# Hosting opinions: SquareSpace, Photoshelter, SmugMug, ZenFolio, etc.



## OldWhizzKid

I have a SquareSpace site (www.toomanysunsets.com) and am thinking of moving to another hosting platform.  I had the hardest time finding any reviews of these other hosts, at least by Googling.  All those "reviews" are either by the hosts themselves or are strangely lacking in anything negative to say, which makes me think I'm actually reading an ad.  SquareSpace isn't really optimized for photography, PhotoShelter has tech support with banker's hours (M-F, 9a-5p EST) where its often hard to get a straight answer, SmugMug seems to have recently upped prices and decreased features for a given service level, ZenFolio has apparently higher fees, etc.

I do mostly cityscape/street photography which I treat as though in the fine art market (print, sign, ship my own work), so I don't really need/want fulfillment services unless that's just an itemized email to me on what print is desired and customer info.  Mostly I want a functional, responsive, full-bleed or nearly so site which will let me put text, captions with photos.  Maybe tailor photo orientation of homepage or scrolled images to the platform (verticals to mobile and horizontals to pc) would be a plus.

Any opinions out there concerning these or other hosts?

Thanks.


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## tspear

Use the search tools on the top right. Most of these have been reviewed here before, but since I host my own site I did not really pay attention to what was stated.

Tim


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## Replytoken

As Tim stated, there are several threads on this subject in the forum.  A quick search ("Zenfolio") should bring up many of the more recent discussions,  but here are links to a couple of other possible solutions that you may want to consider:  https://www.whcc.com/resources/integrated-services .

Good luck,

--Ken


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## Modesto Vega

What are you trying achieve with a web presence for your photographic work? Do you want to generate awareness towards your work? Do you want to sell prints? Do you want to showcase your work to generate commissions? What type of photographer are you? Are you a professional photographer, with photography as your main source of income, or an amateur photographer, with some other activity as your main source of income? Why aren't you happy with SquareSpace?

Sorry for all the questions, but I don't think the problem is with the hosts.


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## OldWhizzKid

Thanks guys for the "search tip".

Modesto, you might want to re-read my post.  To generate interest in my work.  Mine was initially a portfolio site but now I sell prints.  SquareSpace templates have limitations for photowork.  Its hard to make a "big" first impression via site version which has only tiny thumbnails.  A lot of visitors to my site will see it first on mobile and horizontal images won't display properly in the galleries with several templates such as mine.  That's why I have a scrolling image homepage that doesn't break horizontal images.  So I'm thinking if I'm going to rework a site, I want a template that can actually work with images, caption them, and help a visitor request a given image, etc.

You might say I'm an upwardly (photographically) mobile amateur.  The price differences in these different hosts isn't really a problem.  But I do have problems with getting the run around with tech support and that's some of my problem with SSpace.

Robert


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## LouieSherwin

Hi Robert,

I suggest that you take a look at PhotoDeck.com. I have been using it for several years. Up until now it has had only an Export plug-in to integrate with Lightroom but will very soon be releasing a Publish plug-in. It has nice clean design templates that are easy to modify with their web interface. My home website listed below is based on PhotoDeck. I can give you a discount coupon if you end up going that way. 

-louie


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## Modesto Vega

Robert - I was trying to confirm I have read your e-mail correctly.

I don't think that you can generate interest in your work just with one online presence. You might want to consider using Flickr with a link in your profile to your main website. Having said this you might already be a Flickr user. You might also need to consider other social media and publishing/exhibiting your photographs to attract interest.

Nowadays, it is very difficult to differentiate websites, it is not easy to make a "big" impression when somebody hits the main page of a website. There are many reasons for that but a contributing factor is that most of these sites are template driven and templates are limited by definition. I think that you are right when you say that you need to give careful considersation to the layout of your main page, but please keep in mind this is an iterative process; you are not going to get it right the first time around.

Just to add to the list of names, ClickPic is an option I have considered for some time; I do know some photographers that use it.

I am not sure I would classify myself as an upwardly mobile amateur photographer but I don't find very easy to attract attention to my work on a very crowded space.


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## OldWhizzKid

Thanks for all the tips.  LouieScherwin, thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look.  I've recently heard about many more hosting sites for photographers than I knew existed.  

