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Custom Url hassle when making new galleries.

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    mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    pilotdave wrote: »
    Andy didn't get snippy until after he left smugmug. :D

    Any hint of what the big projects are (aside from prettying up the shopping cart, of course)?

    Dave

    Ha, not snippy at all :D Just trying to lay out a realistic answer for this. Don't want to tell the OP and Anna Lisa that we are working on it, when I know good and well it's not going to get changed anytime soon. I could easily keep the charade going, but that won't work in the long run. I am trying to be more transparent here! thumb.gif

    BTW, I did confirm this IS the desired flow. When you first create your new account, or just log in and want to upload your initial batch of photos, you don't want 100 different options, you just want to upload. If you want the full gamet, it is right next door in the organize button.

    This new news adds to the reality that this most likely won't change. I apologize.
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    mbonocore wrote: »
    Ha, not snippy at all :D Just trying to lay out a realistic answer for this. Don't want to tell the OP and Anna Lisa that we are working on it, when I know good and well it's not going to get changed anytime soon. I could easily keep the charade going, but that won't work in the long run. I am trying to be more transparent here! thumb.gif

    BTW, I did confirm this IS the desired flow. When you first create your new account, or just log in and want to upload your initial batch of photos, you don't want 100 different options, you just want to upload. If you want the full gamet, it is right next door in the organize button.

    This new news adds to the reality that this most likely won't change. I apologize.
    I think what you're not noting is: When do 99% of people want to create a gallery? When they're Uploading! I mean, "initial batch of photos"? People are uploading galleries-full hour by hour. And like I said, what are the two very most important tools you have on a photo site? Yup, Creating Galleries and Uploading. How many people would really want those two items split into two separate functions? And who would ever want the box with very few options (not even the Custom URL) to be in the handiest spot (where you're Uploading)? These are the very first tools to face a SmugMugger. Seems like a pretty rotten place to smack them with a badly designed tool that they wanted to use every day.
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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    guyguy Registered Users Posts: 191 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    mbonocore wrote: »

    BTW, I did confirm this IS the desired flow. When you first create your new account, or just log in and want to upload your initial batch of photos, you don't want 100 different options, you just want to upload. If you want the full gamet, it is right next door in the organize button.

    This new news adds to the reality that this most likely won't change. I apologize.

    Michael I can see the reason to have a simpler quick upload method but then it should be labeled as such. Something like "Simple Upload" or "Quick Upload" so that people like me might realize there is another option & I don't start making galleries without the options I want. Going back & changing the custom url after I've publicized the gallery isn't a good option.

    My final 2 cents on this!
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    guy wrote: »
    Michael I can see the reason to have a simpler quick upload method but then it should be labeled as such. Something like "Simple Upload" or "Quick Upload" so that people like me might realize there is another option & I don't start making galleries without the options I want. Going back & changing the custom url after I've publicized the gallery isn't a good option.

    My final 2 cents on this!
    Yeah, that custom URL change is ridiculous. And at the very very least, these two different Create Gallery boxes should call the Gallery Title the same thing. Either Gallery Name or Gallery Title. Keep it consistent... enough other stuff is freakin' confusing enough.
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    Yelp, in the quick upload create gallery the nice-name does not show. This is pretty important
    when you're adding long gallery names.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    LPCLPC Registered Users Posts: 481 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    Anna Lisa and Allen, just out of interest, have either of you migrated yet? Are you working on your new websites or are you staying put for now? Allen I think you must be working on yours but Anna Lisa, I take it you are not?
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    LPC wrote: »
    Anna Lisa and Allen, just out of interest, have either of you migrated yet? Are you working on your new websites or are you staying put for now? Allen I think you must be working on yours but Anna Lisa, I take it you are not?
    I haven't yet, still waiting for the keywords to be fixed. Almost 25% of mine are busted. Also cleaning up
    100's of gallery descriptions so they work on new site.

