MG 2.0 Photopost Pro vs Xenforo 2

[420]

We migrated from 20 years of Photopost, to Xenforo 2 a few month ago.

With this old software, the upload process was extremely simple for everyone to understand.

Photopost:
1. Click Gallery
2. Click Upload Photos (Member's Galleries were highlighted in drop down by default)
3. Click Browse
4. Click Upload/Submit

However with Xenforo, more than half of our members are frustrated and have expressed extreme hate for the very extensive and confusing upload process, the way our gallery was setup by the developers we paid for the migration.

Xenforo:
1. Click Media
2. Click Add Media
3. Choose from 3 options

A
1. Choose Members Galleries Category
2. Enter Album Title
3. Upload
4. Save

B
1. Choose Category
2. Upload Image
3. Save

C
1. Click Create Personal Album
2. Click Upload File
3. Enter Album Title
4. Select Privacy
5. Save

D
1. Add Media to Existing Album
2. Select an Album
3. Upload File
4. Save

How do we get Xenforo Media Gallery setup for easy upload process like Photopost with just 4 easy clicks to upload?

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will this remove the Create Personal Album & Add to Existing Album options from the upload process?

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will the members who uploaded photos to these personal albums over the last 3 months since the migration, lose all of those photos?

 

[420]

We figured out that when you go to a category and upload from there, it eliminates the extra steps, resulting in an easy upload process like we are seeking. However, the problem we have, is that the developer who migrated our gallery data from Photopost to Xenforo, imported all of the Member Galleries photos into one huge category. But that caused the gallery to slow to a crawl, with ten minute page loads, because every time anyone searched for a photo in there, it had to sift through 2 million photos to find it. So he then realized he had made a mistake and wrote a script to move all of each member's photos into their own Member Galleries. Now at this point, we are not clear as to whether these are setup as categories or personal albums. So we are nervous to make any changes for testing, until we get Xenforo's confirmation that what we are doing is the right thing to do and most importantly, won't lose any data or screw anything up even further.

 

[420]

If we...

1. Mass move all media from our Members Galleries to a new category
2. Change Member Galleries category type from Albums only to Media items only
3. Mass move all media back to the Members Galleries category

Will that resolve our issue, without losing photos, link structures or losing any photos embedded into millions of posts?

Will any of this again change urls to that we need to setup re-directs for SEO all over again?

 

[Chris D]

Now at this point, we are not clear as to whether these are setup as categories or personal albums. So we are nervous to make any changes for testing, until we get Xenforo's confirmation that what we are doing is the right thing to do and most importantly, won't lose any data or screw anything up even further.

It sounds like what you’re proposing is moving everything back to what it was straight after the import which you said caused you problems so I’m not sure if it would help.

All I can really tell you is that moving images to different deferent albums or categories won’t change their URLs so it shouldn’t have any impact on SEO.

 

[M@rc]

All I can really tell you is that moving images to different deferent albums or categories won’t change their URLs so it shouldn’t have any impact on SEO.

What about these two questions? @420 wants a confirmation from a member of staff :

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will this remove the Create Personal Album & Add to Existing Album options from the upload process?

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will the members who uploaded photos to these personal albums over the last 3 months since the migration, lose all of those photos?

And I think he wants a confirmation if there is an easier way to upload to the XFMG rather than:

1. Click Media
2. Click Add Media
3. Choose from 3 options
4. Choose Category (Media item only category type)
5. Upload Image
6. Save

I also think he wants a clear-cut answer from a staff member if links staying the same will affect embed media in posts, to eliminate misunderstandings. The aim is to mass move media from Category A with an "album" category type to Category B with a "media only" category type then to switch Category A to a "media only" category type then to mass move media back to Category A.

 

[Chris D]

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will this remove the Create Personal Album & Add to Existing Album options from the upload process?

Yes.

If we remove the ability to create personal albums, will the members who uploaded photos to these personal albums over the last 3 months since the migration, lose all of those photos?

They would need to be moved to a category to remain viewable.

And I think he wants a confirmation if there is an easier way to upload to the XFMG rather than:

1. Click Media
2. Click Add Media
3. Choose from 3 options
4. Choose Category (Media item only category type)
5. Upload Image
6. Save

The exact process is (assuming categories only):

1. Click Media
2. Click "Add media..."
3. Click a category
4. Upload image
5. Save

Alternatively:

1. Click Media
2. Click desired category
3. Click "Add media"
4. Upload image
5. Save

5 steps (not 6) vs the 4 from PhotoPost. So, no, it can't really get much more streamlined than that.

I also think he wants a clear-cut answer from a staff member if links staying the same will affect embed media in posts, to eliminate misunderstandings. The aim is to mass move media from Category A with an "album" category type to Category B with a "media only" category type then to switch Category A to a "media only" category type then to mass move media back to Category A.

Their URLs won't change, hence if they're currently embedded in posts they'll remain embedded as they currently are.

 

[Chris D]

As a side note, the "Add media to existing album" option disappearing from the overlay when disabling personal albums may not actually work as expected currently, but that is sorted for the next release.

Also, if it helps at all, we've added "Add media" to the secondary links of the navigation tab in the next release so technically you don't need to "Click media" and then wait for it to load, you can just expand the links on the "Media" navigation tab and click "Add media" from wherever you are: