Can there not be an option whereby the site owner can turn the anon comments on or off?
Don
Most of us already remove this stuff through customization. But yeah, it would be nice to simply have a minimalist option which globally removes all the extra c.r.a.p. in one swoop.
It shouldn't be that difficult for the average user to put together a minimalist, non-cluttered site. It is in fact much simpler at certain places like Zenfolio to do just that, without hundreds of special scripts, tweaks and changes to the original code. I think a large portion of the SM customer base feel the same way - less is more. It really comes back to one simple thing for me. Providing an attractive galley in which to display my images, one which is understated but stylish.
I want to second all that Derek has said above: I much prefer a minimalist configuration that keeps the page clean and allows the photos to stand out.
I also want to second the suggestion to revamp the slide show, allowing for a non-flash version that enables use of the arrow keys on the keyboard for navigation.
Thanks for listening and for all of your hard work. I'm excited about the new UI and can't wait to begin working on customizations once it goes live.
I love the new design. Lets take it the last steps towards epic awesomnes!
This is how my gallery looks in your current design:
And when I look at the composition, I think that the image (the hero) is too small and the thumbs/navigation/comment/etc takes up too much space:
What I changed:
• Bigger image!
• Smaller thumbs!
• Enlarged the "next thumbnail page" button/thumbnail.
• Moved the comments a bit down.
• Centered the caption.
• Moved the slideshow button above image.
Download both pics and flip forwards & backwarts between them, to notice everything.
It took me nearly an hour to photoshop that, hope you appreciate that.
And please dont forget to make the Slideshow HTML5 instead of Flash!
In my personal opinion, I would prefer a scroller (e.g. inside an iframe) instead of multiple thumbnail pages.
Lots of people use gestures nowadays, and with a scroller its a click less, just swipe your fingers over the thumbs.
I love the new design. Lets take it the last steps towards epic awesomnes!
This is how my gallery looks in your current design:
And when I look at the composition, I think that the image (the hero) is too small and the thumbs/navigation/comment/etc takes up too much space:
What I changed:
• Bigger image!
• Smaller thumbs!
• Enlarged the "next thumbnail page" button/thumbnail.
• Moved the comments a bit down.
• Centered the caption.
• Moved the slideshow button above image.
Download both pics and flip forwards & backwarts between them, to notice everything.
It took me nearly an hour to photoshop that, hope you appreciate that.
And please dont forget to make the Slideshow HTML5 instead of Flash!
In my personal opinion, I would prefer a scroller (e.g. inside an iframe) instead of multiple thumbnail pages.
Lots of people use gestures nowadays, and with a scroller its a click less, just swipe your fingers over the thumbs.
Kind regards, Jan (Germany)
Jan,
You put quite a bit of thought into this and work as well.
I strongly agree with making the primary image the main subject. A key point of this Page Composition is to retain a similar split regardless of screen resolution. Right now the area provided for thumbs is all over the place flopping back and forth between 30% to 70%+ of the page width. Does anyone actually like having their primary image overshadowed with too many thumbs, regardless of thumb size?
Even though I am one of the advocates for larger thumbnails I can see smaller ones working in this sort of design layout. These smaller square thumbs are very similar to what Zenfolio uses now. And many people are happy with that layout and functionality. The bottom line here is to provide thumbnail size variation/options.
There is one more option which will work with this proposed layout, especially for those who like larger thumbs. Provide a gallery thumb only page with larger thumbs like this:
This provides several benefits. 1. In this case there is no competition with the primary image. 2. The subject (thumbs) is clear and easier on the eye to view and enjoy. 3. Visual clutter is minimized big time. Then when you click on the thumb show the larger image with smaller thumbs to the right or left of it (optionally). When I was testing Zenfolio and Gallery2 software several years back I seem to recall a similar option. This could also answer the question for many folks regarding the Big Thumb vs. Small Thumb dilema.
