Getting read off of Smugmug branding

davidmedina · July 31, 2013

How do I get rid off of all smugmug branding?

CanvasOfLight · July 31, 2013

When you are in the "Customize Site", click on "Settings" in the green bar in the top and you'll find it.

LPC · July 31, 2013

Except 'Photo Sharing by Smugmug' which you can't get rid of.

southeasternphotography · July 31, 2013

Photo Sharing by SmugMug
You mean we cannot get rid of that text at the bottom of the pages? That is why I am here looking to do. I will be pretty ticked off about that. I paid for my Pro User account (six Years worth) so I COULD get rid of the SmugMug Branding. Now we can't do that????? Please someone find the way!

AdamNP · July 31, 2013

This actually bothers me quite a bit too. We pay a not-insignificant amount of money for Pro level accounts. It costs more than the web hosting for my main site - and my webhost certainly does not force me to advertise for them. It should either A) be possible to remove or

the link should, at the VERY least, be affiliated so we get credit for anyone signing up through it. I realize option B will not be OK for many pros though, so.... yes, it really needs to be removable.

RKnecht · July 31, 2013

If you do a search, you would have found this code to put in your CSS:

.sm-page-powered-by a { display: None; }

AdamNP · July 31, 2013

That is all well and good, but the idea of this new design is that people are no longer supposed to need custom CSS/JS to do standard types of things. This is very basic, and there should be an option to simply turn it off, on pro-level accounts.

southeasternphotography · July 31, 2013

I agree with Adam
Like I said in the subject! Seems like they are hoping most users will just settle for it. Now I have to figure out where to deal with CSS in the New SmugMug. Grip grip grip!!!!

ummmm that would be gripe, gripe, gripe!

marjo · July 31, 2013

I also agree with Adam. No way should a paid account have any type of advertizing or branding, and we shouldn't have to add any custom code to get rid of it. This really irritates me a great deal.

Matthew Saville · July 31, 2013

I am one of the original Pro users (initially $99 per year) and for a very brief period I DID have the ability to completely remove SmugMug's name from my site entirely. You know what? It didn't make a difference. I'm happy to have a small link to SmugMug at the bottom of my page. Do you really think it's going to make any difference whatsoever in your professional appearance, brand, or profitability? I can guarantee you it won't.

The fact that they're still allowing you to remove it entirely via CSS code is actually quite surprising to me, and I'm impressed by SmugMug's willingness to allow pros to completely erase the SmugMug name from their page once again.

If you think $300 per year is a large amount, remember that designing your own website from scratch will cost thousands of dollars in a one-time fee, and you'll probably wind up re-designing or re-branding yourself every 2-3 years anyways.

I'm just curious because everybody seems to be so up-in-arms over this- if you're looking for complete customizability and cutting edge viewing experience, what better options are out there, that offer the same amount of total features that SmugMug does, and/or is easier to design, and/or cheaper? There are tons of other options out there, but they're all either more expensive, or less feature-rich as far as I know. (And as an editor for SLR Lounge, it is my job to stay on top of industry options; I've spent years keeping track of all the competition and even trying them out on numerous occasions...)

=Matt=

mbrady · July 31, 2013

marjo wrote: »

I also agree with Adam. No way should a paid account have any type of advertizing or branding, and we shouldn't have to add any custom code to get rid of it. This really irritates me a great deal.

If I'm not mistaken, the old Smugmug did not allow it to be removed completely either even for Pro accounts (although I think some very old accounts may have still had that ability grandfathered in).

Matthew Saville · July 31, 2013

mbrady wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken, the old Smugmug did not allow it to be removed completely either even for Pro accounts (although I think some very old accounts may have still had that ability grandfathered in).

Exactly. This was NEVER a recent feature, it was only available for a limited time at the very beginning. And even then, it needed to be removed via CSS I believe.

So, I don't get how people's expectations have changed since the legacy SmugMug?

=Matt=

davidmedina · July 31, 2013

I think it has to do with the fact that Smugmug caters to consumers as well as pro. If Smugmug only catered to the pro community it may be ok. I don't necessarily mind having something that says powered by... but the fact is that it is so poorly design that interfere with the images making the presentation look cheap.

To be honest, right now, it is the least of my concerns as I do not like the fact that the upgrade was aimed mostly to people who wants to create a website using Smugmug and not to those of us that just use Smugmug to share images with clients and sell. They didn't do anything for us, no improvements, no changes.

In my opinion, to little, too late.

I am very disappointed and upset.

