Anyone else notice there was such a lull in new features but now SM is in high gear with changes and enhancements? What happened, you guys buy a bigger whip?
Seriously THANK YOU to the Smug team. The enhancements are flowing so fast it's a chore to keep up!
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Anyone else notice there was such a lull in new features but now SM is in high gear with changes and enhancements? What happened, you guys buy a bigger whip?
Seriously THANK YOU to the Smug team. The enhancements are flowing so fast it's a chore to keep up!
Oh no Andy, you haven't understood my issue... I'll explain it with pictures...
With the setting at Required registration, I get this...
For me, this is not going to work - I expect to have a few thousand unique visitors from the event (competitors, families, friends) and asking them to create an account to view the pics won't work. Yes I know thye can see the galleries without joining the event but if I was to use events, this would be the front page...
When I set it to Optional Registration I get this:
This is almost as bad. The user now has a compulsory box to read, digest and act upon. Yes, there's a "No thanks" and even a "Do not show this again", but to get to them the user has had to process a registration form asking for Name, email address and a captcha - before getting to the part when they might be able to see it's optional.
This is very user unfriendly. You must realise this.
Most people will simply click the close box at this point, without taking the time to read and process what's on offer.
The better way to do this is NOT put the live site into the background and make the registration box the first thing a user has to deal with. What you should do for optional registration is put the registration info in a sidebox, or the DIV above and NOT require the user to deal with it. They should be able to click straight into the galleries of an event.
What has been implemented is lazy and is not user focussed - sorry for the harsh words, but in this particular case I feel very strongly I'm correct.
The final option of using registration off is also unworkable - I am not going to create registration info for all the competitors and friends - I don't have access to the lists and I would't make that many accounts.
I know it's not possible to address this issue in time for my event so I am reluctantly not even going to bother using events functionality - which is a shame, it would be a huge benefit if it could be used without the massive turn off on the front page.
But there's absolutely no way on this earth I am putting a compulsory box in front of my users and making them interpret it before they can see the photos.
I'm so sorry you feel like we've been lazy We've been putting out a lot of refinements to our Events system since its' initial launch and we're not letting up.
Registration optional is not going to have the form to fill out. This week. Stay tuned.
I'm so sorry you feel like we've been lazy We've been putting out a lot of refinements to our Events system since its' initial launch and we're not letting up.
Registration optional is not going to have the form to fill out. This week. Stay tuned.
Smugmug is the best. But can we still have the option to have the form pop up immediately there? I can think of plenty of situations where I'd want it (and plenty where I wouldn't as well).
Smugmug is the best. But can we still have the option to have the form pop up immediately there? I can think of plenty of situations where I'd want it (and plenty where I wouldn't as well).
I'm so sorry you feel like we've been lazy We've been putting out a lot of refinements to our Events system since its' initial launch and we're not letting up.
Registration optional is not going to have the form to fill out. This week. Stay tuned.
This is great news Andy - thanks for the clarification. I'll definitely carve out some time to customise the events page this weekend.
I apologised in advance for the harsh words, and I'm thrilled to be proven wrong :-)
I'm so sorry you feel like we've been lazy We've been putting out a lot of refinements to our Events system since its' initial launch and we're not letting up.
Registration optional is not going to have the form to fill out. This week. Stay tuned.
Don't know what's planned, but here's my thought...
Show the registered user features to everybody. When someone clicks "add to favorites," then let them know they need to register for free to use that feature. Then they know what they're registering for and why.
We've just released an update to address the problems some have had with the way we implemented Guest Registration.
You will now see a new option under "Guest Registration" called "Suggested"!
"Suggested": Visitors of the event will be presented with the registration box upon arrival, but have the option to skip and never show it again (they can still register later if they want).
"Optional": Visitors of the event will not see registration box upon arrival. They can register if they want using the registration link.
"Required" and "Off" remain the same.
We've also heard from a few that we don't show enough of the Gallery titles on the event page, so we've increased the number of characters to wrap the title on two lines.
We've just released an update to address the problems some have had with the way we implemented Event Registration.