    Things I could apply to multiple places now have to be done on every individual page. I've
    been spending a minimum five hours a day working on it.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    LPCLPC Registered Users Posts: 481 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    I haven't yet, still waiting for the keywords to be fixed. Almost 25% of mine are busted. Also cleaning up
    100's of gallery descriptions so they work on new site.

    Things I could apply to multiple places now have to be done on every individual page.

    Ah ok, thanks Allen. I was under the impression you had migrated but not unveiled.
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    LPC wrote: »
    Ah ok, thanks Allen. I was under the impression you had migrated but not unveiled.
    Oh, I migrated when first offered and spending lots of time fixen everything.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    LPCLPC Registered Users Posts: 481 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    I've been spending a minimum five hours a day working on it.

    Wow! eek7.gif

    My site is incredibly simple (as intended) but I had migrated and finished it completely in less than five hours! Took a few more weeks before I was happy to unveil though.

    I look forward to seeing yours in the weeks or months to come.
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    LPC wrote: »
    Wow! eek7.gif

    My site is incredibly simple (as intended) but I had migrated and finished it completely in less than five hours! Took a few more weeks before I was happy to unveil though.

    I look forward to seeing yours in the weeks or months to come.
    Most of mine are documentary type photos of all my birding trips and getting all the links set so it's easy
    to jump around has been a bear on the new site. I'm trying to emulate my old site so it'll act basically
    the same. So other then the prettiness nothing has really changed.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    LPC wrote: »
    Anna Lisa and Allen, just out of interest, have either of you migrated yet? Are you working on your new websites or are you staying put for now? Allen I think you must be working on yours but Anna Lisa, I take it you are not?
    Nope. I haven't begun to "go there" yet. I've been looking at others' sites (somewhat), reading the forums, looking at the customization stuff, trying to think through organization. When I have a bigger chunk of time, I'll do a 2-wk trial to feel it out, but when I do that I really want a lot of time to mess with it. Then I'll have to tidy up a bunch of stuff on Legacy (per Allen's advice) before I lose access to certain things or get tangled up in some of the as-yet-unfixed NewSmug bugs. (and gee, maybe if I'm lucky they'll all be fixed by then!) thumb.gif Most of my pre-switching issues will be related to keywords, smart galleries, etc. I'm really hoping I can stay on Legacy until they fix the Ascending/Descending/Manual Sort Bug / No Option that exists on NewSmug and with migrating over, because I too have a massive site and re-ordering hundreds & hundreds of galleries by hand??? Good grief. No. :cry Can't even bear to think about that work. I have so many galleries where the order is important... ugh.

    I'm impressed by some looks on NewSmug, and have seen lots of good stuff with people's customized sites (esp some shown-off in the "Customization" forum. But SmugMug style galleries have a lot of weird-looking oddities imho (& lots of others agree, I see). I hope they change them. The collage stuff is nice, but also has issues. I hate how much it's prejudiced against vertical photos, & wish there was the option of a whole different algorithm there. (like a true collage) and that there could be more space between photos. I also hate how all the tools are charcoal w/ white or grey. For me, that's very hard on the eyes, & I'm sorry but it depresses me. I hate the charcoal grey everywhere else too, like in 99% of the SmugMug style galleries I've seen... just really sick of it...so boring. Navigation is really strange on some sites too, but I don't know yet if that's because of people not thinking it through very well or a Smug problems. I've ended up suddenly off people's sites or not being able to get back to a page I was just on, or not seeing breadcrumbs, etc. Hope I can figure it out. I really truly hate re-learning where/how/what to do on a site. It's just not where I want to spend my time. It'll take me hours & hours too... I can tell you that for sure... before I'd ever get to the point of unveiling. ANyway, that's where I'm at. Thanks for asking!
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2013
    Nope. I haven't begun to "go there" yet. ...
    You lose nothing by migrating as long as you don't unveil.
    Just log out to view the legacy site. Or log in and do things like you do now. You
    might have to click the box at the top of the new site to switch to legacy but once
    switched it should be held in cookie.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    I'd like to chime in to say that, wow, even after all of my years on internet forums, I'd be hard pressed to remember any posts more ignorant than those made by Andy in this thread. I'm seriously blown away.

