Smugmug Help : Fancy Slideshows and the Thumbnail Grid

A new addition as been recently added to the
slideshow pro application - the slideshow pro external thumbnail grid
Basically, the thumbnail grid gives the ability to modify the display and functionality of the slideshows thumbnails. Features include:

- The thumnails can be displayed on the right, left, top, bottom of the slideshow
- The slideshow viewer has the ability to browse and select thumbnails. The thumbnail grid slides left to right, or top to bottom on rollover.
- The thumbnail grid can contain as many rows and columns as you wish and the thumbnails can be any size you wish.
- The thumbnail grid be any size and color - background, border, mouseover border.
- The thumbnail images can either scale and crop to fit the target dimensions, or scale proportionally for a non-uniform appearance.
- The thumbnails expand to a larger size with a pop-out effect.

The thumbnail grid works in conjunction with slideshow pro and smugmug. You can learn more about this feature reading my blog article Fancy Slideshows.

Here are some examples of slidshow pro and the thumbnail grid in action:

Velvet Strand Photography

Push Left to Right Transition; 2x5 Right Grid




jR Photos and Web Design

Dissolve Top to Bottom Transition; 2x6 Right Grid




Photo Panache

Dissolve Top to Bottom Transition; 2x6 Right Grid



Jaki Good Photography

Dissolve Top to Bottom Transition; 2x6 Right Grid

Smugmug Help: Different Methods in displaying Portfolio and Proof Galleries

Ever hear your customers say "I cannot find my Proofs" ?
Ever hear your prospective customers say "What is your style of photography" ?
There is a variety of methods that can be used in displaying Portfolio and Client galleries on your smugmug site. Gallery organization and management is critical; web site visitors need 'easy' and 'quick' navigation to the galleries on your web site. Whether it be to your Portfolio galleries for potential 'new' customers or your Client Galleries to 'present' customers, both perspectives lead customer satisfaction and future business.

The following below are some variations with the Portfolio and Client gallery viewing methods:

Note: For more explanation on the difference between a Category, Subcateory and Gallery, please read : The difference between Categories, Subcategories and Galleries


Moments Photography



KZ Images


Expressions Photography


Seven Gables Photography



Velvet Strand Photography

Smugmug Help: The difference between Categories, Subcategories and Galleries

I am often ask "What the difference is between a smugmug Category, Subcategory and Gallery?". Therefore, I created the below image to visually explain and define it.

Smugmug Help : New Paypal Functionality

By implementing PayPal order fulfillment functionality into your smugmug web site, you will have the ability to do process your own customer orders. Your customer orders come directly to your PayPal account with the order information such as the customer name, address, link to the image, item type, gallery title, file name and any special instructions from your customer. You can then process the customers order at your preferred image processing company. Highlights of the PayPal order fulfillment functioanlity include:

- "Order Image" link on the top/bottom of the single image view for your customers to place an order
- Help section which clearly explains to your customer on 'how to' order
- Seperate window which displays the image and your item list
- Item lists can be divided into different categories and appear when the customer clicks on the specific item list button
- The ability to add/change/delete items and prices which appear on your item lists
- Ability to implement 'pre-paid package', 'package' and 'down payment' forms for items you wish to sell via PayPal

View the below web sites for specific examples

Moments Photography


Janet Masterson Photography



Velvet Strand Photography



Richard Man ImageCraft Inc


Photo Panache

Smugmug Help : Fancy Slideshows...

As you can see through my site as well as several others I have customized, the slideshow is much different than the standard smugmug slideshow or 'Flash Slideshow' posted on the dgrin forum. The slideshow is generated via the slideshow pro application.

Slideshow Pro is an advanced slideshow application. It can be created in any size, color scheme, with or without thumbnails, transition, etc - totaly customized to fit your web site! It gives your web site a more 'flasher' look/feel to it. Once created, the application is uploaded it an internet server. The application is 'embeded' (placed) onto a smugmug page. The Slideshow Pro application can also run on non-smugmug web sites like Blogs. When the end-user views the page the smugmug page, the application runs and 'pulls' the images from a specific smugmug gallery.


So how does it work ?