You will now see a new option under "Guest Registration" called "Suggested"!
"Suggested": Visitors of the event will be presented with the registration box upon arrival, but have the option to skip and never show it again (they can still register later if they want).
"Optional": Visitors of the event will not see registration box upon arrival. They can register if they want using the registration link.
"Required" and "Off" remain the same.
We've also heard from a few that we don't show enough of the Gallery titles on the event page, so we've increased the number of characters to wrap the name on two lines.
Enjoy!
-Brian
This is fantastic... I am really excited to see a simple addition / tweak to a new feature get so quickly added.
Thankyou so much for the speed with which this request was dealt with - it gives me a really viable option now for my major upcoming event.
Thanks again to all the SM staff involved in realising the requirement and firing this into production so quickly.
We've just released an update to address the problems some have had with the way we implemented Guest Registration.
You will now see a new option under "Guest Registration" called "Suggested"!
"Suggested": Visitors of the event will be presented with the registration box upon arrival, but have the option to skip and never show it again (they can still register later if they want).
"Optional": Visitors of the event will not see registration box upon arrival. They can register if they want using the registration link.
"Required" and "Off" remain the same.
We've also heard from a few that we don't show enough of the Gallery titles on the event page, so we've increased the number of characters to wrap the title on two lines.
Enjoy!
-Brian
clap:ivar
Brian I also want to say thank you. This really helps! The Gallery titles on event page are going to be a ton of help.
While we're on such a roll - the first thing I looked at was modifying the appearance of the list of galleries on the events page so they look like the miniboxes on the main category and gallery pages...
10 minutes in firebug and it does look like I'll be able to get very close, but the title of the gallery on the events page isn't linked to the gallery, just the thumbnail... Is this an oversight?
Also, is there a reason why the presentation isn't the same as the miniBox divs on the other SM pages?
While we're on such a roll - the first thing I looked at was modifying the appearance of the list of galleries on the events page so they look like the miniboxes on the main category and gallery pages...
10 minutes in firebug and it does look like I'll be able to get very close, but the title of the gallery on the events page isn't linked to the gallery, just the thumbnail... Is this an oversight?
Also, is there a reason why the presentation isn't the same as the miniBox divs on the other SM pages?
Cheers - Neil G
The presentation isn't the same as the miniBox because we felt this layout was a more efficient use of the available space. Since we are not showing modified date, description, etc, having the title to the right would have created a lot of unused space.
The presentation isn't the same as the miniBox because we felt this layout was a more efficient use of the available space. Since we are not showing modified date, description, etc, having the title to the right would have created a lot of unused space.
Also, I'll make the gallery title clickable.
Keep these comments rolling in!
-Brian
There appears to be another wierdness
If someone enters a gallery that is specified as part of an event, but enters through the normal navigation of categories and subcategories, the breadcrumb 'home' changes to the home of the event, trapping the person inside the event.
If someone enters a gallery that is specified as part of an event, but enters through the normal navigation of categories and subcategories, the breadcrumb 'home' changes to the home of the event, trapping the person inside the event.
I'm just starting to use events, and it's great, except for one thing that has been brought up in this thread several times now.
I want to be able to have an event listed on my site with the rest of my galleries so that clients and their friends (wedding guests, for example) can find them without having to follow a direct link. As far as I can tell this is currently impossible, but it seems like it should be a very easy change to implement.
The workaround that I'm currently using is to have a subcategory for the wedding, and the three galleries (getting ready, ceremony, reception) listed under it. This subcategory appears with the rest of my galleries, so people can find it even if they don't have or can't remember the event link.
The problem is, when you click on the subcategory link, you just get into the normal subcategory, not the event page. Then when you click on one of the galleries, you just go into the gallery itself. So you bypass the prompt to register and the ability to pick favorites, which defeats the purpose of having everything organized as an event in the first place.
So, are there any plans to make events listable in categories or subcategories alongside normal galleries? I don't want my events to be hidden from everyone.
I'm just starting to use events, and it's great, except for one thing that has been brought up in this thread several times now.