    I encountered this thread earlier this week because I tried to create a new gallery and couldn't find a spot to type in the "nice name". I had to head over here to Dgrin, run a search, and seek out my solution. Little did I know that there were two completely different ways to create galleries. Had it not been previously discussed here, it would have taken me way longer to figure it out, if I did at all. If "pointless and time-consuming design" isn't considered a bug, it should be. The fact that a member of SM staff described this as a feature is... well... I can't think of an adequate, negative adjective for that right now.

    It's been mentioned in this thread that the New SM trial lasts for two weeks. Is this true? God, I sure hope not. I don't recall seeing any such warning when I decided to preview.

    Before I renew, I will definitely downgrade my account. SM will not get any more money from me than they already do. Why? Because of the things that are brought up in threads like this. They may seem small, but the small things count. I've already passingly looked into alternatives, and the more I read here and the more I try to customize my site, the more I'm leaning towards leaving.

    And to top it all off, from what I gather, my feedback here will be ignored.
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    You lose nothing by migrating as long as you don't unveil.

    Except the ability to create galleries as you did in Legacy. All my new gallery creations, while I preview, get put under the totally professional category "Smug Preview" when viewed from the Legacy site. I don't know how other photographers operate, but I create new galleries for my clients on a daily basis, while I don't, on a daily basis, have several hours to set aside to customize a completely new interface. So the change in functionality while previewing is not appreciated.
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    LPCLPC Registered Users Posts: 481 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    I've already passingly looked into alternatives, and the more I read here and the more I try to customize my site, the more I'm leaning towards leaving.

    Is the website in your signature a smugmug site? It doesn't look like it.
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    ... All my new gallery creations, while I preview, get put under the totally professional category "Smug Preview" when viewed from the Legacy site... .
    I do all my content changes on legacy, uploads, photo gallery creations, editing captions, gallery
    descriptions, keywords, etc. The only "galleries" I create on NewSmug are "pages". Pages like
    replacing my guestbook which is basically the old legacy "text/html" page. These do fall in the category
    "Smug Preview" but I ignore them on legacy.

    Legacy is still stand alone and you can go on with your business as if nothing happened. I do toggle to
    NewSmug and make changes on legacy for things like tags in gallery description and captions so the
    formatting works in NewSmug.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    I do all my content changes on legacy, uploads, photo gallery creations, editing captions, gallery
    descriptions, keywords, etc.

    I did not notice that I could make changes on legacy while previewing. That's what I'll do for now. Thank you!
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    mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    guy wrote: »
    Michael I can see the reason to have a simpler quick upload method but then it should be labeled as such. Something like "Simple Upload" or "Quick Upload" so that people like me might realize there is another option & I don't start making galleries without the options I want. Going back & changing the custom url after I've publicized the gallery isn't a good option.

    My final 2 cents on this!

    Now THAT is a great idea! I will submit that. Thanks Guy!
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    mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    The collage stuff is nice, but also has issues. I hate how much it's prejudiced against vertical photos, & wish there was the option of a whole different algorithm there. (like a true collage) and that there could be more space between photos. I also hate how all the tools are charcoal w/ white or grey. For me, that's very hard on the eyes, & I'm sorry but it depresses me. I hate the charcoal grey everywhere else too, like in 99% of the SmugMug style galleries I've seen... just really sick of it...so boring.

    You realize all this is customizable. You really should come migrate and join the fun thumb.gif

    I too was confused about your 2 week thoughts. You can migrate today and build your new SmugMug site until your heart is content. We are not turning off Legacy anytime soon Anna Lisa, so you could come start building without affecting your Legacy site.
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    mbonocorembonocore Registered Users Posts: 2,299 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    I did not notice that I could make changes on legacy while previewing. That's what I'll do for now. Thank you!

