I really do wish that Zenfolio had a forum. But I do have to say that Zenfolio's customer support is awesome - on par with Smugmug. They reply almost immediately to any question you email them.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
They plan to have a moderated support forum in the near future - at least that is what they told me in an e-mail response. I don't know if this means that they will "have an Andy".....but who else really could?
I would agree with you on the speed of answer on e-mails to Zen support - most of my replies have been within the hour or just an hour or two at the most.
Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. - George Bernard Shaw
LTNS - how's every little thing? Nice to see you again!
Yes - LTNS - things are well. And it looks like you have really settled in over here quite well. Good for you - Smugmug is a great service and you and your counterparts are obvisouly setting high standards for support of a service like this one.
Don't you ever just want to go back to "that other site with a black theme" and talk about chromatic abberation? Come on - you know you do!
Jared
Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. - George Bernard Shaw
Yes - LTNS - things are well. And it looks like you have really settled in over here quite well. Good for you - Smugmug is a great service and you and your counterparts are obvisouly setting high standards for support of a service like this one.
Don't you ever just want to go back to "that other site with a black theme" and talk about chromatic abberation? Come on - you know you do!
The speed differences between Zenfolio and Smugmug may be based more on perception than hard numbers - as maybe your test shows. I think that is definitely a possibility.
Your tests are not what I would call a baseline of either site however. The reason that I say that is you are using a Macintosh system and using the Flock browser......hardly standard equipment for people viewing galleries on either site.
I would be curious to see similar tests using Firefox and/or IE on a Windows based machine.
Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. - George Bernard Shaw
Those first two are critical if you want to sell photos which I would have to imagine is why most people even get a "pro" account here.
After realizing that, you really can't compare zenfolio's "unlimited" account to smugmug's "pro account" because zenfolio's is obviously (at this time) not geared for sells but rather a place only to store and show off your photos.
As for me, I have really enjoyed smugmug. I had a pro account for a while but was not using it so I canceled it earlier this month just before renewal. About 2-3 days later, I received a call with the opportunity of taking all the team, individual, and action photos for a little league type baseball league. Now I am scrambling to get this done and find myself back at smugmug!
I was grandfathered in at the old rate but after I canceled, I imagine I will have to cough up $30 more dollars if (more like when) I re join. :cry
Is it too late to great grandfather me in?!?!
Anyway, I wanted to explore my options and found zenfolio so then I searched dgrin and found this thread. I actually felt awkward reading it because this is the "home" of smugmug! What I found refreshing is the way the smugmug crew has handled this and responded to various posts. THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE TRUE PROFESSIONALS WE ARE DEALING WITH HERE.
Thanks again,
Brian
Hi Brian, I fixed your account back and credited you the $50 so you are at $99.95 per year, the olde grandfathered rate.
Hmmm, well to be fair about it, I did my own tests with Flock on both my Zen & Smug sites using the same exact galleries. Zenfolio was always faster. Not by a staggering amount mind you, but still faster. Also, Zen had more of a work load because there are more thumbs per page & more requests to execute, bigger files, etc.
I tested about 5 galleries, but here are a couple (High-Res Warning):
And the impression of Zen does make it seem like it loads much faster & Smug makes itself look slower than it really is. Like, the Smug "loading" animated graphic in the top left of the page makes it seem slower because most people wait on that to go away before they start browsing the gallery, etc. Zen doesnt have anything like that.
Hmmm, well to be fair about it, I did my own tests with Flock on both my Zen & Smug sites using the same exact galleries. Zenfolio was always faster. Not by a staggering amount mind you, but still faster. Also, Zen had more of a work load because there are more thumbs per page & more requests to execute, bigger files, etc.
I tested about 5 galleries, but here are a couple (High-Res Warning):
And the impression of Zen does make it seem like it loads much faster & Smug makes itself look slower than it really is. Like, the Smug "loading" animated graphic in the top left of the page makes it seem slower because most people wait on that to go away before they start browsing the gallery, etc. Zen doesnt have anything like that.
