How to set site-wide defaults for style and appearance of galleries and folders

wallcat · August 4, 2013

I am delighted with the new SmugMug. I've used SmugMug for 10 years and have always appreciated the service, but it was looking pretty old. Now it looks terrific. Thanks!

I can't figure out, however, how to set gallery appearance characteristics, like the default viewing style (e.g. collage vertical) and sort order (by filenames), for my entire site.

The new help pages suggest that it's possible:

http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1230093)
If you'd like to have all galleries on your site use the same gallery display style you can set that site wide, from the 'settings' button at the top right of your screen when you are in the customize panel. You'll find a Gallery Style button there as well.

I wasn't able to figure these directions out, though. I know how to do it for several selected galleries at once via the Organizer, but not the whole site nor future galleries. Could you be more specific about how to do this site-wide?

I'd also like to set all Folders to share one set of style/appearance settings, too.

Thanks,
Wallace

sarahk · August 4, 2013

To set the default gallery display style site-wide, it's in the Design settings. Go to Customize Site, and then Settings up at the very top in the green bar. That brings up the Design Settings window. There you can choose the gallery style site-wide.

I'm not sure you can set much else at a site-wide level. But, you can modify settings for several galleries like you noted. What other types of settings are you looking to set? Just sort order? Some of the display settings are set in the Customize section, and that would be set for all Folders. But, sort order is not one of those features. Sounds like it would be a good feature request!

wallcat · August 5, 2013

Thanks, Sarah. I'm feeling a little slow here, though. I can't reach any such Design Settings window. To start with, where do I find "Customize Site"? I don't see that as a choice under the header's "Customize," whether I'm at my home page or in a folder or a gallery.

Thanks,
Wallace

sarahk · August 5, 2013

Are you a basic user or a power/pro user? The nomenclature might be slightly different for basic. I will try to take a screen shot to show you.

sarahk · August 5, 2013

See the green bar at the top? There is a button called "Settings". That's the button to click to be able to change the default gallery style site-wide.

wallcat · August 5, 2013

Basic. Thanks.

sarahk · August 5, 2013

Let me know if you figure it out. I think the basic menus look a bit different.

johncna · August 5, 2013

sarahk wrote: »

To set the default gallery display style site-wide, it's in the Design settings. Go to Customize Site, and then Settings up at the very top in the green bar. That brings up the Design Settings window. There you can choose the gallery style site-wide.

I'm not sure you can set much else at a site-wide level. But, you can modify settings for several galleries like you noted. What other types of settings are you looking to set? Just sort order? Some of the display settings are set in the Customize section, and that would be set for all Folders. But, sort order is not one of those features. Sounds like it would be a good feature request!

I tried that. It doesn't work. When I go a level or two down into my folders, the galleries still are defaulting to SmugMug style. I had to visit each and every gallery to switch them one at a time to Thumbnail view.

sarahk · August 5, 2013

Is the window below where you changed the setting site-wide? In your galleries' settings, you should set them to Design Default so that they pick up the site-wide setting.

denisegoldberg · August 5, 2013

johncna wrote: »

I tried that. It doesn't work. When I go a level or two down into my folders, the galleries still are defaulting to SmugMug style. I had to visit each and every gallery to switch them one at a time to Thumbnail view.

I think the galleries all were migrated with a specific view since there wasn't a way to set a default view in legacy smugmug. You should be able to select multiple galleries in the organizer and then click settings to change the style on all of them. I'd recommend setting the galleries to default style. Then if you ever decide you want to change them all again you will be able to change just the default style on the settings page.

--- Denise

sarahk · August 5, 2013

denisegoldberg wrote: »

I think the galleries all were migrated with a specific view since there wasn't a way to set a default view in legacy smugmug. You should be able to select multiple galleries in the organizer and then click settings to change the style on all of them. I'd recommend setting the galleries to default style. Then if you ever decide you want to change them all again you will be able to change just the default style on the settings page.

