Rigidity
emalvick
Registered Users Posts: 10 Big grins
I have been a Smugmug user for quite a while, and when I first found Smugmug, I liked it because it offered a professional quality service that could work for all users with its nice customization features that would allow you to go as simple or complicated as you want reasonably well. The site worked despite a bit of a learning curve, but learning curves are part of anything.
With the New Smugmug that was unveiled, I feel like there are a lot of steps forward, but more steps backward. Some customization features are nice although not nearly as intuitive as Smugmug would have you believe, but a lot of features that I came to get used to are now missing. Some of those that are still available require you to settle on a modern version of the legacy site to keep. Others are just plain gone, and some are just full of bugs.
I have to say that if I was a new user today looking for a new site, much like I was a few years ago, I wouldn't stick around. There is no place in the commercial world for a site such as this to be what amounts to a half-functioning and bug-filled version of its former self or what it envisions itself to be.
I would not spend money on what is here now.
The potential for the aesthetics is there, but it is lacking. Renaming categories (something that is more intuitive to photographers and artists) to Folders (something computer users are more likely to know rather than an average customer looking for photos) is flaw #1.
One reason I chose Smugmug years ago was for its keyword support. That has never been perfect, but it has worked well enough. I liked being able to click on an image and see its captions AND keywords and then choose a keyword to browse similar photos. Well, while keywords are still there, the modern themes give no easy access to them. This makes the new themes useless to me despite their nicer look. Similarly, gone are the days of seeing items such a Map This button, gallery descriptions, etc in these modern themes. Granted, I can have them all if I go to a Smugmug theme, which again looks just like the old one. But why bother with providing a new theme if it has almost zero flexibility.
The heart of Smugmug is supposed to be its galleries, but interestingly, the galleries are the least flexible aspect of the new upgrades. I can make my folder pages, custom pages, browse pages, etc all look exactly as I wish, but I can do very little to customize a gallery.
I'm hoping that the overall step backwards in customization will correct itself, but I lack optimism. Smugmug seems to have this elitist attitude that is reminiscent of Apple or Microsoft who think they can bully you into what they think is how things can be done.
The internet age has shown that the consumers are not as right as they should be, and many of us are tired of it. I never thought I'd say it, but I'll seriously be looking elsewhere to host my photos.
I'm only an amateur, but I'm even ashamed that this professional photo site has seemingly left its pros behind. I don't think I am alone in finding that a site that puts its professional users first often is a benefit to its non-professionals whom strive for that level of quality and service. It seems to be gone.
I really hope I'm proven wrong.
With the New Smugmug that was unveiled, I feel like there are a lot of steps forward, but more steps backward. Some customization features are nice although not nearly as intuitive as Smugmug would have you believe, but a lot of features that I came to get used to are now missing. Some of those that are still available require you to settle on a modern version of the legacy site to keep. Others are just plain gone, and some are just full of bugs.
I have to say that if I was a new user today looking for a new site, much like I was a few years ago, I wouldn't stick around. There is no place in the commercial world for a site such as this to be what amounts to a half-functioning and bug-filled version of its former self or what it envisions itself to be.
I would not spend money on what is here now.
The potential for the aesthetics is there, but it is lacking. Renaming categories (something that is more intuitive to photographers and artists) to Folders (something computer users are more likely to know rather than an average customer looking for photos) is flaw #1.
One reason I chose Smugmug years ago was for its keyword support. That has never been perfect, but it has worked well enough. I liked being able to click on an image and see its captions AND keywords and then choose a keyword to browse similar photos. Well, while keywords are still there, the modern themes give no easy access to them. This makes the new themes useless to me despite their nicer look. Similarly, gone are the days of seeing items such a Map This button, gallery descriptions, etc in these modern themes. Granted, I can have them all if I go to a Smugmug theme, which again looks just like the old one. But why bother with providing a new theme if it has almost zero flexibility.
The heart of Smugmug is supposed to be its galleries, but interestingly, the galleries are the least flexible aspect of the new upgrades. I can make my folder pages, custom pages, browse pages, etc all look exactly as I wish, but I can do very little to customize a gallery.
I'm hoping that the overall step backwards in customization will correct itself, but I lack optimism. Smugmug seems to have this elitist attitude that is reminiscent of Apple or Microsoft who think they can bully you into what they think is how things can be done.
The internet age has shown that the consumers are not as right as they should be, and many of us are tired of it. I never thought I'd say it, but I'll seriously be looking elsewhere to host my photos.
I'm only an amateur, but I'm even ashamed that this professional photo site has seemingly left its pros behind. I don't think I am alone in finding that a site that puts its professional users first often is a benefit to its non-professionals whom strive for that level of quality and service. It seems to be gone.
I really hope I'm proven wrong.
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