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DPChallenge Forums >> Business of Photography >> smugmug basic customization
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 08/22/2008 11:31:29 AM · #1
Well, I've put off posting this question 'cause I feel like an idiot, but here goes.

I've purchased a domain name from GoDaddy through SmugMug. I've gone to the domain account to have it forwarded to my SmugMug page, but it keeps going to the smugmug home page. Can anybody think of what I might have done wrong? I have experience keeping up existing pages with Dreamweaver and a small amount of HTML knowledge, but that's about it and definitely doesn't help what I am trying to do here... which is to eventually have a SmugMug page as good as many of you have.

Anybody have the patience to help a beginner.
 08/22/2008 11:37:32 AM · #2
Are you simply setting up domain forwarding? Or do you have a pro account and trying to set the domain records to Smugmug?

I've done it both ways (in fact, just set the name server records yesterday to work directly, //www.nrshapiro.com).

I have another domain name going to my personal area, via forwarding, //www.shapironet.com

What is the smugmug URL you are forwarding to?

Message edited by author 2008-08-22 11:37:57.
 08/22/2008 11:38:32 AM · #3
Login to SmugMug and go here:

SmugMug Help Page to Add Domain Name for GoDaddy

Don't forget to post your new site when done!

Good Luck!
 08/22/2008 11:41:13 AM · #4
yes that page above will help you out alot... you may have forgotten to change you host name in smugmugs settings.....

Read over that page list above and make sure you did not forget anything.

Message edited by author 2008-08-22 11:42:16.
 08/22/2008 11:43:56 AM · #5
I have a pro account. It's here.

Thanks for pointing out that page. I followed the directions best I could and it looks like it'll take at least an hour. We'll see...

Message edited by author 2008-08-22 12:13:44.
 08/22/2008 12:34:53 PM · #6
For customization help...this forum is invaluable...DGrin

This link is helpful to get you started:

Tutorial - Smugmug Customized Site

For hacks & utilities...try this one: Hacks & Apps

Of course, when I need personal attention because my brain is feeling particularly "blond" at the moment...I always pester Mick...he's a programmer and quite good with that sort of code.

You have some beautiful photos and I'm sure you will build a wonderful site!

Message edited by author 2008-08-22 12:39:02.
 09/13/2008 11:48:30 PM · #7
I hear the word 'tweaking' on dgrin quite a bit. Now I understand why.

That seems to be all I do is 'tweak' for a couple of weeks. Getting ready to throw my computer out the window.

Good news is I'm getting closer.

a site in progress

Comments and customization tips appreciated... specifically... how do I group my galleries in my WEDDING link into one gallery without deleting them all and re-uploading.
 09/14/2008 12:55:29 AM · #8
Cyn, I "tweaked" mine for 2 1/2 years lol

While smugmug customization isn't instant, it can be done. About 3 times a year I get the bug to "update" my site and everytime it forces me to do some serious studying on flash, html, ccs, etc....... You'll get there. The info is there, just read everything and plan your site so you know where you want to be and thus know what questions to ask to get you there.

As for digigrin, ask questions... people will help you!

09/14/2008 01:10:32 AM · #9
Originally posted by idnic:
Cyn, I "tweaked" mine for 2 1/2 years lol

While smugmug customization isn't instant, it can be done. About 3 times a year I get the bug to "update" my site and everytime it forces me to do some serious studying on flash, html, ccs, etc....... You'll get there. The info is there, just read everything and plan your site so you know where you want to be and thus know what questions to ask to get you there.

As for digigrin, ask questions... people will help you!


I hope you don't mind, but I've often used your site as an example when asking dgrin questions.

Mine's coming around. It's like learning a few new languages making it. It'll come around.
 09/14/2008 01:19:28 AM · #10
Originally posted by cynthiann:
Originally posted by idnic:
Cyn, I "tweaked" mine for 2 1/2 years lol

While smugmug customization isn't instant, it can be done. About 3 times a year I get the bug to "update" my site and everytime it forces me to do some serious studying on flash, html, ccs, etc....... You'll get there. The info is there, just read everything and plan your site so you know where you want to be and thus know what questions to ask to get you there.

As for digigrin, ask questions... people will help you!


I hope you don't mind, but I've often used your site as an example when asking dgrin questions.

Mine's coming around. It's like learning a few new languages making it. It'll come around.


LOL Have you? That's funny, and of course I don't mind! :D

I have a look an feel I like now so updates and minor changes are easy if not instant. Still, I change my mind often and might want something totally different tomoorw. hehehe


09/14/2008 04:39:11 AM · #11
Originally posted by cynthiann:
I hear the word 'tweaking' on dgrin quite a bit. Now I understand why.

That seems to be all I do is 'tweak' for a couple of weeks. Getting ready to throw my computer out the window.

Good news is I'm getting closer.

a site in progress

Comments and customization tips appreciated... specifically... how do I group my galleries in my WEDDING link into one gallery without deleting them all and re-uploading.

A couple things...

1. The "About Us" and "Guestbook" menu items don't go anywhere. The href for both of them is set to //www.on-sightphotography.com/gallery/XXXXXXX_YYYYY. You need to change those to the actual URLs for your gallery pages.

2. Your slideshow only displays four photos.

3. Your home page and the "Weddings" page are identical. I expected to see some information about the wedding services that you provide on your Weddings page.