Finally some may prefer this thumbnail page layout vs. having a mixed page layout. Although minimalistic it can be a very effective approach and is a preferred design by many professional photographers on their custom designed websites today.
Check out Marc Admus' newer custom site here. Keep in mind he used to be on Smugmug:
Can there not be an option whereby the site owner can turn the anon comments on or off? Do we all have to become automatrons and join both Smugmug and Facebook, becoming another drone in the line? I have family and friends that will no longer have the option of leaving me comments. That was not why I signed up to SmugMug. I want a site that is as easy to use as possible. Can we really think about this again please?
Don
Just have to say I totally agree with Stash. People should not have to be members of SM or FB to leave comments - it's ridiculous! FB is not the #1 social networking site in many countries of the world, including here in Russia. Sure the majority of SM clients are based in the USA, but you shouldn't alienate those in other parts of the world! Aside from that, I'd say 40% of my U.S. based friends, family & acquaintances aren't on FB either (nor SM members). PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS!
Will the new experience include (if I missed the 19 pages of comments, please forgive me) an overhaul to include a shopping experience like the URL included:
With this experience, its quite easy to pick and click a product. The number of products and type of products are "elevated" to the front rather than hiding details in a shopping cart....
I like what I have seen so far and given the history of complete customisation that we get from Smug Mug I am excited.
Regarding the Buy Button:
I actually like a visible BUY button, kinda the point of having the photos on-line...
However, I would suggest that like most of the current SM site, having several options on the styling of the Buy link would probably be the best compromise.
Options could include: no display, subtle, normal, aggressive or custom.
For the custom Buy link, I would like to see the ability to have dynamic pricing for some common print sizes available when someone hovers the mouse over the buy link. This would obviously be selectable as to which sizes are highlighted and would populate with the price of the current photo in those sizes.
Updated the design, FAQ, and Change log. Big change this week is inline editing is back (Captions & Keywords only, stay tuned for Gallery Descriptions).
We're listening re: buttons, anonymous comments, and the rest. Keep em coming - we've got our heads down, working hard.
While I'm at it, and though it's small it's an irksome design glitch, why are the commas between the off-white keywords in pure white? Sure looks tacky!
One thing that I noticed when looking at my panoramic photos in the lightbox, they sit all the way at the top. Is there a way to have them centered in the screen? They would look so much cooler!
New design
Seems the new design has been applied to the Daily Community as of this A.M. (Moscow time). So here's my input, though bear with me as I don't know all the terminology:
1. Yes, love the new size & emphasis on the featured (highlighted/clicked) photo. Really stands out - good.
2. Something's "off" design-wise & I find it very jarring. The thumbs are aligned so close to the top of the box (lightbox?) whereas the top edges of the featured photo is far below (except in the case of vertically shot photos). Very off-putting.
3. Something about the entire page set-up is off to me - may be that the margin to the left of the thumbs is so small compared to the wide margin to the right of the photo or may be the thumbs need to be tighter together. Something just doesn't work visually.
4. I do not like that the page navigator thing (so you can jump to page 10, for ex.) is beneath the thumbs. Inconvenient & not noticeable unless you know to look for it.
5. Don't like the placement of the slideshow button.
6. Hate the placement of the comments under the photo - to me, they should be flush left.
7. Hate the fact that the name of the person commenting is more noticeable than the comment itself! Isn't what's being said more important than who's saying it (unless we're talking about world leaders...)
8.Hate the fact that info about who took the photo is so minimalized - small type-face &, to me, that info should be place left under the photo & 'see in original gallery to the right!
9. Don't like the "add a comment to this photo" - not bad in principal, but the text is so greyed out, the name of the person who commented beneath it pops more.
Well, that's my 2 cents while having my 1st cup of morning coffee.
Two questions though:
1. Why is it that in my galleries although the featured photo seems larger than previously, there are still so many thumbs?
