making a website problems - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

06/15/2012 08:50:19 PM · #1

why is this so hard???

i know what i want, but i cant get any of these sites to work right.

smugmug,zenfolio... ugh. so much extra crap. waiting on 500px to see if i can get a free trial.

maybe i just need to build my own...sigh...

JiaBob

Canon EOS-60D

06/15/2012 10:57:33 PM · #2

I share your pain. I also know what I want, but deciphering the details has been somewhat overwhelming. I have a Smugmug, which is completely un-customized and not ready for primetime. I think I can put up my own banner, but I need to fight PSE first to develop a picture with some words or something that looks good. Separately, I have a blog, which I have used for written blogging. It has languished lately, and I've considered trying to install a smugmug plugin to Wordpress to see if I could leave the pics on smugmug and display the gallery via my Wordpress blog. Maybe someday I'll get it all figured out, but motivation is low for dealing with website details. I just want to take the pictures!

LandzEnca

Samsung TL500

Sony SAL-16105 DT 16-105mm

06/15/2012 11:23:22 PM · #3

Originally posted by mike_311:

...waiting on 500px to see if i can get a free trial.

maybe i just need to build my own...sigh...

Not much of a trial left. In 20 days, the portfolio will only be available to awesome members. For now, you can play around with the 18 available themes and limited to one set/album. But not much freedom for customization.

If you know how, it's not that difficult to build your own. If you dont know how, www.vworker.com allows you to post your requirements and coders bid for it. If you are lucky, you can get your portfolio up and running for as low as 50bucks, although most coders would take a project like this for about 300 to 500 bucks.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/16/2012 06:00:20 AM · #4

it doesn't have to be any harder than you want to make it ;-)

it largely depends on what you want your website to do. is it for marketing? sales? both?

what are you selling? portraits? events? sports? commercial work? fine art? anything else?

who are your customers and how do they typically find you? word of mouth? advertising? google? blind luck?

what about the rest of your web presence? are you on facebook? youtube? twitter? tumblr?

are you blogging?

before you start pulling your hair out over a website, you need to define on paper who you are and what you're doing. a website can be a central hub for your business, but its shape and form depends on a lot more than how easy it is to get something set up. the main thing to do is to start developing the content that you need to support your photography business. once that's done you can start worrying about the actual presentation.

some photogs, like david bergman (a sports illustrated photographer who is also bon jovi's photographer), have one site for sales and another site for marketing. (his exposure manager site is a great example of what can be done with css.) some photogs dump everything into smugmug or zenfolio or something similar and then try to customize the best they can within the constraints of the one-size-fits-all digital shoebox.

personally, i prefer wordpress-based sites, simply because they are so easy to customize. i also prefer exposure manager for sales. your mileage may vary.

Message edited by author 2012-06-16 06:01:01.

MAK

Leica M Monochrom

Voigtlander Ultron 21mm f1.8

06/16/2012 06:32:28 AM · #5

Originally posted by Skip:

Excellent advice right here.

06/16/2012 08:08:11 AM · #6

Just looking for simple now. I figured out how to theme 500px. I asked for a free trial of awesome to be certain i like it, we'll see what they say. So far it looks about right.very simple and clean.

I just need something to market, show a few portfolios and a contact page.

smug mug and zenfolio are just covered with much extra crap, not clean at all, initially.

rooum

06/16/2012 08:13:15 AM · #7

I use Big Black Bag which suits me fine for the moment. Take a look at some of the samples on their site. They do a free trial as well.

06/16/2012 02:13:14 PM · #8

Originally posted by rooum:

I use Big Black Bag which suits me fine for the moment. Take a look at some of the samples on their site. They do a free trial as well.

this looks just about what i am looking for...

trying it out now, Thanks!

06/16/2012 02:56:44 PM · #9

looks perfect, easy to set up,very clean.

one question though, i have a gallery set up for the mainpage slide slideshow, but i don't want that page to show in the navigation pane. when i hide the gallery from the menu or even place it in a hidden folder, it doesnt work any longer.

rooum

06/16/2012 03:06:49 PM · #10

Originally posted by mike_311:

one question though, i have a gallery set up for the mainpage slide slideshow, but i don't want that page to show in the navigation pane. when i hide the gallery from the menu or even place it in a hidden folder, it doesnt work any longer.

I'm not sure about that to be honest. I'm trying to visualise your problem but i can't quite see what you are doing. I haven't spent that much time on the control panel really-my site is pretty simple. Best send a ticket to their support team for that. I'm sure they can help. They were very quick and helpful when i had a query about redirecting my domain name to them.

Message edited by author 2012-06-16 15:07:13.