Smugmug CSS Changes & No advance warning. Question:

flyingdutchie

Hello,

I guess i'm not the only one who has been complaining about it, but i'd like to know why the changes in generated-HTML/CSS are coming without any warning. I did not get any notification/e-mail/etc. I like the changes itself, but the fact that they are not announced is a little frustrating to me (i'm still very much busy setting up my site), but very frustrating for others.

Please, smugmug,
1- send out an e-mail at least a week in advance when changes are due.
2- send out a document (link to html-page) detailing those changes. This will prevent pro- and power-users from wading through all the messages on dgrin trying to fix their pages.
3- A nice touch would be to set up a staging area that is valid for a week. The staging area would allow users to change/update/fix their site; their current site is still running as is; and allows them to publish their staging area when their updated/new site is ready.

I think the first 2 points are not too much to ask for... it's common software engineer practices. : It may prevent losing some customers....

I'm complaining here a bit, but i still love smugmug. Keep up the good work, but improve some of your processes. :thumb

Thanks!
-- Anton.

Richard

flyingdutchie wrote:

Hello,

I guess i'm not the only one who has been complaining about it, but i'd like to know why the changes in generated-HTML/CSS are coming without any warning. I did not get any notification/e-mail/etc. I like the changes itself, but the fact that they are not announced is a little frustrating to me (i'm still very much busy setting up my site), but very frustrating for others.

Please, smugmug,
1- send out an e-mail at least a week in advance when changes are due.
2- send out a document (link to html-page) detailing those changes. This will prevent pro- and power-users from wading through all the messages on dgrin trying to fix their pages.
3- A nice touch would be to set up a staging area that is valid for a week. The staging area would allow users to change/update/fix their site; their current site is still running as is; and allows them to publish their staging area when their updated/new site is ready.

I think the first 2 points are not too much to ask for... it's common software engineer practices. : It may prevent losing some customers....

I'm complaining here a bit, but i still love smugmug. Keep up the good work, but improve some of your processes.

Thanks!
-- Anton.

I think your first two points are spot on. While regular readers of Dgrin may be aware of upcoming changes, but I'm sure that a considerable number of Smugmug members do not use Dgrin at all. It is also likely that a considerable number of non-techie Dgrin members only look at the more technical postings after they get into trouble and thus are unaware of upcoming changes.

Smugmug has everyone's email address, so a mass-mailing should not be any problem. It would also be nice to have better documentation in advance of changes. As a former techie, I can wade through a style sheet or search through Dgrin postings and eventually find the magic words I need to make the changes I want. But I shouldn't have to go to all that work. I would gladly RTFM if only there were one.

I also agree with your third point about providing a staging area to test changes, both Smugmug's and our own. This would be a fantastic improvement.

Regards,

rich56k

I Agree With Both Of You !!

rsinmadrid wrote:

I think your first two points are spot on. While regular readers of Dgrin may be aware of upcoming changes, but I'm sure that a considerable number of Smugmug members do not use Dgrin at all. It is also likely that a considerable number of non-techie Dgrin members only look at the more technical postings after they get into trouble and thus are unaware of upcoming changes.

Smugmug has everyone's email address, so a mass-mailing should not be any problem. It would also be nice to have better documentation in advance of changes. As a former techie, I can wade through a style sheet or search through Dgrin postings and eventually find the magic words I need to make the changes I want. But I shouldn't have to go to all that work. I would gladly RTFM if only there were one.

I also agree with your third point about providing a staging area to test changes, both Smugmug's and our own. This would be a fantastic improvement.

Regards,

I agree with both of you,
on all of your points!
rich56k

Francois

Since I'm a Flying Dutchie too, this caught my eye .

I have received an email warning of changes for EVERY change so far, several days in advance. Do we not ALL get these warnings then????

--- I agree with the remark about the non-techie users.... although I use Dgrin from time to time, tinkering with CSS and html is not really my main interest, making photos IS ! . But, it is now part of our daily lives on the Internet I suppose.

Groetjes,
François

colourbox

In your Account Settings, make sure that in your Mail option, you have turned on "smugmug news."

Francois wrote:

tinkering with CSS and html is not really my main interest, making photos IS ! . But, it is now part of our daily lives on the Internet I suppose.

Learning how to edit web pages doesn't have to be part of our daily lives. We trade off convenience for complexity. I could have signed up with other photo sites that didn't have such a long list of customizable elements to learn and maintain, where they take care of everything. But part of the reason I'm on smugmug is that I like the fact that they give me all those options and so much control.

Richard

colourbox wrote:

In your Account Settings, make sure that in your Mail option, you have turned on "smugmug news."

Thanks for pointing this out. I had news turned off. Force of habit I suppose. I always decline news offers to avoid spam. I trust Smugmug to live up to its no-spam promise, though, so I switched it on.

flyingdutchie

colourbox wrote:

In your Account Settings, make sure that in your Mail option, you have turned on "smugmug news."



Learning how to edit web pages doesn't have to be part of our daily lives. We trade off convenience for complexity. I could have signed up with other photo sites that didn't have such a long list of customizable elements to learn and maintain, where they take care of everything. But part of the reason I'm on smugmug is that I like the fact that they give me all those options and so much control.

I have all the e-mail settings but the 'upload status' and 'statistics' on. But i did not get any warning e-mail message...... Ah well..
-- Anton.