Still struggling with unlisted galleries.

bartman01

Pretty much coming to the conclusion that SmugMug is not the right tool for me. What I am trying to do is the following:
Have an unlisted gallery that contains folders and galleries. Anyone that knows the URL for the gallery can get in and see anything in there and easily browse around.

I can get part way there with 'ShareGroups', but you can't have sub folders under share groups that are visible to the sharegroup but not the general public, and navigation around share groups with unlisted galleries is non-intuitive and messy. To add to the problem, every time I upload a new gallery I have to remember to go in to the sharegroup and add it there too.

Playing around with some of the competition, what I am trying to do is very easy and straight forward - just create an unlisted folder. Everything under that folder remains unlisted from the main site but looks and works just like the normal listed folders once you are in it (breadcrumbs and all).

Am I just missing something, or is SmugMug just not designed to do what I am wanting?

bobbyhero

What about just using a regular Folder set to "Unlisted", so that it's only visible to those who you've given a direct-link to? You can modify the permissions in your Organizer.

denisegoldberg

bobbyhero wrote: »

What about just using a regular Folder set to "Unlisted", so that it's only visible to those who you've given a direct-link to? You can modify the permissions in your Organizer.

Wouldn't that make the galleries unlisted as well? A direct link to the folder wouldn't show the galleries then.

The screen shot below shows the privacy options for a gallery in an unlisted folder.

--- Denise

bartman01

denisegoldberg wrote: »

Wouldn't that make the galleries unlisted as well? A direct link to the folder wouldn't show the galleries then.

The screen shot below shows the privacy options for a gallery in an unlisted folder.

--- Denise

Correct - the folder is unlisted, as are galleries. If I add a new gallery in the unlisted folder, my privacy options are 'inherited (unlisted)', 'unlisted', and 'private'. And when I go directly to that folder URL as a normal user, I see nothing.

ceasley

Would it work to make the containing folder public, but give it a password and then when you give you the link, you include the password? I've done this with my family galleries linked at the very bottom left of my page. Once they enter the 'easy' password, they have access to everything in there.

Oh, and the key is - make it public and just add the password to the folder only.

bartman01

ceasley wrote: »

Would it work to make the containing folder public, but give it a password and then when you give you the link

You would think so, but I tried that in the past and got tons of complaints. Apparently I have enough friends and family that are technologically inept to the point that anything past remembering a web page is 'too complicated', or 'too scary'. Security through obscurity is all I really need for the stuff I am putting in there anyway.

ceasley

Could you give them an easy password and put a hint that would definitely jog their memory. The only other thing I could suggest is to just make it a regular public folder but make sure there are no links to it anywhere on your site. That should keep it from being indexed or found by anyone that doesn't know the link.

bartman01

How do you make a folder that isn't 'unlisted' and doesn't appear on your page?

ceasley

bartman01 wrote: »

How do you make a folder that isn't 'unlisted' and doesn't appear on your page?

You have complete control over what you put in your menus, so put the your private galleries in a unique folder that is not included in your menu.

I don't put folders/galleries on my home page, so if that is what you do, can you choose which folders/galleries are included?

bartman01

I don't see any possible way to split galleries up like you have on your site. Any instructions you can point me to there? I just have a home page, folders and galleries all appear there. I can see where I can create a new page, but I cant put folders or galleries on that page, I can only put that page in a folder or gallery.

Nevermind, I think I figured it out. Once you create the page, you have go to that page THEN click customize. It is really going to take a while to get the hang of these design tools - they don't work like I think in the slightest.

ceasley

In your Organizer, click on your name at the very top of the list on the left. Then choose - CREATE - new folder and give it an appropriate name. (CREATE is right above your name) Once you've got the new folder, you can drag all the galleries you want to keep private into that new folder. To do that, click on the folder that holds the galleries you want to move and then drag each gallery to the new folder you created. The URL will be www.your-domain/New-Folder-Name and you can send your family or whoever to just that folder. Don't put it in your menu on your home page.

bartman01

THANK YOU! I think I finally got it, and can make this work. Really happy about that because overall I like the new SmugMug, and was really not wanting to have to change.

BTW - You live in a beautiful part of the country. Been up that way several times on business trips and I always enjoy the views. The pictures on your home page really highlight some if it.

ceasley

You're welcome! So glad I could help. I'm struggling with a few things at SmugMug also and have had dual accounts at Zenfolio and SmugMug for the past year waiting for things to change at Smug. Now that they have, I'm loving the design features, but there have definitely been a few bumps in the road. But Zenfolio is missing key factors as well - particularly when it comes to design and smart galleries.

Allen

I think anyone can use /browse and see everything public no matter where you put it.
There should be a way to turn off "browse" except for the site owner.

ceasley

I took Browse out of my menu completely and I think that is a good work-around.

bartman01

Allen wrote: »

I think anyone can use /browse and see everything public no matter where you put it.
There should be a way to turn off "browse" except for the site owner.

You can customize the browse screen to limit the galleries/folders that show up there (kind of a pain to maintain), or just remove it. That was the first thing I noticed and had to change. Customize the browse page, select the section you want to modify, click the wrench, and one of the options is what folders/galleries to include.

If you put everything in folders, take the galleries section off of the browse page and just include the folders you want public in the folder section.

denisegoldberg

ceasley wrote: »

I took Browse out of my menu completely and I think that is a good work-around.

Given the number of people who know that browse exists I wouldn't assume that folks won't go there. All it takes is adding /browse to your URL.

--- Denise

denisegoldberg

bartman01 wrote: »

You can customize the browse screen to limit the galleries/folders that show up there (kind of a pain to maintain), or just remove it.

But doesn't that remove your easy access (as the site owner) to your unlisted and private folders?

--- Denise

ceasley

I feel my "easy access" remains via the Organizer. The Organizer is the BEST feature of the New SmugMug and it was the lack of this feature that had me over at Zenfolio for the past year.

bartman01

Allen wrote: »

I think anyone can use /browse and see everything public no matter where you put it.
There should be a way to turn off "browse" except for the site owner.

You can customize browse - go to that page, choose customize, then either remove the content blocks or edit what shows up in them.

ceasley wrote: »

I feel my "easy access" remains via the Organizer. The Organizer is the BEST feature of the New SmugMug and it was the lack of this feature that had me over at Zenfolio for the past year.

If I can't remember the correct URL for the 'hidden' pages, I also just go to the organizer. In the folder/gallery settings there is a direct link to that item.

bartman01

One important note on the 'browse' page. Make sure over on the right you choose the option for 'just this page' or the changes will impact all pages and not just that one. Fought with that for a while before I figured out what was going on.

DMatt

After all those years, sharing with family is still the biggest problem in Smugmug. Every few months I sign for the test, uploading a bunch of photos. This solution is closest to what I want. But still ... why they don't do it easier. It would be simple to Add a few friends emails and then just check which folders/groups can they see. Also - when "collecting" photo to another gallery should add privacy policy from a new gallery to that photo, while the original photo still has privacy from the original gallery. That would also help with organizing and sharing.

Jenuine

Those are great suggestions. You can suggest this as feature request on our Feature Request page:

http://feedback.smugmug.com/forums/17723-smugmug

That is where our Product Managers look to see what things are important to our site owners and helps in setting direction for the future products.