Johnk39 Loc: Arizona

I would like to create a website to share and sell my photos. There are sites out there that claim it's easy to build your own but the whole process confuses me. I'd welcome insight from anyone who has some experience with this.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Sites like the one I use (smugmug.com) have a lot of great templates to start with. Their staff of “heros” can quickly help you customize too. The backend of the website has lots of features. You can see my personal site by clicking on my user name. If you end up using smugmug let me know and I can send you a coupon for 20% off your first year subscription.

Stardust Loc: Central Illinois

Check out Zenfolio.com - I maintained the site for the non-profit organization I volunteered and it was relatively easy.

Ob1 Loc: Utah

Try SquareSpace, it works for me.
Brad

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Squarespace makes it very, very easy to set up a website and get your own domain name. They have E-Commerce front ends for Photographers and 24/7 support. It makes a difference when selling that you have a www.yournamedomain.com rather than something else. And, if you enter TONY at checkout, you get I think the first month free. Tony is from Tony & Chelsea Northrop's YouTube channel.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Start by taking some courses in HTML coding. There are many options on-line and in person.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Ridiculous. Time is long past when you have to learn HTML code to develop a killer website. Both Squarespace and WIX make it a matter of drag and drop. Site development for everybody, not just for Wizards.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

If you say so then it must be the only way to proceed.

God forbid someone actually bother to learn something about the basics when their goal is to create A CUSTOM web page.

Please forgive me for suggesting such an arcane idea. I bow in the presence of your greater wisdom.

Oh aren’t you the guy who also never bothers to use the sensor cleaning function on your cameras? I’m sure I read that on a thread here. Again I must I bow in the presence of your advice and greater wisdom.

cascoly Loc: seattle

your snarky response is totally inappropriate -- OP asked for a solution - it IS ridiculous to tell someone to learn HTML to get a photo website - it's like telling them to learn basic carpenjry when they want a bookshelf

HTML is NOT sufficient for a photo website since you need multiple interactive features, plus a database for your photos, and if you're interested in selling, then some way to collect $ and deliver the images. sites like smugmug do all that for you (i used smugmug some years ago, not familiar with the other sites mentioned). if you do want to do some customizing on your own, look at wordpress sites like the symbiostock template i use for my site -- http://cascoly-images.com/pix


that said, selling from your own site has beco me incredibly difficult since it's difficult to get noticed in google searches -- the microstock sites are a better (though still difficult) way to earn money (there are several help and FAQ pages on my website above). it's a lot of work, but can be an enjoyable endeavor if you approach it understanding it's not a get rich quick scheme.

steve

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've been programming since 1972. I like the control I have by writing my own code. My website is manually coded. (It does not need a shopping cart, is simply for fun, and the display of my images.) Coding is fun, it's in my blood, and I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. theory. I started coding way before there were "click-n-build" (drag and drop) sites, which to me, usually have a narrow offering of layouts and create much verbose code. I was doing "modular" coding way before it became vogue, mostly due to space issues way back then, and simplicity in coding. I've also built sites years ago for about a dozen clients, mainly "the little guy". I still maintain (volunteer) a site for a railroad historical society in New England.

There is a lot involved with making a shopping cart, especially security. If not coded well, you can have real nasty issues. Good cart modules are available, and I would utilize one of them instead of spending the time re-inventing the wheel. I did write my own "gallery" routine years ago, but I found that Coppermine Photo Gallery meets my needs well, is free, and saves me a TON of coding time. I've only made minor changes to their header and footer modules, which their code allows. A bit of computer/programming knowledge is handy to better understand it's use though.

As for learning HTML, PHP, and Java Script, click-n-builds will be great for many people. To become proficient in coding will take a long time and is not for everyone. People can get a site going much faster with click-n-builds, which can include carts. BUT, if you have the opportunity to learn the language basics, it probably will make understanding their operation a little easier.

The biggest things you need to watch is page navigation, don't create dead-end pages where only the "back button" returns you to where you were prior. I've been to a couple of sites where I became lost in the navigation, having to go back to the home page to get where I wanted to go. Don't change layout themes and fonts from page to page either.

Rest assured that if you do use a click-n-build method (which HAVE come along way) there will still be a learning curve, just not as steep as learning the languages themselves to implement your desires.

Johnk39 Loc: Arizona

Thank you all for your responses. I now have some research to do. Again, I really appreciate your suggestions.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

PS has one build in, well actually its part of Bridge. Its a fully functional website (with slide show and all the usual) and fully customizable Template! It takes 10 to 15 min. and one is done. It is also a great looking site, and hey if you have PS already, then its free!

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

OMG, your snarkiness falls on deaf ears. This is 2018, not 1990 when HTML was invented. And, it's 2018 with Digital Cameras, not 1885 when film cameras were first developed. I do not need to know how to code to build a website, and I do not need to know how a darkroom works to be a Photographer.

Using sensor clean on a DSLR sets up a miniscule amount of "vibration" which, unless the lens is off and the camera body pointing down, just redistributes dust inside the camera body. Hence a useless feature vs sensor cleaning when you notice a big bugger of dust on images.

You probably prever vinyl records too.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

No need for such!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

While you don't need to learn HTML to develop a website, it doesn't hurt to learn something new and it could help.
You can see the HTML code of a website in many browsers by hitting Ctrl-U (Windows, I suppose it's Command-U in Mac but I don't use Mac so I don't know for sure).
I learned enough HTML to write my own website just by looking at the code from other websites.
And there are lots of tutorial websites that will tell you about the HTML tags and how to use them.

PS: I have a lot of web pages that I use to distribute the groups of photos from various events, mostly family. It's a convenient way to show people what photos you took without having to email all the photos to all the people. I just email the URL. The website shows large thumbnails of the images to minimize bandwidth and the thumbnails are links to the full size image so someone can just spend the bandwidth to download the images they want. So developing a website is not just about selling photos. It's a useful means of dissemination of information.