Personally I don't have any doubts that people being hired to do the job, things are being worked on and bright things being on the horizon. My problem with this whole situation is the LACK OF COMMUNICATION ! Certainly not the lack of a quick response because I know for fact that Andy and a few others are always on top of my questions usually within a few hours if not faster, it's that we always get the canned answers with no information in the answer. I think the company in whole is fantastic because if I didn't I wouldn't be here. I just can't figure out for the life of me why we are never given any time lines as to when stuff will take place. Most of the other competitors already have the options we are looking for so it's not like SM would be letting out company secrets where the competition would get a jump on them.
I would like to see more informative answers when we ask a question about these things that have been dragging on for years now, even if we (Pros) were sent a private email updating us on the progress on the concerns we have instead of putting it on a public forum which would be fine by me. Just SOMETHING would be nice ya know ! I think we are all tired of waiting for things and when we ask about them we still have no light at the end of the tunnel and that is VERY FRUSTRATING to say the least.
I've created 3 companies in the last 12 years starting from nothing more then the change I had in my pocket and made each of them very successful and IMO as an owner the most important thing I have found over the years to make my customers happy are 'Quick, Decisive & IMFORMATIVE answers to their concerns. Most of my clients brag about my customer service to their family & friends as much or more then the actual work itself and seeing how important that really is I strive to give them the information that they seek answers to as quickly as possible which nips any problems in the butt before they even start.
So if anyone important (other then our buddy Andy of course) happens to read this I think a staff meeting should be held on creating a new policy on how our questions are approached from now on with more DIRECT answers being given to us so that we are not in the dark and made to feel more a PART of the company instead of just a paying photographer (we are what drives the company in the end #'s). Look at how any casino is run, they welcome the thousands of small regular folks in to gamble (like a standard SM account holder) but their BIG #'s come from the much lesser in number of 'WHALES' (the SM PRO Account holder) who are the one's that pay the big $ for their accounts but more importantly sell huge amounts of prints, gifts etc. which is where the huge profits come in at the end. The regular folks are treated very nice in a casino but the Whales are treated like kings because they want their business and $ money generating play on their floors so they give them anything they want and make sure they are taken care of QUICKLY without question. We as Pros would like to feel important like the whales that we are and that could be as simple as keeping us informed with informative answers.
Another thing that would be nice is that instead of WAITING to implement a HUGE release of new features in one big package why can't they be put things into effect AS THEY ARE DEVELOPED & FINISHED ? Like someone asked about having the file #'s available on photos that are in the pre-order crop/replace page to show up so they don't have to return to each gallery to get file #'s to replace the image (this is just an example). Now that is something simple but probably won't be released until there is a bunch of other features ready for release. If you were to Enable features one at a time as they are completed it would at least APPEAR to us that our concerns are being taken care of.
I'm sure that there are features that the SM coding wizards have already completed months ago just sitting on their PC's waiting for the big PACKAGE release to be made, instead of waiting RELEASE THEM into the system and I guarantee you that people would be happy as heck to see things coming out every few days or weeks and we would all go "WOW those SM guys are really busy trying to help us out, look they have released 3 new features n the last month" I mean it;'s only a few key strokes away once the code is finished, so instead of letting it collect dust in someones complete folder lets us USE IT even if it's a Beta feature you'll get the best of both worlds where we are happy to get new things and we test them out live for accuracy & bugs giving you free beta testers in a real work environment ! ! !
Sorry about the long post, I just wanted to get some of my other concerns out that have been built up for a long time now and having been a cop for 16 years prior to my new career talking to diffuse situations was my specialty I don't think us Pros are Angry so much as we are FRUSTRATED by the lack of progress being shown to our business concerns that's all. Maybe getting a bunch of us together on a Skype conference call with the men at the helm at SmugMug one night would benefit both of our sides so we could help each other, just a thought !
Thank You for your time, Bill Pador
New Jersey Photographer Professional Photographers Association & National Photoshop Professionals Member www.billpador.com
Another thing that would be nice is that instead of WAITING to implement a HUGE release of new features in one big package why can't they be put things into effect AS THEY ARE DEVELOPED & FINISHED ? Like someone asked about having the file #'s available on photos that are in the pre-order crop/replace page to show up so they don't have to return to each gallery to get file #'s to replace the image (this is just an example). Now that is something simple but probably won't be released until there is a bunch of other features ready for release.
