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New Year's Eve: 29 exciting new themes.
Happy New Year! At SmugMug, we celebrated the new decade with fireworks and themes.
Here are a few samples:
They’re available to everyone, and there are many more you can preview on your own sites with the themes chooser. Or view examples at themes.smugmug.com.
Power and Pro subscribers can customize the themes and use them as the basis for their own custom sites. It’s simple with the easy customizer. You’ll find more help in our customization forum.
Happy New Decade!
The SmugMug family
Categories: release notes
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Is there a change in the gallery view under a category or the link to change a gallery’s settings? I’ve noticed changes here, but can’t seem to find notes for the releases.
Very Nice!!! Thank you!!!
Hope you’re NOT getting rid of the “past their prime” themes. Many of those are my favorites.
Many of the “past their prime” themes are there because they aren’t stretchy, meaning they’re fixed width and don’t adjust to different-sized monitors. They will need some re-work to make them shine again.
This release was at the request of so many people who said we have good playful themes but need more professional ones, but you can be sure this won’t be our last themes release and we’ll take other points of view into consideration.
I don’t think many people will consider these new themes to be anywhere near as attractive and creative as themes like Earth, Spoonman, Denim, Bon Voyage, etc. I suppose it’s our fault for not heaping praise on you for those themes, and allowing the whiners to influence this change in your policy. “Stretchy” is nice, but you have to be pretty dull and unimaginative to equate drabness with professionalism (or playfulness with a lack of professionalism). That type of thinking isn’t what built SmugMug.
I’d hate to see the brighter coloured basic ones discontinued, especially red, unless an updated version is created.
Suggestions for some additional themes:
Spooky, but not Halloween
Patriotic, with versions for the top 5 or 10 countries in numbers of Smugmuggers
Hanukkah
Kwanzaa
Paw Prints or Dog-Related
Cat Related
Rainbow or Gay Pride related
St. Patrick’s Day
First Communion
Bar Mitzvah
Sports symbols
I appreciate the new themes very much. It makes it easy for me to change the look slightly when I feel like it. ……..plus I don’t have to do much more than a click & save. It personally is a plus for me.
Thanks!
Beautifull!!! I am happy to see some new motives – I was wishing for some up to date themes all along – without asking you. These are very nice. I discovered them just now. Keep doing what you do well. Having a webmaster build me a website would have cost a fortune; I am just starting out and spent most of my dough on camera’s and lenses.
Thank you. Thank you.
Rinske
ps For some more ideas you may want to take a look at http://www.acephotographs.com I really like their theme.
I would like to see more sports themes!! The new themes are GREAT Happy New Years you guys
Did notice them and checked out a few and some were great!… and I realize you have to appeal to the masses to make a go of it. BUT… am sticking with my “Earth” theme as my primary as it works and looks best with nature/environmental/wildlife photography. Photogs need backgrounds that will not distract attention from their photos. JMHO
I saw it,I saw it.
Thank you guys for all your hard work.
Stay warm…here in Minneost right now we have -4F and it is still going down…brrrrrr.:):)
The new themes are great. I spent a good part of the day today just trying them all out. It was hard to decide. Thanks!
I agree wih you.
I like the new addition. I still wish for more. I just like options.
Here is something that I wanted to know. Was there every going to be an option in our pricing for us to create a “package” for our customers who ordered the SAME print. Does that make sense? I would like to offer a package for my customers. Are you able to create that for me? I want this site to do more for me. I have been overwhelming the local places here and would like to have all of my orders printed thru smugmug.
I have been hoping that some new themes would appear. I am so grateful for the excellent service smugmug provides.
These themes are anything but drabby. Great job, they have a professional and mature look to them. Also I like the fact that with these choices the “box” is gone from the gallery which gives a more elegant appeal.
Thanks!
I think it’s great to make changes. I would really like to see some different sports pages like girls basketball, wrestling, etc….
Oooh! Now I have to go check them out! I appreciate all the behind the scenes work! Way to go, always something new I don’t even know you’re working on. Thanks Much!!
