# Smugmug Advice



## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

I have two days left of the trial version and so far I'm not too impressed.  If you have a Smugmug would you please post your site?  Mine is pretty boring looking and I'm hoping it's just because I don't know how to organzie it to my liking.  Hopefully someone has something that looks more than a page with a few pictures on it .

Anyways, here's mine:
www.forevereverphotography.com

Thanks for the help everyone.


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## HikinMike (Dec 15, 2009)

Sure, if you click on my signature and find the 'Gymnastic' gallery you can see my Smugmug portion of my website. Unfortunately the gallery itself is password protected. I can tell you that you can totally customize your site. I bet you can't tell the difference between my Smugmug site and my "regular" website.


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

Thanks Mike.  Is that entire site Smugmug or just the gymnastics gallery?  I'm looking for something kind of like that.  I just can't figure out how to manipulate my sight away from what it is.  I thought I was stuck with the layout I have now.


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## Goontz (Dec 15, 2009)

Well what aren't you impressed about? It sounds like your complaints are having to do more with how you've set it up or not adding enough pictures on it more so than any problem with smugmug itself. For example, you can also add things like slide shows, featured photos, communities, etc on your page rather than just your bio. 

Having your own domain, complete with flash and what not might look a lot better to you and be more customizable, but there's also a lot more to it than something as easy as smugmug. I guess that's a personal decision.


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

I guess it does sound like I'm complaining.  I'm really not though.  More upset at myself for not figuring out how to use this darn thing.  I grew up with myspace so this should be no problem lol.  I'm just looking to see what kind of things can be done with Smugmug is all.


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## HikinMike (Dec 15, 2009)

indeedies said:


> Thanks Mike.  Is that entire site Smugmug or just the gymnastics gallery?  I'm looking for something kind of like that.  I just can't figure out how to manipulate my sight away from what it is.  I thought I was stuck with the layout I have now.



Only my Gymnastic stuff is run through Smugmug. I had to customize my Smugmug home page to look exactly like my 'regular' home page website.

Here's my Smugmug home page: Atwater CA - Landscape, Nature, Wildlife & Inspirational Photography

and my regular home page: Atwater CA - Landscape, Nature, Wildlife & Inspirational Photography

A small difference, but it's close enough for me. The point is....you can totally customize your site to make it what ever you want.


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## Goontz (Dec 15, 2009)

I gotcha, and I didn't mean to say that you're complaining or whining or anything. Stuff like that just takes a good bit of tinkering and exploring options to get it to you liking usually. For what it's worth, I'll post my smugmug, but I just have the standard account for right now so there isn't as much that I can or have done to it. For the time being at least, it's more of just a personal storage and hosting solution for me.  kguenter's Photos

I prefer to display the categories (rather than galleries), and then grouping the actual galleries within there. I've recently been playing with and trying different ways of grouping/organizing myself. I also recently added the slideshow to randomize through my photos.


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

Awesome site Mike!  Do you have the pro version you have?  I currently have the power version or the second best one that costs $60.   For that price I was hoping for a bit more customization like yours.  If that's the case I'll buy what I have and work some more at it.

And no worries Kevin.  You're site looks pretty good for the standard account.  It looks better than mine that's for sure lol


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## Goontz (Dec 15, 2009)

The "Power Account" does allow for things like custom banners, so I suspect with a little more tweaking, you can get your site looking more like you want. You can also always upgrade to the professional account at any time if you ever decide to go that route (from the looks of it, they pro-rate the annual amount when you upgrade).


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## Guido44 (Dec 15, 2009)

Dan Farina Photography.com

I hope that does something for you.  ??

Dan


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

Guido44 said:


> Dan Farina Photography.com
> 
> I hope that does something for you. ??
> 
> Dan


 
That is exactly the style I'm looking for!!  Do you use the professional account or the power account?


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## Goontz (Dec 15, 2009)

Nice example and site, Dan.


