Camera Craniums: The Photography Community for Enthusiasts

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sarasocke on January 18, 2010, 11:12:24 AM

Title: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Sarasocke on January 18, 2010, 11:12:24 AM
Hi !

The is most probably a subject which has already come up in the past - sorry if I'm repeating things ...  ;)

I intend starting a website, however I have absolutely no idea whatsoever on how to put it together. I really do understand nothing about websites, so I have to take something made for dummies.  ???

I had a look at Clikpic and liked the examples on their site. I have an idea what the finished product should look like, and I think they could fit the bill.

Has anyone alse had experience with them ?
Or would anyone recommend anyone else ?
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: skellum on January 18, 2010, 11:36:30 AM
You could try  www.moonfruit.com  who I use. You can build a free site to begin with and see how you get on.  If you do use them and have any problems setting up give me a shout.... :legit:
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: deetus on January 18, 2010, 11:46:50 AM
I'm a Clikpic user and found it a very easy experience in setting up the site. I've had my site for about a year now and have encountered no problems so far, so yes I can recommend them but then again I haven't tried any others  ;)
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: ABERS on January 18, 2010, 12:03:59 PM
Being a complete duffer when it comes to things computer I have found Clickpic so easy it's not true. I've had my website for two years now, no problems at all and if you have a query it is answered promptly. :tup:

Only thing not available on there is music/sound.

Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: anglefire on January 18, 2010, 01:02:46 PM
Another one that you could try- if you have you own webspace - is Jalbum. Its what I've used to build mine and has lots of different templates to choose from.

The only thing you need to know is the username and passwords for your site. Everything else is drag and drop.

Its also free (Some templates are extra!)

I have another version of mine www.web.colston-online.co.uk which I uploaded yesterday as a trial!
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Sarasocke on January 18, 2010, 04:17:28 PM
I don't have my own anything yet Mark !  8)

I seem to be constantly faffing about and never actually getting down to doing it. Now people are actually wanting to pay me occasionally for taking their pictures (or their dogs of course ;) ) and I really do need to get a website up and running.

Clikpic seemed a good bet, as it's for photos and the examples on the site were the kind of thing I'm looking for.

On the other hand it's not free - I wonder what the difference is between the free sites and this one.
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: skellum on January 18, 2010, 04:23:05 PM
Why don't you try the free Moonfruit site I suggested before you commit yourself     www.moonfruit.com
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: CML-1591 on January 18, 2010, 04:29:55 PM
Don't use dreamweaver unless U absolutely know what your doing, unless you don't have to switch computers or have loads of folders!
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: picsfor on January 18, 2010, 04:37:28 PM
Free?

Not sure where you get anything looking remotely professional for free nowadays.
You can get fairly cheaply though.
With regards to selling pictures - the cheapest way i know how is through something like Photobox where you set up a pro account and then upload your pictures and give the link to potential customers who then go and order the picture either as a print, mug, calender, mouse mat or coaster etc. Photobox do all the work and give you your bit. The galleries you set up can look quite good and are certainly more than adequate for starting out with.
Some will offer warnings about Photobox quality - cutting a bit close etc - but it depends on what you want.

For your own website with your own domain there are several options on a similar line to Clikpic as has been pointed out. These all require a fee because what you are getting is a template driven website that looks good and is under your complete control. They require a bit of learning but as part of your fee you tend to get excellent support.

And then there are the likes of Jalbum which i seem to recall Jonathan was a user of until a year or two ago when he had his site custom built. Again - a learning curve is involved but with less support than you get for th paid option unless you sign up to a paid service - which puts you back where you were with Clikpic etc.

So, the questions you have to ask yourself are these:

Is the site purely for displaying pictures to potential customers?  If so - then look a the PhotoboxPro account - it could save you a lot of effort and money to begin with...

Do you need a professional looking site under your total control but with simple to use templates and a personal domain name but occupying the least amount of your time? Then look at the likes of Clikpic etc. You get a free trial but you should really give yourself a day or two to play with and understand the user controls etc. You pay a fee but genrally it's good value.

Do you enjoy learning and building your own site and templates etc and spending a bit more time learning and configuring and asking for help often on how to make things work? Then look at using Jalbum and similar and build your own site and enjoy the frustration and rewards of doing it nearly all yourself.