Now to go play with some new themes, and I had a lot of work to do today.. oh well, as a pp mentioned here in MN it’s FREEZING, so I won’t be going anywhere and have alot of time on my hands indoors.
Thank you, thank you! They are lovely…I was just thinking I would like more theme options.
Really great job guys! Somw great new themes. But quick question if I may, are they all stretchy? And if so, can I do away with the stretchy code I have in my galleries? To me stretchy is really important to portray a professional appearance.
Thanks again I’ve already switched to a new one and it loooks fab!
Mike
I think the new themes are great. keep it up.
These new themes are great. Love them! Keep up the fantastic job team!!
These themes have left me thirsty for more my friends.
Thanks for the new themes! It takes all kinds to fill this world… so, I can appreciate the need for a range of styles.
Just wanted to throw in my thumbs up for the more “professional” looking themes.
The fun themes are fine. Esp. for family albums, kids, holidays, etc. But, they are usually too busy for my galleries.
The understated and uncluttered appearance is what I want for showing off my images.
Thanks, again!
Awesome. So happy to see new themes. Keep them coming.
Appreciate the new themes. Can’t hurt to have more elegant options.
Now let’s get us some Bar/Bat Mitzvah themes. And Anniversary, too, while we’re in a celebratory mood.
“Earth” past its prime?? – HMMMPH.
I’m not proud. I still love it.
Hockey theme…..a sheet of ice after a few skate blades would be good!
The new themes are very nice. Variety is the spice of life, and options never hurt anyone. That said, I really do hope you are able and willing to rework the “Past their primes” (“Old School” might be a nicer name) especially since the stretch to fit issue is the only reall flaw in many of them. Like a few other posts mention, I still use some of them.
Just my two cents, but to a great extent “professional looking” is really dependent upon your taste and the taste of your client. I have some that definitely prefer the more subdued and/or simple themes. I also have some that LOVE the fun, whimsical and unique ones and find the others boring. I have led a number of people to SmugMug that have become members, primarily on the strength of the variety of themes with which we can present our photos.
In short – in with the new, keep the old, and keep the fresh ideas coming. More sport, holiday, life events (anniversaries, graduations, births, religious celebrations, more wedding options). More of the seasonal and most defnitely more of the elegant styles (including the old!).
Great job and thanks for continuing to make a great site better.
Great work thanks, but need way more sports theme’s, and ability to custom mix color’s !
Thanks for the new themes. SM still the best photo site out there.
Still hoping for a sync feature! Would make SM my one and only if you could do that
)
WOW what is with the pastels??
Not my style but hey .. I guess you have to please a wide audience.
I like the new. Really like the “Earth” type however. I do a lot of “memorial” work. Would be nice to see some themes dedicated to this venue.
Also heavy into “Autumn” photography. More themes in this and in Christmas would work great. Appreciate the work guys. Don’t quit. Keep it coming.
Thanks! Great new themes! Always appreciate the upgrades! But…still love “earth” and will continue to use it! Please don’t get rid of “past their prime” themes. We still use them!
P.S. Your support team is great!
Awsome!now let’s talk package!!when can we expect the rollout?lol!good job!
The “Theme” I would Love to see is one that Gives you a HOME page, and let’s you separate your Gallerys on a Separate page, with a About Me page … Three Menu items on TOP … HOME, GALLERIES, ABOUT …
* A basice web site Format … something you can Build on. … then with the regular theme selection.
I can’t be the only PRO account user that wants this “simple”
I just want to say thank you for the new designs!!! I LOVE THEM, YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!!
It is free and I guess it is fine for most people but for the professional look; i would say you need some one who has more on the graphic design background not someone can do photoshop. Some of the theme is a bit out of date.
“Knowing how to use a camera now a day is easy but be a professional level you have to train for it.”
Thanks for the theme but I will pass.
Sorry, I appreciate your efforts but the themes look very old.
I guess that for the price of your service you should offer a more “web 2.0″ look. Take a look at dphoto.com for example, which is a small photo gallery service compared to yours, or explore the most voted designs at emberapp.com to find the right direction, but please give us something less “old-school HTML”!
