Show us your Journal Uses and Customizations

Andy · July 11, 2009

We'd love to see how you are using the Old Journal Style. In addtion to the typical About Me, Contact, and Info uses, how else are you using this style :ear

Some examples:

travel journal
http://www.borealphoto.com/gallery/4138448_WDpMK

pricing
http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/830860_WaToT

testimonials
http://thepupil.smugmug.com/gallery/4232247

how-to-buy:
http://thepupil.smugmug.com/gallery/3047211

denisegoldberg · July 11, 2009

I'm using it as a guide to both my galleries and my journals for my travels.

http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/7251621_YYARS

I've been trying to come up with a substitute - the new journal style really doesn't work. An html-only gallery like the one I use to link to my travel articles does work if there are a constrained number of galleries - http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/7126850_yG8EZ. I thought about changing my one remaining old-style journal gallery to an html-only page, but then I lose the automatic 10-images per page paging. I would need to do that myself. Yes, I could do that myself, and I have for my recent galleries series which links back to other galleries to keep a running list of galleries in the order I created them - http://denise.smugmug.com/gallery/3137264_NGWFU - but I'd rather not.

What I'd like is the ability to have a side-by-side display of image and text with built-in paging. I'd love be able to set the image size, the number of images on a page before a new page is used, and whether the side-by-side is consistent (photo always on one side, text on the other) or alternating.

--- Denise

Andy · July 11, 2009

ErickL wants this:

ErickL wrote:

Some suggestion to improve the old style:
- Control on number of images per page. I've seen this asked before many times. It would help me to spread a text over several pages instead of creating a new gallery for each page.
- Make images non-clickable easy, or use the lightbox instead of single image view.
- Allow for a short caption AND text and only show the short caption when clicking on image. This might be a little complicated though.
- Easy control over image position (left, center, right). Something is already possible via CSS. Not something I need personally.

Zotz · July 11, 2009

Andy wrote:

We'd love to see how you are using the Old Journal Style. In addtion to the typical About Me, Contact, and Info uses, how else are you using this style

Well... as you have shown, I use it for pricing and info:

http://www.zotz.com/gallery/8748884_mypkk
http://www.zotz.com/gallery/3464375_vqv49
http://www.zotz.com/gallery/5934664_qVZwf

The original journal style has served me well. Any fancy no-warning surprises might screw things up, just as the slideshow changes have screwed up my portfolio gallery (which I must now figure out how to fix).

Andy · July 11, 2009

Zotz wrote:

Any fancy no-warning surprises

Nah, we don't roll that way, promise!

aaronbrown · July 11, 2009

I'm using modified versions for all my services:
http://www.aaronbrownphotos.com/Services
(includes, pricing, guarantee, print information, product information, and shipping information)

Those are in addition to the typical "About" the photographer bio page.

I sure don't want to have to reformat everything to fit into a new style!

Shima · July 12, 2009

I use it for listing my packages (like others do).

How do I get it to stretch like it does on your page Andy?

http://photos.cathoffman.com/gallery/3200091_Zz5wz
http://photos.cathoffman.com/gallery/3200067_dvgbA

That's all I'm using old journal style for. A replacement that would allow us to do something similar, or just keeping the old journal style, would be super.

Andy · July 12, 2009

Shima wrote:

How do I get it to stretch like it does on your page Andy?

It's not stretched it's widened to 980 px. Make a detailed post in Customizing forum and ask please, thanks!

PBolchover · July 13, 2009

I use it as an "index page" to create sub-galleries (when I want a set of galleries to be at the same level as normal galleries in my main index).

See
http://pbolchover.smugmug.com/gallery/6792095_m3QQR
and
http://pbolchover.smugmug.com/gallery/5278029_5S6QC

The ability to be able to change (via javascript) the link for clicking on the photo is needed for my use.

brandofamily · July 13, 2009

Erick L · July 14, 2009

Andy wrote:

ErickL wants this:

What I want is that you don't nuke the old journal. Controlling the number of images per page and click to lightbox would be good improvement. Currently, clicking an image leads to single image view, an entirely different style.

*You* may want big images but not all of us do and there are already styles to show big images.

I could put my texts on a blog but I don't like the format and if one doesn't write frequently, it falls into oblivion. I prefer keeping my texts on site and they actually draw more traffic with time.

I would prefer if Smugmug would work on fixing things that already exist, like the slideshow, or give control over keyword galleries.

BigAl · July 15, 2009

It's absolutely wonderful for recipes:

Leg of lamb in red wine marinade

carrollb · July 22, 2009

I'm using it to handle some of the administrative aspects of our Camera Club on our FAQs page.

