Photobucket stop 3rd party access

Maybe it's because I only have the Plus 50 Plan, which is the lowest on their tier of paid plans? That would be my guess, since the "Plus 50" plan was hi-lighted in the email reply I received.

Funny, I just received another promotional notification from Photobucket, which I'll copy and past at the end of this post. Still not interested, so I'll probably stick with Shutterfly and just hope they don't decide to start charging.

Cruizer2, I keep forgetting to mention that I just love the pictures you post too. I don't always comment, but I do enjoy seeing them. I really enjoy seeing a lot of the pictures I see posted here in CC, whether it's on the "Photo & Camera Discussions" boards or in member reviews. It's sad (and a shame) that a lot of these beautiful pictures that CC members posted will be lost.

The promotional notification I received, through email, from Photobucket:

You Spoke, We Listened.

Photobucket is now offering a monthly plan

Congratulations! You're part of Photobucket's Elite Beta Group! You have been hand selected out of millions of users to be an essential part of our team of influencers. Best part so far? We have created a monthly option for our Plus 500 Plan. And YOU get the first crack at it. It's only available from the link below, so click below to get started!

Start Your Monthly Plan Now

Out of curiosity, I just clicked on the link for Photobucket's "special offer" to sign up for the monthly plan for the Plus 500 Plan. If my calculations are correct, meaning if my calculator is working correctly, that would come to $719.88 per year, over $300 more than the $399.99 they are charging each year. See picture below, which I uploaded from Shutterfly. Seriously???

If anyone is interested, to insert pictures from Shutterfly, you need to open up the picture, hover the mouse over the picture and right click. You'll get a list of options and from that you choose "Copy Image". Then you just paste into your post. Very simple. As of right now, Shutterfly has free unlimited storage.

Screen shot from Photobucket's link for the "special offer" they offered me today (what a joke):

Cruizer2, I keep forgetting to mention that I just love the pictures you post too. I don't always comment, but I do enjoy seeing them. I really enjoy seeing a lot of the pictures I see posted here in CC, whether it's on the "Photo & Camera Discussions" boards or in member reviews. It's sad (and a shame) that a lot of these beautiful pictures that CC members posted will be lost.

Thank you. What bothers me the most is that posting pictures on Cruise Critic is time consuming and boring. So I starting using Photobucket's slideshow. I could then post some of the photographs and provide a link to others. This was a great compromise. Now that is gone. For my last cruise I posted 238 photographs and linked to 436 more. Without the slideshow nobody would have seen the other 436 photographs. Hopefully I can find a site that allows me to link to photographs so that I don't have to post them all.

Which is why I like Flickr. I can just send a link to an album if I want to show more than just a photo or two in a forum or other such environment. Also good for keeping family up to date with holidays or events etc.

Terms like extortion and ransomware aren't valid. Am I missing something? You can use a different service? Can't you download your pictures, assuming you can't find them?

The issue is with cruise critic not allowing you to edit your posts, updating location of your pictures.

couple of comments

Yes PB refined their position once already by allowing paid accounts to continue to have 3rd party hosting until Dec of 18 ..... had they offered me to upgrade to a paid account MENTIONING this pending change I might have gone there. They didn't and I'm not a happy camper. Despite having a free account I did buy several things thru them like canvas prints which are very well done .... but now I'll look for a different supplier

The issue is with cruise critic not allowing you to edit your posts, updating location of your pictures. I agree that this is a poor policy on CC. Being at least a lil IT techey (MS Computer Science and 30 years in the field) I've never quite understood the reason behind it. Every other 'forum' site I post on allows the owner to go back and edit forever (and I know many are using the same 'engine' this site runs on)

I only used PB to put a few pics on so I could post them here. I'm totally annoyed that they no longer show. Guess I'll put them on Shutterfly since there are so few. I agree that it would be nice to be able to fix past posts here on CC.

I only used PB to put a few pics on so I could post them here. I'm totally annoyed that they no longer show. Guess I'll put them on Shutterfly since there are so few. I agree that it would be nice to be able to fix past posts here on CC.

I have written to Cruise Critic asking if I could add a post at the beginning of my reviews that the photographs are now at the end, after the comments. So far I have not received a reply.

I have quite a few albums on photobucket.

Is there anyway I can move those albums over to Shutterfly?