I repeat, I appreciate your efforts, you do lots of development work on smugmug as a whole, but the design area suffers a lot. You could do much more than this!
Hopefully, you will NOT get rid of past prime options. Some of them are superior to what you’re now offering. I’ve one big suggestion, one small.
Big: When I went to see all of the options and clicked a category,, what appeared were pictures with a lable underneath designating what theme it’s within, however, not once does the picture actually show what the theme looks like. You have to click the picture to see the theme. Views showing a small version of the real theme would be great. I actually would prefer not having to go through each one, clicking to call it up – give me a sampling.
Small: I live in Hawaii. Your polynesian theme is NOT polynesian. The design is distinctly Thai or Indonesian. I thought, “Oh, good, a theme I can use as I build my Hawaii best.” However, I’ll not be using it as it is NOT Polynesian. I’d change the title and actually create one that represents Polynesia.
I agree with Enrico, thanks for your effort but frankly not that impressed.
You can do better with the basic designs and much much better allowing the user access to easier customization.
I appreciate some of the new looks,
but still NO New sports themes pertaining to and form of racing, like checkered flags, green white checkered flags and so on, just plain colors with a few lines in it,
thank you though for what you have supplied for choices,
H F P J Lee
Thanks for these. I too was hoping for some new themes to be introduced… and they were!
I like the simplicity of the designs, and the consistency with the transparent bar at the top – makes it very nice and smooth to jump between different styles for different albums.
Thanks very much!
Am i going mad?
I have been searching for quite a while now for the new themes
I want to try 2 of the examples above but cannot find them anywhere in the themes
I want to find the METAL THEME and SLATE BLUE
can anyone give me a link or tell me exactly where to find them please
Thanks so much. I already start to use them, they are all great.
Thanks again.
Additions and changes are always a good thing. What about making a new theme with pictures of me??? ;o)
Just kidding. (sort of)… Keep up the great work smuggs!
I was happy with my current themes and then impressed with these new ones. But then I followed Enrico’s ref to dphoto.com, clicked the ” view sample gallery” link on their first page, and it blew me away. So elegantly simple, functional, intuitive…
They don’t appear to have nearly the functionality or features that we have with SmugMug (for organizing, customizing, selling, security, etc.) but there is power in their simplicity. Please have a look – it would be great to have some presentation/theme options in that direction here.
I am happy with the current themes, but more options are always welcome, some one else might enjoy them…
Cheers
I’m not sure what to do with this information. Are you selling and upgrade? I don’t see were the download is.
It’s nice to know the themes library is growing and changing w/ the times – and that the support is always there at SmugMug.
Since our site is used for photos of high school sporting events, we’d love to see some additional “sports” themes available.
Thanks!
Thanks for the new themes. I like having more options to choose from. Some of them are quite nice but a lot are nice, but not my style. I know y’all have to appeal to a wide variety of clients so you won’t please everyone with all of them.
HOWEVER … please do NOT get rid of the ones you have labeled as “Past their Prime”. I like a lot of those themes a lot better like “Old Family Album”, Denim, Spoonman, etc. They are very good for family & friends types of sites.
Thanks for continually improving and adding more features. Your customer service is awesome!!
I love the new themes and I’m already using some of them in a few of my galleries. You guys do great work and the themes make the pictures just “pop off of the page”!
I do have one request though. Would you consider the following two themes? A theme for “car folks”, hot rodders and bikers……We photograph car shows and cruise-in’s and it would be great to have a “hot rod” theme. Also, we photograph a lot of coastal scenes. Would you also consider a “Lighthouse” theme or a really interesting coastal scene? Thanks a bunch……we love SmugMug! SmugMug has made our life a LOT easier. God Bless You!
Thanks, keep up the good work and have a Happy New Year!
thank you! I am so excited. i’ve had a smugmug account for a few years now and have been waiting for new themes. yay! now you just need an app for my blackberry and i will be super happy!
Nice, but would also like to see themes for dogs/cats (and mules!) and sports.
I love them. Grateful for your creations and future creativity. You make it so easy for me. Thanks!!!!
You guys at SM work really hard — thank you! Great stuff!
Like Ross says…I like to keep it SIMPLE ;D) I love what you are doing, but please keep the clasics, like Smugmug Gradient, Earth, etc. With MOST of my portrait galleries, I don’t like any distractions. With some, I love the touches like Denim, Cappucino, etc…THANKS!
Keep up the good work, but like everybody says keep the classics. I would like to add that it would be nice to see some more additions for the customization (you know…for those of us who don’t get the html css stuff…)
I like the new themes, but I do agree with the suggestion to simplify things so that we may have more of a web look. Just a simple web type template would be fantastic with just the basics; a homepage with links to About, Gallery, Contact us??? Then those pages just link. I built a basic site and know that directions are out there to do all of this, but I really don’t have time to teach myself. A template from you all wourl be GREAT.
Thanks for all the great stuff you do. Even though I want more, you are still my favorite.
thank you, and happy new year!
suggestion:
http://themes.smugmug.com/ shows a lot of previews that don’t actually display the theme itself, but show some image from a gallery using it. that’s not very helpful — please consider making explicit theme previews. i don’t really want to have to click on each one to see the actual look.
and i agree with the comments mentioning dphoto.com — i wouldn’t want everything to look like that, but it’s more modern than any theme you have on offer, and it’d be a good idea to move with the times, theme-wise; add a few web 2.0 themes.
I love this, thanks for keepin us on the stylish edge .. . love em love em love em!! makes me love smugmug more!
Love the new themes. However, since my primary photography is sports related, I’d really love more sports themes like basketball, soccer, and golf. Keep up the good work!
I am not a big fan of white text on dark backgrounds – which far too many SmugMug themes use. Presently, I am using just such a suboptimal combination as a trial, but may switch back to the old gray – a light neutral gray with black text.
Having recently upgraded to a Power account, I’ve just started to explore my new customization options. So far my biggest disappointment is not being able to control the size of the thumbnails on my home page, or their layout.
As for Enrico’s suggestion to look at dphoto.com, and to pursue “a more ‘web 2.0′ look” – be careful. Due to extreme use of Flash, that site is irritatingly slow for me, admittedly on an old Mac which falls quite a bit short of being state-of-the-art.
Oh yeah, 2 more observations:
Now that there are 2 themes with the same name – “Gray” – I would like to see the official names in your themes menus as: “Gray(new)”, and “Gray(old)”.
The new theme shown on this page which seems to be named “slate blue” does not appear as an option in my customization menus.
I am so not impressed with anything on Smug Mug. It is not user friendly at all. I feel that I am at your mercy to have to use this web site to sell my photos, but god, could you get it to look better, work better, do something better? It’s quite frankly, pathetic!!! My clients hate it. And make it more in sync to the rest of the internet. For example, I see these great templates, but no directions on how to use them??? How to get started on anything??? I just feel like I go round and round in circles, clicking, trying to get something to work. I’m a photographer, not a computer-tech, nor do I want to be. I just want to come to a website, that is made for photographers, and be able to use it. Thanx.
Oooh, heres a few designs that can work. I love plain and tidy
From a Pro point of view, commercial buyers don’t like ‘fussy’ page designs. One of the many things I like about Smugmug is the simplicity of the entire site, and the facility to have ‘clean’ and uncluttered fussy pages. Perhaps, instructions could be stated in a clearer, more simplistic manner, especially for my 10 year old daughter who ‘manages’ the site for me, while I concentrate on the immensly difficult task of pressing a button on the camera …… now if I could train a Monkey to do that …. I could retire!!
I think more options are always better. If the standard high school colors such as red/white, blue/white, green/white, maroon/gold, etc. were made, with a place to drop a school logo or name, that would rock!
I also agree with the need for a hockey/figure skating background – sheets of ice are grey/white and ugly, but a mirrored look with a few graphics of hockey sticks, nets, and figure skates would work out well perhaps.