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Managing a lifetime of digital photos and videos can be a daunting task, but the SmugMug
ORGANIZER makes it a breeze.
UTILIZING FOLDERS Folders make it easy to organize your web
site. Like the folders on your computer, a FOLDER is essentially a bucket in which to
gather collections of site content: your galleries and pages... and of course, other folders!
You can utilize up to FIVE levels of FOLDER hierarchy, folders within folders, on your
SmugMug website.
Folders that contain content are identifiable on your website by this icon. And if a folder
is empty, you'll see this variation.
Organization branches from your admin root, the base of the tree for your content hierarchy.
Use TOP LEVEL folders to partition your content into primary areas, and nest sub folders within
to further categorize and hone navigation. There is no right or wrong way to organize,
every site owner's application is unique, and you're not locked in. If you decide to
reorganize down the road, SmugMug's organizer makes it simple with it's exclusive drag and
drop interface.
A common technique is organization by event and date. For example, use a top level folder
titled FAMILY, nested at the second tier we see subfolders for occasions like Holidays,
Vacations, Birthdays and Annual Reunions.
Under Birthdays, one folder for each family member: Mom, Dad and three children: Susan,
Kimberly and Josh, and nested under each, GALLERIES of photos for each birthday.
A content branch for a professional photographer might look like this:
Top level CLIENTS, and nested within: PORTRAITS, MATERNITY & WEDDINGS.
Drilling down, we find wedding events partitioned by YEAR - under each year a folder for each
of the Happy Couples - and nested within, the Bride & Groom's galleries - Their photos
categorized by primary aspects of a wedding: Preparation, Ceremony, Formals, Reception
and so on...
CREATING FOLDERS To create a folder, click the CREATE button
and select FOLDER. Just as it is with new galleries and pages, new folders are automatically
nested in the area of hierarchy you're viewing at the point of creation.
If you happen to be on your Homepage, or ADMIN ROOT in the Organizer, you'll find the newly
created folder at the base of your FOLDER list. To nest the new folder in an existing
layer of hierarchy, simply drag the folder where you want it to live.
FOLDER SETTINGS Upon creation, you'll be presented with the
FOLDER SETTINGS tool. If you wish to edit an existing FOLDER'S SETTINGS, highlight the
target folder and click the SETTINGS button.
As you edit and save these settings, your selections will be inherited by ALL FOLDERS
nested within the PARENT folder, the one you clicked settings on.
BASICS Now these settings are pretty straight forward
- add or edit the Folder's title -
Meta description and keywords are applied to folders to provide search engines like
Google & Yahoo info to find and catalog when they index your website. The better and more
precise the data, the more likely you are to be found when someone searches the web
for related content.
This also holds true for SmugMug's powerful on-site search functionality.
A descriptive folder title, solid meta description and accurate keywords are a triple combo that
will turbo charge your search engine optimization.
Prefer to keep a folder and it's contents under wraps? Private? No problem - we'll cover
this when we get to Security & Privacy.
Applying a feature image has three awesome benefits.
A featured image illustrates the folder's thumbnail in the organizer's preview panel,
making it easy to identify it's contents as you browse.
If you intend to present the folder publicly on your site, like so, the feature image is
presented in place of the default FOLDER ICON - and when you share the folder through social
networks like Twitter and Facebook, the selected image will be presented as the representative
image for your post.
The custom URL function let's you alter the web address of the folder. You can create
a custom, easy to share URL address. As an added bonus, custom URLs also increase the
visibility of a folder to search engines.
SECURITY & PRIVACY Your PRIVACY settings determine the level
of accessibility a guest will have to a folder and it's contents; all folders, pages and
galleries nested within the folder.
The default setting for top level folders is PUBLIC. Folders nested within either INHERIT
the most restrictive setting above it in your hierarchy, or can be set to a more restrictive
privacy option if available.
Setting a folder to PUBLIC allows the folder to seen, and accessed, when displayed on your
website or via a direct link.
Changing this setting to UNLISTED removes the folder and it's contents from visibility
on your website, but still retains the option for you to share with guests selectively through
direct links.
Again, this setting cascades down through all folders, galleries and pages contained
within.
Unlisted items displayed on your site will always be visible to you when logged in, so
don't fret when you see them - to the logged out guest, UNLISTED folders are invisible.
Setting a folder to PRIVATE completely removes the folder and all of it's contents from public
access of any kind.
Additionally, areas set to PRIVATE cannot be seen or accessed on Business level accounts
when using the ASSISTANTS PASSWORD.
Folders and contents set to PRIVATE are only visible and accessible by you as the logged
in site owner.
Adding a password to a folder is the equivalent of putting a padlock on everything contained
within - and the password is the key that unlocks the door. Share the password with
guests to whom you wish to grant access.
If appropriate, you have the option to provide a hint to assist guests in recalling the correct
password.
The view hint option is presented when a guest lands on the UNLOCK SCREEN.
If you'd prefer not to allow search engines like Google and Yahoo access to this folder
and it's public contents to index and catalog for web searches, flip this option to NO.
SmugMug websites enjoy advanced search functionality. You can allow guests to find the PUBLIC contents
of a folder by setting this to YES, or switch to NO to remove the folder from the SmugMug
search engine's view.
It's important to note that setting a folder to UNLISTED or PRIVATE, or locking it with
a PASSWORD, automatically blocks all content from indexing by global search engines such
as Google and Yahoo! Only PUBLIC, unlocked content can be accessed.
When you're settings are in place, click SAVE to lock them in.
Can I edit settings for more than one folder at a time?
Edit the SETTINGS for multiple folders simultaneously by highlighting the target folders in the
preview panel - then click SETTINGS and edit as desired.
Organization: Moving and Rearranging Folders in your Content Hierarchy
SmugMug's Organizer utilizes a unique REAL TIME drag & drop environment. Arrange folders
within organizer's display panel, and instantly change the order they display on your website.
To move a folder to another level of the tree branch, or to an entirely different branch
of your site's hierarchy, drag the folder and drop it where you'd like it to nest. Select
multiple folders in the panel, and reorganize in batch - it's that easy!
You can drag from the preview pane, or move folders between branches in the hierarchy
tree.
Deleting Folders - and their Content To delete, highlight the folder or folders
you wish to permanently remove from your website, and click on the TRASH icon.
In order to avoid accidental deletion, we'll prompt you to confirm that you wish to delete
the selected items and ALL of the content nested within -
Not sure? Select CANCEL to back out and double check, and when you are sure click the DELETE
button.
It bears repeating, deleting a folder will permanently delete all of the folders, pages,
galleries, photos and videos that are nested in that folder - it's good practice to use
care and double check before deleting items on your website.
OUTRO Okay, that's a wrap on this guide to FOLDERS.
You can re-watch, pause, and rewind if needed, and if you're watching on our SmugMug YouTube
channel, you'll find a topical time index in the description below.
For written guides on the various options in Folder Settings, and other features and
tools accessible within the ORGANIZER, check out the associated help pages viewable at
help.smugmug.com, as well as the other tutorial videos in this continuing series.
And if you're EVER feeling 'lost,', or you'd just like to say hello, you can reach our
world famous Support Heroe 24/7 via email and live chat - just click GET HELP.