FAQ
"Frequently Asked Questions"
System
Q. Where is the site hosted?
A. Your photos will be hosted on MorePhotos servers. Our servers are connected via redundant DS3 lines, offering you continuous high-speed access and nearly zero downtime.
Q. What is my site's URL/Web Address?
A. Your domain name does not change. Adding MorePhotos functionality to your website is as simple as adding a new page to your existing site (such as View Images). If you do not have an existing site, we'd be glad to help you get up and running. You can search available domain names/web addresses and buy them here. Remember, the cost of your MorePhotos subscription includes the hosting for your existing site, though it is optional.
Q. Will my site look like everyone else's if I use your website creation tools?
A. No. Although your site can be created using the MorePhotos website creation tools which include stunning flash designs, you have control over layouts, colors, and content. You can customize your site as little or as much as you like, and even change between designs periodically for a fresh look, all at no additional charge!
Q. Can I get a custom designed website?
A. Absolutely! MorePhotos offers custom designed websites that promote your
photography style with class and creativity. Visit our web design page and take a look
at some of the custom work that we can offer to you. We want your website to be as
personal as your photography. E-mail or call us at 1-888-968-5565 ext. 22 to find out more.
Q. How many images can I put in an event?
A. You can put as many images as you like in a given event. Of course, at some point it doesn't make sense to continue adding images to an event because it becomes too cumbersome for your customers to navigate. Our upload software even allows you to select a master folder containing a sub-folder tree and have the entire tree uploaded as individual events in a grouping structure that allows your customer to "drill down" to their event quickly and efficiently. This saves you huge amounts of time, and your customers even more time.
Q. How does it all work?
A. It's this easy:
Uploading: With the desktop software we provide, your images will automatically be resized, optionally watermarked, and uploaded with a huge selection of customized settings you choose such as pricing, shipping, expiration date, discount time period, automatic email reminders, optional passwords, and much more. You can even setup multiple profiles that allow you to customize different types of events.
Ordering: Your customers view their photos on your site and decide to purchase. They select the sizes, packages, color, and any other options you desire from your customized pricelist, and add them to your cart. You can even sell specialty photo items such as trading cards, magazine covers, coffee mugs, frames, etc. If you think of it, it can be sold on your MorePhotos site! Once the customer has added the items to the cart, they check out using industry standard security protocols.
Order Fulfillment: With MorePhotos, you can choose to print anywhere you'd like. We also have integrated print labs that will receive your orders via our desktop software, print them, and ship them to your customer or back to you. This gives you a seamless solution from start to finish. Some of the print labs will even include a personalized thank-you note with a coupon on your behalf!
Q. What if I already have my own web site?
A. Many of our MorePhotos customers have a custom web site. Whether you choose to keep your current hosting company or host with us, you can keep your custom site. Once you have been set up, just add links to you web page that point to your Events list and Portfolio pages. These will be supplied in your new registration email. The links are:
http://YourDomainName.com/mp_client/pictures.asp
http://YourDomainName.com/mp_client/portfolio02.asp
This provides your customers with easy access to their photos from your existing web site. In order for our program to work, we need to either host your site, or we can create a MorePhotos subdomain to redirect to from your main site. Hosting is included FREE with your MorePhotos subscription.
Q. Does MorePhotos work on a Mac?
A. Yes. You will need the following:
- Mac G4 or newer.
- OSX or newer operating system.
- Hard drive with at least 100 MB of free disk space.
- Modem baud rate of at least 56,000 bps (56K). A broadband connection such as Cable, or DSL is preferred.
- Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari browser.
Q. What Internet browsers are compatible with MorePhotos?
A. The following web browsers are compatible with MorePhotos:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Mozilla Firefox
- Safarii
- Opera
Q. Can I collect Email addresses for future mailing?
Yes! You can optionally prompt for your customer's email address prior to them viewing their images. You will also be able to collect email addresses from customers who purchase from you.
Registration
Q. Do I need special software to use MorePhotos?
A. Your $49 monthly subscription comes complete with our PhotoManager and OrderManager software, which allows you to easily set-up and maintain your internet storefront, publish your photos online, and optionally fulfill your orders to one of our integrated print labs after the sale.
Q. How do I make money using MorePhotos?
A. The advertising value of having people take notice of your work is the main draw to MorePhotos. You make money by selling your photos online 24-hours a day, seven days a week to your customers. You are in complete control. You define the photo packages and determine the pricing. More options, greater service, and convenience to your customers translates into more business for your studio. MorePhotos takes care of the business hassles and lets photographers do what they like to do best, take pictures. See more ideas here!
Q. How much does MorePhotos cost?
A. Your Internet storefront can be created and maintained instantly for only $49 monthly. If needed, an annual fee of $15 will be charged for your domain name (http://www.YourStudioSite.com). A one time set-up fee of $200 will secure you a place on the web, and get you on the way to selling MorePhotos. For complete pricing, click here.
