Attention: webshots users

[Altair]

Webshots will cease to be on 12/1/12 all photos will be lost as of that date unless you switcht to their new Smile website. Go to the webshots homepage and click on the webshots blog to find information and how to get a pro-rated refund on your account.

They are trying to change the site from a photosharing site to a storage site and try to become like facebook. Members are not happy.

It's a sad day, Webshots was at one time the premier photo sharing site. It was nice being able to store your photos in specific albums instead of a stream or group of random shots.

[Lizzy]

I can't remember my old email address to get my old webshots password. I can still see my old photos but can't get into my old account. This makes me sad.

Is it going to be more like photobucket then? I store a lot of photos on there too

[DizneyRox]

Never trust your storage needs to an online company... Ask MegaUpload users how they are doing.

Backup, backup, backup...

I use Orb to "share" my media (photos, videos, etc). Everything is hosted on my PC and I have complete control over what happens to it.

[BronxTigger]

Thank you for posting this. I just went to upload more photos to Webshots and was told I am no longer allowed to do that.

What I can't quite figure out is if photos that have been "direct linked" into forums will still be available (as in, still posted and visible where they are) after the switch. I'm thinking not, since I am not allowed to direct link my own photos that are already on Webshots right now. It won't give me a code to copy and paste.

[MNNHFLTX]

Thank you for the heads-up. I no longer store new photos on Webshots, but I do like to go there to download photos for Webshots manager (for wallpaper, screensaver, etc), especially for upcoming trips. Heading over to the site now to see what needs to be done.

[faline]

If you login to the new service, it will give you the option of saving your photos to your desktop. The new service, Smile, will give you a free 30 day membership. After that, you will need to pay to continue to use the service.

[Altair]

If you read the blog at the webshots site you will find many people are having trouble with the Smile desktop, it has many bugs and some say it acts like a virus. It seems no one is happy with this change.

Are there any photo sites out there that allow you to put your photos into albums, similar to the way webshots did it? Picasa makes changes on it's own and Flickr just adds them to a long photo stream.

[BronxTigger]

I keep my photos on my external drive, but I upload photos I want to publicly share to Webshots. I am downloading them to my computer from Webshots (just in case) and I've also done the trial thing of Smile.

So far, I think that Smile is visually cleaner than Webshots, but it does not have the functionality that Webshots had. I cannot figure out how to create albums or anything that I was using Webshots for.I also have reservations about it pulling all the photos from a particular source. I do not want to share ALL my photos, just the ones that I select.
It even says on the FAQ that if you want to do certain things (like what you were doing on Webshots) that there are other websites out there.

I think Smile has the potential to be good, but it does not meet my needs, and it's so different from the old Webshots that I suspect I'm not the only one in that position.

I also find it odd that they email me weekly stat emails, but I don't believe I received and email from them about this huge change.

I'm looking at taking the photos I want to organize into albums and share to Photobucket or SmugMug. I want a program where I can organize the photos into albums, share them publicly, and not have to use my real name (such as Picasa with its G+ affiliation). I would also like the ability to create some private albums to have an extra back up of some photos such as household inventory. It does me no good to have photos backed up on a computer and an external if they are sitting in the same house and something catastrophic happens to the house.

[ElenitaB]

Thanks for the heads-up! I just spent a chunk of time downloading everything I wanted from Webshots. So glad that I've been a happy user of SmugMug for years now. I'd rather pay for a service that consistently works well, allows all kinds of privacy levels and looks pretty good as well. Buh-bye, Webshots!

[tinkwest]

. . . I also find it odd that they email me weekly stat emails, but I don't believe I received and email from them about this huge change. . . .

I had that same thought. So thank you Dave for bringing this to my attention.

I went to Webshots and had them send me the link to download the zip files of my photos. Although I have all of my pictures on my computer, I had arranged these few chosen photos in albums with descriptive headings for sharing (such as for trip reports). Now I will be one of those searching for a new home for photos I want to share.

[Melanie]

I had that same thought. So thank you Dave for bringing this to my attention.

Yeah really. Interesting indeed.

I need to take some time and go through my pics on there and get organized. Thanks for the heads up.