Currently I don't have a website to showcase my portfolios. I'm not an HTML guy and templates would be the optimal choice for me. I don't have the time to design one or want to pay to have a custom one designed yet. I will gravitate towards the e-commerce side of things shortly and that is something I am keeping in mind but feel I should separate the portfolio site from the prints/selling online side. Is that way of thinking correct? Are those basically the really two options? How about sites like TemplateMonster and hosting it elsewhere like GoDaddy and such and doing the e-commerce site on Smug or Zen?
It depends on what you want. I know a lot of successful wedding togs use their own custom site, and have a link to "client galleries." The "Client Gallery" is actually a zenfolio or smugmug site. You could probably get a template done to include a link to Smug or Zen as your ecommerce site.
If you're just wanting to sell a few prints here or there, I don't see any need for a custom site. I'd just use Zenfolio and, at the $100 pro level you could customize your site/brand pretty extensively. You can remove all references to Zenfolio, and the site would probably look as good or better than a template from Godaddy, etc
I'd consider myself semipro and I use Zenfolio as primarily a site for my headshots. I use Flickr for personal portfolio/fun stuff.
benee, I think I'm leaning towards the first option you mentioned. One problem I'm coming across while looking for a template is the best looking ones are unfortunately in Flash. That is something I'm trying to avoid because it alienates the mobile market when viewing the site. Unfortunately Flash, no matter how much Adobe tries to sell it, runs less than stellar on mobile devices. Apple won't allow Flash on the iWhatever at any point. Sticking to HTML is where I'm heavily leaning. I just haven't come across any templates as clean as Flash ones like this. http://www.flashmint.com/template-demo-3053.html
FWIW...I made my site with iWeb and I also have Zenfolio. I'm considering dropping my service for my main site....maintaining my domain name and using it with Zenfolio. I will say that iWeb is very user friendly but with the main site there is the need to update using a FTP like FileZilla or the likes. For those of use (like me) who accidentally drag and drop a file in the wrong place, it created some issues for me with various pages not updating and then trying to find where I put something. With using just Zenfolio, it's less complicated + I'll be saving about $100 bucks a year.
Regarding Zenfolio.....I really like it and the pro account is about $90 per year with unlimited uploading. It works for what I need. For wedding or portrait photogs, they may want something a little more custom.....I'm mostly sports and it's neat, fast and easy. Just my 2 cents.
I gotta give some major props to Smugmug. I've used them for years as a pro customer and have been very happy with their services and their customization capabilities. Their customer service is literally among the best I've ever seen, and they have a very active forum dedicated to anything and everything related to smugmug.
I've also done HTML websites, both using open source options as well as building my own from scratch, and not only is smugmug way easier than doing it yourself, but it often just works better too...
Regarding the portfolio/prints split, you can create a gallery of images you'll use for your portfolio independent of your gallery for e-commerce.
If you wind up going this way, here's a coupon you can use to save some cash with Smugmug: hDBXAc8lccGdQ
I would recommend also a WordPress Site as you can find plenty of templates without Flash and they work great on smartphones and everything. Including the ability to update content with an app. For photo hosting I use SmugMug and love it.
Another vote for Zenfolio. Their customer service is excellent! Couple of times my emails were answered within 5 minutes, even after 3AM EST. How about that?
Also what I like about Zenfolio is that they constantly working on adding new features without raising the prices.
As for the templets, there are plenty templets to choose from and customize or you can upload/create your own.
The only reason I would switch to Smugmug is their video upload feature but this may be available at Zenfolio soon and for now I can use Vimeo and YouTube
If you decide to go with Zenfolio use my referral code: "YRF-6XN-3BX" while signing up. This will save you some $ in the first year.
As a long term Smugmug customer, here are the pros & cons from my perspective :
* After a couple of thousands prints through both of their print suppliers, I haven't had a single customer complaint about quality, delivery, etc. Not one. Zip. Nada. And as someone who does this as a hobby, that dependability is frickin' priceless.
* The customer service around printing, etc. is stellar. I've had a number of cancelled/changed orders and Smugmug has always been top notch.
* The help on smugmug (dgrin.com) --- particularly around customization --- has really gone downhill. When I first built my site, the help was great and unbelievably fast. But after tackling a recent redesign, it was painful. At best, you can look forward to a 24 hour turnaround and after trolling through the help section, you'll see that some folks have been waiting for even longer. And frankly, the worst part is that the tone is increasingly "less than supportive."
flyingpoint wrote:
* The help on smugmug (dgrin.com) --- particularly around customization --- has really gone downhill. When I first built my site, the help was great and unbelievably fast. But after tackling a recent redesign, it was painful. At best, you can look forward to a 24 hour turnaround and after trolling through the help section, you'll see that some folks have been waiting for even longer. And frankly, the worst part is that the tone is increasingly "less than supportive."
Ah, now that is interesting... I haven't used dgrin in a few years and so perhaps, given your recent experiences, my previous experiences are looking a bit dated and no longer as true. Thanks for sharing...
Ariel Bravy wrote:
Ah, now that is interesting... I haven't used dgrin in a few years and so perhaps, given your recent experiences, my previous experiences are looking a bit dated and no longer as true. Thanks for sharing...
Maybe a part of this problem is that the user very often ask the same. Smugmug has a very good help function and with a little bit search you can find nearly everything. My experiences are good with smugmug.
I agree with the comments about Smugmug's help woes. They used to be on top of things and I could get minor tweaks done to my website taken care of within the day. Now you have to use the forum and wait for someone to help, which can take days, weeks, if ever. It has made me consider going to a different place for my site.
I have used SmugMug for years, and I used to like that fact that I could change just about anything I wanted. Problem is, sometimes too many choices is sub-optimal, and makes it that much harder because I constantly tinker with it, but thats just me.
Recently I have been looking at Zenfolio instead, its cheaper and easier. You can't tweak everything like SmugMug, but their templates look great and meet my needs I think. Either way I think is WAY better than using something like tempaltemonster. I tried that first and its simply way too much work to maintain.