I think the only way would be to download all photos/albums from Photobucket to your computer, and use any Shutterfly upload tools to upload them all to Shutterfly. Same would apply if you wanted to move to Flickr or SmugMug etc. Photobucket probably don't want to make it easy for you to leave them, even though it's their own doing!

Sent from my phone, using the app.

If you are uploading to these forums, the limits are very severe. Basically, you can upload the equivalent of a large thumbnail. The Tapatalk app lets you upload an image from your phone or tablet to their server and it automatically links to your post. I don't know what the limits are.

 

 

 

As I mentioned above, I use Zenfolio which allows me unlimited storage and direct linking. It does cost me $140 annually, but that includes linking to my website to use the online galleries as my site's photo album. It also allows for direct sales if I ever get off my butt and start that project. There are lower cost plans as well.

 

 

 

Dave

I have used Zenfolio almost since they started. Do note that I recently received a notice that their fees are going up, mine is at a "grandfathered" rate, new subscriptions will be more. Still worth it, but don't be surprised if rates mentioned here don't line up with what you find on the site.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

If you are uploading to these forums, the limits are very severe. Basically, you can upload the equivalent of a large thumbnail. The Tapatalk app lets you upload an image from your phone or tablet to their server and it automatically links to your post. I don't know what the limits are.

 

As I mentioned above, I use Zenfolio which allows me unlimited storage and direct linking. It does cost me $140 annually, but that includes linking to my website to use the online galleries as my site's photo album. It also allows for direct sales if I ever get off my butt and start that project. There are lower cost plans as well.

 

Dave

I have used Zenfolio almost since they started. Do note that I recently received a notice that their fees are going up, mine is at a "grandfathered" rate, new subscriptions will be more. Still worth it, but don't be surprised if rates mentioned here don't line up with what you find on the site.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

SmugMug offers direct linking and unlimited storage also. I'm not trying to see my photos, so my plan is $48/year (except this year it is $38.4). There are more expensive plans that offer greater security for people who want to also sell their photographs.

This stinks just did my first review and used photobucket

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I think the only way would be to download all photos/albums from Photobucket to your computer, and use any Shutterfly upload tools to upload them all to Shutterfly. Same would apply if you wanted to move to Flickr or SmugMug etc. Photobucket probably don't want to make it easy for you to leave them, even though it's their own doing!

 

Sent from my phone, using the app.

I have quite a few albums on photobucket.

Is there anyway I can move those albums over to Shutterfly?

Don't know about Shutterfly, but it appears PB has shut down all the easy migration tools. I signed up for Smugmug, and found out the API for their Smugglr tool has been disabled by PB. I've also been unable to download albums directly through PB. Pretty sure I can download one photo at a time, but I have 11 years worth of photos...

I have used Zenfolio almost since they started. Do note that I recently received a notice that their fees are going up, mine is at a "grandfathered" rate, new subscriptions will be more. Still worth it, but don't be surprised if rates mentioned here don't line up with what you find on the site.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I also started using Zenfolio quite some time ago. I like that they cater to professional photographers. I figured if they trust Zenfolio, that's good enough for me. What bothered me about most free site is their Terms of Service that often includes hazy language about who owns the rights to the photos.

I've been happy with their service. I don't mind paying their reasonable rates - in fact I just upgraded.

The expression you get what you pay for is true. If you aren't paying anything beware. Better to find a service with reasonable rates.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Don't know about Shutterfly, but it appears PB has shut down all the easy migration tools. I signed up for Smugmug, and found out the API for their Smugglr tool has been disabled by PB. I've also been unable to download albums directly through PB. Pretty sure I can download one photo at a time, but I have 11 years worth of photos...

I have ALL my originals. So I can easily load all my photos into SmugMug. What I don't like is, lets say my review is 40 posts. Then another 60 comments. Someone who only wants to read the review and look at the pictures is not going to scroll to the end to find the pictures from SmugMug unless Cruise Critic allows me to add a new first post explaining where to find the pictures. So far Cruise Critic has not responded to my two emails.

Don't know about Shutterfly, but it appears PB has shut down all the easy migration tools. I signed up for Smugmug, and found out the API for their Smugglr tool has been disabled by PB. I've also been unable to download albums directly through PB. Pretty sure I can download one photo at a time, but I have 11 years worth of photos...

The PB tools not working are possibly an intended side effect of disabling 3rd party access unless you have an appropriate account level.

Have you tried this to download an entire album to your PC?

