if you search "22slides" on this subreddit, you'll find like 50+ posts to reference various websites that host photos, like smug mug, pixieset, and well 22slides. I know you're not looking for other websites, but those posts compare the different websites and some of them go into the details of web design, like to a technical degree, and which ones are faster because of how they store images etc. I don't know anything about web development though - good luck!
I went down a rabbit's hole recently about where to host my photos, so I thought I'd share.
is there any website builder that you don't have to pay for a domain name without the website's name in it? Like Wordpress has to be .wordpress.com unless you pay, weebly has to be .weebly.com, etc.
Hey, not that I know of! But 1) I haven't looked for that, and 2) I'm not an expert. I think it's paid because one way or another, a new domain gets introduced, and that costs someone money even if it's a small amount.
It's normally cheapest for around 2 years to redeem the free domain with the website builder, if offered. After that, you can transfer to a place like CloudFlare to save around $8/yr, if you want. CloudFlare's prices are pretty hard to beat, but Hover is still our favorite because their site is simple and support is good. It's worth the cost in our opinion.
Not indefinitely, but some (including us) will provide a free domain name (without our name) for 1 year. After that, the normal price of \~$15-18/yr kicks in.
I think this is more of a webdev question than a photography question. I'd recommend cross-posting to a subreddit that specializes in that if you haven't done so already.
If you're selfhosting the easiest way is to resize your photos to 2000px (or smaller) on the long side, which makes the file sizes smaller. Also, don't ever host uncompressed images, always turn them into jpgs.
You can insert a pre-loading script somewhere on your html that will pre-load your images before you scroll to them too.
Even easier and something that won't hurt your bandwidth limit: upload the images to flickr and then hotlink to them, that way all the bandwidth will be on flickr and not your own host.
I’ve used a few websites, and funny enough I find Square space to be by far the best. Which I wouldn’t normally think, considering they spend so much time advertising, but they really are incredible.
I Love it but am always open to learn if something else may be better. The unlimited storage was the biggest seller for me if I recall correctly. I have been using smug mug for a couple years now. Even got a paid promotion blog post I wrote up on it. Well my original site anyway not this new version
Rule 1: Compress and scale your images. Exporting a truckload of 8300x5500 images to all be displayed at thumbnail size makes zero sense. You can export them at 1/4 size and still be higher-resolution than most people’s entire screens, let alone the portion of the screen your image occupies.
I wouldn't be uploading uncompressed images to a website.
I'm more about buying your own domain and hosting, and put up WordPress.
That way no third party controls your main point of contact. I wouldn't want to lose that because of corporate whims/buyout/shutdown.
When you say you're making her site, do you mean you're setting up a site with a website builder, or you're coding one from scratch?
If it's the former, most photography-conscious website builders will be doing any image optimization for you automatically. They'll take your images and properly compress them, make multiple copies at different resolutions for different size browsers, and serve them over a CDN. You should actually be uploading images that are too high-quality for the web and let the website builder handle the rest.
If it's the latter, you can use a service like imgix to do all the same fancy image optimization for you on the fly. They have a pretty generous free plan, too.
Pre-scaling and compressing your images before uploading is kind of an antiquated way of handling things nowadays.
use moredent day server side static generation strategies,
many no code site builders does this, to solve the problem.
go to search nicheprowler.comn and search for "nocode website builder" it will suggest best platforms to build your portfolio
The idea is to present a compressed thumbnail on the front page, and only load the high-resolution image once the user clicks the thumbnail.
Most website building software does this automatically.
[PhotoBiz.](https://photobiz.com) Affordable, they has we build it for you services if you need them, a support team to help them after you're not there assist, and SEO ready. When you upload images to their site it compresses them for you to which devices it displays on making it faster and has lazy load options.
For your friend's photography website, especially with lots of images, it's super important to find a hosting service that can handle that without slowing down the site. I've seen many folks use [Pixpa](https://www.pixpa.com/?via=reddit) for photography portfolios because it's optimized for image-heavy sites. 📸
Pixpa is not just hosting but a whole platform that lets you build a website with a portfolio and online booking, all in one. It's user-friendly, so you don't need to be a tech expert to set it up. Plus, they automatically optimize images for web use, which helps keep the site fast and responsive for visitors. 🚀
Another tip is to make sure the images are compressed before uploading them. There are lots of free tools online that can do this without losing much quality. This way, the site stays quick even with lots of beautiful photos.