What are your Bylaws and how can I see them?
What are your competition rules?
What criteria do you use for print exhibit entries?

aaronbrown · July 22, 2009

Ok, seriously. Why should SmugMug get rid of the "Old Journal" in the first place? Users shouldn't have to campaign to save them. Change the name, and leave it to those of us who want to use it. Call the new one "Journal," as it has been, and go on from there. If SmugMug wants to design new styles, cool. I think that's great. Add 'em and let the users choose to use 'em or not. Simple. Done. Next.

brandofamily · July 22, 2009

aaronbrown wrote:

Ok, seriously. Why should SmugMug get rid of the "Old Journal" in the first place? Users shouldn't have to campaign to save them. Change the name, and leave it to those of us who want to use it. Call the new one "Journal," as it has been, and go on from there. If SmugMug wants to design new styles, cool. I think that's great. Add 'em and let the users choose to use 'em or not. Simple. Done. Next.

Actually you do not want them to change the name of the "old" journal style. That would change the divs in it and thus your CSS might fail. Just name the new style something more appropriate since it really does not lend it self to writing a journal like the original does...

aaronbrown · July 22, 2009

brandofamily wrote:

Actually you do not want them to change the name of the "old" journal style. That would change the divs in it and thus your CSS might fail. Just name the new style something more appropriate since it really does not lend it self to writing a journal like the original does...

Yes, you're right. I totally agree.

carrollb · July 22, 2009

aaronbrown wrote:

Yes, you're right. I totally agree.

...and I agree also.

ginacico · July 23, 2009

I'm using "Old Journal" style for wordy travel logs, thus:
http://pasadenagina.smugmug.com/Travel/838301

I'm not against "New Journal" style at all. It's cool, and it definitely has its place. But frankly I think the old and new are so different that they both have a right to continued existence. Can you just give them new, distinctive names and leave them both as options?

Please don't take "Old Journal" away from the viewer-controlled styles. It's easy on the eyes, and people like it.

Great work as always - thanks!

Gina

Sheaf · July 24, 2009

aaronbrown wrote:

Ok, seriously. Why should SmugMug get rid of the "Old Journal" in the first place? Users shouldn't have to campaign to save them. Change the name, and leave it to those of us who want to use it. Call the new one "Journal," as it has been, and go on from there. If SmugMug wants to design new styles, cool. I think that's great. Add 'em and let the users choose to use 'em or not. Simple. Done. Next.

The reason is that it's not so simple. Any future changes we make to the site design that would affect individual styles could break in that style. It's one more style for us to have to test and code around.

What we really want is a better solution. The old journal style wasn't designed to be used in these ways, so we'd like to build a way for all of our customers to do it in an easier manner.

rich56k · July 24, 2009

Sheaf wrote:

The reason is that it's not so simple. Any future changes we make to the site design that would affect individual styles could break in that style. It's one more style for us to have to test and code around.

What we really want is a better solution. The old journal style wasn't designed to be used in these ways, so we'd like to build a way for all of our customers to do it in an easier manner.

Here's my use - and I'm very happy with it as-is, I just add new scans of tearsheets to the top position and add a little blurb (perfectly positioned to the side) and its always updated...the 'new journal' style may (OK... it does) have it's benefits, however it just wouldn't work for my use...another vote to keep it around or redesign a 'new ' version that does the exact same - geez, sure sounds like job security for all the sorcerers eh?

http://www.hooliganunderground.com/gallery/1271860

Thanks for the best customer oriented site I've ever seen

And please continue to solicit our input!!

rich56k

Erick L · July 26, 2009

Sheaf wrote:

The reason is that it's not so simple. Any future changes we make to the site design that would affect individual styles could break in that style. It's one more style for us to have to test and code around.

What we really want is a better solution. The old journal style wasn't designed to be used in these ways, so we'd like to build a way for all of our customers to do it in an easier manner.

1- Why introduce a new style then?

2- What ways? How is a "journal" style supposed to be used?

rolette · July 26, 2009

Also not a fan of the new journal style for my purposes. I used it, oddly enough, for journaling things... Here's an example where I was keeping friends and extended family in the loop as we went through the home building process:

http://rolette.smugmug.com/gallery/4156075_DcxNo

The old journal style is head and shoulders above the new style for this sort of thing.

Jay

Sheaf · July 27, 2009

Erick L wrote:

1- Why introduce a new style then?

2- What ways? How is a "journal" style supposed to be used?

Because the new style is awesome. For telling a story, the old style worked. But the photos were far too small for many people (myself included).

Old:

New:

I think there are many ways for the style to be used. For me, the new style works well as a journal or just a slick way to show large photos in all their glory in a very simple, fast interface.