Don't know about Shutterfly, but it appears PB has shut down all the easy migration tools. I signed up for Smugmug, and found out the API for their Smugglr tool has been disabled by PB. I've also been unable to download albums directly through PB. Pretty sure I can download one photo at a time, but I have 11 years worth of photos...

Same here -- quite a few years of albums.

I tried to down load one picture at a time without success.

People, when you back something up, don't destroy the originals. If you don't have room on your hard drive, and if you don't have enough room on your hard drive, save the pictures to a CD, DVD, or a flash drive. If you don't have a CD, DVD, or flash drive, it is time to buy a new computer.

The PB tools not working are possibly an intended side effect of disabling 3rd party access unless you have an appropriate account level.

 

Have you tried this to download an entire album to your PC?

No luck so far.

I do have all the photos, it's the folder structure and organization that I really want, and not having to remember which shots I uploaded.

I do have a fair number of shots that were shot in raw, developed in Lightroom, and exported as jpegs directly to PB. Live and learn on that one...

No luck so far.

 

I do have all the photos, it's the folder structure and organization that I really want, and not having to remember which shots I uploaded.

 

I do have a fair number of shots that were shot in raw, developed in Lightroom, and exported as jpegs directly to PB. Live and learn on that one...

While I don't shoot raw, I do do some basic editing to make the photo better (crop, color correct, exposure correct, contrast correct, stitching two or more photographs together ...) I always save the result and then upload. I also save which pictures I save in a folder labeled "Post".

This is not the first time a photo hosting site has done something to its customer's pictures. Do you remember Webshots?

This may not impress a professional, but I have a photo file that contains 64,839 photographs in 739 folders. The total size is 291 GB. It has been saved to five hard drives, two of which are not connected to the computer (I have to manually connect the hard drive to the computer so that I can back up to it). For me, the photo hosting site is for photos I want to post. I do not use it as a backup tool.

As long as I don't suffer a total fire loss, I'm in good shape.

Assuming they are using PHPBB as built, there's no practical way to grant individual access to old posts without either changing the lock rules for everyone or making you an admin. Neither is likely.

As per SmugMug and Zenfolio, I use SmugMug for me because I like the interface and I use ZenFolio for a camera club because of the multi-user access. Either is a decent choice, but I find SM a bit better for individual shooters.

I keep a separate folder in my drive structure aligned to albums on smug mug for each upload...

I have ALL my originals. So I can easily load all my photos into SmugMug. What I don't like is, lets say my review is 40 posts. Then another 60 comments. Someone who only wants to read the review and look at the pictures is not going to scroll to the end to find the pictures from SmugMug unless Cruise Critic allows me to add a new first post explaining where to find the pictures. So far Cruise Critic has not responded to my two emails.

Assuming they are using PHPBB as built, there's no practical way to grant individual access to old posts without either changing the lock rules for everyone or making you an admin. Neither is likely.

 

As per SmugMug and Zenfolio, I use SmugMug for me because I like the interface and I use ZenFolio for a camera club because of the multi-user access. Either is a decent choice, but I find SM a bit better for individual shooters.

 

I keep a separate folder in my drive structure aligned to albums on smug mug for each upload...

I'll give them the post and they can post it. "Due to changes in Photobucket's terms of use, the photographs for this thread can be found beginning at post # xxx." Then I can add the photographs to the end of the thread. But if someone reading my review has no notice, at the beginning of the review, as to where the photographs are now located, then I am not going to take the time to put them there.

Assuming they are using PHPBB as built, there's no practical way to grant individual access to old posts without either changing the lock rules for everyone or making you an admin. Neither is likely.

 

As per SmugMug and Zenfolio, I use SmugMug for me because I like the interface and I use ZenFolio for a camera club because of the multi-user access. Either is a decent choice, but I find SM a bit better for individual shooters.

 

I keep a separate folder in my drive structure aligned to albums on smug mug for each upload...

Cruise Critic has responded with the following, which I believe will work just fine ...

If you want to email the new paragraph I can put it at the top of your post 1. There is no way I could find to make a new post 1 so that may be our best option

Let me know if that works for you

Jenn K

Senior Community Support

IndependentTraveler.com / CruiseCritic.com / FamilyVacationCritic.com

I have an email from Photobucket that my account has expired (does that mean it is dead :eek:). I checked one of my reviews and the photographs were still visible.