We do this all the time ... and we'll continue to do this.
And as for that filename thing, all I can say is you're wrong
Thanks for the input, Sam. It's nice to know something is happening because it's hard has heck trying to figure it out if you're not in California in person.
... They were sincerely listing to questions, and feature requests.
This has never been a problem. SM has always listened... To what end, though? Lot's of cute features for the sharing folks. Nothing but a 'pro lab' for us?
I have had the opportunity to talk to many of the employees, and I got to tell ya, the quality, and attitude of the employees is incredible....
No problem here either. And hat's off! Top-quality customer service.
Frankly, a 50-shooter love-in, in a small corner of California, has little to do with these concerns. And holding it up as such seems more than a little myopic. Is SM a Web-based, international, service concern; or a street-corner, mom-and-pop operation that likes to talk big and act home-town? I originally thought the former, but gradually swung toward the latter.
As Andy would say.....stay tuned you will be happy.
No one doubts that Sam. I'm sure the stuff they are working on is going to be fantastic. At this point, it is an issue of "when?".
I'm coming up on my largest event of the year. (May 2nd) I make about 25% my of annual profit in one weekend. The fact that I don't have packages and/or coupons to facilitate large purchases really hurts. It hurts my bottom line and it forces me spend 2 and 3 times the amount of time to process and self fufill orders.
This is the 4th year I've done this without packages. Last year I when I begged for packages I was told "stay tuned and you will be happy".
I'm sure it's going to be great. I know they are working on it. But at what point is my bottom line affected so much that I it just isn't worth it anymore. That's a decision that I have to make on my own, but it just isn't fun to be put in this situation.
I'm not asking for the moon here. These are features that other companies offer without difficulty. I don't think it is an unreasonable request.
At this point, Andy's "trust us", "you'll love it", "just wait" responses are disingenuous and I just get angry when I read them. I'm done commenting and asking questions, because I honestly don't see this policy/attitude/culture changing, so I'll change myself and get over it. I may stick with SmugMug, but I'm a little less of an evangelist now.
FWIW, I did read some of David Jay's comments on another forum where he hints that some of ShowIt's technology and features will be part of the new pro service.
At this point, Andy's "trust us", "you'll love it", "just wait"
I'm sorry you feel that way We're working round-the-clock trying to put our money where our mouth is. We know some features you've been waiting for have been a long time coming. We've hired engineers, even in this down economy, to help bring them out. We're 47 strong at SmugMug and growing, and many on the team are pouring their hearts & souls into these pro features.
Hope you'll be here when we roll 'em out!
Thanks for telling it like it is, Terence. We'd not have it any other way.
Frankly, a 50-shooter love-in, in a small corner of California, has little to do with these concerns. And holding it up as such seems more than a little myopic.
I'm sorry you missed the part about how this was the inaugural SMUG (SmugMug User Group) and that we'll be holding such meetings at many more cities as well.
For heaven's sake give the guys a break. We all know what the policy of Smugmug is - they NEVER give projected dates or timelines for forthcoming changes. They are all hardworking, committed individuals, and bitching away, however justified YOU may feel it is, or making hollow threats, achieves absolutely nothing except to distract them from the job in hand.
Smugmug isn't everything I want it to be - its not possible, this is the real world, and it drives me to the point of distraction sometimes but I like the product and the people, it offers great value for money and support second to none, so I try to work around the problems I have with it and I'm into my third year here now - a generally happy bunny :-)
I don't mean to offend anyone here so please don't anyone take this personally :-)
I'm sorry you missed the part about how this was the inaugural SMUG (SmugMug User Group) and that we'll be holding such meetings at many more cities as well.
I guess for practical reasons this mightn't include 'international' locations.
But, how about holding some online ones for the rest of us.
For heaven's sake give the guys a break. We all know what the policy of Smugmug is - they NEVER give projected dates or timelines for forthcoming changes. They are all hardworking, committed individuals, and bitching away, however justified YOU may feel it is, or making hollow threats, achieves absolutely nothing except to distract them from the job in hand.
...
I'm not a PRO SM user, I stopped signing up for it as soon as I realised I'd have problems dealing with the multiple countries that I work in and the added complexity of US income to report.
