Sort Idea

swintonphoto

I wish there was an option in the gallery sort tools to randomly arrange images. In addition to the various sort options, there have been many times I wish I could have selected a "random" option and it would randomly scramble the order of the images in the gallery.

papajay

swintonphoto wrote:

I wish there was an option in the gallery sort tools to randomly arrange images. In addition to the various sort options, there have been many times I wish I could have selected a "random" option and it would randomly scramble the order of the images in the gallery.

I 100% agree (and added a similar request in the already too large and "groaning" thread for Smart Garlleries and Collect Photos Help).

The "somewhat official" feedback was that creating a feature to manually arrange a virtual gallery is virtually impossible*. But a random arrangement is not the same a manual arrangement.

*As I recall, essentially the same claim ("can't be done") was made before SmugIslands privacy capability became reality. But after considerable dialogue on Dgrin insisting that something must be done, the very smart folks on the SmugMug development team then figured out how to do the "impossible".

My guess is (if enough people request manual/random arrangement capability for virtual galleries), the SmugMug development team will once again figure out it's not impossible, just "challenging". History has proven they really do love challenges, so I've also added several "votes" for this in the UserVoice feature request that another user initiated... http://smugmug.uservoice.com/forums/17723-smugmug/suggestions/471379-let-us-arrange-images-in-virtual-galleries

Andy

papajay wrote:

I 100% agree (and added a similar request in the already too large and "groaning" thread for Smart Garlleries and Collect Photos Help).

One thing I don't understand:

how can such an awesome feedback thread that we're all (SmugMug sorcerers, product managers, heroes, execs) reading possibly be too large?

We really thrive on the feedback and it's like gold to us.

Andy

Jonathan, we'd love to do it, and if we could do it, without causing undue strain or complication, we would! We talk about this a lot. Thanks for the great feedback.

papajay

Andy wrote:

One thing I don't understand:

how can such an awesome feedback thread that we're all (SmugMug sorcerers, product managers, heroes, execs) reading possibly be too large?

We really thrive on the feedback and it's like gold to us.

Andy...for the group you identified, of course the thread is not too large...but just put yourself in the shoes of a typical SmugMug user (for a minute) who's trying to come to an efficient understanding of major new feature set. The Help thread in question is already well over 200 posts long...and of course it's "awesome" feedback for what (by the way) is an awesome feature, but what typical user wants to slog through 200+ posts to get a quick summary of the critical issues?

Isn't it always like this on these big rollouts? Frankly, I think it's a "price" paid by all for a policy positiion that keeps the details of proposed feature functionality and launch plans so tightly clutched to the chest. If we knew ahead of launch which new features are planned, and generally how they are expected to work, there would probably be less post-launch chatter. For many, that's fine and probably preferred...for others, not. It just "is".

Andy

papajay wrote:

Andy...for the group you identified, of course the thread is not too large...but just put yourself in the shoes of a typical SmugMug user (for a minute) who's trying to come to an efficient understanding of major new feature set. .

These folks will be reading our help page
http://www.smugmug.com/help/smart-galleries

Thanks, Papa!

papajay

Andy wrote:

These folks will be reading our help page
http://www.smugmug.com/help/smart-galleries

Thanks, Papa!

Touche!...Andy, I suspect you are right about that! I'd venture a guess that most typical SmugMug users don't even have a Dgrin login, and would participate rarely, if ever, even if they did...let alone commit to slogging through 200+ posts in a single thread about a new feature set.

Those of us who are more heavily committed to the full "SM" (SmugMug, of course) experience seem more inclined to work through the pain. A few, like me, just can't help occassionally complaining about it !

Virtual Galleries/Collect Photos/Smart Galleries is truly an awesome new feature set! , and I'm sure most users will grow to understand and appreciate how powerful a tool it is. So, please go back to work making it even better!:D

bazancik

swintonphoto wrote: »

I wish there was an option in the gallery sort tools to randomly arrange images. In addition to the various sort options, there have been many times I wish I could have selected a "random" option and it would randomly scramble the order of the images in the gallery.

Totally agree: random order of photos in the virtual gallery would be a great feature: I )and I suspect many more) use it as a showcase gallery - but it is really boring to have the shots in batches - would work much better if they were mixed randomly...

any chances to get this feature sometime in?

Andy

bazancik wrote: »

Totally agree: random order of photos in the virtual gallery would be a great feature: I )and I suspect many more) use it as a showcase gallery - but it is really boring to have the shots in batches - would work much better if they were mixed randomly...

any chances to get this feature sometime in?

Thanks for posting such a great feature request. If you don't mind, we'd love it if you would put your feature requests here: http://feedback.smugmug.com

Thanks!