I want to be able to have an event listed on my site with the rest of my galleries so that clients and their friends (wedding guests, for example) can find them without having to follow a direct link. As far as I can tell this is currently impossible, but it seems like it should be a very easy change to implement.
The workaround that I'm currently using is to have a subcategory for the wedding, and the three galleries (getting ready, ceremony, reception) listed under it. This subcategory appears with the rest of my galleries, so people can find it even if they don't have or can't remember the event link.
The problem is, when you click on the subcategory link, you just get into the normal subcategory, not the event page. Then when you click on one of the galleries, you just go into the gallery itself. So you bypass the prompt to register and the ability to pick favorites, which defeats the purpose of having everything organized as an event in the first place.
So, are there any plans to make events listable in categories or subcategories alongside normal galleries? I don't want my events to be hidden from everyone.
Hi Tim,
You can put Events on your home page.
When you edit an event, under the "Event Settings" section you will notice some privacy settings. If you make your Event "Public", you will be given the option to make the Event "Featured on Homepage".
After you do this, all you have to do is add the "Featured Events" box to your home page. To do this, go to your home page, click the "Homepage Layout" button and select the "Featured Events" item.
Thanks, but it doesn't. My homepage is just a slideshow with the navbar at the top of the window. I want to keep it clean and professional looking, not cluttered with thumbnails and links.
Considering that it is possible to display events on the homepage, however, it seems like it should be very easy to allow them to be displayed on any other page (like my "Galleries" page) as well.
As Andy suggested, post in the customization forum. Just like you can have yousite.com/galleries, you could have yoursite.com/past-events. I say "past-events" instead of events because the Events category uses /events so I don't know if you could use that.
But in any case, it's a quick Javascript snippet. The customization folks will help you out.
As Andy suggested, post in the customization forum. Just like you can have yousite.com/galleries, you could have yoursite.com/past-events. I say "past-events" instead of events because the Events category uses /events so I don't know if you could use that.
But in any case, it's a quick Javascript snippet. The customization folks will help you out.
I don't want a separate page for events, I just want them to show up for the general viewing public along with my galleries. But I'll post in customization forum, hopefully someone there can help.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. You can probably do that too. If you can move your galleries off to a separate page, I see no reason why you can't move two homepage modules off to the same separate page.
Different image sizes for specific event participants?
Hi Andy and the SmugMug team, just wanted to say a big thanks for updating the events feature continually. There is a big difference between now and when it first went live
I have a question/feature request to make events even better!
I just finished working on an engagement shoot and am ready send the bride-to-be the event link. My contract with this couple specifies that they have access to the original size photos, so that's how the gallery is set up. The trouble is, anyone else viewing the gallery will also have access to the full-size originals.
I have added a participant to the event with the bride's name and email address, and can send her the event link. I would like to reduce the largest displayed file size for all visitors except this event participant (or multiple participants of my choice)
Please let me know if this is possible, it would really cut down on having to make duplicate galleries with different permissions for different audiences for the same wedding.
I have added a participant to the event with the bride's name and email address, and can send her the event link. I would like to reduce the largest displayed file size for all visitors except this event participant (or multiple participants of my choice)
Please let me know if this is possible, it would really cut down on having to make duplicate galleries with different permissions for different audiences for the same wedding.
Thanks a lot,
Red
Hi, I'm sorry it's not possible now I wish I could tell you differently.
Hi, is there any way to email many recipients at once using the "Share" option in the Registered Guests & Participans section? Would I have to send out separate emails to each person? I know many people who may be at any given event and it would be nice to save all the work with one bulk email!
Jon
Tim, you can. Post in customizing forum for help - it's not hard to achieve this.
I posted there almost two days ago, 97 views and no responses. Searching produced nothing useful. Since you seem to imply that it has been done before, can you point me to a relevant thread?
Comments
But I am hoping desperately that it's something quick as I have to finalise how I am going to organise my event in the next week or two...
It's the World Ultimate (Frisbee) Club Champs in Prague... Starts on the 3rd July...