As a matter of fact, I suspect that judging from the number of bugs, the lack of any real documentation or even tutorials, that the unveiling was rushed because of the Flicker announcement to try to catch fish from the fall off there.

Typically you spin hype for weeks leading to an unveiling, not just for a few days. Top many coincidences to ignore. The result? A half baked New Smugmug.

It also telling me that Smugmug is more interested - and understandable so - of the consumer and not the pro.

davidmedina · July 31, 2013

Matthew Saville wrote: »

Exactly. This was NEVER a recent feature, it was only available for a limited time at the very beginning. And even then, it needed to be removed via CSS I believe.

So, I don't get how people's expectations have changed since the legacy SmugMug?

=Matt=

My old Smugmug never had any kind of Smugmug branding that I remember and I have only been using for couple of years now.

AdamNP · July 31, 2013

davidmedina wrote: »

My old Smugmug never had any kind of Smugmug branding that I remember and I have only been using for couple of years now.

Neither did mine. Been here since 2009.

moose135 · July 31, 2013

davidmedina wrote: »

My old Smugmug never had any kind of Smugmug branding that I remember and I have only been using for couple of years now.

I'm pretty sure that required some CSS code in the customization section - I think I added that at some point. I don't remember it being a standard feature to turn it on or off.

TalkieT · July 31, 2013

Matthew Saville wrote: »

Exactly. This was NEVER a recent feature, it was only available for a limited time at the very beginning. And even then, it needed to be removed via CSS I believe.

So, I don't get how people's expectations have changed since the legacy SmugMug?

=Matt=

You're correct, for a WHILE, we were allowed to remove all Smugmug brnading and it had to be done through CSS. They then changed the POLICY and Pros were no longer allowed to do it, but anyone that had already done it was left alone - and in fact I was explicitly told that we were grandfathered in and would be allowed to continue suppressing the SMugmug line.

Now however I have had written confirmation that the Smugmug branding is required on all sites, regardless of whether or not you were previously grandfathered into the branding removal.

It's a tiny issue compared to the fact they are junking a huge number of customisations by killing Javascript.

The apologists that say JS isn't needed clearly don't have a clue what a lot of people use it for. It's a big middle finger to those that have spent the most time working on improving our sites.

Cheers - N

Cygnus Studios · July 31, 2013

TalkieT wrote: »

You're correct, for a WHILE, we were allowed to remove all Smugmug brnading and it had to be done through CSS. They then changed the POLICY and Pros were no longer allowed to do it, but anyone that had already done it was left alone - and in fact I was explicitly told that we were grandfathered in and would be allowed to continue suppressing the SMugmug line.

Ah the good old days....

JBHotShots · July 31, 2013

For your answer

CanvasOfLight · August 1, 2013

davidmedina wrote: »

I think it has to do with the fact that Smugmug caters to consumers as well as pro. If Smugmug only catered to the pro community it may be ok...

If your professional clients are so interested about your host (and your footer) while browsing for photos, you might want to change clients.

Just sayin'

Dreadnote · August 1, 2013

I'd be curious to know how many of the SmugMug branding apologists have the email accounts for their businesses with an @gmail.com or @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com address, etc.? Ya know, since that sort of thing apparently doesn't matter or have any effect on professional appearances.

mbonocore · August 1, 2013

We have never, and will never, allow for removal of the SmugMug footer. There was a very brief time in Legacy SmugMug where this was an option. I apologize. We will gladly listen to your feedback, but this will not be changing.

Michael

Tim Kamppinen · August 1, 2013

mbonocore wrote: »

We have never, and will never, allow for removal of the SmugMug footer. There was a very brief time in Legacy SmugMug where this was an option. I apologize. We will gladly listen to your feedback, but this will not be changing.

Michael

Well guess what, I'm removing it with the CSS supplied previously in this thread. Are you going to make that impossible now?

Not that it matters since I'll probably never "unveil" the new smugmug and for whatever time I have left before jumping over to zenfolio or something else I'll just remain with my old smugmug site which I've had since 2008, without the footer.

It's absolutely ridiculous that you insist on turning "pro" websites into a billboard for smugmug, trying to convert our clients into yours.

It's also really convenient for you guys that it's just "impossible" to have javascript with the new site, since that eliminates the paypal workaround for self fulfillment (which you show no indication of ever allowing, even though it's one of the top three requests from your customers). Meanwhile Zenfolio allows you to remove all of their branding, do self fulfillment, embed contact forms, whatever. Yeah, their design isn't as slick as the new smugmug, but eventually they'll catch up. I'll take a website that's somewhat dated in appearance if it means being able to run my business the way I want.

mbrady · August 1, 2013

Tim Kamppinen wrote: »

It's absolutely ridiculous that you insist on turning "pro" websites into a billboard for smugmug, trying to convert our clients into yours.