Apparently you used the '2nd home page' hack to display your slideshow on your normal home page, your gallery categories on a second, and your Weddings on a third. There's nothing wrong with that, but you might consider using an html-only gallery for your Weddings page instead. It's much easier to customize the page that way. And, unless there's some home page specific elements that you want on your Weddings page, there's no need to have a third home page. The '2nd home page' hack was created to allow folks to move their galleries and/or categories off their home page. It's a hack because SmugMug was designed to display galleries and categories links on a site's home page. Currently, there's no built-in option to allow that.

This page has decent instructions on making an html-only page. Basically, you put whatever HTML code you want (no head or body tags) in your gallery description, and style it by adding CSS code, either in your control panel CSS edit box or in your custom theme (if you're using one). You can show or hide default gallery elements using CSS code. You can direct people to the gallery by adding a link to your menu bar, or you can make it a featured gallery. If you make it an unlisted gallery (by selecting that option in the customize gallery page), then it will only be accessible via a menu item or a link that you provide. It will not show up in the list of photo galleries that your visitors see.

If you haven't already done so, then I suggest you download Firefox and the Web Developer add-on. It's a great set of tools for working with this SmugMug customization stuff (and it's free). For instance, with a click of a button I can see all of the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code for your entire web site. I can even modify the code and see the results in real time.

You should also have something to help you develop web pages offline. Adobe Dreamweaver is great if you can afford it, but there are free or inexpensive alternatives. I use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, simply because I already had it for my regular work.

I hope some of this helps. You have a good start on your site. A few more tweaks and you'll have it just the way you want it. At least until you decide to redecorate. :D

Mick

09/14/2008 12:46:35 PM · #12
Yeah, when I said it was a work in progress, I wasn't kidding :).

I have Dreamweaver and use it regularly at work. To be honest, though, the tech guy set it up to where I just go in, make changes, and click save. Are you saying I can make a page using it, then take the code and place it in smugmug? I am a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff.

The '2nd home page' hack you mentioned is the only way I've figured out how to make anything.

Oh lord.... I need some major help.

I just want it done, so I can take pictures again. Between the web site, the brochures, and all the other business crap, I'm ready to pull all my hair out.
 09/14/2008 01:03:21 PM · #13
I just checked your smugmug site and wanted to give you some encouragement. I think it is looking really nice and will be terrific when you complete it.
 09/14/2008 01:44:17 PM · #14
Originally posted by cynthiann:
Yeah, when I said it was a work in progress, I wasn't kidding :).

It's looking good so far. :D

Originally posted by cynthiann:
I have Dreamweaver and use it regularly at work. To be honest, though, the tech guy set it up to where I just go in, make changes, and click save. Are you saying I can make a page using it, then take the code and place it in smugmug? I am a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff.

Yes, you can use Dreamweaver to design and validate your page, then copy and paste the code (not the html file itself) into your smugmug site. However, you need to be aware of the requirements and limitations imposed by smugmug's design.

For example, let's say you want to create an html-only gallery page. What you're supposed to do is paste your html code into the gallery description edit box. But, you have to remove any and tags first. When you put html in a gallery description, the code must start with and end with , but it cannot contain any or tags. Even though they are normally required for valid html code. This is because smugmug's gallery code already provides the , , and tags, and valid html can only contain one of each. So, then why doesn't the extra tags cause a problem? That's because smugmug strips them out and only uses what's inside of them.

This is valid HTML code:






This is my gallery text.

This is valid SmugMug HTML code:


This is my gallery text.

The first one is valid html code, but not for smugmug. If you paste it into a gallery description, smugmug strips off the tag and leaves the rest. The HTML parser finds smugmug's tag, then it finds yours. Since there can only be one tag, it sees the second one as an error and stops parsing.

If you enter the second one, smugmug strips off the tag and the parser only sees the

This is my gallery text.

 part. Since the parser has already parsed smugmug's , , and tags, it sees the

part as just another paragraph in the html for the page. No problemo.

Originally posted by cynthiann:
The '2nd home page' hack you mentioned is the only way I've figured out how to make anything.

As I said, that's fine if that's what you want. It's going to be difficult to customize that page though because it's not a gallery, hence no gallery description edit box to contain your custom html code. It's really just another version of your home page. You can use your control panel to change elements on your home page, but the only place you can put html code on your home page is in your bioBox, and you're already using that to display the slideshow. You can add other html things to your bioBox, but what ever you put in there will show up where ever you display the bioBox. In other words, you only have one bioBox and currently it̢۪s displayed on your normal home page and your Weddings page. If you add any "Weddings" specific stuff, then that will also be displayed on your normal home page.

Originally posted by cynthiann:
Oh lord.... I need some major help.

You have but to ask. :)

If you send me a PM with an email address, I'll send you my phone number and we can talk or exchange emails. I work at home all the time so I'm easy to reach on the phone. Email's okay too, just a little slower. Your tech guy may be another source to tap for html help.

Originally posted by cynthiann:
I just want it done, so I can take pictures again. Between the web site, the brochures, and all the other business crap, I'm ready to pull all my hair out.

Patience is a virtue. Slow and steady wins the race. One step at a time. Yada, yada, yada...

Mick
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