2. Is everyone so busy working on the new design & features that one can't get an answer to their questions on Dgrin's customization forum? Seems JFriend, the Allens & other volunteers must be away & without them, it's pretty difficult to get help... Not a happy camper.
I want to second all that Derek has said above: I much prefer a minimalist configuration that keeps the page clean and allows the photos to stand out.
I also want to second the suggestion to revamp the slide show, allowing for a non-flash version that enables use of the arrow keys on the keyboard for navigation.
Thanks for listening and for all of your hard work. I'm excited about the new UI and can't wait to begin working on customizations once it goes live.
Dan
Perhaps the actual Slideshow is not being redesigned in this round, but if it were, it would be great to get that keyboard navigation working, and limit showing of filmstrip to only when I call for it (moving mouse over top 1/4 of screen), not with any mouse movement or keyboard navigation. That filmstrip keeps ruining the focus on the photo.
I have just now seen the new gallery for the very first time and it's brilliant. One my favorite new features is the commenting. It was soo ugly and cumbersome before. Not anymore. I'm sure there's more to discover, but this new look is fantastic and a huge step in the right direction.
When viewing an image in Lightbox view, with my Firefox 5.0.1 set to maximized window (Mac OSX 10.6.8), the bottom of the image and caption are cut off. If I change the window to less than max, it shows correctly.
I mostly love the new direction but my biggest gripe has been the slideshow, mainly the not so elegant appearance and behavior of the horizontal thumbnail strip at the top. Any chance of revamping that as well?
--
Il n'y a qu'un heroisme au monde:
c'est de voir le monde tel qu'il est, et de l'aimer.
There is only 1 kind of heroism in the world:
that is to see the world as it is, and to love it.
- Romain Rolland
I like it better this time around. I think the changes have improved the look. However...
1) where is it noted that the "h" key will hide/unhide an entry? I found out the hard way when I clicked on the caption and apparently started typing too quickly. What other keys are likely to get me in trouble?
2) Does a slideshow button on a gallery containing only video make sense?
3) I miss the pop-up tool-tip style caption as I hover the mouse over a thumbnail.
So is that what has happened to my site? It's the new look? I wondered what I'd done to change it.
If you are using a browser where you have turned the new look preview on for your site, yes. Keep in mind that only you can see the preview of your site with the updated smugmug style - your viewers can't see it.
I like what I have seen so far and given the history of complete customisation that we get from Smug Mug I am excited.
Regarding the Buy Button:
I actually like a visible BUY button, kinda the point of having the photos on-line...
However, I would suggest that like most of the current SM site, having several options on the styling of the Buy link would probably be the best compromise.
Options could include: no display, subtle, normal, aggressive or custom.
For the custom Buy link, I would like to see the ability to have dynamic pricing for some common print sizes available when someone hovers the mouse over the buy link. This would obviously be selectable as to which sizes are highlighted and would populate with the price of the current photo in those sizes.
Just my $.02.
This is worth more than .02 cents - this is what a site should offer!! And these buttons should/can be any color, a few sizes avail, etc.....
If you are using a browser where you have turned the new look preview on for your site, yes. Keep in mind that only you can see the preview of your site with the updated smugmug style - your viewers can't see it.
Comments
My Website index | My Blog
Most of us already remove this stuff through customization. But yeah, it would be nice to simply have a minimalist option which globally removes all the extra c.r.a.p. in one swoop.
My Smugmug Gallery
I want to second all that Derek has said above: I much prefer a minimalist configuration that keeps the page clean and allows the photos to stand out.
I also want to second the suggestion to revamp the slide show, allowing for a non-flash version that enables use of the arrow keys on the keyboard for navigation.
Thanks for listening and for all of your hard work. I'm excited about the new UI and can't wait to begin working on customizations once it goes live.
Dan
Hello Smugmug!
I love the new design. Lets take it the last steps towards epic awesomnes!