Q. How and when do I get paid?
A. The photographer is paid directly from the customers via accepted forms
of payment. If you have an existing merchant account and would like to do real-time processing (verifies and processes credit card payment upon checkout) we are currently integrated with Authorize.net, PlugnPay, or DirectOne (Australian customers), eProcessing Network, Internet Secure, Pay Junction, Sec Pay (UK customers), Money Movers, PayGate, SpeedChex, or Paypal. If you need a merchant account go to www.photosignup.com or www.photographersprocessing.com .
Q. What if I forgot my username or password?
A. E-mail Support@MorePhotos.com
and include your Business name, and the contact for MorePhotos. We will
get your password out after verification. You can also use the Forgot Password link to have it automatically emailed to you.
Q. What does the 60 day Money Back Guarantee cover?
A. If, after trying the MorePhotos system for 60 days and you are not satisfied, we will refund you the $200 set-up fee, any hosting fees you have paid and you will have our thanks for trying our system. Non-refundable items: Domain names and customized work fees.
Privacy & Security
Q. Does MorePhotos ever sell customer email addresses?
A. MorePhotos does not sell our customers email addresses. In fact, we do not share
any kind of information about you in any manner. See our Privacy Policy here.
Q. Why is the MorePhotos e-commerce system so safe?
A. Safe Technology: Our Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) secured checkout enables us to provide the highest industry standard of 128-bit-encryption. It encrypts all of your customer's personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read. We also adhere to all industry standard security protocols and are PCI Certified (Visa and Mastercard's strict rules for online e-commerce - click here to lean more), guaranteeing you added peace of mind.
Q. Don't want to accept credit card information on the Internet?
A. No problem. When you set up your acceptable billing information - choose the "check" option
in the online order form or define your own description of payment.
Site Setup
Q. What are the system requirements?
A. The MorePhotos system does not require that you have any special hardware or software to create, host and maintain a site. If you've purchased your computer in the last 5 years and it is a Mac or a Windows system, it will work!
Q. How do I set up my Portfolio?
A. Setting up your Portfolio is just like setting up an event to be moved to the web. On the Event Update screen, change the Event Type to Sample and finish just like you would any other event.
Image Files
Q. What type of digital photo files can I publish?
A. PhotoManager can upload jpg or tiff files.
Q. How big can the file be?
A. The software used to upload images to your website is called PhotoManager. PhotoManager reads
each image in a folder, makes a copy of it, and then resizes that copy to a maximum of
600x600 pixels, maintaining the aspect of the image. Therefore, the source image can be
any reasonable size.
Q. What dimensions should the image be?
A. Imported images are used to create two files: a thumbnail, and a full size. You simply select your original images, and PhotoManager will do the rest.
Q. Do I need to crop the image?
A. If the picture needs any cropping, this should be done before importing
into PhotoManager. What you upload should resemble what you are selling.
Q. Can I use MorePhotos if I shoot traditional film?
A. Certainly. MorePhotos is designed for traditional photographers, as
well as digital photographers. However, your photos must be digitized in order to be
published to your Internet storefront for sales.
FTP Information
Q. What is FTP?
A. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP simply allows Internet users to move files from one computer to another. Using FTP is just like using the web; you need a software program (called an FTP client program) that lets you connect to FTP hosts (just as a web browser allows you to connect to http hosts).
Q. Do I need to use an FTP Program?
A. PhotoManager utilizes an FTP type file transfer to send your files to the web. We made it easy for the photographer to handle the uploading and manipulation of photographs on the MorePhotos site so photographers can do what they like doing best, taking pictures. No need for an FTP Program. However, if you are doing your own site design, you would need an FTP program. There are many FTP client programs and any will work, but we recommend FileZilla available on our download page.
Maintenance
Q. How long can I keep a photo event on my Internet storefront?
A. There is no time limit for photo events that have been published on your Internet storefront. However, we suggest that you remove any photo events that are no longer being requested by your customers. This will allow new customers to find more recent events quicker and increase order efficiency.
In our months of testing trials, events listed for 30 days got more orders then events that were listed for 60 days. Testing showed an overall 20% average decrease in total sales for 60 days event listings compared to 30 day listings. Discount pricing almost DOUBLED our orders, based on a 20% discount for the first two weeks of a 30 day posted event and 10% discount on portrait photographers for the first two weeks of a 30 day posted event.
Q. What does MorePhotos do to protect and secure my photos?
A. The published photograph is a 75 DPI copy of your original. Right-click ability has been removed, and all preview photos viewed online are protected using an embedded "digital" watermark, thus further protecting your copyrighted photos from unauthorized use.
Q. How long does it take to publish a photo event?
A. The time necessary to publish a photo event depends on Three things; the
number of photos in the event, the size of your original images and the speed of your Internet connection.
Below is a list of approximate times to publish a single photo to your Internet storefront.
