Zenfolio?!?

[ChristopherCoy]

Anyone using Zenfolio? I just spent three hours at their booth and I have to say.... Kinda liking it! I love my hosting company now but Zen has a few more advantages that would work better for me.

Like it, or love it? I want to hear about your experiences!

[dryicerx]

There's two other discussions on this... on this very same section.

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...e-tonight.html
http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...-zenfolio.html

[kayumangi]

And both discussions lean toward Zenfolio so that should say something =)

[Some Idiot]

I have Zenfolio and they just did a HUGE upgrade, they were KILLER before, But NOW

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The freaking ROCK bro, the premium package is like 100 bucks a year and you get just about everything you need to have a full blown website

I'm a HUGE fan of ZF

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by dryicerx

There's two other discussions on this... on this very same section.

http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...e-tonight.html
http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...-zenfolio.html

Great! Thanks for using the search feature.

But I want to hear about your personal experiences with them. I just spent three hours at their booth listening to a demo and asking questions. I want to know what things people think are disadvantages? Advantages? What 'sold' you on their product?

I like the fact that customers orders go straight to the lab and I dont have to complete an extra step when their order is placed, but it removes the custom packaging ability if I wanted to do that.

Do they provide a mobile mirror site that is able to be browsed on internet enabled phones?

When invoices are sent out with the customers orders, do they have the 'Zenfolio' brand, or is it branded with your studio name?

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by Some Idiot

I have Zenfolio and they just did a HUGE upgrade, they were KILLER before, But NOW

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The freaking ROCK bro, the premium package is like 100 bucks a year and you get just about everything you need to have a full blown website

I'm a HUGE fan of ZF

I was just informed that in the coming months, specifically March around the WPPI convention, they will be announcing that music will be added to the sites.

[kayumangi]

Nope, when orders are drop shipped no Zenfolio branding whatsoever. All your clients will see is your studio name.

And you can also filter out and approve orders, allowing you to enhance, resize or color correct the images they've ordered to print.

Zenfolio also allows you to sell products of your own like Coffee table books (that they don't support), the only problem there is that their surcharges are a bit high.

As for mobile mirroring, well I can browse my gallery on my T-Mobile G1 without any problems. The images are resized accordingly but I guess this is done by Opera not by Zenfolio.

Lastly, I like zenfolio because they have a feature where you can batch download files.

[S-Man]

Wow, sounds like smuggy will be playing catch-up for a bit...

[KenJulio]

Hmm....y'all are making me reconsider a move to Zen, well at at least a trial as my time with smugmug is coming up in the next few weeks. I'd be keeping an eye out on this thread, thanks all for initiating this topic and adding to it.

[Some Idiot]

Coy ... Sorry in phone but wanted to reply .... I was sold on customer service and gallery look and feel... The price is perfect .... I was customer before website option... so used for sales and client portfolio.... Mpix lab is a huge plus... Awesome integrated into cart.... option to not show client lab name works.... Just says "drop Ship". .... Check out their Facebook and read what all us happy customers have to say..... Mobile phone option is a no right now.....unless I missed that in updated

Hope this helps

[ChuckW]

An advantage of Zenfolio, in my view, is that there is a provision that allows you to collect Texas sales taxes from your Texas customers. Last time I checked Smugmug did not offer this feature.

[ChristopherCoy]

Is Smug Mug to Bay Photo, what Zenfolio is to Mpix?

[S-Man]

Yes, I believe so Chris. Bay is Smug's 'pro lab'. It's pretty pro too. The prints look amazing.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by ChristopherCoy

I was just informed that in the coming months, specifically March around the WPPI convention, they will be announcing that music will be added to the sites.

I did an informal survey of my Facebook friends regarding sites that have music, and every one of them stated that they do not like hearing music immediately upon hitting a site. It sends them scrambling for the mute button or off switch on their speakers. The age range of my friends is mid-20s to mid-50s. Sure, the survey was unscientific, but the results made me change my mind about putting music on my new site.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Yes, I believe so Chris. Bay is Smug's 'pro lab'. It's pretty pro too. The prints look amazing.

I've never used Bay Photo, but we spent a significant amount of time at their booth and talking to their representative. I was highly impressed with their prices first of all, and the amount of products that they offer was really nice as well. They certainly have a few specialty items that I'll be ordering from them as 'stock' products that I'll offer for my pet business.