Yet I am unwilling to waste my precious focus & concentration on customizing the site. I like ready-made templates because then I don't have to think and I don't have to figure anything out - I just drag, drop, and type titles and descriptions (if I want titles and / or descriptions).

Anyway, here is the email I just sent them in response to their request for updated billing information:

Hello,

I finally got a debit card - so, I will be able to update my billing information if I decide to do so.

The reason I am hesitant to renew with SmugMug is because of the massive changes that were done a year or two ago. These changes completely butchered my website. With the old SmugMug, I had my website arranged just how I wanted it to be arranged, and looking exactly how I wanted it to look. That template is why I chose SmugMug in the first place.

Anyway, about a year ago when you forced me to use the new SmugMug, my site got screwed up. I am embarrassed about how it is organized and about how it looks. I hate the really big thumbnails, and I hate that the text and written description of the galleries is now de-emphasized. That text was very important to me, and I didn't want people to see anything but a tiny little thumbnail until after they read the gallery title and description and then clicked on the gallery they wanted. Now, people see a pretty big thumbnail before they even choose which gallery they want to view. I hate that!

I would love my website to be like it was before with the old SmugMug, but I don't want to have to do any work to make it look that way - I already put all of that time in and did all that work years ago, and it should not be my job to have to do all of that over again just to get back what I already had.

SmugMug has really let me down.

I hope that you can regain my trust somehow. Please let me know how I can get all of my galleries back to looking the way they looked, and how to get the category / subcategory hierarchy back to just the way it was - by just dragging and dropping, and without having to figure out semi-complex instructions for customization.. Then I will give you my new debit card info.

Tom Reichner

Is anyone else unhappy with the new SmugMug? If so, what have you done about it? Move to a new host? Spend time customizing the new SmugMug? Paid a web designer to do the SmugMug customization for you? Just put up with the new design?

Does anyone know of any well-established photo website host that is already set up with a template that is very much like the old SmugMug?

I really hate any template that makes the photos (thumbnails) big and minimizes the written text that comprises the gallery titles and descriptions. In my estimation, it should be all about the text and descriptions and not so much about the photos themselves. But the photos should be available to view nice and big if someone wants to click on the thumbnail to expand their size.

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I just switched from SmugMug to Squarespace a couple of days ago. I had been with SM for about four years, but like you, I didn't like the way my site looked. Probably the only reason I kept it last year (besides being too lazy to start all over with another service) was that I like their Lightroom plugin, which allows you to upload to galleries directly from LR without having to export first. But, with the subscription renewing later this month, I finally pulled the trigger.

I like JAlbum.net Who built your website?

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PhotosGuy wrote in post #18071785
Who built your website?

I guess I could say that I built it, but I don't know if that's entirely true, because all I did was to use the default SmugMug template that used to be the norm there until they changed it all a year or two ago.

I suppose that SmugMug designers "built" the site, and I just added photos and created galleries and placed the photos into the galleries. Honestly, I can't imagine ever having to do any more than this. To quote a POTN member's title, "I am very lazy; a normal consumer". This is extremely true for me when it comes to website creation and maintenance. I don't wanna do a darn thing!

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JonQCanon wrote in post #18071741
Probably the only reason I kept it last year (besides being too lazy to start all over with another service)

That's really pretty much my only reason for staying with SmugMug (being too lazy to start over).

Another real problem is that if I change away from SmugMug, then I would have to do something in order to get my domain name switched over to a new host. That would require that I either contact GoDaddy, or that I contact the new web host and tell them to link my site with my domain name. Doing that would require an email or a phone call, and maybe even (God forbid!) having to follow instructions. Maybe even a follow-up phone call or email when I don't understand the instructions. Not really into all of that. I like things to just kind of run on auto pilot for years and years and years without me ever having to do anything. That's why I put time into it 8 years ago - so that I would never have to bother with it again.

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PhotosGuy wrote in post #18071785
I like JAlbum.net Who built your website?

Tom, "Who built your website?" is a link to a thread, not a question. ; )

Haha, yes, I just went through that pain too! My domain is also through GoDaddy, and I followed the instructions on Squarespace on how to transfer the domain, then had to wait. And wait. After 24 hours and no website, I contacted Squarespace and sent them screenshots of my settings from GoDaddy, to which they said looked fine. Then after another 24 hours and no still website, I decided to try their method of manually connecting the site to them. I had to copy and paste some numbers from Squarespace to GoDaddy, which only took about 5 minutes, and bam, my new site was up instantly! So I definitely have felt your pain! Best of luck with your switch or decision to not switch!