This is how my gallery looks in your current design:
And when I look at the composition, I think that the image (the hero) is too small and the thumbs/navigation/comment/etc takes up too much space:
What I changed:
• Bigger image!
• Smaller thumbs!
• Enlarged the "next thumbnail page" button/thumbnail.
• Moved the comments a bit down.
• Centered the caption.
• Moved the slideshow button above image.
Download both pics and flip forwards & backwarts between them, to notice everything.
It took me nearly an hour to photoshop that, hope you appreciate that.
And please dont forget to make the Slideshow HTML5 instead of Flash!
In my personal opinion, I would prefer a scroller (e.g. inside an iframe) instead of multiple thumbnail pages.
Lots of people use gestures nowadays, and with a scroller its a click less, just swipe your fingers over the thumbs.
Kind regards, Jan (Germany)
Feel free to leave a comment...
Jan,
You put quite a bit of thought into this and work as well.
I strongly agree with making the primary image the main subject. A key point of this Page Composition is to retain a similar split regardless of screen resolution. Right now the area provided for thumbs is all over the place flopping back and forth between 30% to 70%+ of the page width. Does anyone actually like having their primary image overshadowed with too many thumbs, regardless of thumb size?
Even though I am one of the advocates for larger thumbnails I can see smaller ones working in this sort of design layout. These smaller square thumbs are very similar to what Zenfolio uses now. And many people are happy with that layout and functionality. The bottom line here is to provide thumbnail size variation/options.
There is one more option which will work with this proposed layout, especially for those who like larger thumbs. Provide a gallery thumb only page with larger thumbs like this:
This provides several benefits. 1. In this case there is no competition with the primary image. 2. The subject (thumbs) is clear and easier on the eye to view and enjoy. 3. Visual clutter is minimized big time. Then when you click on the thumb show the larger image with smaller thumbs to the right or left of it (optionally). When I was testing Zenfolio and Gallery2 software several years back I seem to recall a similar option. This could also answer the question for many folks regarding the Big Thumb vs. Small Thumb dilema.
Finally some may prefer this thumbnail page layout vs. having a mixed page layout. Although minimalistic it can be a very effective approach and is a preferred design by many professional photographers on their custom designed websites today.
Check out Marc Admus' newer custom site here. Keep in mind he used to be on Smugmug:
http://www.marcadamus.com/gallery.php?gallery=favorites
And Michael Anderson, another top landscape photographer:
http://www.michaelandersongallery.com/gallery/samoan-islands/
WideRange Galleries design these and they are World Class at what they do.
Derek
My Smugmug Gallery
Just have to say I totally agree with Stash. People should not have to be members of SM or FB to leave comments - it's ridiculous! FB is not the #1 social networking site in many countries of the world, including here in Russia. Sure the majority of SM clients are based in the USA, but you shouldn't alienate those in other parts of the world! Aside from that, I'd say 40% of my U.S. based friends, family & acquaintances aren't on FB either (nor SM members). PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS!
Smugmug
Will the new experience include (if I missed the 19 pages of comments, please forgive me) an overhaul to include a shopping experience like the URL included:
http://www.art.com/products/p10284492-sa-i2790007/henri-silberman-new-york-new-york-brooklyn-bridge.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=23946&ui=4b53dec7ac5b4c75ae500ffc883d2b59&rfid=520802&tkid=07181169
With this experience, its quite easy to pick and click a product. The number of products and type of products are "elevated" to the front rather than hiding details in a shopping cart....
Any feedback from anyone?
All the best
~Todd at titaniumphoto.com
I understand you are combating a problem with abusive comments, perhaps allowing anonymous comments could be an owners option.
Pete
Regarding the Buy Button:
I actually like a visible BUY button, kinda the point of having the photos on-line...
However, I would suggest that like most of the current SM site, having several options on the styling of the Buy link would probably be the best compromise.
Options could include: no display, subtle, normal, aggressive or custom.