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## HikinMike (Dec 15, 2009)

indeedies said:


> Awesome site Mike!  Do you have the pro version you have?  I currently have the power version or the second best one that costs $60.   For that price I was hoping for a bit more customization like yours.  If that's the case I'll buy what I have and work some more at it.
> 
> And no worries Kevin.  You're site looks pretty good for the standard account.  It looks better than mine that's for sure lol



Thanks! I have the Pro version, but the 'only' difference in appearance wise is I can eliminate the "powered by Smugmug footer stuff". I have a friend that has the Power version and I helped him set up his Smugmug site. Here's his gallery: Old Lonely Wolf Photography - Alessandro Martinelli- powered by SmugMug


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

Awesome!  Thanks so much guys.  I had no idea the things you can do with this.  I heard that Smugmug was a popular choice to showcase your work and I was just about to cancel what I have and go learn code to make my own.  I feel much more relieved now.

Appreciate the help from everyone!


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## indeedies (Dec 15, 2009)

Thanks! I have the Pro version said:


> Old Lonely Wolf Photography - Alessandro Martinelli- powered by SmugMug[/URL]


 
And by the way, do you have to know code or html or java or something else to do that?  If so is it hard to learn or can a couple of basic commands get me what I want?


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## HikinMike (Dec 15, 2009)

indeedies said:


> And by the way, do you have to know code or html or java or something else to do that?  If so is it hard to learn or can a couple of basic commands get me what I want?



It helps, but there are a lot of members that can help you. If you haven't seen these, take a look: SmugMug Customization - Digital Grin Photography Forum


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## Ham1 (Dec 16, 2009)

indeedies said:


> Awesome!  Thanks so much guys.  I had no idea the things you can do with this.  I heard that Smugmug was a popular choice to showcase your work and I was just about to cancel what I have and go learn code to make my own.  I feel much more relieved now.
> 
> Appreciate the help from everyone!



Hi there,

Just hang in there, it takes a little time to get used to!   We have a really good tool to allow you to do customization quickly.  Go to your homepage you will see a "tools" button with Easy customizer there, click it!  http://img.skitch.com/20091216-w6cj77nt4e5bj927xpud1h346.jpg

There you will find how to quickly change the color of your site, remove things you don't like, add things you do like etc.

If you want a slideshow on your homepage, you can do that with two button clicks.  Just scroll to your "homepage" button and click on "Slideshow" http://img.skitch.com/20091216-ptmquwqdwhwmyh3cdiagayj2u9.jpg

We'll get you there!

Markham


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## Goontz (Dec 16, 2009)

^ Also goes to show they have great support! Nice, Marham.


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## indeedies (Dec 16, 2009)

Ham1 said:


> indeedies said:
> 
> 
> > Awesome! Thanks so much guys. I had no idea the things you can do with this. I heard that Smugmug was a popular choice to showcase your work and I was just about to cancel what I have and go learn code to make my own. I feel much more relieved now.
> ...


 
Thanks Markham.  And I saw last week that you were offering discounts for Smugmug.  Is that still going on by chance?


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## Ham1 (Dec 16, 2009)

> Thanks Markham.  And I saw last week that you were offering discounts for Smugmug.  Is that still going on by chance?



We abruptly expired all 50% off coupons so I wanted to let people know that I would honor them for two weeks more.  Those two weeks have passed now 

I would however still honor any request I get via PM for the rest of this year.


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## digital flower (Dec 17, 2009)

The Lonely Wolf is a really nice site. Well done  :thumbup::thumbup:

I signed up for a smugmug pro account and I am pretty happy with them. My site is till under construction but you can visit it here:

Digital Flower Pictures.com

Since my domain was changed to smugmug about a week ago i have had several sales and made enough to pay for the account for a year so the rest is profit (maybe 2010 is the year I get that 24-70 2.8 ). Some of the traffic has been coming from smugmug, which is nice.

I would love to hear any criticism on my site and how to change it for the better.


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## fiveoboy01 (Dec 17, 2009)

Guido44 said:


> Dan Farina Photography.com
> 
> I hope that does something for you. ??
> 
> Dan


 
Dan, 

Loving your pics of the RC airshow.  I flew RC for quite a few years, brings some memories back.  I especially like the tandem shots with the giant-scale biplane.  Nice job:thumbup:


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## Guido44 (Jan 9, 2010)

> Loving your pics of the RC airshow. I flew RC for quite a few years, brings some memories back. I especially like the tandem shots with the giant-scale biplane. Nice job



Thanks, that was a lot of fun shooting that show. My RC club is much more modest. 

I'm actually waiting on a new electric RC plane specifically designed for shooting ariel photos. Should be a fun summer.

Here's a You Tube video I put together just for kicks.

Dan


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