Thanks for that testing Kerry - very interesting to look at. Based on those number you would assume it was about a wash from a speed perspective - but then as you mention the Zen page was loading more thumbs.
Am I the only one not using this Flock browser?
Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. - George Bernard Shaw
Thanks for that testing Kerry - very interesting to look at. Based on those number you would assume it was about a wash from a speed perspective - but then as you mention the Zen page was loading more thumbs.
Am I the only one not using this Flock browser?
Thanks. Yeah, I dont use it much since its basically a clone of FF. Firefox is not really all that great for Mac since its a direct port-over from the PC version, so its not really "made for Mac". Therefore, it doesnt take advantage of a lot of Mac components, like the Keychain. But, the extensions are pretty rad.
I will give it a try Andy - thanks. I am a big FF fan and have used it almost exclusively for over a year.
Does Flock offer some advantages over FF or IE for the viewing of photos?
Flock is another mozilla based-browser being developed in parallel to Firefox.
Flock pitches itself as the social browser, it has support built-in for blogging and photo sharing out of the box (only flickr and photobucket by default).
Since I do a fair bit of extension development, I need to restart my browser quite often, so I use multiple browsers...and I have settled on Flock as my main web surfing browser.
I have been working on a SmugMug photo service for Flock, which I hope to release at some point.
Yes - good point Yolanda - that is big. Allowing users to create features that can integrate with Zenfolio functionality. I know that is a big selling point for Smugmug as well.
And there is already an outside application available that allows some integration of the Zenfolio platform with Apple's Aperture program. This is available from the main Zenfolio site right now.
Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family. - George Bernard Shaw
1. Cover photos can be assigned to groups
2. Visitors can now do searches based on All of Zenfolio or just one photographer.
These are the only two new features I've noticed so far.
Yeah, kinda weak update. Seems like more of a "small stuff we've been meaning to get around to" update. I was expecting custom priced prints, but cant complain too much. They have really been working hard & churning along nicely.
Although, I do like the new folder look, the search your own gallery instead of all of Zenfolio, and putting hyperlinks into text without using any html code. Wish RSS feeds were sitewide though instead of only galleries or Recently Added/Featured items.
I'm frustrated with both Smugmug and Zenfolio
After hours of reading opinions on the various photo sharing site (much on this fine forum), I decided it was a close contest between Smug and Zen. I've posted albums on iWeb and find that easy, but I wanted to enter more of the public realm. I'm attracted to the backup aspect of outside storage too.
I decided that the best way to choose was to take advantage of the free trials at both sites and to post the same photos at each site. I downloaded the plugins for both sites to work right out of Aperture. I found both services to be surprisingly and equally slow to upload with broadband.
I'm a complete newbie at photo sharing sites, so these are raw impressions I have about each of the services. I uploaded to Zen first. I found the customization tools pretty easy to use, but it seems they have much less to offer than this site for making your pages look unique.
On the plus side for Zen, I like the dynamic placement of thumbnails based on the size of window you have for your browser. The first gallery allowed me to view my photos in a slideshow and it was sweet. I like the disappearing control panel at the bottom. We Mac folk are used to that with our docks, but that could confound people not used to controls going away.
I also think Zen's pages are much cleaner looking, even on the construction pages. I liked that the message to invite viewers was right there when I got my files uploaded. That's woefully absent on Smug's site. After much hunting and dead results by using the search function, even in tutorials, in frustration I clicked on "Share this photo" and sent it to myself. Problem is I cannot get into my gallery with that link, only to the photo. What am I doing wrong? Where is your invite email function? I put a password on the site so I need to notify my recipients how to get into my gallery. Zen's invite was already set up with the necessary information, not blank.
The big bust for Zen is that when I added photos for my second gallery, it completely disabled my whole site. I can no longer get into my photos over there. In fact, I couldn't get a contact us form to send from their site for over three hours. Once I got it sent off, they did respond within an hour. They said they can see my photos just fine and wanted to know what browser I'm using (Safari 2.0.4). It worked fine at first, but now it won't on my tower or my laptop.