Cheers - N
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
Do you not read our release notes blog
http://releasenotes.blogs.smugmug.com/2010/06/10/event-marketing-overhaul-gallery-coupons-new-smugs-bug-fixes/
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Seriously THANK YOU to the Smug team. The enhancements are flowing so fast it's a chore to keep up!
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
+1. Keep it up!
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Oh no Andy, you haven't understood my issue... I'll explain it with pictures...
With the setting at Required registration, I get this...
For me, this is not going to work - I expect to have a few thousand unique visitors from the event (competitors, families, friends) and asking them to create an account to view the pics won't work. Yes I know thye can see the galleries without joining the event but if I was to use events, this would be the front page...
When I set it to Optional Registration I get this:
This is almost as bad. The user now has a compulsory box to read, digest and act upon. Yes, there's a "No thanks" and even a "Do not show this again", but to get to them the user has had to process a registration form asking for Name, email address and a captcha - before getting to the part when they might be able to see it's optional.
This is very user unfriendly. You must realise this.
Most people will simply click the close box at this point, without taking the time to read and process what's on offer.
The better way to do this is NOT put the live site into the background and make the registration box the first thing a user has to deal with. What you should do for optional registration is put the registration info in a sidebox, or the DIV above and NOT require the user to deal with it. They should be able to click straight into the galleries of an event.
What has been implemented is lazy and is not user focussed - sorry for the harsh words, but in this particular case I feel very strongly I'm correct.
The final option of using registration off is also unworkable - I am not going to create registration info for all the competitors and friends - I don't have access to the lists and I would't make that many accounts.
I know it's not possible to address this issue in time for my event so I am reluctantly not even going to bother using events functionality - which is a shame, it would be a huge benefit if it could be used without the massive turn off on the front page.
But there's absolutely no way on this earth I am putting a compulsory box in front of my users and making them interpret it before they can see the photos.
Regards
Neil Gardner
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
Registration optional is not going to have the form to fill out. This week. Stay tuned.
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Smugmug is the best. But can we still have the option to have the form pop up immediately there? I can think of plenty of situations where I'd want it (and plenty where I wouldn't as well).
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Sure - just make registration required.
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This is great news Andy - thanks for the clarification. I'll definitely carve out some time to customise the events page this weekend.
I apologised in advance for the harsh words, and I'm thrilled to be proven wrong :-)
Cheers - Neil G
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
Don't know what's planned, but here's my thought...
Show the registered user features to everybody. When someone clicks "add to favorites," then let them know they need to register for free to use that feature. Then they know what they're registering for and why.
Dave
You will now see a new option under "Guest Registration" called "Suggested"!
"Suggested": Visitors of the event will be presented with the registration box upon arrival, but have the option to skip and never show it again (they can still register later if they want).
"Optional": Visitors of the event will not see registration box upon arrival. They can register if they want using the registration link.
"Required" and "Off" remain the same.
We've also heard from a few that we don't show enough of the Gallery titles on the event page, so we've increased the number of characters to wrap the title on two lines.
Enjoy!
-Brian
This is fantastic... I am really excited to see a simple addition / tweak to a new feature get so quickly added.
Thankyou so much for the speed with which this request was dealt with - it gives me a really viable option now for my major upcoming event.
Thanks again to all the SM staff involved in realising the requirement and firing this into production so quickly.
Cheers - Neil Gardner
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
Brian I also want to say thank you. This really helps! The Gallery titles on event page are going to be a ton of help.
-Matt
10 minutes in firebug and it does look like I'll be able to get very close, but the title of the gallery on the events page isn't linked to the gallery, just the thumbnail... Is this an oversight?
Also, is there a reason why the presentation isn't the same as the miniBox divs on the other SM pages?
Cheers - Neil G
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
The presentation isn't the same as the miniBox because we felt this layout was a more efficient use of the available space. Since we are not showing modified date, description, etc, having the title to the right would have created a lot of unused space.
Also, I'll make the gallery title clickable.
Keep these comments rolling in!