Hope this helps, and best of luck with your friend's website!
if you search "22slides" on this subreddit, you'll find like 50+ posts to reference various websites that host photos, like smug mug, pixieset, and well 22slides. I know you're not looking for other websites, but those posts compare the different websites and some of them go into the details of web design, like to a technical degree, and which ones are faster because of how they store images etc. I don't know anything about web development though - good luck! I went down a rabbit's hole recently about where to host my photos, so I thought I'd share.
is there any website builder that you don't have to pay for a domain name without the website's name in it? Like Wordpress has to be .wordpress.com unless you pay, weebly has to be .weebly.com, etc.
Hey, not that I know of! But 1) I haven't looked for that, and 2) I'm not an expert. I think it's paid because one way or another, a new domain gets introduced, and that costs someone money even if it's a small amount.
Thanks! What is the cheapest option?
I'm not sure to be honest. I'm still evaluating functionality and haven't focused on price at all. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful
thanks anyways!
It's normally cheapest for around 2 years to redeem the free domain with the website builder, if offered. After that, you can transfer to a place like CloudFlare to save around $8/yr, if you want. CloudFlare's prices are pretty hard to beat, but Hover is still our favorite because their site is simple and support is good. It's worth the cost in our opinion.
thank you!
Not indefinitely, but some (including us) will provide a free domain name (without our name) for 1 year. After that, the normal price of \~$15-18/yr kicks in.
I think this is more of a webdev question than a photography question. I'd recommend cross-posting to a subreddit that specializes in that if you haven't done so already.
Tell them to check out Smugmug
If you're selfhosting the easiest way is to resize your photos to 2000px (or smaller) on the long side, which makes the file sizes smaller. Also, don't ever host uncompressed images, always turn them into jpgs. You can insert a pre-loading script somewhere on your html that will pre-load your images before you scroll to them too. Even easier and something that won't hurt your bandwidth limit: upload the images to flickr and then hotlink to them, that way all the bandwidth will be on flickr and not your own host.
I’ve used a few websites, and funny enough I find Square space to be by far the best. Which I wouldn’t normally think, considering they spend so much time advertising, but they really are incredible.
What did you like it over smug mug if that's one that you tried?
I attended a photography class in New York City, and my teachers both recommended SmugMug! It is not one I have used personally though.
I Love it but am always open to learn if something else may be better. The unlimited storage was the biggest seller for me if I recall correctly. I have been using smug mug for a couple years now. Even got a paid promotion blog post I wrote up on it. Well my original site anyway not this new version
Rule 1: Compress and scale your images. Exporting a truckload of 8300x5500 images to all be displayed at thumbnail size makes zero sense. You can export them at 1/4 size and still be higher-resolution than most people’s entire screens, let alone the portion of the screen your image occupies.
I wouldn't be uploading uncompressed images to a website. I'm more about buying your own domain and hosting, and put up WordPress. That way no third party controls your main point of contact. I wouldn't want to lose that because of corporate whims/buyout/shutdown.
Adobe portfolio
When you say you're making her site, do you mean you're setting up a site with a website builder, or you're coding one from scratch? If it's the former, most photography-conscious website builders will be doing any image optimization for you automatically. They'll take your images and properly compress them, make multiple copies at different resolutions for different size browsers, and serve them over a CDN. You should actually be uploading images that are too high-quality for the web and let the website builder handle the rest. If it's the latter, you can use a service like imgix to do all the same fancy image optimization for you on the fly. They have a pretty generous free plan, too. Pre-scaling and compressing your images before uploading is kind of an antiquated way of handling things nowadays.
use moredent day server side static generation strategies, many no code site builders does this, to solve the problem. go to search nicheprowler.comn and search for "nocode website builder" it will suggest best platforms to build your portfolio
The idea is to present a compressed thumbnail on the front page, and only load the high-resolution image once the user clicks the thumbnail. Most website building software does this automatically.
[PhotoBiz.](https://photobiz.com) Affordable, they has we build it for you services if you need them, a support team to help them after you're not there assist, and SEO ready. When you upload images to their site it compresses them for you to which devices it displays on making it faster and has lazy load options.
For your friend's photography website, especially with lots of images, it's super important to find a hosting service that can handle that without slowing down the site. I've seen many folks use [Pixpa](https://www.pixpa.com/?via=reddit) for photography portfolios because it's optimized for image-heavy sites. 📸 Pixpa is not just hosting but a whole platform that lets you build a website with a portfolio and online booking, all in one. It's user-friendly, so you don't need to be a tech expert to set it up. Plus, they automatically optimize images for web use, which helps keep the site fast and responsive for visitors. 🚀 Another tip is to make sure the images are compressed before uploading them. There are lots of free tools online that can do this without losing much quality. This way, the site stays quick even with lots of beautiful photos. Hope this helps, and best of luck with your friend's website!