Hosting services/sites do you recommend? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

dippin · 01-28-2009, 01:34 AM

I am about to take the plunge and start paying for a hosting services for my pictures. I already have a flickr account and I like the ease of commenting and sharing on photos. It is a great way to improve as a photographer and get good feed back by people who know what they are talking about.

However, one of the reasons I want to upgrade to a paid membership somewhere is to be able to host a large quantity of personal pictures (family, vacations, etc.). But I don't want those pictures to be visible to the general public**. I know flickr has the "visible only to friends" and "visible only to family" options, but the thing is, a good part of my family is quite "web-illiterate" and would have a hard time signing up, finding me, adding me as family, etc. So I was wondering how other photo sites are with relation to this.

One system that I really liked was smugmug's, where you can set passwords for certain pictures while making others public, so a link and a predetermined password is all it takes to share. The downside is that smugmug doesnt seem to have quite the community that flickr has, while being a little more expensive.

There are others that I have no experience with (zenfolio, pbase, etc) and would love to hear from anyone who uses them.

So I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations with regards to this.

**I teach for a living, and, finishing my PhD, the number of students will certainly increase as I become a professor full time, and I've been "cyber stalked" before by students (nothing serious) and Ive seen colleagues been seriously cyber stalked, so privacy is a must.

Konichiwaneko · 01-29-2009, 10:55 PM

you can send friends and family direct links to private accounts on flickr.

On the top right of any image, or set there is an option for share this. You can either write an email there, or copy a direct link with open privileges to anyone or anything.

Anexkahn · 01-29-2009, 11:26 PM

i've been using picasa online for awhile now and am quite impressed with the ease of use. you can set a group of pictures as private and then generate a direct link with a key in it to friends and family...pretty easy way of sharing without setting public.

Rainman_oz · 03-16-2009, 04:59 AM

I'm going to use image shack when I get to 15 posts and TFP lets me insert web addys...

kejago · 04-23-2009, 11:44 AM

I use Flickr, Zenfolio and Smugmug. I like them all for different reasons... and I ended up keeping both the paid sites. Zen and Smug both have good security, if that is what you are after. Smugmug has excellent support forums, and a smallish friendly user community @ dgrin.com Yes, I use Flickr as well... for the fun stuff, although I dislike the white backround. Smugmug for family stuff... and Zen for my public stuff. The basic Zenfolio plan is $25, which I think is resonable for a decent hosting site with no advertising.

If you would like more info, or have questions, just ask. I also have referral codes for both if you want to save some $.

Cheers,
Kejago.

psykosis · 04-27-2009, 01:20 PM

I use smugmug for all my hosting, and I have had zero complaints. Quick servers, good cutomization, easy to use interface. They get my vote.

Xazy · 04-27-2009, 03:08 PM

skydrive.live.com is run by Microsoft and allows you to store 25gig worth of stuff for free, and you can share albums etc... I have used only 10gig or so of the space. The only restriction is file size can not be largre then 50meg, so you need rar files if you have movies or something you want to save. Forgot to add, it is free.

01-28-2009, 01:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
dippin Crazy, indeed Location: the ether	Hosting services/sites do you recommend? I am about to take the plunge and start paying for a hosting services for my pictures. I already have a flickr account and I like the ease of commenting and sharing on photos. It is a great way to improve as a photographer and get good feed back by people who know what they are talking about. However, one of the reasons I want to upgrade to a paid membership somewhere is to be able to host a large quantity of personal pictures (family, vacations, etc.). But I don't want those pictures to be visible to the general public. I know flickr has the "visible only to friends" and "visible only to family" options, but the thing is, a good part of my family is quite "web-illiterate" and would have a hard time signing up, finding me, adding me as family, etc. So I was wondering how other photo sites are with relation to this. One system that I really liked was smugmug's, where you can set passwords for certain pictures while making others public, so a link and a predetermined password is all it takes to share. The downside is that smugmug doesnt seem to have quite the community that flickr has, while being a little more expensive. There are others that I have no experience with (zenfolio, pbase, etc) and would love to hear from anyone who uses them. So I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations with regards to this. I teach for a living, and, finishing my PhD, the number of students will certainly increase as I become a professor full time, and I've been "cyber stalked" before by students (nothing serious) and Ive seen colleagues been seriously cyber stalked, so privacy is a must.

01-29-2009, 10:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
Konichiwaneko The Dreaded Pixel Nazi Location: Inside my camera	you can send friends and family direct links to private accounts on flickr. On the top right of any image, or set there is an option for share this. You can either write an email there, or copy a direct link with open privileges to anyone or anything. __________________ Hesitate. Pull me in. Breath on breath. Skin on skin. Loving deep. Falling fast. All right here. Let this last. Here with our lips locked tight. Baby the time is right for us... to forget about us.

04-27-2009, 01:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
psykosis Tilted Location: Under a shitpatty in the field of life	I use smugmug for all my hosting, and I have had zero complaints. Quick servers, good cutomization, easy to use interface. They get my vote. __________________ One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching...

01-29-2009, 11:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Anexkahn Crazy Location: whOregon	i've been using picasa online for awhile now and am quite impressed with the ease of use. you can set a group of pictures as private and then generate a direct link with a key in it to friends and family...pretty easy way of sharing without setting public.

03-16-2009, 04:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
Rainman_oz Upright Location: Western Australia	I'm going to use image shack when I get to 15 posts and TFP lets me insert web addys...

04-23-2009, 11:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
kejago Upright Location: Geneva, Switzerland	I use Flickr, Zenfolio and Smugmug. I like them all for different reasons... and I ended up keeping both the paid sites. Zen and Smug both have good security, if that is what you are after. Smugmug has excellent support forums, and a smallish friendly user community @ dgrin.com Yes, I use Flickr as well... for the fun stuff, although I dislike the white backround. Smugmug for family stuff... and Zen for my public stuff. The basic Zenfolio plan is $25, which I think is resonable for a decent hosting site with no advertising. If you would like more info, or have questions, just ask. I also have referral codes for both if you want to save some $. Cheers, Kejago.

04-27-2009, 03:08 PM	#7 (permalink)
Xazy People in masks cannot be trusted Location: NYC	skydrive.live.com is run by Microsoft and allows you to store 25gig worth of stuff for free, and you can share albums etc... I have used only 10gig or so of the space. The only restriction is file size can not be largre then 50meg, so you need rar files if you have movies or something you want to save. Forgot to add, it is free.