--- Denise

That was not the case for my migration - my galleries were all set to "design default". But, I suppose it's entirely possible that someone else's migration would have set them to a specific view. In any case, your advice is spot on: select multiple galleries and change them to the default in the bulk gallery settings so that the site-wide setting can control the galleries' styles.

wallcat · August 6, 2013

sarahk wrote: »

See the green bar at the top? There is a button called "Settings". That's the button to click to be able to change the default gallery style site-wide.

Thanks for the screenshot, but I (a basic user) find no such choice. When I go to "Customize" on my home page, the only choices are "Just this page" and "Site-wide theme."

Sounds like I should e-mail SmugMug support.

Thanks,
Wallace

sarahk · August 6, 2013

Emailing Smugmug support sounds like a great plan. That said, I think you should click on Customize >> Site-Wide Theme. Do you get an option for settings at the top if you do that? There must be a way to get to the site-wide settings -- we just have to figure out how to get there!

wallcat · August 7, 2013

Here's the reply I got from SmugMug support:

That is a limitation of the Basic account. I actually think we need to remove that wording, as a Basic account can't pick a design, thus there is no design default to modify. I will pass that over to our product team to think about and decide which is best.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Wallace

sarahk · August 7, 2013

That needs to remedied. There is no reason why Basic accounts shouldn't be able to change the default gallery view. Otherwise, you'd have to modify every single gallery's settings... (which could be time consuming even with being able to highlight multiple galleries in the organizer). I'm glad we are sussing out some of these limitations with the basic account, though, because I will likely be helping my dad convert his site soon, and he's a basic user. Now I know some issues to watch out for.

wallcat · August 7, 2013

My impression is that this, unfortunately, an intentional limitation on the Basic account. It's not worth $20/yr to me, though, and I don't need the other Pro features, so I'll live with it.

loonsailor · February 28, 2014

I have a Power account, and it seems to be a limitation on mine as well. I can change the style of a gallery from within it, or change them in bulk from the organizer, but there seems to be no way to change the default gallery style. When I reach the Design Settings as shown by Sarah earlier in this thread, I see exactly the same window, except without the Gallery Style option.

Seems like a very lame limitation.

Can I change the default in CSS? Or some other way?

denisegoldberg · February 28, 2014

loonsailor wrote: »

I have a Power account, and it seems to be a limitation on mine as well. I can change the style of a gallery from within it, or change them in bulk from the organizer, but there seems to be no way to change the default gallery style.

Power accounts have this ability; it's only basic accounts that do not.

--- Denise

Erick L · September 29, 2014

denisegoldberg wrote: »

Power accounts have this ability; it's only basic accounts that do not.

I have a Power account and I can't change the default style.

Jtring · September 29, 2014

Erick L wrote: »

I have a Power account and I can't change the default style.

I think it's there for power users -- I'm one -- but well hidden. Move around you site until you have up one of your galleries that uses the All Galleries template (i.e., no customizations). Hit Customize and select Customize Site. Mouse over the main part of gallery display. A blue bar should appear on top of it with a little wrench, no other icons, and the words On 'All Galleries' in the bar. Click the wrench. *There* you can set the default gallery style for the All Galleries template. (SM has changed the interface since the 2013 posts in this thread.)

Does anyone else -- Heros? -- know of a more obvious place to modify the default style? This seems rather out of the way.

Allen · September 29, 2014

Looked everywhere but the only thing I could find is "set a new site design" under customize.
I use "Copy of Smugmug" and all my galleries show as that style.

Erick L · September 30, 2014

Jtring wrote: »

I think it's there for power users -- I'm one -- but well hidden. Move around you site until you have up one of your galleries that uses the All Galleries template (i.e., no customizations). Hit Customize and select Customize Site. Mouse over the main part of gallery display. A blue bar should appear on top of it with a little wrench, no other icons, and the words On 'All Galleries' in the bar. Click the wrench. *There* you can set the default gallery style for the All Galleries template. (SM has changed the interface since the 2013 posts in this thread.)

That worked. Thanks.

How to set site-wide defaults for style and appearance of galleries and folders

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