But to your point above, the cat is out of the bag. Andy and apparently many others have alluded to new and fantastic services. At this stage there should be some form of a plan including when and how to build expectations amongst excited real, working professional photographers, heading to a launch. A publicly traded company wouldn't be able to discuss futures in this fashion.
My sense is a general timeframe, such as "Fall 2009" or "Late Summer" would help. Whatever the new feature set is, I'm sure it's not just a technical issue to build it as much as getting the legal, contractual and commercial arrangements bedded down. Especially if it has any cross-border aspects to it.
I guess for practical reasons this mightn't include 'international' locations.
But, how about holding some online ones for the rest of us.
Since SMUGs will ultimately be organized and run by the community itself, I don;t see any limitations for geography, at all. In fact, I think we'll have a few int'l SMUGs up and running by year end. w00t!
Regarding online... that's a bt more prickly since one of the key values of SMUGs is the personal interaction and "touch". Having said that, I'd ove to figure out a way to replicate this interaction online, but am not sure how to do that... suggestions anyone?
Since SMUGs will ultimately be organized and run by the community itself, I don;t see any limitations for geography, at all. In fact, I think we'll have a few int'l SMUGs up and running by year end. w00t!
jeff
It would be just great to have something here in the UK please
Since SMUGs will ultimately be organized and run by the community itself, I don;t see any limitations for geography, at all. In fact, I think we'll have a few int'l SMUGs up and running by year end. w00t!
Regarding online... that's a bt more prickly since one of the key values of SMUGs is the personal interaction and "touch". Having said that, I'd ove to figure out a way to replicate this interaction online, but am not sure how to do that... suggestions anyone?
jeff
I was thinking about the way some companies run 'webinars' where participants log in and can post questions etc.
I'm sure there is also some sort of online meeting facility on the web - sort of a video-conference. In fact, I wonder if it's possible with something like Skype ?
I'm sorry you feel that way We're working round-the-clock trying to put our money where our mouth is. We know some features you've been waiting for have been a long time coming. We've hired engineers, even in this down economy, to help bring them out. We're 47 strong at SmugMug and growing, and many on the team are pouring their hearts & souls into these pro features.
Hope you'll be here when we roll 'em out!
Thanks for telling it like it is, Terence. We'd not have it any other way.
I hope you include the ability for customers to be able to purchase in their own country and for there to be more levels in the galleries, two is not enough after the initial gallery page..
Regarding online... that's a bt more prickly since one of the key values of SMUGs is the personal interaction and "touch". Having said that, I'd ove to figure out a way to replicate this interaction online, but am not sure how to do that... suggestions anyone?
Let's not forget the *original* SMUG.... dgrin.
Really this place is the single global SMUG, with smaller groups by topic of interest and geography (see the meetup threads). I've seen, and been involved in, a couple of distributed video conferences... they took up a fair amount of bandwidth, even with just two or three dozen locations involved. Skype limits video chat to two way... iChat theatre limits it to 4 I think... that might only be via local network, it might be only 2 over the internet.
SmugMug Sorcerer - Engineering Team Champion for Commerce, Finance, Security, and Data Support http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
On one hand I love smugmug and believe they are working hard and applaud them for hiring in a down economy.
On the other I can see the frustration people have with Andy's 'We're working on it' 'We have full time wizards' etc. Simply because those have been said for as long as I've been here with no end in sight. I mean just narrow it down to which decade.
I can say it frustrates me and I see how smugmug is limiting me and how it's helping me. But soon it will be limiting me more than it helps.
I'm not a big seller of prints by any means. So it may not matter to SM if I'm only gonna give it one more year. (Actually more like 9 months before I commit to another and start migrating)
John
Canon Gear: 5D MkII, 30D, 85 1.2 L, 70-200 2.8 IS L, 17-40mm f4 L, 50 1.4, 580EX, 2x 580EXII, Canon 1.4x TC, 300 f4 IS L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, 100-400 IS L Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
On one hand I love smugmug and believe they are working hard and applaud them for hiring in a down economy.
On the other I can see the frustration people have with Andy's 'We're working on it' 'We have full time wizards' etc. Simply because those have been said for as long as I've been here with no end in sight. I mean just narrow it down to which decade.
