Can I do any of these functions with SmugMug?

JimPower · December 19, 2014

Hello,

I have approximately 100 GB of photos I'd like to host online and am debating whether SmugMug is the right option. If I create my site from scratch then I have full flexibility in terms of features, but it will be time consuming. I have some questions:

1) I am *not* selling my photos directly to the users, but instead my site will act as a search engine which allows users to easily find photos in my gallery. So, is there a way to incorporate a membership function to my site which allows users to log-in and pay for access to my galleries?

2) Is it *really* unlimited space and bandwidth? If I have tons of traffic and over 100 GB of data- I need a lot of bandwidth. I'm looking at Power or Portfolio plan.

3) Can I virtually customize every aspect of my site? Specifically the search feature needs to be fully customized (visually and functionally) so that I can have certain code "behind the scenes" that will perform certain actions based on user input (This will involve javascript, php, potentially MySQL). Is this possible?

4) Is there an option to allow users to edit/crop/resize/add effects to images in my gallery - on the fly? If not, perhaps Javascript could be implemented to perform these functions?

These are my 4 main questions - any feedback regarding limitations I may encounter is welcome, along with any drawbacks to SmugMug vs. custom site.

Thanks so much.

Jim

denisegoldberg · December 19, 2014

You can password-protect your site but there isn't a function to require payment in order to access the site.

From this page - http://www.smugmug.com/price/smugvault.mg:

SmugMug provides unlimited uploads of JPG, GIF and PNG files with your subscription (and video files on Power and Pro accounts).

You can customize with HTML and CSS. JavaScript is not supported.

Your viewers / users can't customize images on your site although if they purchase something cropping is supported in the shopping cart.

--- Denise

leftquark · December 20, 2014

JimPower wrote: »

1) I am *not* selling my photos directly to the users, but instead my site will act as a search engine which allows users to easily find photos in my gallery. So, is there a way to incorporate a membership function to my site which allows users to log-in and pay for access to my galleries?

As Denise mentioned, we offer password protected galleries but we don't have the option to charge for access. We do offer search of photos. Search is based on keywords, filenames, gallery names, etc. Basically whatever metadata you include in the photo.

JimPower wrote: »

2) Is it *really* unlimited space and bandwidth? If I have tons of traffic and over 100 GB of data- I need a lot of bandwidth. I'm looking at Power or Portfolio plan.

Yep! Unlimited storage and it's all hosted and served up.

JimPower wrote: »

3) Can I virtually customize every aspect of my site? Specifically the search feature needs to be fully customized (visually and functionally) so that I can have certain code "behind the scenes" that will perform certain actions based on user input (This will involve javascript, php, potentially MySQL). Is this possible?

Not every aspect. You can customize the look and feel of the site but functionality is limited to the "Content Blocks" (widgets) we offer you. We don't support JavaScript, PhP, or MySQL.

One thing that you could do, however, is take advantage of our API's. You can use us to store your photos and offer you the API's to retrieve them, and then use those API's to generate a front end (custom) site. We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards. This way you let us handle all of the hard stuff (indexing, search, storing, delivering, serving up the images) and all you have to do is figure out how to display those images that we give back to you.

JimPower wrote: »

4) Is there an option to allow users to edit/crop/resize/add effects to images in my gallery - on the fly? If not, perhaps Javascript could be implemented to perform these functions?

We don't allow javascript but we do allow for cropping by the customer. We don't have filters/effects for the customer to select from.

It definitely sounds like you're looking for something custom, however, something completely custom will require, from what you've typed, something costly to store/deliver your photos. Your best bet would be to combine SmugMug with a custom site that accesses the photos through our API.

Let me know if you have other questions. These are all excellent questions btw!

drelliot · March 4, 2015

leftquark wrote: »

One thing that you could do, however, is take advantage of our API's. You can use us to store your photos and offer you the API's to retrieve them, and then use those API's to generate a front end (custom) site. We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards. This way you let us handle all of the hard stuff (indexing, search, storing, delivering, serving up the images) and all you have to do is figure out how to display those images that we give back to you.

Hello! What might be the best way to "take advantage of our API's. You can use us to store your photos and offer you the API's to retrieve them, and then use those API's to generate a front end (custom) site."?

Thanks so much!

You write, "We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards." Cool! Any links to these samples? Is there a coding shop or any php scripts we can customize? Thanks!

drelliot · March 11, 2015

Dear Smugmug Product Team,

Above you write,

"Originally Posted by leftquark View Post

One thing that you could do, however, is take advantage of our API's. You can use us to store your photos and offer you the API's to retrieve them, and then use those API's to generate a front end (custom) site. We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards. This way you let us handle all of the hard stuff (indexing, search, storing, delivering, serving up the images) and all you have to do is figure out how to display those images that we give back to you."

What might be the best way to "take advantage of our API's. You can use us to store your photos and offer you the API's to retrieve them, and then use those API's to generate a front end (custom) site."?

You write, "We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards." Cool! Any links to these samples? Is there a coding shop or any php scripts we can customize? Thanks!

Who are these customers? Links? Thanks!

leftquark · March 11, 2015

drelliot wrote: »

You write, "We have a number of customers taking advantage of us in that regards." Cool! Any links to these samples? Is there a coding shop or any php scripts we can customize? Thanks!

Who are these customers? Links? Thanks!

Sorry for the delayed response -- I was out of the office and finally had time to sit down and go through all the DGrin posts.

We can't comment on which of our customers use our API's but we do have a list of a number of Third-Party applications taking advantage of our API's: http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/84267

For documentation on the API you can read more here: https://smugmug.atlassian.net/wiki/display/API/Home

Can I do any of these functions with SmugMug?

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