[sholtzma]

I would like to create a photo website, but I simply don't know how best to proceed. I've checked out Zenfolio, Jalbum, and some other such sites. I think I'm overwhelmed by the possibilities. What criteria do folks here find most important? What have you chosen? Why?

All advice appreciated.

[Aristophanes]

I've tried Zenfolio, Smugmug, and Phanfare.

I went with the latter because they have excellent customer support and the bests settings for video. Good company.

I would like to create a photo website, but I simply don't know how best to proceed. I've checked out Zenfolio, Jalbum, and some other such sites. I think I'm overwhelmed by the possibilities. What criteria do folks here find most important? What have you chosen? Why?

All advice appreciated.

[Wheatfield]

Flash is EVIL.
YMMV

[sholtzma]

At this point, I am interested in displaying only stills and not video, if that helps. I would like to be able to display images in both horizontal and vertical formats, and it seems as if I've seen some sites that have all the thumbnails in square format or in only one format. What else should I look for? Watermarks? Customer service? Free versus pay?

[sholtzma]

bump to get more responses....

[slip]

do you own web space from your internet service provider?

randy

[normhead]

If you're on an Apple you have all the software you need, and few decisions. I'm assuming there must be some software PC side that is similar to iWeb. Or are you wanting to custom build the whole thing? I haven't thought about building a custom site since iLife came out years ago. It's all about what you want.

[psychdoc]

I have a friend who is a semi-pro and he put his pics on PBase. He says it's an older site that has a 'clean' interface and simple to use. Photography for me is just a hobby that I dabble in so for my needs Picasa is enough as I just use it to share with family and friends.

[denpapp]

+1 for PBase

[sholtzma]

I'm on a PC, not a Mac.

I could, but do not want to, attach the photo webpage to my personal webpage, which is available through my employer.

[jennverr]

i use majorwhite.com currently. it links to my flickr page. it's very simple. nothing fancy , but i kind of like that about it.

this is what my site looks like: w Jenn Verrier : Photography (using my own domain).

[sholtzma]

Jenn, I like the look of your site, and its simplicity, quite a bit. But it also has one of the flaws (to me) that several sites have. The thumbnails are always square, which cuts off the image if the image is a horizontal or vertical rectangle. Does majorwhite.com allow you to modify those thumbnails into rectangles, or are you forced to use squares?

[jennverr]

hi

yes i see what you mean. i just logged in to see if i could change the settings but couldn't find a place that allows you to change the dimensions of the thumbnails. Kind of sucks. Might be worth e-mailing the guy who runs it though (I think his name is Todd), and asking, in case there is something I am missing.

good luck!

[jennverr]

there's another one i came across when i was researching these though, that i think has the feature of being able to choose the size of the thumbnails: Free Website Builder | Create a Free Flash Website at Wix.com. it looks like it's a bit more elaborate though, i think i tried playing around with it at one point, but got frustrated.

[Warped]

BIG thumbs up for Smugmug and either the power user or pro package.

I'm a complete numptie when it comes to scripting, HTML and all that wed-design stuff, yet still managed to put together something half decent from scratch using Smugmug.

Cheap, easy to use, unlimited storage, unlimited traffic, fantastic and very quick customer service and assisstance and the more you get used to it - the more you can do. The site you create is fully customisable and easy to adapt and update as skills/knowledge in web-design increase.

I started out just using the basics and ticking/unticking boxes, selecting things from drop down menus ....etc to see what they did, then got the hang of some very basic scripting to create a menu bar and ended up with what I have now (www.warped-photography.com)

They have a free 14 day trial so nothing to lose giving them a look.

I've been with smugmug for over 3 years now and not a single complaint from me.