For the custom Buy link, I would like to see the ability to have dynamic pricing for some common print sizes available when someone hovers the mouse over the buy link. This would obviously be selectable as to which sizes are highlighted and would populate with the price of the current photo in those sizes.
Just my $.02.
Chibi Photography
pix.chibiphotography.com
We're listening re: buttons, anonymous comments, and the rest. Keep em coming - we've got our heads down, working hard.
Oh, and there might be a new Goodie to try out.
http://ssklar.smugmug.com
Seems the new design has been applied to the Daily Community as of this A.M. (Moscow time). So here's my input, though bear with me as I don't know all the terminology:
1. Yes, love the new size & emphasis on the featured (highlighted/clicked) photo. Really stands out - good.
2. Something's "off" design-wise & I find it very jarring. The thumbs are aligned so close to the top of the box (lightbox?) whereas the top edges of the featured photo is far below (except in the case of vertically shot photos). Very off-putting.
3. Something about the entire page set-up is off to me - may be that the margin to the left of the thumbs is so small compared to the wide margin to the right of the photo or may be the thumbs need to be tighter together. Something just doesn't work visually.
4. I do not like that the page navigator thing (so you can jump to page 10, for ex.) is beneath the thumbs. Inconvenient & not noticeable unless you know to look for it.
5. Don't like the placement of the slideshow button.
6. Hate the placement of the comments under the photo - to me, they should be flush left.
7. Hate the fact that the name of the person commenting is more noticeable than the comment itself! Isn't what's being said more important than who's saying it (unless we're talking about world leaders...)
8.Hate the fact that info about who took the photo is so minimalized - small type-face &, to me, that info should be place left under the photo & 'see in original gallery to the right!
9. Don't like the "add a comment to this photo" - not bad in principal, but the text is so greyed out, the name of the person who commented beneath it pops more.
Well, that's my 2 cents while having my 1st cup of morning coffee.
Two questions though:
1. Why is it that in my galleries although the featured photo seems larger than previously, there are still so many thumbs?
2. Is everyone so busy working on the new design & features that one can't get an answer to their questions on Dgrin's customization forum? Seems JFriend, the Allens & other volunteers must be away & without them, it's pretty difficult to get help... Not a happy camper.
Waiting to see what today's 'goodies' will be.
Rusuphotography.com
2.
Perhaps the actual Slideshow is not being redesigned in this round, but if it were, it would be great to get that keyboard navigation working, and limit showing of filmstrip to only when I call for it (moving mouse over top 1/4 of screen), not with any mouse movement or keyboard navigation. That filmstrip keeps ruining the focus on the photo.
Maximized Window:
"Normal" Window:
Il n'y a qu'un heroisme au monde:
c'est de voir le monde tel qu'il est, et de l'aimer.
There is only 1 kind of heroism in the world:
that is to see the world as it is, and to love it.
- Romain Rolland
1) where is it noted that the "h" key will hide/unhide an entry? I found out the hard way when I clicked on the caption and apparently started typing too quickly. What other keys are likely to get me in trouble?
2) Does a slideshow button on a gallery containing only video make sense?
3) I miss the pop-up tool-tip style caption as I hover the mouse over a thumbnail.
Smugmug: http://photosbykathie.com
Blog: http://www.dandenong-ranges-photography.com.au/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KathiesPhotos
You can turn the preview on and off at http://www.smugmug.com/goodies/.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
I really really liked what ChibiPhotography said a few messages back.
It makes it REAL easy (and flexible for the site owners) to pick and choose which BUY experience the customers see
and
The customers and CLICK ONCE and then BUY - DONE!
This is awesome!
This is worth more than .02 cents - this is what a site should offer!! And these buttons should/can be any color, a few sizes avail, etc.....
Great post!!!
Oh, I forgot about that. Thanks Denise.
Smugmug: http://photosbykathie.com
Blog: http://www.dandenong-ranges-photography.com.au/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KathiesPhotos