Need opinion on Galleries...

BeemerChef · July 12, 2008

OK... this, to me anyhow, is a bit complicated. I'll explain.
2 years on the road later I have a bit over 10,000 pictures stored in about 300 Galleries. I had "started" the nightmerish task of selling T shirts and Mouse Pads myself... first of all, do not make that mistake!... but I am going to use SmugMug Store for all that including prints.
I can hide all the Galleries... and only show the photos that can be used... in various categories maybe?... like my Dog, maybe by States?... I don't know!... it is kind of a mess... an organized mess.
Too much choice is not good for the readers... right?
And... can google still find the photos if they are hidden?...
What would you do?
Be well... Ara & Spirit

gus · July 13, 2008

BeemerChef wrote:

I can hide all the Galleries...

Thats really confusing to the reader...did you mean to write:

.. "CAN i hide all the Galleries "

denisegoldberg · July 13, 2008

I would recommend organizing the galleries differently rather than hiding them.

I don't know if you have the display set to galleries or categories since it appears that you have everything assigned to the Travel category. Well, there might be some galleries elsewhere, but every one I touched is in travel.

My recommendations are intertwined - I would display categories, not galleries (help page at http://www.smugmug.com/help/arrange-albums if you need it). I would also recommend re-categorizing your galleries - without doing that switching to categories as the display organization only pushes the problem down a level.

You could either leave the bulk of the galleries in the Travel category and then add some subcategories, or you could create your own custom categories - and still use the subcats. If it were me, I'd probably create my own categories with additional subcategories as needed. That would give your viewers a more reasonable way to enter your galleries. Right now, showing all of your galleries on entry to your site is more than a little overwhelming.

You're right, your galleries are all about travel. But there's no reason why Travel has to be the top level category. Even splitting by state at the top level would help (although I suspect that still won't be a small enough category unless you also have some reasonable subcategory use).

Also - there are some galleries that could be pulled from travel entirely - your Sunsets and Sunrises gallery, your Spirit, my buddy galllery. Museums galleries could be pulled, as could - well, I suspect there are others.

If you'd like to see an example of the use of subcategories, you can look at my Travel galleries. I obviously do a lot less traveling than you do - but my Travel galleries are arranged by trip, with the most recent showing first. Within each trip I have subcategories to split the galleries further.

I have chosen to not use smug's category displays because I wanted larger thumbs. Beyond that, I'm starting to combine travel sub-categories into another level because I believe that I am currently showing too many things at the top level. That's a work in progress, and currently involves using html-only galleries as opposed to the smug category displays. I'm not recommending that you go this far, just explaining why my displays look a bit different.

Also - given the number of galleries you are presenting to the user at once, have you considered displaying the galleries 4-across instead of 2-across? It would at least minimize scrolling on the first page.

The 4-across code is from #10 in the advanced customization FAQ - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52811. You can also get the galleries to spread across the screen, see this sticky - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=93221.

I hope this helps a little...

--- Denise

BeemerChef · July 14, 2008

Sorry for the late Thank You, I was into some Canyons with no Internet!:D
I am going to have to read your post a few times, I makes a lot of sense... I am just slow understanding...
By the way... this is the link you where looking for... I am so slow... appologies.
Very kind of you to take the time for all that info. Just too many pictures...
Be well... Ara & Spirit

denisegoldberg · July 14, 2008

BeemerChef wrote:

Sorry for the late Thank You, I was into some Canyons with no Internet!:D
I am going to have to read your post a few times, I makes a lot of sense... I am just slow understanding...
By the way... this is the link you where looking for... I am so slow... appologies.
Very kind of you to take the time for all that info. Just too many pictures...
Be well... Ara & Spirit

Ah - I should be jealous of where you and Spirit are wandering, sounds wonderful.

I'm following Joff's journey too - in his crazyguyonabike journal at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/joff1.

After you have a change to digest my ramblings - I'm here if you want to bounce some ideas around.

--- Denise

BeemerChef · July 14, 2008

No rambling! It is precious information... I don't see anyone else replying...

You can also follow Joe here... OK... so he is not going around the world but cross country on.... roller blades!!! I met him after he was going up a 14% grade for a few miles.... Keep in mind that his photos are with a cell phone!!!

Will start deciphering all tomorrow... oh!!! I sold my first 3 pictures!!! Too funny...

Be well... Ara & Spirit

caroline · July 15, 2008

Hello Ara,
I looked at your original post and site but couldn't offer any advice however I'm sure Denise will continue to assist you. I did notice that you have originals enabled on some of your galleries, haven't looked at all of them, not a good idea as you are selling your work.

What a fantastic life you and Spirit are having, I will continue to follow your travels, good luck and best wishes,
Caroline

BeemerChef · July 15, 2008

caroline wrote:

Hello Ara,
I looked at your original post and site but couldn't offer any advice however I'm sure Denise will continue to assist you. I did notice that you have originals enabled on some of your galleries, haven't looked at all of them, not a good idea as you are selling your work.