    Heya Tom,

    Nope, no 2 week window. You have alot of time to build that site out without affecting your Legacy site. Let me know if you have any questions!
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    I did not notice that I could make changes on legacy while previewing. That's what I'll do for now. Thank you!

    Looks like I spoke too soon. I can't create new galleries in legacy, because, for some reason, it's trying to create them with an old subcategory url.

    I want to add a gallery here: http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Realestate

    But when I create a new gallery through legacy (so it doesn't get forced into "Smug Preview"), it wants to create that new gallery under this URL instead: http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Your-Real-Estate-Photos. I used that address about a year ago, but since I had changed it, that URL is obviously no longer valid.
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    mbonocore wrote: »
    Heya Tom,

    Nope, no 2 week window. You have alot of time to build that site out without affecting your Legacy site. Let me know if you have any questions!

    Whew, good to know there's no 2 week window!
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    Looks like I spoke too soon. I can't create new galleries in legacy, because, for some reason, it's trying to create them with an old subcategory url.

    I want to add a gallery here: http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Realestate

    But when I create a new gallery through legacy (so it doesn't get forced into "Smug Preview"), it wants to create that new gallery under this URL instead: http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Your-Real-Estate-Photos. I used that address about a year ago, but since I had changed it, that URL is obviously no longer valid.
    Go to the folder/sub-cat you want the gallery (http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Realestate) in
    and create it there. Create it then go directly to gallery settings. If it doesn't have the correct sub-cat
    select it in the drop. See if that works.

    It looks like it's the same place, one showing the nice-names maybe? Link vs breadcrumb
    http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/realestate
    thatonesummer > Client Galleries > Your Real Estate Photos
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    Go to the folder/sub-cat you want the gallery (http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/Realestate) in
    and create it there. Create it then go directly to gallery settings. If it doesn't have the correct sub-cat
    select it in the drop. See if that works.

    It looks like it's the same place, one showing the nice-names maybe? Link vs breadcrumb
    http://galleries.thatonesummer.com/Client/realestate
    thatonesummer > Client Galleries > Your Real Estate Photos

    Sorry, I meant that it happens when I *try* to create a new gallery.

    Indeed, I go to the subcategory I want the gallery to appear in to try and create a new gallery. However, I can't actually create it. I'll type in my information and click "Save", and the page will sort of reload and won't go anywhere, and no gallery is created. I'm *assuming* that this is caused by it trying to use an invalid URL.
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    Sorry, I meant that it happens when I *try* to create a new gallery.

    Indeed, I go to the subcategory I want the gallery to appear in to try and create a new gallery. However, I can't actually create it. I'll type in my information and click "Save", and the page will sort of reload and won't go anywhere, and no gallery is created. I'm *assuming* that this is caused by it trying to use an invalid URL.
    If you are on the sub-cat page all you need to do is add a gallery name in. The cat and sub-cat should
    be picked up automatically.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    thonsuthonsu Registered Users Posts: 64 Big grins
    edited September 14, 2013
    Allen wrote: »
    If you are on the sub-cat page all you need to do is add a gallery name in. The cat and sub-cat should
    be picked up automatically.

    Yeah, they are picked up automatically, but they are also picked up incorrectly (i.e., "...Client/Your-Real-Estate-Photos" instead of "...Client/Realestate").

    Whatever the cause, I can't create a new gallery because the "Save" button takes me nowhere.
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2013
    thonsu wrote: »
    Whew, good to know there's no 2 week window!
    It's the trial account that's got a two-week limit. I was thinking of messing around w/ the New Smug under a different email so that I wouldn't have all the migration problems that so many have had & could try stuff w/o the problem of stuff in one site screwing up stuff in the other. But no, we don't know how long Legacy will be around. We can only guess, and we don't even know if SmugMug gurus know!
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2013
    mbonocore wrote: »
    Now THAT is a great idea! I will submit that. Thanks Guy!
    WhY?? In light of this quote from Thonsu that you evidently didn't see (and so many other insightful posts here that describe perfectly all the issues with the two VERY DIFFERENT gallery creation boxes), I can't figure out why you (or anyone) would be so dead-set against simply proposing that they just place the same exact kind of Gallery Creation boxes in 2 (or more) different spots. The quote was, "I encountered this thread earlier this week because I tried to create a new gallery and couldn't find a spot to type in the "nice name". I had to head over here to Dgrin, run a search, and seek out my solution. Little did I know that there were two completely different ways to create galleries. Had it not been previously discussed here, it would have taken me way longer to figure it out, if I did at all. If "pointless and time-consuming design" isn't considered a bug, it should be. The fact that a member of SM staff described this as a feature is... well... I can't think of an adequate, negative adjective for that right now."