- The Slideshow Pro application obtains pictures from a single gallery. The example below obtains pictures from the jR Photos and Web Design - Graduate Blog Slideshow Images gallery.
- The Slideshow Pro Application reads the images via a RSS Feed generated by the gallery. Click here to learn more about smugmugs RSS feeds.
- The images within the gallery are all the same size (750 pixels in width by 500 pixels in height).
- Images can be added, changed, or deleted anytime - the Slideshow Pro application will refresh with the changes. There is no need to re-created the application when the images within the gallery change!

If you are interested in implementing Slideshow Pro within your smugmug web site, please feel free to contact me.


Click here (jR Photos and Web Design - Animate) to see some examples in use.


The follow is a list of the variety of Slideshow Pro transitions:
(click on the link to view a demo)

Blur - Thumbnails
Crossfade - Thumbnails
Dissolve - Thumbnails
Drop - Thumbnails
Fade to Background - Thumbnails
Lens - Thumbnails
Photoflash - Thumbnails
Push - Thumbnails
Wipe - Thumbnails
Wipe to Background - Thumbnails

Blur - No Thumbnails
Crossfade - No Thumbnails
Dissolve - No Thumbnails
Drop - No Thumbnails
Fade to Background - No Thumbnails
Lens - No Thumbnails
Photoflash - No Thumbnails
Push - No Thumbnails
Wipe - No Thumbnails
Wipe to Background - No Thumbnails


Example of Slideshow Pro:

Smugmug Help : How can my site be found in the Search Engines ?

Ok - #2 question I get all of the time "Jerry - How can my site come up on the search engine results ?"

Simple - Keywords.
"Keywords" as defined by Wikipedia, is "a word or concept with special significance, in particular any word used as the key to a code or used in a reference work to link to other words or other information."

Smugmugs 'Keywords', 'Gallery Descriptions' and 'Photo Captions' are all searchable by via the search engines of the internet.


Here is an example of the Keywords, Gallery Description and Photo Caption of one
of my favorite photographs I took of the Shelby Lions Football Club.



Step #1 :
Make sure within the customization option of the gallery, you have the options of
'Hello World' and 'Hello Smuggers' set to 'Yes' (see below)



Step #2 :
Since the Gallery Description and Photo Caption is searchable, be descriptive about the gallery and/or photo. Add information regard the subject and place - big help Hint - people search the information for in specific places and events of the world. Therefore, for this gallery, I entered in the team (2007 Shelby Lions Football Club JV Team), league (OMYFA), link to the main site of the Shelby Lions Football Club and the photographers of the Shelby Lions Football Club (myself and Mark). For the picture caption, I entered in the game day, teams (Shelby Lions vs Roseville Broncos), place (Shelby Lions Home Field) and the Score (25-0). (see below)



Step #3:
Click the "Photo Tools" option below the photo and select "Edit Caption/Keywords".
This will bring to you a smugmug screen in which you can add several captions and keywords for the pictures within your gallery at the same time. (see below)



Step #4:
You can use this screen to enter in captions and keywords for several images at once. Smugmug provides detailed instructions on how to use this screen via the
help section as well as the smugmug wiki .
For this group of pictures I used the following keywords (notice, I placed words I like to group together in quotes):
"shelby lions", "shelby lions football club", lions, football, "macomb county football", "youth football", omyfa, sports, "sports photography", "football photography", "shelby township michigan sports photography", "michigan sports photography", "michigan sports photographer", "football photography"





Final note: sometimes it takes the 'search engines' a few days to log your keywords. Also, remember, 'search engine' results bring back the most popular sites first in the results page. That is, the sites with the most 'hits' are displayed in the search engine results first!

Smugmug Help : Where's my gallery ?

I usually get the question 'Where did my gallery go ?' frequently. Simple, the gallery IS within your smugmug site, but the settings may need to be modified for the appropriate viewing. To verify the settings for the gallery, do the following:
Step 1 - Click on the 'customize' button below the thumbnail of the gallery.
Step 2 - Check the following settings for the gallery (see image below)
   1.  Verify the gallery is in the correct Category and Sub-Category
   2.  Verify you are using the correct Theme
   3.  Verify you have the apprearance set to 'Custom'
   4.  Verify Privacy is set to 'Public'
   5.  Verify Hide Owner is set to 'No'
Step 3 - Click the save button to save your settings
Step 4 - Suggestion - log-out of your smugmug site and view your site as a visitor to your site. Verify the changes you made were applied.