That failure was about enough to tip the scale completely to Smug for me until I started having issues over here. Now I can't see my photos here either. I think I need to call it a night!
At first the gallery displayed for me, but I clicked on Slideshow and was never able to see it in that format. I left it loading for over half an hour. I just had the silly grin rolling around all that time. I would never expect anyone to hang out that long to see my photos.
I'm going to restart my computer and start from scratch getting on both sites again to see if that helps.
On the plus side for Smug, I'm so impressed with the tutorials and help that is available on this forum. I love the wacky structure of this company and the philosophy you all have for serving your customers. I see none of that human, personal touch on the Zen site.
I'm still on day one of my trial period on both sites. I wish it hadn't turned into this big of a TRIAL.
Now I can't see my photos here either. I think I need to call it a night!
We can help. You probably have something set in Safari that's blocking the Ajax parts of our site (and Zenfolio, too). Have you tried with Firefox, btw?
Hi, Andy
I'm back after a restart and that seemed to clear up problems on both sites. I probably had my computer in meltdown mode. I'd been pushing pretty hard with multiple programs this weekend.
I just tried both sites on the slideshow and the Zen site is blazing fast compared to this site. Indeed, on the one or two second setting on Zen, I can't even read all of my comments. I do like the look of Smug's slideshow, now that it worked for me. It's displaying a larger photo and the comments are nicely boxed and easy to read. The problem is speed. Even on the lowest setting, it's taking about ten seconds to load a photo. On my Smug homepage, the photos in a smaller size whiz by fast.
I still can't see where I go to send out an invitation to my photos. Can you point that out to me and then I'm going to call it a night. I've still got 13 days to sort through the pros and cons of each service.
I must say that I appreciate the free exchange of ideas that I've read on this thread concerning your competitor. It shows Smug to be a class act and makes being here very appealing to me.
Hi, Andy
I'm back after a restart and that seemed to clear up problems on both sites. I probably had my computer in meltdown mode. I'd been pushing pretty hard with multiple programs this weekend.
I just tried both sites on the slideshow and the Zen site is blazing fast compared to this site. Indeed, on the one or two second setting on Zen, I can't even read all of my comments. I do like the look of Smug's slideshow, now that it worked for me. It's displaying a larger photo and the comments are nicely boxed and easy to read. The problem is speed. Even on the lowest setting, it's taking about ten seconds to load a photo. On my Smug homepage, the photos in a smaller size whiz by fast.
We're redoing slideshow, it's actually something that's in the works now. You can expect more speed
I still can't see where I go to send out an invitation to my photos. Can you point that out to me and then I'm going to call it a night. I've still got 13 days to sort through the pros and cons of each service.
I must say that I appreciate the free exchange of ideas that I've read on this thread concerning your competitor. It shows Smug to be a class act and makes being here very appealing to me.
In your gallery, there's a "share" button. Try it
Holler back for help, we'll be here. I'm in NY so I'm crashing now, but will be online in the morning
I used the Share button eventually. What put me off about it is that it says "Share Photo" not "Share Gallery" or "Invite Viewers".
I used the slideshow function again and discovered that if I use the arrow key on my keyboard, I can speed up the rendering quite significantly. I'll just pass that information onto my viewers.
I'm off to nighty night time now too! I wish I could stay home tomorrow and play on the computer, but that will have to wait until I'm done with work.
Zenfolio just sent me some spam with their latest features.
Blecch. I hate spam. Another reason why smugmug rocks!
Spam?? Please, David. I would HARDLY call a feature update email from a service you pay good money for "spam". And I can think of TONS of requests from SM users for exactly this sorta thing, instead of relying on a forum to get the word out. Not every SM member comes here you know. Am I wrong??
Besides, you can turn off email updates in the Zenfolio preferences.