Modesto, this new website is just the start, the hub, if you will.  I have display cards, biz cards (of course), guerilla marketing posters, the present website, soon Instagram, portfolio reviews, mailers, maybe 500px, etc.  But to anchor all that, I need a website that will be able to show my work adequately without me having to take the visitor's phone out of their hands and manipulate it to get the image to display correctly.  To see what I mean, look at the horizontal/landscape oriented images in one of my galleries.  Squarespace calls this a "known issue" that someday they might deal with.  Meanwhile, they've come out with a new version of SS....with the same problem.  I didn't mention it, but most of my stuff is shot at night and on my scrolling homepage, those dark images merge into each other.  So even my workaround isn't 100 percent.  Squarespace doesn't even know how to place a horizontal rule between images when asked and their so-called "experts" (freelancers) don't even answer their email.  Hence, me thinking its time to check out other hosts.

I used to build "arty" websites over a decade ago, ironically, mostly for photographers and my style was the full-bleed background image type, now popular 15 years later.  But then there was no mobile and I just don't want to get mired in playing with code and site building to that degree.  Sooner or later, I have to get out there with the camera, you know?


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## Modesto Vega

OldWhizzKid said:


> Modesto, this new website is just the start, the hub, if you will.  I have display cards, biz cards (of course), guerilla marketing posters, the present website, soon Instagram, portfolio reviews, mailers, maybe 500px, etc.  But to anchor all that, I need a website that will be able to show my work adequately without me having to take the visitor's phone out of their hands and manipulate it to get the image to display correctly.


It sounds as if you have a plan which is great. I strongly recommend you have a look at ClikPic - https://www.clikpic.com.



OldWhizzKid said:


> Sooner or later, I have to get out there with the camera, you know?


I know, just been out there with the camera myself. As a serious amateur this is one of my main problems, if I am out there with the camera I am not post post-processing or keeping on top of my very limited online presence. I haven't yet figured out if I am trying to square a circle here.


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## OldWhizzKid

LouieSherwin thanks for the tip on PhotoDeck.  I looked at several site on that host and found a few sites that have what I need, namely clean functionality that works on mobile despite constantly reorienting the site on mobile.  Its now on the top of my list.

Modesto Vega thanks for the clickpic tip.  I'll check 'em out.


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## LouieSherwin

Hi OldWhizzKid,

I sent you a PM with some additional information regarding PhotoDeck.

-louie


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## tainguyen

I've been using Photoshelter Standard for two years now and think it's worth the money. If it was just a portfolio site, I might agree. But PS has a full backend system for client proofing and image delivery, as well as integrated photo sales. As a community, they put out a lot of good resources for photographers. Still, obviously not for everyone and there are definitely things that need improvement.


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## Emilie

Full disclosure here, I work for Format.com BUT I do think it may be the best option for you to showcase your photography and have 24/7, 7 days a week support. Format.com has tens of thousands of users internationally that showcase their work. It's a super customizable host website that let's you set up your site in no time. As mentioned above, our support team responds to queries in no time and we have staff that cover all time zones! 

Hope this helps!


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## Victoria Bampton

Welcome to the forum Emilie. Great to see you supporting users here - hang around!


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## OldWhizzKid

I think format.com needs more work.

I wouldn't consider any hosting option whose template don't work well on mobile, because that's where most non-professional people are going to find you.  On my Android phone, format.com repeatedly crashes FireFox, and has unresponsive links (the themes/templates) on Chrome, though it nominally works on the Android native browser.  Also, I get the "big-box cookie cutter" feel on those format.com example sites, which seem to rely more on the sample artwork used than actual functionality of the host to snag customers.


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## OldWhizzKid

Do you by chance have an old "classic" template from PhotoShelter?  It seems users of the classic sites are the only satisfied ones.

Because I have one of the "Beam" templates (Horizon) which is what PhotoShelter is marketing heavily on their site.  It's a nightmare.  After trying to build the site, I found the portfolio pages would not allow you to add anything to the metadata of a given page without crashing the page.  The same "bug" puts the same page title on all the portfolio pages, with the same results when you try to correct it (a crash).  This makes SEO quite impossible.  Contacting support during their "banker's hours", I got nothing but excuses.  It was literally MONTHS before they admitted this is a bug in all Beam templates and that they don't have a clue as to how to fix it.  I built my library of portfolio pages thinking that they were classy enough to eventually fix the problem and now face either a re-build or move.  Presently, the backend pages which hold the sitebuilder won't display and I'm dead in the water.    Hello, SquareSpace!


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## jstevensphoto

I'm really happy with Zenfolio.   Unfortunately, they recently raised their prices for new subscriptions.   I was lucky to get "grandfathered in" with my old subscription plan and rate.   I do selling on-line through Zenfolio, and it has really simplified my workflow.   Good luck.


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