[Coeurdechene]

Use wordpress...get a domain name (it's cheap...) and a hosting (not too expensive either).
It's easy to use, free, open source and well documented, and if you want to sell pictures you can download the e-commerce plugin for free.
Compare prices...and then chose...wordpress gets some time to master but there are tons of documentation out there on how to tweak it..and you can start with a free "plantilla" (mm like a model page, easily customizable from the backend).
Tons of plugins, info and space to grow are it's main features.
Hope you find what you need, and let us know when it's done to check it out.

[sholtzma]

To be honest, I am inclined toward a site such as Zenfolio or Smugmug. But when I examine custom websites using either of their platforms, I find the same problem I mentioned earlier in this thread to Jenn: square formats that squash either horizontal or vertical rectangular shots. Am I missing something? Or is there some reason why galleries (using that term generically) have to be presented in squares?

I assume, using Wordpress, that I could shape my site in a way that avoided such squares, yes?

[zero656]

you can use joomla, i have a site for a photo course im taking tfad.tk, check it out, if you like it, pm me so i can give you all the instructions

[Coeurdechene]

Using wordpress you can set up a fairly basic web in no time..there are free and paying designs too..
here you got some of the free examples:
26 Free Wordpress Photo Gallery Themes | [Re]Encoded.com
You can download 2 or 3 and look how the part of handling the photos is coded. If not you will probably find a free theme that will suit you.

[Miguel]

square formats that squash either horizontal or vertical rectangular shots. Am I missing something?

With Smugmug you have the option to configure your thumbnails as either square or their original aspect ratio. I chose the latter, but some folks really like the clean squared off look. Perhaps those are the only ones you have seen.

I've been with Smugmug for the past seven years, and had my site customized two years ago by a graphics professional. It was relatively easy to do and is easy to maintain and tweak.

Unless you are technically astute in photo website design to begin with, I would recommend a canned or customizable site like Smugmug or Zenfolio. My job and passion is photography and I let others use their talents for web design. Lightroom integrates with Smugmug (perhaps Zen too, I don't know) rather seamlessly now too.

I've evaluated other solutions over the years, it really depends on what you aim to accomplish. Some sites offer stronger marketing services like Photoshelter. Others are free but pummel your visitors with cheesy advertising. I don't mind paying to avoid ads that compete with my viewers' attention spans.

Pbase has been around a longer time, but lots of folks have been leaving. Their interface I find kludgy and the performance is too slow.

Smugmug customer service is outstanding. It's a family run business. And they upgrade the site with new services and functions all the time. It's imperfect (for example, you cannot order kids sports cards via Bayphoto) but it's so easy.

M

[BirdDude007]

I am currently a graphic design student and am learning how to build a portfolio site through Dreamweaver, so right now it is looking like it will be published through GoDaddy and so I am thinking of getting my domain through them and having them host my site, so stay tuned and I will post a link to my new site when it is ready

[YossarianKL]

Have you looked at all at squarespace? Very easy to setup and you can then get under the hood when you feel more comfortable.
I recently opened a smugmug account to feed part of my squarespace site and add the ability to sell my photos down the road. I have found the two different beasts with different purposes.
I initially thought about going wordpress and hosting through somebody but seemed to me like a lot of signing up at different sites and self maintenance.
I got my domain initially from network solutions and bought an addition one through godaddy when they were running a sale. Squarespace made all the other issues (hosting, maintenance, and security) less if a hassle because it is all there. Smugmug does this too and both have excellent customer service.
If your thinking about setting up a blog, squarespace can handle that. If your thinking about selling your photos, then smugmug.

[layfsphoto]

Zenfolio Lab company is outstanding and FAST. Im not a fan of the home pages but the ability to sell images online and price them where you want is MONEY. Unless your a PRO web designer this is the site i would use.

[slip]

this is what I use for my websites and it is free

simpleview.net

and here is the support to run it from picasa
SimpleViewer Picasa Template
here is a link to my site with it in use
SimpleViewer Gallery

I never used it with picasa, but if you need help let me know and I will help

good luck

randy

[pb_red]

as you can see there are a ton of options out there. however, when i was looking i narrowed the choices down to flickr pro, smugmug, and zenfolio.

i hate the flickr UI so that was out immediately. when i compared smugmug and zenfolio i picked the site that worked best for me - and this will differ person to person.

the bottom line is that many sites give you a free option and allow you to upgrade from there so i suggest doing that. get yourself a free site and see how you like it.
also, check out other people's sites and see which ones you like best and which elements you will want to mimic.

good luck!

[figmental1978]

I run my site with wordpress.org with a domain and free webhosting from 000freewebhost. I have a flickr pro account where I store my photos and link to and from my blog so use minimal hosting space so I spend about $35 a year.

[mysticcowboy]

If you can use a service like Zenfolio and are happy with it, that's the easiest. If you want your own domain name and something personalize, then I'll be the third or fourth to recommend Wordpress. I was a web designer for 12 years and worked on over two hundred sites. Towards the end of my career I steered most of my small clients to Wordpress. It doesn't require you to learn the ins and outs of web design, is easy to maintain and is free. You still have to pay for hosting.

Many web hosting companies have one click installation of the Wordpress software at no extra charge. I use Site5.com but others like Godaddy.com offer the same service. One word of advice about Godaddy. They will try to up sell you from their basic services. Don't do it. They're almost always a waste of money.

The other good thing about Wordpress is that its popular enough that there are tons of tutorials on the web as well as books and videos. Support it good. For an example check out this Phototuts article, "How to create a photography site with Wordpress."

Some people will tell you that Wordpress is only for blogging. That's not so. You can make galleries and regular websites with it as well as basic e-commerce sites. There are literally thousands of themes available as well as plugins to do most anything you can think of. I've personally used it for years. Check out my blog in the sig line.