Spam?? Please, David. I would HARDLY call a feature update email from a service you pay good money for "spam". And I can think of TONS of requests from SM users for exactly this sorta thing, instead of relying on a forum to get the word out. Not every SM member comes here you know. Am I wrong??
Besides, you can turn off email updates in the Zenfolio preferences.
SmugMug sends out announcement messages in your control panel. I wouldn't mind an opt-in email from zenfolio. But I never opted in, AFAIK.
I'm trying to decide in favor of Smug but votes are coming in for Zen
I've posted the same set of photos on SmugMug and Zenfolio for my free trial period. This is my first venture into photo sharing outside of iWeb or posting on a forum. I've sent out invitations to people I email regularly and also on another forum I belong to with a request that people look at both services and give me their impressions.
I know I want the outcome to be that people like Smug best because each opinion favoring Zen makes me cringe just a little bit and leaves me wanting to defend Smug. As the original poster on this thread asked, how do I counter the comments and show that Smug is the superior service?
Here are some of the comments that have come in thus far:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the error I got when trying Smugmug. The other service worked fine. "The macloyal.smugmug.com web site is down or has currently reached it's limit for concurrent connections."
All of us here still think that zen takes the cake after viewing both sites with all their respective options.
I first went in to the Zenfolio site and it was very easy to navigate the pictures enlarged very easily. I was able to access it without using the password and once in I browsed around and found it easy to use. I also tried the slide show and was able to advance the photos at will using the right and left arrows. SmugMug, however, was very slow to load and especially the slide show mode. Just based on those alone I liked the Zenfolio site better.
Zenfolio gets my vote!* Didn't ask for a password though.*I had to go there twice to see any photos but got the gallery and a nice slideshow. Smug wouldn't let me in without a password then after arguing with me it wouldn't give me a gallery at all.* The slideshow was OK but lacked the smooth transitions of Zen.* I wanted to look for my gun when I got the awfully depressing Smug Homepage: all black.* My PC didn't need to have brightness adjusted.
I have seen SmugMug and have considered it for their professional side for my photo business - so I am biased from the start. I do like the Zenfolio site for the custom background you were able to use. Does it allow for the same password protection? That alone might be enough to sway to use the SmugMug site. I like that feature.
SmugMug required me to have cookies on and I don't like that.
I like the Smug site because your photos were brighter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm hoping to get more feedback. I looked at both of my sites on my office partner's Mac and was pleased with the look and speed of both sites. Since I've been working with the sites, I've discovered the hidden menus and the extra controls that aren't obvious to first time users so I was able to zip through adjustments that other new users don't know exist.
My purpose in joining is to give easier access and more distribution of my digital images. If the I keep hearing from friends and colleagues that they prefer Zenfolio, it makes it harder for me to land here. Please give me some encouragement and selling points.
I can't really debate all of those comments, but I have a question: did the Zenfolio site have a password as well? It sounds like you had a pw on smug only, and that it caused confusion.
Smug vs. Zen
I'm glad you asked. I went back to check and sure enough, I hadn't made that gallery have a password. I've rectified that now. I don't know why Smug "argued" with my one friend. I sent him another email request to try it once more. I pointed out the drop down menu on the top right that will allow him to change the black background to white.
I've gone into my settings and put up a custom background now. I thought I'd done both of those things when I created the gallery. Thanks for making me look again. I thought it was a quirk of this site.
macloyal.smugmug.com
0
BaldyRegistered Users, Super ModeratorsPosts: 2,853moderator
edited April 26, 2007
Hi Macloyal,
That's a really interesting comparison. Many thanks for making it and posting here. We're fascinated, as you can imagine.
The problem with not getting through...is that person from Arizona by chance? This has popped up in the last few days and we're trying to narrow it down. There's no doubt it's an ISP with a routing problem somewhere. The last time it happened was to Comcast customers in South Florida some months ago for a few days. It happens to all sites but if we narrow it down to the ISP, we can report it and they'll fix it.