But we certainly didn't design the old journal with all of the interesting and creative uses in mind that you guys and gals use it for now.

lifeinfocus · July 30, 2009

Use Style for LIFE Website
We use it for just about everything. With one BIG twist - Photos are ALL on the left and text is on the right. This took a little while to figure out and I would hate to have to redo it.

http://www.lifeinfocusexpressions.com/gallery/6323366_3gQpi Video demo
http://www.lifeinfocusexpressions.com/gallery/6148726_Dd4iV more video demo
http://www.lifeinfocusexpressions.com/gallery/6365731_dLoVQ list of services
http://www.lifeinfocusexpressions.com/gallery/6365751_f5M9R order process by step
http://www.lifeinfocusexpressions.com/gallery/6347163_SWKps about us in the traditional left, right image and text layout.

I haven't tried the new journal style because it appears to be more aligned with photographs, not videos. At LIFE (Life In Focus Expressions) we are into creating videos with some photographic work.

I hope this helps.
Phil

iamback · August 1, 2009

Thought of search engines, anyone?

Andy wrote:

We'd love to see how you are using the Old Journal Style. In addtion to the typical About Me, Contact, and Info uses, how else are you using this style

Well, that was a bit of shocking news I found when I logged in after my latest trip... Journal style to be disappeared (though not as yet), and (I find here) Critique removed from the dropdown, though it's at least available for gallery customization.

First of all, I'd like to add my voice to the choir emphasizing that the "New Journal style" is a misnomer - you may have used the Journal style as a starting point to create a new style (and a quite attractive one for some purposes at least

) but what it isn't is a journal style! So, since you've come up with an all-new style, why not give it an all-new name to match?

So what am I using the Journal style (not "old"

) for?

Has it occurred to you people may actually be using it as - wait for it - a gallery?

I am.
(Though I am considering the no-longer-visitor-selectable "Critique" style as an alternative!)

And there's a reason for that. It's not that it looks great (though it can be improved with some tweaking). The reason is that I want search engines to index not just galleries but also individual photos. And that will happen only if those photos (and accompanying captions and/or keywords) are not pulled in by means of Ajax (JavaScript) but the images (etc.) are actually part of the HTML itself. Search engines do not interpret JavaScript.

And "Critique" and "Journal" are just about the only styles available where the images and their metadata are actually part of the HTML and thus indexable.

Just to prove that this is actually happening, see the attached screen shot of a search I just did in Yahoo! I'm not saying that particular search is a likely search, I'm just proving that Yahoo is actually indexing the information in the photo caption - which won't be available at all for any of the Ajax-powered styles. See this gallery to see what Yahoo was indexing (and presenting as result #4).

So... I'm all for adding new styles to give us more options. But please, please DO NOT retire the Journal style - at all. And not Critique either! They're the best basis for SEO if you want your images indexed (and not just galleries). (Not to mention other uses for Journal style that aren't covered by the as-yet-unnamed one.)

corbosman · August 2, 2009

Little late, but I use it to list articles ive written and awards ive received, although admittedly i havent updated it in a while.

http://uwimages.smugmug.com/gallery/2347707_8ynP5
http://uwimages.smugmug.com/gallery/2359239_FKeW7

Andy · August 2, 2009

iamback wrote:

They're the best basis for SEO

We have SEO Improvments to the site coming out very soon.

Andy · August 2, 2009

Keep the new uses coming, folks! This is great feedback, thanks to you all.

Rock Hopper · August 2, 2009

your double level buttons

Zotz wrote:

Well... as you have shown, I use it for pricing and info:

http://www.zotz.com/gallery/8748884_mypkk
http://www.zotz.com/gallery/3464375_vqv49
http://www.zotz.com/gallery/5934664_qVZwf

The original journal style has served me well. Any fancy no-warning surprises might screw things up, just as the slideshow changes have screwed up my portfolio gallery (which I must now figure out how to fix).

How did you get the double level buttons. The ones on the home page that you ride over and they go to multiple sub galleries? Thanks
Benny

brandofamily · August 2, 2009

Rock Hopper wrote:

How did you get the double level buttons. The ones on the home page that you ride over and they go to multiple sub galleries? Thanks
Benny

I f your referring to the drop navbar try this thread...
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=42747&highlight=drop+navbar

carrollb · August 3, 2009

Sheaf wrote:

Because the new style is awesome. For telling a story, the old style worked. But the photos were far too small for many people (myself included).
I think there are many ways for the style to be used. For me, the new style works well as a journal or just a slick way to show large photos in all their glory in a very simple, fast interface.

But we certainly didn't design the old journal with all of the interesting and creative uses in mind that you guys and gals use it for now.

The new style is just "aw" for "some".
For telling a story the old style still works.
Bigger is not always better.
How many people were the photos too small for? They're just right for me.
When I started using the old journal I don't recall any guidelines on how to use it; it was there, I found it, I used it.

The ability to adapt what SM provides to many different uses is exactly the reason I am with SM. SM has always been very user friendly.

Show us your Journal Uses and Customizations

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