I can say it frustrates me and I see how smugmug is limiting me and how it's helping me. But soon it will be limiting me more than it helps.
I'm not a big seller of prints by any means. So it may not matter to SM if I'm only gonna give it one more year. (Actually more like 9 months before I commit to another and start migrating)
John
I am really annoyed with the security and the fact that the exif data is ripped out on upload and also the fact that someone sent me one of my images that they had downloaded, admitedly watermarked but still usefull.
Do you mind telling me where you might migrate to?
'We're working on it' 'We have full time wizards' etc. Simply because those have been said for as long as I've been here with no end in sight. I mean just narrow it down to which decade.
And we've built a lot of stuff over the past 7 years
And we've built a lot of stuff over the past 7 years
More coming. Promise.
From what I have seen I would agree you have and what you have is wonderful.
There are customer needs though and from what it seems it is the prommiss with no time scale that frutrates people. With such a great product, why not do the public relations bit as well and try and tell us?
The Product is good (with the exception of the newly found {for me} security problem), the service when dealing with solveable problems simply the best.
From what I have seen I would agree you have and what you have is wonderful.
There are customer needs though and from what it seems it is the prommiss with no time scale that frutrates people. With such a great product, why not do the public relations bit as well and try and tell us?
The Product is good (with the exception of the newly found {for me} security problem), the service when dealing with solveable problems simply the best.
Roy
Roy, I'm curious as to what kind of security hole. It sucks if EXIF is ripped out, but even still if the user can download it they can rip it out just as easily.
There is no way to stop someone from saving an image, and in my experience smugmug's protections are about as good as they get. Perhaps a more intrusive watermark? You'll find that people who will steal from you will always find a way.
Suggestions:
Limit the size you show, turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, improve the watermark.
Thank You,
John Biggs
Canon Gear: 5D MkII, 30D, 85 1.2 L, 70-200 2.8 IS L, 17-40mm f4 L, 50 1.4, 580EX, 2x 580EXII, Canon 1.4x TC, 300 f4 IS L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, 100-400 IS L Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
And we've built a lot of stuff over the past 7 years
More coming. Promise.
I've not been here for 7 years. But for the year I have been reading this forum, coupons and packages are on top of every request list. However things like pro lab and iphone integration are what was worked on. I don't even think those things ranked in any of the lists. I know the pro lab is appreciated, but I am really curious if the majority thought that this was more important than packages.
And simple requests that seem to make a huge impact are neglected for a few years until the users are ready to riot over them. ie. The file name label on the replace photo screen. I mean seriously, this is a simple update to a select statement, view, or procedure (depending on design) and a change to the page template - at worse, maybe a new property in a class. That took two years?
I don't know the truths, I'm only assuming the user who said they asked for this two years ago actually did. But even a 6 month delay for that seems excessive.
AND I DO appreciate everything you have accomplished. You guys are great with service and fast responses, I just feel the priorities don't make any sense.
Canon Gear: 5D MkII, 30D, 85 1.2 L, 70-200 2.8 IS L, 17-40mm f4 L, 50 1.4, 580EX, 2x 580EXII, Canon 1.4x TC, 300 f4 IS L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, 100-400 IS L Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
Roy, I'm curious as to what kind of security hole. It sucks if EXIF is ripped out, but even still if the user can download it they can rip it out just as easily.
There is no way to stop someone from saving an image, and in my experience smugmug's protections are about as good as they get. Perhaps a more intrusive watermark? You'll find that people who will steal from you will always find a way.
Suggestions:
Limit the size you show, turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, improve the watermark.
Thank You,
John Biggs
It sucks, the exif data is removed.
Limit the size you show, I have
turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, I have
improve the watermark. Destroys the purpose of having a place to show your images to prospective clents[/B]. I
You have done all you can do Roy. If it shows up on my screen I can capture it. There is nothing Smug can do to prevent this.
I agree watermarks suck but I think it is better then posting 200 x 400 images at 71 DPI. I see people just posting super low res. images instead of WM ing them and to me it just looks like they took terrible images.
Limit the size you show, I have
turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, I have
improve the watermark. Destroys the purpose of having a place to show your images to prospective clents[/b]. I
How are you saving in your processing software.....if you are savingfor the web it is not SM or the uploader that is stripping the exif it is the processing software.....if you are saving as.......then I don't know....all of mine have the exif stil attached................