Like others i've got a Clikpic account and am busy trying to work it all out and more than happy to answer any questions but you have to know what it is you need this web site to do.
Remember a web site is only a tool that is there to perform a servce for you - according to what you want it to do. Haven't i said that before recently?
 
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Forseti on January 18, 2010, 04:53:17 PM
Yes I've looked at Clickpic a few times now - quite impressive really and appears to be good value for your Euro. I notice by looking at the account holders page (or whatever it's called now) that Tim Wallace of Ambient Life fame has an account so one could take that as an endorsement of sorts I suppose. As for free - nothing in life is for free Carol you should know that by now.  ::)
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: picsfor on January 18, 2010, 04:55:17 PM
Ah you spotted Tim's site did you?
In its early days it used one of the templates - but i think now he's had his own template designed.

Zuzannah D also uses Clikpic (from DCMag days if any one remembers)
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Jonathan on January 18, 2010, 05:17:54 PM
I'd start by asking what the site's for.  Different platforms are going to be good at different things.

For example, if you want a cheap to run site that will take a lot of hits then Jalbum really can't be beaten.  Build stuff offline and upload it.  I used to run a site that had thousands of pics on it with loads of hits per month on a cheap £10 a year host.  No database, no PHP - it was fast and solid.

If you want something you can update on a daily/weekly basis then you might want to look at Wordpress or Joomla (both free - you'll need a host).

If you want something beautiful, scalable and (relatively) cheap then check out http://www.squarespace.com/

But if you just want to put pictures online and have people look at them then it's very hard to beat Flickr.  Even a pro account is only $25 a year and you'll get more exposure than any vanity site.

Clickpic is pretty cool.  But most sites on it look the same.  And usually tend to get "frozen" - big push to get them online then they never change.  I don't know if that's because they are hard to update or because of the type of clients they attract.

[BTW my site is built on Wordpress using a modified commercial skin running on a VPS.  It costs me about £300 per year.  It gets about 20 thousand unique visitors / 1/4 million page views a year and is running at about 65% capacity.  It's likely I'll upgrade te server in the coming year.  http://myweddingstory.co.uk/2010/01/phew-another-scorcher/]
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: ABERS on January 18, 2010, 06:14:41 PM
You might have a look at

http://www.magicalplacesfineart.com/blog/2008/11/how-to-build-a-photography-website-in-3-easy-and-one-difficult-steps/

especially the bit at the end. ;)
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Sarasocke on January 18, 2010, 10:29:48 PM
Thanks for all the replies !

As I already mentioned, I have absolutely no idea of the techniques behind a website. In that respect very much like Abers :)

What I have in mind is a site offering two types of work a) photoshoots b) actual photos.
For a) I would include some photos and price list of different categories  - portraits, animals etc and possibilities of what is available - photo CD/DVD, prints, calender whatever.
For b) the actual photographs on offer plus price list.
The site should be simple and easy to follow.

I will be putting together a portfolio which I will leave in our local animal shelter and vet's waiting room along with business cards - hopefully then with a website name on them. At the shelter they have a 2010 calendar made be me hanging on the wall in the office and I will be making a 2011 calendar for them to sell - all good publicity. They also have a quarterly magazine which includes my photos, usually including the title page. Of course the shelter gets everything foc :)

I really don't expect more than a bit of pocket money, but it's fun.
I'm off to Zurich for a few days on Thursday (yes - a dog photoshoot :) ) and when I get back I shall start testing.

One question for those of you who offer actual paper prints for sale - do you get the prints done through the internet, through a shop (a real one on the High St I mean), or do you print yourselves?

Thanks again for your help - I love this forum  :beer:
Title: Re: Clikpic or other system
Post by: Jonathan on January 19, 2010, 07:58:19 AM
Maybe check out Zenfolio - http://www.zenfolio.com/

They have fulfillment partners worldwide now. Very easy and pretty.

As for prints - internet labs only for me.  There's only one decent lab near me.  10 mins to burn a CD, 30 mins to walk down town, hour to print (minimum - and that involves a £2.45 Costa surchage), 30 mins to walk home OR just log in to my account and FTP.  Quicker, cheaper, and better quality.