We hear about black backgrounds occasionally, but more often positive than negative. People say photos look better or brighter on black, but a few don't like it. It's in your control.
Don't hear about cookies much. That's for the password.
The big thing is slideshow and we're working hard on some big improvements there. Zenfolio's is nicer to a lot of eyes than ours at the moment, although it doesn't go full-screen and the transitions are pretty jumpy when the photo gets large. Hopefully you'll see a great slideshow from us in the future.
Comments
I would agree with you on the speed of answer on e-mails to Zen support - most of my replies have been within the hour or just an hour or two at the most.
LTNS - how's every little thing? Nice to see you again!
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
Yes - LTNS - things are well. And it looks like you have really settled in over here quite well. Good for you - Smugmug is a great service and you and your counterparts are obvisouly setting high standards for support of a service like this one.
Don't you ever just want to go back to "that other site with a black theme" and talk about chromatic abberation? Come on - you know you do!
Jared
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
The results showed that the SM gallery I choose loaded around 9-12 sec on average, while Zenfolio loaded between 18-22 secs.
caution...large images
SM screenshot
Zenfolio screenshot
SmugMug API Developer
My Photos
The speed differences between Zenfolio and Smugmug may be based more on perception than hard numbers - as maybe your test shows. I think that is definitely a possibility.
Your tests are not what I would call a baseline of either site however. The reason that I say that is you are using a Macintosh system and using the Flock browser......hardly standard equipment for people viewing galleries on either site.
I would be curious to see similar tests using Firefox and/or IE on a Windows based machine.
Glad you are staying!
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
I tested about 5 galleries, but here are a couple (High-Res Warning):
Smug Test #1
Zen Test #1
Smug Test #2
Zen Test #2
And the impression of Zen does make it seem like it loads much faster & Smug makes itself look slower than it really is. Like, the Smug "loading" animated graphic in the top left of the page makes it seem slower because most people wait on that to go away before they start browsing the gallery, etc. Zen doesnt have anything like that.
Thanks for that testing Kerry - very interesting to look at. Based on those number you would assume it was about a wash from a speed perspective - but then as you mention the Zen page was loading more thumbs.
Am I the only one not using this Flock browser?
Give it a try, won't hurt a bit
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
I will give it a try Andy - thanks. I am a big FF fan and have used it almost exclusively for over a year.
Does Flock offer some advantages over FF or IE for the viewing of photos?
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
Its Safari or Camino for me.
Flock is another mozilla based-browser being developed in parallel to Firefox.
Flock pitches itself as the social browser, it has support built-in for blogging and photo sharing out of the box (only flickr and photobucket by default).
Since I do a fair bit of extension development, I need to restart my browser quite often, so I use multiple browsers...and I have settled on Flock as my main web surfing browser.
I have been working on a SmugMug photo service for Flock, which I hope to release at some point.
Cheers,
David
SmugMug API Developer
My Photos
http://zenfolio.blogspot.com/2007/03/zenfolio-api-released.html
Yes - good point Yolanda - that is big. Allowing users to create features that can integrate with Zenfolio functionality. I know that is a big selling point for Smugmug as well.
And there is already an outside application available that allows some integration of the Zenfolio platform with Apple's Aperture program. This is available from the main Zenfolio site right now.
FYI, new features have been added to ZF:
1. Cover photos can be assigned to groups
2. Visitors can now do searches based on All of Zenfolio or just one photographer.
These are the only two new features I've noticed so far.
Although, I do like the new folder look, the search your own gallery instead of all of Zenfolio, and putting hyperlinks into text without using any html code. Wish RSS feeds were sitewide though instead of only galleries or Recently Added/Featured items.
After hours of reading opinions on the various photo sharing site (much on this fine forum), I decided it was a close contest between Smug and Zen. I've posted albums on iWeb and find that easy, but I wanted to enter more of the public realm. I'm attracted to the backup aspect of outside storage too.