What a fantastic life you and Spirit are having, I will continue to follow your travels, good luck and best wishes,
Caroline

Ah! so it is good for the originals to show... that makes sense...I am going to get to all this in a few minutes... I hope mt brain does not fry in the meantime.
SmugMug has been cool with this....
You have no idea how much help all this is... its BIG!
Be well... Ara & Spirit

caroline · July 15, 2008

Ara, It is NOT good to have originals enabled, it means people could steal your full size images instead of paying for them. Turn off originals in your gallery customization. Watermarking your images would also be a very good idea. I hope someone else chips in here to confirm what I am saying.

Caroline

BeemerChef wrote:

Ah! so it is good for the originals to show... that makes sense...I am going to get to all this in a few minutes... I hope mt brain does not fry in the meantime.
SmugMug has been cool with this....
You have no idea how much help all this is... its BIG!
Be well... Ara & Spirit

AnneMcBean · July 15, 2008

Hi Ara!

Looks like you'll definitely want to put your galleries in more appropriate categories.

After looking at your site a little, it seems as though you'd want to organize things by either location (state or region) or time (month, most likely).

Of course you can also have an extra category or two that are for your favorite shots of Spirit, or other galleries that don't fit into a specific time period or location.

So here's what I envision your site looking like:

Homepage: List of categories including "On the Road - July 2008" "Back in Texas - May 2008" "Traveling through Winter 2008" etc. Or just "July 2008" "May 2008" "Winter 2008" or just "Texas" "California" "Arizona" etc.

Click on any category and you'll be taken to the galleries and subcategories in that category.

That way, your homepage is faster to load and it's easier to find the gallery you're looking for.

The easiest way to recategorize lots of galleries is to use SmugBrowser: http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=47484 .

I hope that helps! Holler if you have any more questions.

-Anne

BeemerChef · July 15, 2008

Thank you... I am working on it right now!!!
It is somehow difficult for me to understand things such as this... kind of like a Diesel Mechanic that has worked 100 hrs a week for 40 years and suddenly is asked to prepare a 9 course 5 Star dinner... I cannot even do my own "watermark" if I wanted to... I have no clue what a layer is... I read and read and read some more and it is like... dah!!!
But I will get there... I know with all your help would be a shame to not! I think my idea is to be more "selective" in the photos... and at the same time I am really not a Pro Photographer! meaning, some photos are barely passable, but they are needed for my readers to see where we have been, good pictures or not!... So I have to decide what I would like to show... and maybe both! Some of the best ones... and then the rest portraying our routes... The best ones being maybe the ones some will buy... for fuel and tires!:D
Maybe a Category of "favorites" with subs of Spirit, Nature...
And one Category "The Journey" with subs of "time frame and States"... areas...
Aie! Aie! Aie!... as I tell myself... of course wishing I had started this mess correctly two years ago!
OK... back to the drawing board... it is starting to make sense...
Be well... Ara & Spirit

BeemerChef · July 15, 2008

So now of course I am looking at "the well done" sites!!! Wow...
I wonder if SmugMug ever thought about having someone for hire!... it would be so much easier... on a income sliding scale of course!!!:D
No... I am not gicing up... it is just so complicated...
OK... back to it!!!
Be well... Ara & Spirit

denisegoldberg · July 15, 2008

If you want to add a watermark, you might try grabbing a copy of Gimp. Yes, it's free, available at http://www.gimp.org/ (unless of course you already have a copy of photoshop or something equivalent). There is a tutorial on creating a watermark at http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1690196.

Once you decide on the structure you want, it really shouldn't take that long to change the categories and subcategories on your galleries. Anne's recommendation on using SmugBrowser for that was a good one. It will make that change much faster.

And Caroline was absolutely right - make sure that none of your galleries allow (display) access to the originals. The original will still be used for printing (or other products), but protect it so people can't download it for free.

--- Denise

BeemerChef · July 15, 2008

denisegoldberg wrote:

If you want to add a watermark, you might try grabbing a copy of Gimp. Yes, it's free, available at http://www.gimp.org/ (unless of course you already have a copy of photoshop or something equivalent). There is a tutorial on creating a watermark at http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1690196.

Once you decide on the structure you want, it really shouldn't take that long to change the categories and subcategories on your galleries. Anne's recommendation on using SmugBrowser for that was a good one. It will make that change much faster.

And Caroline was absolutely right - make sure that none of your galleries allow (display) access to the originals. The original will still be used for printing (or other products), but protect it so people can't download it for free.

--- Denise

It seems that is is going to take a while... I am trying to move first 186 Galleries into a new Category called "My Journey"... but "quick setting" does not do it... and I cannot get the SmugMug browser... so it is one Gallery at the time...

I already have a headache now!!!:D

Be well... always.
Ara & Spirit

Need opinion on Galleries...

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