I have been here 3+ years and asked for features that would be of benefit to all.....all across our globe and I believe the last I heard was not going to happen, that may have just been an upset client posting as I did not go backwards thru the whole thread to find it in SM own words........
Limit the size you show, I have
turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, I have
improve the watermark. Destroys the purpose of having a place to show your images to prospective clents[/b]. I
Thats all that can be done then Roy. What else do you expect SM to do? Any image I can see on my screen I can capture. print screen is fairly easy and it's beyond the control of the browser.
All the money in hollywood, the music industry, and the software industry hasn't stopped people from copying... What can SM do?
If you find someone stealing your pictures, take appropriate legal action.
Canon Gear: 5D MkII, 30D, 85 1.2 L, 70-200 2.8 IS L, 17-40mm f4 L, 50 1.4, 580EX, 2x 580EXII, Canon 1.4x TC, 300 f4 IS L, 100mm 2.8 Macro, 100-400 IS L Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
improve the watermark. Destroys the purpose of having a place to show your images to prospective clents[/b]. I
I have some really "nasty" watermarks on mine andit DID NOT STOP the art director for CityScape Books from asking me to submit some to their project about Wichita Ks (where I live)........so big nasty WM can be beneficial.........
Comments
I would like to see more informative answers when we ask a question about these things that have been dragging on for years now, even if we (Pros) were sent a private email updating us on the progress on the concerns we have instead of putting it on a public forum which would be fine by me. Just SOMETHING would be nice ya know ! I think we are all tired of waiting for things and when we ask about them we still have no light at the end of the tunnel and that is VERY FRUSTRATING to say the least.
I've created 3 companies in the last 12 years starting from nothing more then the change I had in my pocket and made each of them very successful and IMO as an owner the most important thing I have found over the years to make my customers happy are 'Quick, Decisive & IMFORMATIVE answers to their concerns. Most of my clients brag about my customer service to their family & friends as much or more then the actual work itself and seeing how important that really is I strive to give them the information that they seek answers to as quickly as possible which nips any problems in the butt before they even start.
So if anyone important (other then our buddy Andy of course) happens to read this I think a staff meeting should be held on creating a new policy on how our questions are approached from now on with more DIRECT answers being given to us so that we are not in the dark and made to feel more a PART of the company instead of just a paying photographer (we are what drives the company in the end #'s). Look at how any casino is run, they welcome the thousands of small regular folks in to gamble (like a standard SM account holder) but their BIG #'s come from the much lesser in number of 'WHALES' (the SM PRO Account holder) who are the one's that pay the big $ for their accounts but more importantly sell huge amounts of prints, gifts etc. which is where the huge profits come in at the end. The regular folks are treated very nice in a casino but the Whales are treated like kings because they want their business and $ money generating play on their floors so they give them anything they want and make sure they are taken care of QUICKLY without question. We as Pros would like to feel important like the whales that we are and that could be as simple as keeping us informed with informative answers.
Another thing that would be nice is that instead of WAITING to implement a HUGE release of new features in one big package why can't they be put things into effect AS THEY ARE DEVELOPED & FINISHED ? Like someone asked about having the file #'s available on photos that are in the pre-order crop/replace page to show up so they don't have to return to each gallery to get file #'s to replace the image (this is just an example). Now that is something simple but probably won't be released until there is a bunch of other features ready for release. If you were to Enable features one at a time as they are completed it would at least APPEAR to us that our concerns are being taken care of.
I'm sure that there are features that the SM coding wizards have already completed months ago just sitting on their PC's waiting for the big PACKAGE release to be made, instead of waiting RELEASE THEM into the system and I guarantee you that people would be happy as heck to see things coming out every few days or weeks and we would all go "WOW those SM guys are really busy trying to help us out, look they have released 3 new features n the last month" I mean it;'s only a few key strokes away once the code is finished, so instead of letting it collect dust in someones complete folder lets us USE IT even if it's a Beta feature you'll get the best of both worlds where we are happy to get new things and we test them out live for accuracy & bugs giving you free beta testers in a real work environment ! ! !
