Journal style & comments

Andrew Gould

I have just started a new gallery, which will be a kind of photoblog/journal, and have placed a link to it on my navbar. Here's the direct link to it:

http://www.andrewgouldphotography.com/Galleries/Photojournal/Photojournal-November-2009/10345240_hHwEy

I want to set this gallery to (new) journal style, although I have set it to critique style (alternating with filmstrip style, as an experiment) at the moment because of the following problem.

When set to new or old journal style, the only comment option below the photo is for a gallery comment. Clicking on the photo brings up a smaller version. Then, clicking on "Show Details" at the top of the screen, allows for a photo comment to be made.

I have never used journal style before. I just can't believe the lack of logic and user friendlyness in this. I'm imagining that if I add a photo at a time with a good deal of text, as in a photoblog, that viewers will generally want to make a specific photo comment. However, they must know that it's necessary to first click on the screen filling journal style photo to get the smaller sized one, then click on "Show Details". Even then, it doesn't say that it will come out as a photo comment.

Tell me that there's a bug here, please. I was so looking foward to using the new journal style for this blog type gallery. If it's not a bug, I don't get it. Everything else works so logically on a SmugMug site.

Andy

No bug, the system is designed to allow for comments when you have your photo in lightbox, from Journal style.

Happy to hear your suggestions though!

Andrew Gould

Andy wrote:

No bug, the system is designed to allow for comments when you have your photo in lightbox, from Journal style.

Happy to hear your suggestions though!

Thanks for the reply, Andy.

The only thing I don't understand still is how visitors to a journal style gallery would know that photo comments -- as opposed to gallery comments -- are availabe. Even more so, if they're not SmugMug users.

It just so happens, though, that I'm really starting to like the critique style that I have this new gallery set to at the moment, so I may just keep it that way!

omonra21

Andy wrote:

No bug, the system is designed to allow for comments when you have your photo in lightbox, from Journal style.

Happy to hear your suggestions though!

I absolutely agree with every word of the original poster. I am glad to see the direction where the new Gallery style is taken but am taken aback at the lack of thought put into the implementation of user interface. How can anybody figure out that in order to leave a comment, one has to click on the photo, select Details and then Add Comment?

I propose that a small "Add Comment" button be placed under every image and that those comments be shown under the captions. The whole point of the style, imho, is to provide commentary along with the pictures - which means that the photographer is looking for feedback. It should be extremely easy to provide it and display.

I don't know the number of account holders you have, but would imagine that all the non-professional level customers are doing photography as a hobby and are mainly motivated by desire to show their work to friends and family. Getting feedback is an extremely important part of the process. I would expect more thought to be put in how this process is designed.

Andrew Gould

Well, at least someone agrees with me on that, so thanks for the support.

My problem is that I'm looking for a suitable gallery style for this new photojournal, which is to be similar to a photoblog. (I know I could get a real blog, and have done that, and given up. Didn't like it. I want everything "under one roof" with Smugmug.)

I so wanted to use the journal style, but feel I cannot, for the reasons I've already stated.

I then tried critique style. Looks great, except that a lengthy description (as one might have with a blog) appears as a long narrow column right down the page. It may be possible to modify this with CSS, but I really want to keep things totally simple, instead.

I'm now trying the filmstrip style. Perfect for a blog, I though. Text appears under the photo, and just as in critique style, one click makes the photo almost fill the screen. But then I saw that filmstrip style does not show the photo (EXIF) information. I feel the latter is really desirable for a blog type gallery.

Question then... Is there any way to get EXIF info to show in filmstrip style? (I imagine the answer is no.)

I do wish there was one gallery style that was suitable for blog type use. It would be the journal style if selecting to make a photo comment (as opposed to a gallery comment) was immediately evident to all visitors, including non SmugMug users. I know I'm just repeating myself here, but I mean it to be a kind of summary.

(I still love Smugmug, though...)

Andy

Andrew Gould wrote:

Well, at least someone agrees with me on that, so thanks for the support.

My problem is that I'm looking for a suitable gallery style for this new photojournal, which is to be similar to a photoblog. (I know I could get a real blog, and have done that, and given up. Didn't like it. I want everything "under one roof" with Smugmug.)

I so wanted to use the journal style, but feel I cannot, for the reasons I've already stated.

I then tried critique style. Looks great, except that a lengthy description (as one might have with a blog) appears as a long narrow column right down the page. It may be possible to modify this with CSS, but I really want to keep things totally simple, instead.

I'm now trying the filmstrip style. Perfect for a blog, I though. Text appears under the photo, and just as in critique style, one click makes the photo almost fill the screen. But then I saw that filmstrip style does not show the photo (EXIF) information. I feel the latter is really desirable for a blog type gallery.

Question then... Is there any way to get EXIF info to show in filmstrip style? (I imagine the answer is no.)

I do wish there was one gallery style that was suitable for blog type use. It would be the journal style if selecting to make a photo comment (as opposed to a gallery comment) was immediately evident to all visitors, including non SmugMug users. I know I'm just repeating myself here, but I mean it to be a kind of summary.

(I still love Smugmug, though...)

Andrew, can you put your suggestions here: http://smugmug.uservoice.com ? Thanks!

ChancyRat

Traditional?
How about traditional? You have to set it in gallery settings...

Andrew Gould

ChancyRat wrote:

How about traditional? You have to set it in gallery settings...

Thank you for the suggestion. I do feel, though, that to simulate a blog, the gallery must open with a large version of the latest upload, as this is your current "post".

For that reason, I'm sticking with filmstrip style, unless SmugMug comes up with anything more suitable for my purposes in the future.

If you want to see how it looks, click here:
http://www.andrewgouldphotography.com/Galleries/Photojournal/Photojournal-November-2009/10345240

The thumbnails will move across when I have more "posts".

Andrew Gould

Andy wrote:

Andrew, can you put your suggestions here: http://smugmug.uservoice.com ? Thanks!

Thanks, Andy.

I have added my comments and suggestions here:

http://smugmug.uservoice.com/pages/17723-smugmug/suggestions/205231-make-a-gallery-style-that-is-blog-like-

Note that I previously said that the problem with a filmstrip style gallery for a type of blog was that it didn't show EXIF info.

All the photos I'll be putting into my new blog style gallery are also in another gallery for context. It's an extra step, but not too difficult to go to these Smugmug style galleries, click on the photo to get the lightbox view (that's what I think it's called), copy the EXIF info, and then paste it into the description below the photo in the blog gallery. That's what I'm doing, then.