I decided that the best way to choose was to take advantage of the free trials at both sites and to post the same photos at each site. I downloaded the plugins for both sites to work right out of Aperture. I found both services to be surprisingly and equally slow to upload with broadband.
I'm a complete newbie at photo sharing sites, so these are raw impressions I have about each of the services. I uploaded to Zen first. I found the customization tools pretty easy to use, but it seems they have much less to offer than this site for making your pages look unique.
On the plus side for Zen, I like the dynamic placement of thumbnails based on the size of window you have for your browser. The first gallery allowed me to view my photos in a slideshow and it was sweet. I like the disappearing control panel at the bottom. We Mac folk are used to that with our docks, but that could confound people not used to controls going away.
I also think Zen's pages are much cleaner looking, even on the construction pages. I liked that the message to invite viewers was right there when I got my files uploaded. That's woefully absent on Smug's site. After much hunting and dead results by using the search function, even in tutorials, in frustration I clicked on "Share this photo" and sent it to myself. Problem is I cannot get into my gallery with that link, only to the photo. What am I doing wrong? Where is your invite email function? I put a password on the site so I need to notify my recipients how to get into my gallery. Zen's invite was already set up with the necessary information, not blank.
The big bust for Zen is that when I added photos for my second gallery, it completely disabled my whole site. I can no longer get into my photos over there. In fact, I couldn't get a contact us form to send from their site for over three hours. Once I got it sent off, they did respond within an hour. They said they can see my photos just fine and wanted to know what browser I'm using (Safari 2.0.4). It worked fine at first, but now it won't on my tower or my laptop.
That failure was about enough to tip the scale completely to Smug for me until I started having issues over here. Now I can't see my photos here either. I think I need to call it a night!
At first the gallery displayed for me, but I clicked on Slideshow and was never able to see it in that format. I left it loading for over half an hour. I just had the silly grin rolling around all that time. I would never expect anyone to hang out that long to see my photos.
I'm going to restart my computer and start from scratch getting on both sites again to see if that helps.
On the plus side for Smug, I'm so impressed with the tutorials and help that is available on this forum. I love the wacky structure of this company and the philosophy you all have for serving your customers. I see none of that human, personal touch on the Zen site.
I'm still on day one of my trial period on both sites. I wish it hadn't turned into this big of a TRIAL.
We can help. You probably have something set in Safari that's blocking the Ajax parts of our site (and Zenfolio, too). Have you tried with Firefox, btw?
Holler to our helpdesk, we'll get you sorted, no problem: http://www.smugmug.com/help/emailreal
Thanks for trying us out, and welcome
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
I'm back after a restart and that seemed to clear up problems on both sites. I probably had my computer in meltdown mode. I'd been pushing pretty hard with multiple programs this weekend.
I just tried both sites on the slideshow and the Zen site is blazing fast compared to this site. Indeed, on the one or two second setting on Zen, I can't even read all of my comments. I do like the look of Smug's slideshow, now that it worked for me. It's displaying a larger photo and the comments are nicely boxed and easy to read. The problem is speed. Even on the lowest setting, it's taking about ten seconds to load a photo. On my Smug homepage, the photos in a smaller size whiz by fast.
I still can't see where I go to send out an invitation to my photos. Can you point that out to me and then I'm going to call it a night. I've still got 13 days to sort through the pros and cons of each service.
I must say that I appreciate the free exchange of ideas that I've read on this thread concerning your competitor. It shows Smug to be a class act and makes being here very appealing to me.
Holler back for help, we'll be here. I'm in NY so I'm crashing now, but will be online in the morning
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
I used the Share button eventually. What put me off about it is that it says "Share Photo" not "Share Gallery" or "Invite Viewers".
I used the slideshow function again and discovered that if I use the arrow key on my keyboard, I can speed up the rendering quite significantly. I'll just pass that information onto my viewers.
I'm off to nighty night time now too! I wish I could stay home tomorrow and play on the computer, but that will have to wait until I'm done with work.
Blecch. I hate spam. Another reason why smugmug rocks!
