Top X reasons for switching to Pro

[cheesegrits]

A slight change of subject ... but if you had to pick, what would you say were the top X reasons for switching to Pro? I'll be opening our new BB in a week or two. We're a small to medium regional ISP (about 10,000 customers), we're expecting maybe a couple of thousand to sign up for the BB initially, and more as it builds momentum. Also as we switch more of our "official" activities and features to it, like a support ticket system.

Our main concerns about the photo gallery are:

Moderation (hence the original thread).
Timely tech support.
Expiration of old images, images belonging to "dead" users, etc.
Template/display flexibility.

Your thoughts appreciated,

-- hugh

[Morgan]

There is a list of additional features here (http://www.photoplog.com/demo/index.php), pro ACP screenshots here (http://www.photoplog.com/screens/index.php), and a front-end demo here (http://www.photoplog.com/demo/pro/index.php). :)

Personally, it is hard for me to give you reasons to upgrade to pro without sounding like I am trying to get you to make a purchase. Maybe another customer can provide his/her opinions though. In the meantime, what I'd suggest is to check out the above links and surf around the lite forums to get a sense of the product.

[cheesegrits]

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Given that this is the Pre-Sales Questions forum on your own product site, I wouldn't feel too bad if you tried to sell me something! ;)

OK, let me phrase it a different way. What features in pro do you think add the most value?

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I would indeed be very interested in any opinions.

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I obviously did all those things before posting my question. But what I'm most interested in are the administration and moderation features, which are hard to get a flavor of from just the "additional features" list and screenshots. For me, anyway. I'm a hands on, kick the tires and fire it up kinda guy.

I'm pretty much already sold on an Pro upgrade, which really just leaves my wishlist. The two most important things on my list are moderation (a modcp would be really nice) and expiration of images. For instance, I'd like to be able to specify expiration times on a per-group basis, so I can (say) automatically remove images posted by guests after 3 months. And I'd like to be able to expire orphaned images, i.e. posted by users who have been removed.

Maybe Pro already has these features, but if so I couldn't find them in the feature list or the screenies.

Thanks for your time,

-- hugh

[Loco.M]

i like the watermark,
the user pic's
and the template editing options.
:)

hope this helps

[Morgan]

The features that IMHO add more value to Pro over Lite would be custom fields by category, permissions by category, and more back-end optimization, the latter of which is about to be released. For moderation, it is possible to let a usergroup edit and delete another user's files and comments. The screenshot here (http://www.photoplog.com/screens/index.php?do=7) shows the permissions available to each usergroup. If you want someone to be able to moderate files and comments, that can currently be done as described here (http://www.photoplog.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305). For being rid of dated uploads, there is a screenshot of the mass move/delete feature here (http://www.photoplog.com/screens/index.php?do=11).

[Hell³]

the big seller for me was the category permissions... I really needed that function to setup private categories. The custom fields and the watermark are nice features too.

[cheesegrits]

OK, I'm sold.

I'll put in the purchase req first thing tomorrow. Should have it signed off some time in, oh, 2010. :rolleyes:

Of course, once I do get Pro, I'll be bugging you for a modcp, and an option in the Mass Move to delete orphaned images (ones uploaded by users who have been removed from the system). Which I didn't see on that screen shot, unless I've gone blind again.

Thanks for the prompt responses.

-- hugh

[cheesegrits]

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Wow! I actually managed to get it signed off within 24 hours, and am now the proud owner of PhotoPlog Pro 2.1.1.

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OK, so how about adding a ModCP and an "orphaned files" option to the mass delete? :D

-- hugh

[Morgan]

Congrats, maybe the moderator and orphaned file options will show up in pro v.2.1.2, maybe. ;)

[SneakyDave]

Its not a perfect system, but a good system for $35. Either that, or
1) Make vbulletin file changes to incorporate Gallery
2) Purchase vb photopost for a ton more money and shaky support and background (in my opinion)