Sorry about the long post, I just wanted to get some of my other concerns out that have been built up for a long time now and having been a cop for 16 years prior to my new career talking to diffuse situations was my specialty
Thank You for your time,
Bill Pador
Professional Photographers Association & National Photoshop Professionals Member
www.billpador.com
And as for that filename thing, all I can say is you're wrong
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No problem here either. And hat's off!
Frankly, a 50-shooter love-in, in a small corner of California, has little to do with these concerns. And holding it up as such seems more than a little myopic. Is SM a Web-based, international, service concern; or a street-corner, mom-and-pop operation that likes to talk big and act home-town? I originally thought the former, but gradually swung toward the latter.
This roll out should settle the matter.
No one doubts that Sam. I'm sure the stuff they are working on is going to be fantastic. At this point, it is an issue of "when?".
I'm coming up on my largest event of the year. (May 2nd) I make about 25% my of annual profit in one weekend. The fact that I don't have packages and/or coupons to facilitate large purchases really hurts. It hurts my bottom line and it forces me spend 2 and 3 times the amount of time to process and self fufill orders.
This is the 4th year I've done this without packages. Last year I when I begged for packages I was told "stay tuned and you will be happy".
I'm sure it's going to be great. I know they are working on it. But at what point is my bottom line affected so much that I it just isn't worth it anymore. That's a decision that I have to make on my own, but it just isn't fun to be put in this situation.
I'm not asking for the moon here. These are features that other companies offer without difficulty. I don't think it is an unreasonable request.
FWIW, I did read some of David Jay's comments on another forum where he hints that some of ShowIt's technology and features will be part of the new pro service.
My photos
"The future is an illusion, but a damned handy one." - David Allen
I'm sorry you feel that way
Hope you'll be here when we roll 'em out!
Thanks for telling it like it is, Terence. We'd not have it any other way.
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I'm sorry you missed the part about how this was the inaugural SMUG (SmugMug User Group) and that we'll be holding such meetings at many more cities as well.
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Smugmug isn't everything I want it to be - its not possible, this is the real world, and it drives me to the point of distraction sometimes but I like the product and the people, it offers great value for money and support second to none, so I try to work around the problems I have with it and I'm into my third year here now - a generally happy bunny :-)
I don't mean to offend anyone here so please don't anyone take this personally :-)
Caroline
www.carolineshipsey.co.uk - Follow me on G+
[/URL]
I guess for practical reasons this mightn't include 'international' locations.
But, how about holding some online ones for the rest of us.
http://photos.frankcourtney.com/
Wedding Photographer Dublin
Apart from Coupons and Packages is there any indication of what the other pro features might be ?
http://photos.frankcourtney.com/
Wedding Photographer Dublin
I'm not a PRO SM user, I stopped signing up for it as soon as I realised I'd have problems dealing with the multiple countries that I work in and the added complexity of US income to report.
But to your point above, the cat is out of the bag. Andy and apparently many others have alluded to new and fantastic services. At this stage there should be some form of a plan including when and how to build expectations amongst excited real, working professional photographers, heading to a launch. A publicly traded company wouldn't be able to discuss futures in this fashion.
My sense is a general timeframe, such as "Fall 2009" or "Late Summer" would help. Whatever the new feature set is, I'm sure it's not just a technical issue to build it as much as getting the legal, contractual and commercial arrangements bedded down. Especially if it has any cross-border aspects to it.
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Regarding online... that's a bt more prickly since one of the key values of SMUGs is the personal interaction and "touch". Having said that, I'd ove to figure out a way to replicate this interaction online, but am not sure how to do that... suggestions anyone?
jeff
It would be just great to have something here in the UK please
Caroline
www.carolineshipsey.co.uk - Follow me on G+
[/URL]
I was thinking about the way some companies run 'webinars' where participants log in and can post questions etc.
I'm sure there is also some sort of online meeting facility on the web - sort of a video-conference. In fact, I wonder if it's possible with something like Skype ?
http://photos.frankcourtney.com/
Wedding Photographer Dublin
I hear Opra does it all the time...............
I hope you include the ability for customers to be able to purchase in their own country and for there to be more levels in the galleries, two is not enough after the initial gallery page..
Roy Palmer - Digital Images
http://www.digital-images.org.uk/
Let's not forget the *original* SMUG.... dgrin.