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Besides, you can turn off email updates in the Zenfolio preferences.
SmugMug sends out announcement messages in your control panel. I wouldn't mind an opt-in email from zenfolio. But I never opted in, AFAIK.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
I've posted the same set of photos on SmugMug and Zenfolio for my free trial period. This is my first venture into photo sharing outside of iWeb or posting on a forum. I've sent out invitations to people I email regularly and also on another forum I belong to with a request that people look at both services and give me their impressions.
I know I want the outcome to be that people like Smug best because each opinion favoring Zen makes me cringe just a little bit and leaves me wanting to defend Smug. As the original poster on this thread asked, how do I counter the comments and show that Smug is the superior service?
Here are some of the comments that have come in thus far:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the error I got when trying Smugmug. The other service worked fine. "The macloyal.smugmug.com web site is down or has currently reached it's limit for concurrent connections."
All of us here still think that zen takes the cake after viewing both sites with all their respective options.
I first went in to the Zenfolio site and it was very easy to navigate the pictures enlarged very easily. I was able to access it without using the password and once in I browsed around and found it easy to use. I also tried the slide show and was able to advance the photos at will using the right and left arrows. SmugMug, however, was very slow to load and especially the slide show mode. Just based on those alone I liked the Zenfolio site better.
Zenfolio gets my vote!* Didn't ask for a password though.*I had to go there twice to see any photos but got the gallery and a nice slideshow. Smug wouldn't let me in without a password then after arguing with me it wouldn't give me a gallery at all.* The slideshow was OK but lacked the smooth transitions of Zen.* I wanted to look for my gun when I got the awfully depressing Smug Homepage: all black.* My PC didn't need to have brightness adjusted.
I have seen SmugMug and have considered it for their professional side for my photo business - so I am biased from the start. I do like the Zenfolio site for the custom background you were able to use. Does it allow for the same password protection? That alone might be enough to sway to use the SmugMug site. I like that feature.
SmugMug required me to have cookies on and I don't like that.
I like the Smug site because your photos were brighter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm hoping to get more feedback. I looked at both of my sites on my office partner's Mac and was pleased with the look and speed of both sites. Since I've been working with the sites, I've discovered the hidden menus and the extra controls that aren't obvious to first time users so I was able to zip through adjustments that other new users don't know exist.
My purpose in joining is to give easier access and more distribution of my digital images. If the I keep hearing from friends and colleagues that they prefer Zenfolio, it makes it harder for me to land here. Please give me some encouragement and selling points.
I can't really debate all of those comments, but I have a question: did the Zenfolio site have a password as well? It sounds like you had a pw on smug only, and that it caused confusion.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
I'm glad you asked. I went back to check and sure enough, I hadn't made that gallery have a password. I've rectified that now. I don't know why Smug "argued" with my one friend. I sent him another email request to try it once more. I pointed out the drop down menu on the top right that will allow him to change the black background to white.
I've gone into my settings and put up a custom background now. I thought I'd done both of those things when I created the gallery. Thanks for making me look again. I thought it was a quirk of this site.
That's a really interesting comparison. Many thanks for making it and posting here. We're fascinated, as you can imagine.
The problem with not getting through...is that person from Arizona by chance? This has popped up in the last few days and we're trying to narrow it down. There's no doubt it's an ISP with a routing problem somewhere. The last time it happened was to Comcast customers in South Florida some months ago for a few days. It happens to all sites but if we narrow it down to the ISP, we can report it and they'll fix it.
We hear about black backgrounds occasionally, but more often positive than negative. People say photos look better or brighter on black, but a few don't like it. It's in your control.
Don't hear about cookies much. That's for the password.
The big thing is slideshow and we're working hard on some big improvements there. Zenfolio's is nicer to a lot of eyes than ours at the moment, although it doesn't go full-screen and the transitions are pretty jumpy when the photo gets large. Hopefully you'll see a great slideshow from us in the future.
Thanks again and keep the info coming!
Baldy