But that happened years ago. It's not something that just came into being in the new system.

CanvasOfLight · August 1, 2013

Do people scratch off the Apple logo from their expensive laptops because they paid full price and don't want it to be a billboard for Apple?

RKnecht · August 1, 2013

mbonocore wrote: »

We have never, and will never, allow for removal of the SmugMug footer. There was a very brief time in Legacy SmugMug where this was an option. I apologize. We will gladly listen to your feedback, but this will not be changing.

Michael

I was one of those pros who was able to remove the branding from my site. I'd don't bitch a lot, but I don't want that branding on my site. I have used the CS to remove it, and haven't unveiled my new site because I am having a huge (to me anyway) issue with site navigation. Don't get me wrong, I like Smugmug, I've sold a TON of prints using them. I like the new layout but I'm perplexed as to why javascript is no longer supported. Emailing the help desk is a futile task IMO. :cry

Matthew Saville · August 1, 2013

RKnecht wrote: »

Emailing the help desk is a futile task IMO. :cry

I emailed them yesterday and had a response in my inbox this morning. Considering that they're probably dealing with thousands MORE emails today than any other day, I'd say that's pretty amazing.

=Matt=

Tim Kamppinen · August 1, 2013

mbrady wrote: »

But that happened years ago. It's not something that just came into being in the new system.

But some of us were grandfathered in and told that we could continue to remove the branding. It seems that now they are trying to force everyone to display it, including those of us who have been hiding it for years.

CanvasOfLight wrote: »

Do people scratch off the Apple logo from their expensive laptops because they paid full price and don't want it to be a billboard for Apple?

A macbook is not a storefront. My website is. "Photo sharing by smugmug" with a link to a site about how easy and cheap it is to get your very own photography website undermines the professional image that our websites need to convey.

Matthew Saville · August 1, 2013

Tim Kamppinen wrote: »

But some of us were grandfathered in and told that we could continue to remove the branding. It seems that now they are trying to force everyone to display it, including those of us who have been hiding it for years.

A macbook is not a storefront. My website is. "Photo sharing by smugmug" with a link to a site about how easy and cheap it is to get your very own photography website undermines the professional image that our websites need to convey.

You're going to keep on railing against SmugMug for a problem that you have already solved?

If you're afraid that SmugMug will somehow make this CSS "illegal", then simply voice that concern. In fact I would vote against SmugMug doing this, too! I highly doubt they're going to disallow that CSS code, though, especially not for the $300 subscription crowd.

If you're simply angry that SmugMug decided to require CSS code to do this, instead of giving you a button to click, well unfortunately this is just going to be the way it is.

As a side note, my personal opinion:
I have coached numerous aspiring and full-time professional photographers in my career, and one of the common factors seems to always be disproportionate concern about small details relating to brand image etc...

Unless you are catering to celebrity millionaires or upper-middle-class snobs, these kinds of tiny details have absolutely no effect on your bottom line, I guarantee you. And even then it is questionable. Hell, I know of multiple videographers who charge $20,000+ per job yet they use Vimeo as their main content sharing host!

So honestly, I do support your argument that we should be able to remove the branding entirely. And hey, we CAN! But if you're worried about it saying SmugMug in the corner of your website, I would encourage you to relax a little bit, and focus on more important aspects of your business for a while. The ROI for actually getting out there and working on the core of your business is ALWAYS going to far outweigh the ROI of spending time online beating the dead horse of a minor detail that already has a solution.

.sm-page-powered-by a { display: None; }

southeasternphotography · August 1, 2013

Guess I am grandfathered in on my legacy site! Oops, now they will be out for me! Personally, I purchased the Pro Account. A selling feature for the Pro account was that it would look like I had programmed my site and was not using a template driven site with the template maker's name on it. I think it was even advertised on SmugMug that this was a Pro feature (the removal of the branding). I also do not remember getting any correspondence from SmugMug that they were forcing the branding on most sites (unless grandfathered). I did not know until today how lucky I was/am not to have the SmugMug branding on my site. I will be utilizing the CSS to remove it from my New (forced into building a new site ticks me off - I spent alot of time customising it and I like the way it is NOW) site.

Soul Gaze Photography · August 1, 2013

davidmedina wrote: »

How do I get rid off of all smugmug branding?

Here ya go! I hope this tutorial helps: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=237115

Getting read off of Smugmug branding

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