[Wingincamera]

For the past 15 years or more I have been using Zenfolio. They have a limited free account, but I use the paid account, none commercial. You can set up a commercial account with your own domain name and sell products if you want.
https://wingincamera.zenfolio.com/

[runswithsizzers]

Hmmm, interesting. I guess there is a benefit to paying for a "Pro" Flickr account. I never see any advertisements. "...learn something new everyday!" :-D

True, joining Flickr would eliminate the adds for me, but there is no way I am going to ask each of my friends and family members to sign up just to see my photos. That would be crass. Much better for me to pay SmugMug, and all my viewers get in hassle free.

Oops! I did not understand how it works when I wrote the above. Apparently if I have a Flickr Pro account, then no one will see any adds whether they have a Flickr account or not?

And is it also true that if you have a Pro account, then you will not see any adds if viewing the Flickr albums of non-pro members?

I've kept Photobiz for my entry & portfolio site since 2009 and added Photoshelter for Event, Download and Client Proof Galleries. Plus a No Ads WordPress blog. All have their strengths. It is a business for me.

[david94903]

I use Flickr primarily. Pro account, no ads.

[photolady95]

I use flickr, pro account, grandfathered in, no price increase so far. No ads either.

[runswithsizzers]

David94903, photolady95, and R. Wethereyet,
I just checked out your Flickr "Pro" pages and did not see any ads. Good!

Pro members must be in the minority, however, because I have seen far more Flickr albums with ads than without. Based on my more general experience, I had almost quit clicking on any Flickr links because I assumed they would all have ads.

However, there is another Flickr issue I would like to know more about. Whenever your Flickr home page loads, a box pops up in the lower right corner of my screen which says:
"Never miss another post from David94903 (or photolady95, or D.Spence). Sign up with Yahoo or Sign In"

So, I click the "x" to close the pop-up window. But, if I click on one of your albums, and scroll down a bit to read your caption or comments, the same box pops up again. And when I go back to your home page, the same box pops up again. These pop-ups are a distraction from viewing your photos and they quickly become annoying. I would say this is the worst kind of advertising because Flickr keeps nagging your viewers to sign in - which would require them to create a Flickr account, right? User name, email, and password - just the kind of hassles I would not want my viewers subjected to.

Is this behavior something that Flickr Pro users can control? That is, can you turn off these annoying pop-up windows on your Flickr pages?

[R. Wethereyet]

True, joining Flickr would eliminate the adds for me, but there is no way I am going to ask each of my friends and family members to sign up just to see my photos. That would be crass. Much better for me to pay SmugMug, and all my viewers get in hassle free.

Oops! I did not understand how it works when I wrote the above. Apparently if I have a Flickr Pro account, then no one will see any adds whether they have a Flickr account or not?

And is it also true that if you have a Pro account, then you will not see any adds if viewing the Flickr albums of non-pro members?

Good to know - Thanks for looking into that and sharing the information!

Is this behavior something that Flickr Pro users can control? That is, can you turn off these annoying pop-up windows on your Flickr pages?

I will have to look at that this evening and then let you know what I find out,

[normhead]

I use flickr, I use Photobucket for things I don't want messing up my flickr account. I used to pay Photobucket, then they tried a cash grab and i ditched them as paid service, recently upgrading to flickr Pro.

The unlimited photos I regularly post at 2650x1600, the size of my editing monitor so people can see what I see. Now I'm going 4k and want the right to increase to that size when I desire. Size and easy access , and the affordability of the Pro option, did it for me.

I have software to create web pages, and can create a Smugmug type account on my own domains, anytime I want. To mw flickr is the perfect ease of use, but still pro quality compromise.

[david94903]

However, there is another Flickr issue I would like to know more about. Whenever your Flickr home page loads, a box pops up in the lower right corner of my screen which says:"Never miss another post from David94903 (or photolady95, or D.Spence). Sign up with Yahoo or Sign In"So, I click the "x" to close the pop-up window. But, if I click on one of your albums, and scroll down a bit to read your caption or comments, the same box pops up again. And when I go back to your home page, the same box pops up again.

I only get that box if I'm not logged it. Once I log in, it never appears. One thing I like about Flickr is that I can have my public pictures (which are what you saw) but also private family pictures, which family members can view, download, print, etc. Since I have family spread out all over, this is a nice way to share pictures without exposing everything on a regular social media site. This is pretty easy to manage, though periodically, via operator error, I'll notice a family picture accidentally ends up on my public page.

[runswithsizzers]

I only get that box if I'm not logged it. Once I log in, it never appears. One thing I like about Flickr is that I can have my public pictures (which are what you saw) but also private family pictures, which family members can view, download, print, etc. Since I have family spread out all over, this is a nice way to share pictures without exposing everything on a regular social media site. This is pretty easy to manage, though periodically, via operator error, I'll notice a family picture accidentally ends up on my public page.

SmugMug also provides a complete set of contols over who can see, download or buy images in an album, and whether the albums are public or private, with or without a password.

But SmugMug does not force my viewers to decide which is worse - having that window popup everytime they look another one of my albums - or the hassle of creating an account just so they can look at my photos in peace.

Several member have said they hope Flickr doesn't become more like SmugMug, but as a SmugMug user I would be very unhappy if SmugMug adopted Flickr's practice of using my photos as bait to agressively recruit more Flickr members.

[jab2980]

I use Smugmug to host my site and have been extremely happy with them. Print sales go smoothly, and editing the site is pretty easy to do. I tried Squarespace in the past, but I wasn't able to customize it in the way I needed. I also tried out Zenfolio, but will never even consider them in the future as they used dishonest tactics in an attempt to retain me when I tried to cancel their service after signing up for a trial. I've used Flickr since 2007, but haven't kept up with it much in 2018 so far. Sumgmug has been great though - they still push through some pretty important improvements that we request from time to time (FINALLY added https), and their customer support can't be beat. The only issue is that my web design needs a lot of help, so hopefully it doesn't reflect poorly upon them!

[aaacb]

I use flickr because it's easy to link and download full resolution, you can restrict the maximum resolution shown to others,and it has clear licensing options when you upload. I post regularly on Instagram but I don't view it as photo storage.

[Take-5-JB]

I use Photoshelter with my own domain name. I looked at Zenfolio and Smugmug. Hard choice as each have good things and flexibility. Don't know about the others. Search and compare to find what fits your needs.

JB