-Brian
There appears to be another wierdness
If someone enters a gallery that is specified as part of an event, but enters through the normal navigation of categories and subcategories, the breadcrumb 'home' changes to the home of the event, trapping the person inside the event.
I'm sure this can't be intended behaviour.
For an example, go to
http://www.nzsnaps.com/Ultimate - and click on the WUCC2010 subcategory
Note at this point the breadcrumb reads "Home > Ultimate > WUCC2010 "
Then go into any of the 5 test galleries - I chose the first one. The breadcrumb now reads "Home > WUCC2010 Highlights "
and the link on the 'home' is http://www.nzsnaps.com/event/WUCC2010
I do have a Navbar, so users can escape, but if I didn't - I suspect that the back button would be the only option, or going back to the homepage.
Can you comment please if this is intended behaviour?
Cheers - Neil Gardner
http://www.nzsnaps.com (talkiet.smugmug.com)
TalkieT: I see the same issue on my events as well. As this could be a desirable effect in many/some cases. I am sure for some it isn't.
In my particular case I like this effect.. for now. I can't think of anything at this moment where I wouldn't want that to happen.
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I want to be able to have an event listed on my site with the rest of my galleries so that clients and their friends (wedding guests, for example) can find them without having to follow a direct link. As far as I can tell this is currently impossible, but it seems like it should be a very easy change to implement.
The workaround that I'm currently using is to have a subcategory for the wedding, and the three galleries (getting ready, ceremony, reception) listed under it. This subcategory appears with the rest of my galleries, so people can find it even if they don't have or can't remember the event link.
The problem is, when you click on the subcategory link, you just get into the normal subcategory, not the event page. Then when you click on one of the galleries, you just go into the gallery itself. So you bypass the prompt to register and the ability to pick favorites, which defeats the purpose of having everything organized as an event in the first place.
So, are there any plans to make events listable in categories or subcategories alongside normal galleries? I don't want my events to be hidden from everyone.
http://blog.timkphotography.com
Hi Tim,
You can put Events on your home page.
When you edit an event, under the "Event Settings" section you will notice some privacy settings. If you make your Event "Public", you will be given the option to make the Event "Featured on Homepage".
After you do this, all you have to do is add the "Featured Events" box to your home page. To do this, go to your home page, click the "Homepage Layout" button and select the "Featured Events" item.
That's it! I really hope this helps!
-Brian
Thanks, but it doesn't. My homepage is just a slideshow with the navbar at the top of the window. I want to keep it clean and professional looking, not cluttered with thumbnails and links.
Considering that it is possible to display events on the homepage, however, it seems like it should be very easy to allow them to be displayed on any other page (like my "Galleries" page) as well.
http://blog.timkphotography.com
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But in any case, it's a quick Javascript snippet. The customization folks will help you out.
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Host your website for just $3.45/mo with JustHost - Rated best web host of 2010
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I don't want a separate page for events, I just want them to show up for the general viewing public along with my galleries. But I'll post in customization forum, hopefully someone there can help.
http://blog.timkphotography.com
Save $5 on a new Smugmug Membership
Host your website for just $3.45/mo with JustHost - Rated best web host of 2010
See my profile for a gear list & more
Hi Andy and the SmugMug team, just wanted to say a big thanks for updating the events feature continually. There is a big difference between now and when it first went live
I have a question/feature request to make events even better!
I just finished working on an engagement shoot and am ready send the bride-to-be the event link. My contract with this couple specifies that they have access to the original size photos, so that's how the gallery is set up. The trouble is, anyone else viewing the gallery will also have access to the full-size originals.
I have added a participant to the event with the bride's name and email address, and can send her the event link. I would like to reduce the largest displayed file size for all visitors except this event participant (or multiple participants of my choice)
Please let me know if this is possible, it would really cut down on having to make duplicate galleries with different permissions for different audiences for the same wedding.
Thanks a lot,
Red
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I like the "now" part
thx,
Red
Jon
I posted there almost two days ago, 97 views and no responses. Searching produced nothing useful. Since you seem to imply that it has been done before, can you point me to a relevant thread?
http://blog.timkphotography.com