All The Hoo-Haa

AperturePlusAperturePlus Registered Users Posts: 374 Major grins
edited July 31, 2013 in SmugMug Support
I attended the webcast last night (19h30 for me) and was really impressed with how seamlessly it all went, at a technical level. Hats off to SM for that alone!

I have read a fair amount of negativity this morning and thought that I would like to write about my first impressions.

My first impression was WOW! What a difference. After the webcast, I immediately went to try it for myself. It took a matter of minutes to create an entirely new and fresh looking site in the sandbox.

I am not a pro photographer, but would love to become one. I work in a hi-tech field that requires me to be pretty well versed with colour, sound, video and graphics, as well as IT, so I don't consider myself to be a dunce when it comes to websites. My business website was built by myself from the ground up, as an example.

When I first came to Smugmug for my photography (a little over a year ago), it frustrated me that I could just not get my head around the coding needed to make my site look the way that I wanted it to. It required an understanding of CSS, Java and HTML and was a steep learning curve.

Thank goodness there were people around like Denice and Allen who were always willing to chip in to help where they could, not to mention the heroes themselves.

I feel that the new look SM affords anyone the opportunity to look amazing from the get-go and with very little fuss. I can understand some of the complaints that I have read this morning (I was aghast at the activity in this forum in the 8 hours that I left it - I am sure glad that I am not a Support Hero!) but I strongly feel, that a wish to move on is needed. I am determined not to want to make my new site look like my old one. There will always be those that are resistant to change - that's life!

I would like to congratulate Baldy and the crew on an amazing achievement. I think that the new look is clean and mod, not to mention easy to achieve. I love it.

Comments

  • chaseltonchaselton Registered Users Posts: 130 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    I feel similarly.
    I love tinkering, but I do it full time in my primary job. I like how the new GUI allows me to get what I want without trial and error with CSS/HTML.

    If I have time I'd like to post a 'tips' thread with the stuff I've found so far

    --sent from mobile
    indefinite objects
    anything can be amazing
  • mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    Thanks Aperture and Chaselton!!!!

    I know our secrecy had been hard to stomach in the last couple of months, and I do sincerely apologize for that. But I knew that we were doing the right thing, and creating a tool that both weekend warriors and Pros alike could use. Will there be hiccups? Of course. But we are here day and night to make the transition as smooth as possible for our valued clients.

    Michael
  • mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    BTW, I would love to see your sites when they are ready to showcase! :D
  • AperturePlusAperturePlus Registered Users Posts: 374 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    I will be sure to give you a link when it is up. Still much tinkering to do (and I am sure, a few questions :) )
  • mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    I will be sure to give you a link when it is up. Still much tinkering to do (and I am sure, a few questions :) )

    Shoot em over as you have them! I have built over 20 full, beautiful websites in the last 2 weeks, with zero code. While I am no expert, I like to *think* I have a pretty good grasp on the site :)


    Michael Bonocore
    www.mb-photography-sf.com
    www.facebook.com/mbonocore
    plus.mb-photography-sf.com
  • CanvasOfLightCanvasOfLight Registered Users Posts: 36 Big grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    Thanks again everyone for the great job.
    As always, there will be haters, or unhappy people, but I think you've done a great job.

    As they say: People resist change (But change is good)

    Still working on my website. I'm just having a bug (error) when i try to manually rearrange my photos on the home page.
    http://canvas-of-light.smugmug.com/
    Travel & Culture Photographer / Photography instructor
    http://www.canvas-of-light.com
    http://canvas-of-light.smugmug.com/
  • SkorriSkorri Registered Users Posts: 110 Major grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    Canvas,

    I love you site layout. What template did you use ?

    Keith
  • CanvasOfLightCanvasOfLight Registered Users Posts: 36 Big grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    Thanks :)

    I used the Nyx template (and added a header with a logo).
    Travel & Culture Photographer / Photography instructor
    http://www.canvas-of-light.com
    http://canvas-of-light.smugmug.com/
  • gbrookshawgbrookshaw Registered Users Posts: 35 Big grins
    edited July 31, 2013
    I echo the congratulations!

    They *had* to change the structure to move forward so I despair when I see people screaming about how their customisations don't work anymore!

    I've almost finished my new site and it looks loads better...with zero scripts or CSS! (well apart from the text block formatting strangely...but they'll fix that I'm sure!)

    So aren't better looking and more flexible sites better than a mountain of code to maintain in a restrictive structure?

    Don't let the haters get you down SmugMug...
    Gary

    Brookshaw Photography

    Wedding and Portrait Photography in Chester, UK
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