AMD300 wrote:
I use pixieset and I’ve been very pleased with it for my uses. It’s very easy and quick to get it up and running. My customers have no issues downloading their photos, accessing their galleries and purchasing from my stores. The client management part has really gotten a lot of updates (as has the whole site really, seems they add something nearly monthly).
I have no plans on switching.
www.Andymeadephotography.com if you want to see the layout I am using.
I don't see it mentioned yet but I use Photodeck ... and would not recommend it. The site looks nice on desktop and mobile, but the checkout/payment workflow is kind of awful. There are also not many creative options, but that could be both a pro and a con. And any time I contact support to report a bug they treat me like I'm an idiot and try to pass off the bug or limitation as actually being feature. It's possible there is some cultural difference (they are French). Anyway, I keep meaning to migrate to another platform, but always put it off due to the pain of building a site from "scratch."
Squarespace is the #1 I'm considering moving to. When I was building my first site with them a few years ago they deleted my 99% complete draft after 14 days and I'm still a bit salty about it, but I'm probably almost ready to put that behind me 😂. I'm alternatively considering building my own basic self-hosted Wordpress site.
I use smugmug (https://www.daveclark.photos/) and have been happy with it. There are lots of layouts available and if you wish you can customize if you know a little HTML The tech support is excellent.
A couple of comments mention some drawbacks, so I would like to hear what is meant by that.
One of the things I like is that Adobe provides a Publish Module for LrC that enables me to use smart collections to keep the site up to date. Is there a similar Publish Module for Squarespace?
I get why you’re feeling disillusioned with Photoshelter after so long. For what you’re looking for, two platforms that come to mind are Squarespace and SmugMug. Squarespace has beautiful, customizable templates and strong SEO tools, plus it has e-commerce options with shopping cart integration if you decide to sell later. SmugMug is more photography-focused, with built-in printing services (if you want that down the line) and galleries designed for showcasing your work. Both are user-friendly, though SmugMug leans more into the photo-specific features.
The site rebuild will definitely be a lot of work, but it’s a great opportunity to review and organize your portfolio!
