# Experience with www.smugmug?



## roxysmom (May 21, 2007)

Has anyone had experience with www.smugmug.com?  Another photographer recommended it to me.  I'm looking for a place I can post my pictures for weddings so family/friends can order prints.  If anyone has experience with this one or another similiar site will you let me know?


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## dewey (May 21, 2007)

I gave them a try a while back but their servers are very S-L-O-W.

It was too painful to me, which is a shame because the pro service itself is pretty neat.  In addition to integrate it into your website as they say is "so easy" really takes a hardcore knowledge of web coding... not for the faint of heart. 

I wish they would upgrade their infrastructure - then I might reconsider them.


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## woodsac (May 21, 2007)

I've been a smugmug "Pro" user for about 1.5 years now. Not a single complaint from me. Outside of planned outages, I can only recall two or three very short interruptions. Even the planned down time is minimal. Usually for maintenance, and late at night.

Last I checked, they were using ezprints for all of their prints. Very respectable company. I've done a lot of business with them in the past. Although I primarilly use mpix now. I don't let customers order prints directly from smugmug for one reason...quality control. If there is an issue with the quality or amount of prints ordered, the customer is on their own. If I place the order, I can inspect each image before passing it to the client.

As a Pro user, you have quite a few custom options. I haven't spent too much time behind the scenes, but you can look around if you want.
www.around395.com


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## onethumb (May 22, 2007)

dewey said:


> I gave them a try a while back but their servers are very S-L-O-W.
> 
> It was too painful to me, which is a shame because the pro service itself is pretty neat.  In addition to integrate it into your website as they say is "so easy" really takes a hardcore knowledge of web coding... not for the faint of heart.
> 
> I wish they would upgrade their infrastructure - then I might reconsider them.



Hi dewey,

I'm a co-founder, CEO, and Chief Geek at SmugMug. 

I hate to disagree with you, but the problem doesn't lie with our infrastructure.  We spend a massive amount of time, energy, and money making sure our site is fast - and the results are crystal clear. Note that those results are a 3rd party, not affiliated with SmugMug in any way, and sample millions of browsers all over the planet.

Bottom line:  We're faster than any of our competition.

That doesn't change your situation, though, of course.    I'd love to figure out why we don't feel fast to you, because I'm sure there must be other people out there in your boat.  

Would you mind sharing some details about your PC, web browser, and internet connection so we can see if it's something we can fix?

Thanks!

Don


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## coastietech (May 22, 2007)

I am currently looking into starting an account there but I am know curious as to how hard it is to create a webpage. I have no prior webpage experience and have no code knowledge. How hard is it going to be for me to set up my own page?


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## woodsac (May 22, 2007)

Joe, it all depends on how much you want to customize your page?

The only thing special I've done (that's really noticeable) is the addition of a slide show on the main page. With a little bit of reading in the smugmug forums, they had all the answers already mapped out. I have zero knowledge of CSS and java. But if you spend the time to read, and ask questions when you're stuck, they are there to help.


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## Chiller (May 22, 2007)

I have been on smugmug for a few months now, and would recommend it to anyone.  It is very user friendly, and the tech help is some of the best I have seen online.  
   I am a power user, and have created a small place where people can see my stuff that are not on the forums, and they have never had any complaints about moving around it.  

  Id say give it a try.. 


:thumbup: :thumbup:


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## dewey (May 22, 2007)

Thanks for the reply Ron... perhaps my smug mug trial landed during a bad period with your service?  I come from an IT background, so it wasn't my error... it wasn't connection specific or browser specific.  I saw poor performance on PC and on my Mac.  My images are all saved optimized for the web, so that's not the issue.

I'm sure you know if you Google something along the lines of smugmug and slow the results speak for themselves.  My case is not an isolated one.

Nearly the same page hosted on another service took less than 10 seconds, while my smug mug page took almost 45 seconds every time.

It is good of you to show support for your product, and if the claims you make are true perhaps I should give you another try.  I don't however think you should act like you've had good hosting all along... at one point it was awful.

Anyway glad to hear of the improvements. :thumbup:


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## boomersgot3 (May 22, 2007)

I am new here but have to say I love smugmug. I have never had a problem with them loading slow at all. And my computer is 8 years old. I only wish they would come up with a way to ban people from right clicking on images. Maybe when you right click and save it saves a different image then the one you think. That is the only reason I don't use it for proofing sessions. 

Everyone has a different view on things! )


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## onethumb (May 22, 2007)

boomersgot3 said:


> I am new here but have to say I love smugmug. I have never had a problem with them loading slow at all. And my computer is 8 years old. I only wish they would come up with a way to ban people from right clicking on images. Maybe when you right click and save it saves a different image then the one you think. That is the only reason I don't use it for proofing sessions.
> 
> Everyone has a different view on things! )



We have exactly the feature you want, and have had it for something like 5 years.  

If the feature is giving you problems, email us, and we'll give you a hand.  It's probably our fault for not making it clear enough!

Thanks,

Don


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## boomersgot3 (May 23, 2007)

onethumb said:


> We have exactly the feature you want, and have had it for something like 5 years.
> 
> If the feature is giving you problems, email us, and we'll give you a hand.  It's probably our fault for not making it clear enough!
> 
> ...



I just have the basic account so maybe that is why I never noticed it. Thank you for pointing that out!!


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## OttawaPhotog (Jun 12, 2007)

spam alert... spam alert....  lol


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## lisalisa (Jul 31, 2007)

boomersgot3 said:


> I am new here but have to say I love smugmug. I have never had a problem with them loading slow at all. And my computer is 8 years old. I only wish they would come up with a way to ban people from right clicking on images. Maybe when you right click and save it saves a different image then the one you think. That is the only reason I don't use it for proofing sessions.
> 
> Everyone has a different view on things! )



I agree, I HATE it when people steal your photos and try to pass it off as their own. It doesn't get them anywhere and they will ALWAYS be caught, no matter which forum(s) they go to and what they change their user names to.


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## MandyMC (Jul 31, 2007)

boomersgot3 said:


> I am new here but have to say I love smugmug. I have never had a problem with them loading slow at all. And my computer is 8 years old. I only wish they would come up with a way to ban people from right clicking on images. Maybe when you right click and save it saves a different image then the one you think. That is the only reason I don't use it for proofing sessions.
> 
> Everyone has a different view on things! )



Weird that you feel that way, Candace. Or is it Haylee? Posters beware...


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