Where to obtain agency-like web site software

[David Lister]

Does anybody know whether or not there is readily available software/html for building and maintaining an agency-like web site..

I was thinking of one where registered clients can browse a selection of images.. make a choice and then place an order.. that would then allow them to download images in their preferred resolution..

Any thoughts welcome.

Regards
David

[Todd Corzett]

I don't know about any solution you can run/administrate on your own server... but, I have been using PhotoShelter (http://www.photoshelter.com/) for a few months now and it has been quite nice for setting-up password/client specific galleries. There is the ability to have a download center as well, but I've not explored that avenue yet. They have several very nice features, depending on what you want to do. I pay $9.99 a month, far less than it would cost (even in the long-term) to buy a software package and admin something like this.

-Todd...

[John Thawley]

Does anybody know whether or not there is readily available software/html for building and maintaining an agency-like web site..

I was thinking of one where registered clients can browse a selection of images.. make a choice and then place an order.. that would then allow them to download images in their preferred resolution..

Any thoughts welcome.

Regards
David


David:

Take a look at www.racecarprints.com and drop me a note. I'll tell you how it works.

JT

[Mike Hoyer]

I'm interested in something like this as well. For example, I had a magazine phone me this morning asking if I could email a photo, as they were unable to download them off my site.

I use simpleviewer, which is great to stop just anybody copying and pasting your photos, but not so useful in the above situation.

[Chris Clark]

I don't know about any solution you can run/administrate on your own server... but, I have been using PhotoShelter (http://www.photoshelter.com/) for a few months now and it has been quite nice for setting-up password/client specific galleries. There is the ability to have a download center as well, but I've not explored that avenue yet. They have several very nice features, depending on what you want to do. I pay $9.99 a month, far less than it would cost (even in the long-term) to buy a software package and admin something like this.

-Todd...


Another vote for PhotoShelter!

In addition to the $9.99 plan Todd was referring to, there is a $30-ish plan that allows for 35 GB of storage, 20 GB/month bandwidth, and allows for customization of the PhotoShelter pages to match your own site. So, if you know HTML, you can customize PS's pages to match your own, so a client can log-in through your site, search your PS archive, and download Hi-res images from your PS archive (if you allow), all with the appearance of NOT LEAVING your domain...... You can even enable DNS Masking (?) so the address bar reflects your websites address, while on PS's servers.... The only exception to that is when accessing PS's Secure pages, you get a PhotoShelter address,.. Pretty cool stuff.

The most important thing for me on PhotoShelter is the concept of offsite storage...., so if the world decides to end tonite, and my HD's crash, while simultaneously, my archival DVD's decide to de-laminate, I have some form of offsite back-up.

On the other hand: JT's site: http://www.racecarprints.com/ looks intriguing in a different sort of way. I haven't really investigated it, so I'm not sureof the storage capabilities, but it looks to be a new way to distribute images. Sort of joining an agency (http://www.racecarprints.com/) vs. running your own agency(Photoshelter). Definitely worth a look.

You can also start your own database using some HTML and MySQL, although , MySQL doesn't store images very well, so you would have to store the "links" to images. At least that is what I have found in my research on the subject. And you would have to write all of the code to make the DB searchable, yada, yada, yada...

Someone who is smarter than me in these matters, feel free to correct me... but it seems like an awful lot of work to go that route when the other options are available.

Talk to JT, and if that isn't what you are looking for, consult PhotoShelter.....:)

[John Thawley]

Just an FYI... I pointed David to the site with regards to the software.... not the service.

JT

[Paul Hansen]

Actually, if you have the capabilities to set up a database and have some reasonable storage online, you can also look at CMS (content management systems) like Joomla (joomla.org) which is free. Being free, it requires you to learn about setting up a CMS site and customizing it to your needs - but those are not that difficult, and there is some templates available as well which may help. I set up sevenphotos.com with that over a couple of days (and someday, I may even maintain the site!), and have set up several sites with it now.

As an example, even with a bare-bones approach to Joomla, you could set it up with "articles" only viewable by registered users (and there are plug-ins for more detailed user levels/access), and those articles could contain thumbnails with downloadable links underneath.

But to be realistic, it can be very complicated to somebody new to setting these things up. It may still be worth a look for some people.

Cheers

[David Lister]

.. just having a quick look on the boards this morning.. Thanks for the suggestions.. I shall investigate all and report back any findings.. In the meantime, if anybody has any further suggestions, I'm sure that they'll be of use to more than just me..

Cheers
David

[John Thawley]

Actually, if you have the capabilities to set up a database and have some reasonable storage online, you can also look at CMS (content management systems) like Joomla (joomla.org) which is free. Being free, it requires you to learn about setting up a CMS site and customizing it to your needs - but those are not that difficult, and there is some templates available as well which may help. I set up sevenphotos.com with that over a couple of days (and someday, I may even maintain the site!), and have set up several sites with it now.

As an example, even with a bare-bones approach to Joomla, you could set it up with "articles" only viewable by registered users (and there are plug-ins for more detailed user levels/access), and those articles could contain thumbnails with downloadable links underneath.

But to be realistic, it can be very complicated to somebody new to setting these things up. It may still be worth a look for some people.

Cheers

I don't think that is going to give you an "agency-type" interface though.

You need categories, sub categories and searchable keywords and IPTC data. You need the ability to download on-the-fly with e-commerce backend... you need a lightbox scenario that can be saved, shared with a group... etc. etc. I don't think David is talking about here's my work and here's some images you can buy.

JT

[Paul Hansen]

I'm not sure about the IPTC data, but Joomla does have features for categories, sub-categories, searchable keywords, e-commerce and more. It is the putting it together part that is complicated, but all those features are available. Joomla, Mambo, and the other CMS systems are just skeletons that nearly everybody uses in one form or another to start with. The end result may not look anything like it, but often the systems everybody loves so much started off one of those as a base.

But to back-track a bit here, I will not say that these are out-of-the-box solutions. What I should have said is that this is where those agency-type systems probably started - but if you want a complete set of features, it would probably take too much time and programming expertise to be worth it to most people.

Cheers

[John Thawley]

Paul... I've used and even developed CMS .... what the agencies use for digital assett management is actually available packaged. It would really be reinventing the wheel to use Joomla, Mambo... etc. Plus most of the next generation systems will be moving to Ajax engines which do a great job with things like sizing on the fly etc.

Actually, the front end of APN is CMS bassed site... as is johnthawley.com and c2group.com - as you point out, they started of template based... but that train long left the station. :)

JT

[Mike Hoyer]

I've been looking around, it seems you can now get templates/skins for programs like Jalbum, that incorporate commerce facilities. They tend to focus on Paypal for payment, probably not what you're looking for.

I suppose it could be handy if you are just looking for a gallery where you can display your images, and have handy "click to buy a print/hi-res version" button...