    And that, btw, is only one of 5 or more posts we've already seen (before or concurrent with) this thread with similar questions about Gallery Creation. What/how/where/why questions. As I keep saying, what are the 2 most crucial things we do on this site? Yes. Upload & Create Gallery. There are no tools more critical. If anything at all is smooth or bug-free, it should absolutely be those 2 tools. And by bug-free, I mean painless, quality, simple, clear, one-step, and UI-tested by we the users who use these daily & often hourly. If they are not painless, they should be changed, fixed, replaced, whatever. Look how happy we would all (gurus included) be if we never had or saw another confused-user question about those 2 tools. Seriously. We keep talking, but I really still don't think you're getting it. There are already enough freakin' Uploading weirdnesses... we could really do w/o the Create Gallery ones.
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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    WinsomeWorksWinsomeWorks Registered Users Posts: 1,935 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2013
    mbonocore wrote: »
    You realize all this is customizable. You really should come migrate and join the fun thumb.gif

    I too was confused about your 2 week thoughts. You can migrate today and build your new SmugMug site until your heart is content. We are not turning off Legacy anytime soon Anna Lisa, so you could come start building without affecting your Legacy site.
    I haven't seen any of the stuff I'm talking about get successfully customized. Lots of complaints about the collage issues I mentioned but no solutions yet, as far as I can tell. Just read posts yesterday about spacing, & they can't find a solution. And If those color things are customizable, it seems I'd see some of that too? I may have seen white, but I pray that's not it. Even all the screenshots posted in these threads-- the tools are all charcoal grey/black. The Smug-style galleries are all charcoal grey that I've seen. They all look the same to me. Heck, even DGrin has 2 choices now: grey/black or white. Both are horrible on the eyes. I used to have a medium-color choice. It was an odd color, kinda yellow, but at least it was much more eye-friendly. But it's gone. (yeah, I know that came long before NewSmug) And the navigation in Smug-style galleries is bizarre, & comment box is moved to the right, which is already stacked w/ stuff, so no one ever knows that box is even there.

    Beyond all that "appearance" stuff... there are just so many issues that would screw up my galleries if I migrate them now. I haven't seen any ways to fix them once that process starts, because you don't migrate twice. Yeah, I could add galleries evidently, but whatever crosses over now & doesn't cross over correctly, isn't going to get fixed when a fix for that particular bug happens, right? Because it'll already be migrated. Fixes rolled out later will only affect the not-yet-migrated galleries. (biggest time-consumers would I think be the ascending/descending problem, which will re-order most of my galleries-- NO THANKS) keywords getting broken in so many ways, Smart Galleries' multiple issues, case-sensitive issues... gosh, need I go on? Every Thurs. night I think, OK, they'll use the window... get a buncha stuff fixed. But the biggies for me could evidently persist for a long while, scary as that is. The ascending/descending thing actually kinda shocks me...that it wasn't thought through first & you'd break so many gallery orders over such a stupid thing. Don't get me started on the case-sensitive...
    Anna Lisa Yoder's Images - http://winsomeworks.com ... Handmade Photo Notecards: http://winsomeworks.etsy.com ... Framed/Matted work: http://anna-lisa-yoder.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html ... Scribbles: http://winsomeworks.blogspot.com
    DayBreak, my Folk Music Group (some free mp3s!) http://daybreakfolk.com
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