Really this place is the single global SMUG, with smaller groups by topic of interest and geography (see the meetup threads). I've seen, and been involved in, a couple of distributed video conferences... they took up a fair amount of bandwidth, even with just two or three dozen locations involved. Skype limits video chat to two way... iChat theatre limits it to 4 I think... that might only be via local network, it might be only 2 over the internet.
http://wall-art.smugmug.com/
On the other I can see the frustration people have with Andy's 'We're working on it' 'We have full time wizards' etc. Simply because those have been said for as long as I've been here with no end in sight. I mean just narrow it down to which decade.
I can say it frustrates me and I see how smugmug is limiting me and how it's helping me. But soon it will be limiting me more than it helps.
I'm not a big seller of prints by any means. So it may not matter to SM if I'm only gonna give it one more year. (Actually more like 9 months before I commit to another and start migrating)
John
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
I am really annoyed with the security and the fact that the exif data is ripped out on upload and also the fact that someone sent me one of my images that they had downloaded, admitedly watermarked but still usefull.
Do you mind telling me where you might migrate to?
Best
Roy
Roy Palmer - Digital Images
http://www.digital-images.org.uk/
And we've built a lot of stuff over the past 7 years
More coming. Promise.
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From what I have seen I would agree you have and what you have is wonderful.
There are customer needs though and from what it seems it is the prommiss with no time scale that frutrates people. With such a great product, why not do the public relations bit as well and try and tell us?
The Product is good (with the exception of the newly found {for me} security problem), the service when dealing with solveable problems simply the best.
Roy
Roy Palmer - Digital Images
http://www.digital-images.org.uk/
Roy, I'm curious as to what kind of security hole. It sucks if EXIF is ripped out, but even still if the user can download it they can rip it out just as easily.
There is no way to stop someone from saving an image, and in my experience smugmug's protections are about as good as they get. Perhaps a more intrusive watermark? You'll find that people who will steal from you will always find a way.
Suggestions:
Limit the size you show, turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, improve the watermark.
Thank You,
John Biggs
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
I've not been here for 7 years. But for the year I have been reading this forum, coupons and packages are on top of every request list. However things like pro lab and iphone integration are what was worked on. I don't even think those things ranked in any of the lists. I know the pro lab is appreciated, but I am really curious if the majority thought that this was more important than packages.
And simple requests that seem to make a huge impact are neglected for a few years until the users are ready to riot over them. ie. The file name label on the replace photo screen. I mean seriously, this is a simple update to a select statement, view, or procedure (depending on design) and a change to the page template - at worse, maybe a new property in a class. That took two years?
I don't know the truths, I'm only assuming the user who said they asked for this two years ago actually did. But even a 6 month delay for that seems excessive.
AND I DO appreciate everything you have accomplished. You guys are great with service and fast responses, I just feel the priorities don't make any sense.
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
It sucks, the exif data is removed.
Limit the size you show, I have
turn on the right click protections in the gallery settings, I have
improve the watermark. Destroys the purpose of having a place to show your images to prospective clents[/B]. I
Roy Palmer - Digital Images
http://www.digital-images.org.uk/
I agree watermarks suck but I think it is better then posting 200 x 400 images at 71 DPI. I see people just posting super low res. images instead of WM ing them and to me it just looks like they took terrible images.
DMunsonPhoto
MaxPreps Profile
Sports Shooter
How are you saving in your processing software.....if you are savingfor the web it is not SM or the uploader that is stripping the exif it is the processing software.....if you are saving as.......then I don't know....all of mine have the exif stil attached................
I have been here 3+ years and asked for features that would be of benefit to all.....all across our globe and I believe the last I heard was not going to happen, that may have just been an upset client posting as I did not go backwards thru the whole thread to find it in SM own words........
Thats all that can be done then Roy. What else do you expect SM to do? Any image I can see on my screen I can capture. print screen is fairly easy and it's beyond the control of the browser.
All the money in hollywood, the music industry, and the software industry hasn't stopped people from copying... What can SM do?
If you find someone stealing your pictures, take appropriate legal action.
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
I have some really "nasty" watermarks on mine andit DID NOT STOP the art director for CityScape Books from asking me to submit some to their project about Wichita Ks (where I live)........so big nasty WM can be beneficial.........