What is in WebAsyst Photos better than in other photo hosting services?

WebAsyst Photos is a single permanent storage for your photos with a constant URL (your_account.webasyst.net or your_domain.com), your own photo gallery which can be managed only by yourself.

It is not a common photo catalog for all service users (like Flickr) and not a photo exchange service like imageshack.us where you can upload a photo, get a link to it and forget its URL without a possibility to restore access to the uploaded image. WebAsyst Photos is intended for Internet users who periodically need to publish photos online and want be sure that they can access their once uploaded photos at any time in the future.

Read more about it in section "Advantages".

Which is a better option: buy PHP scripts or sign up for the hosted version?

There is no definite answer on this question because each option has its own benefits. Take a look at Software vs. Hosted comparison table to decide which option is better for you.

How many photos and of what size can I upload?

Online service: the number of photos is only limited by the disc space available for your account. A free account allows uploading image files with the aggregate size of 100 MB. To increase the available disc space consider our paid plans (from 4.95 USD/mo).
Image size should not exceed 20 megapixels (it is far more than most currently used photo cameras can manage).

PHP scripts: the number and size of uploaded photos (image files) are limited only by the capacity of your server: the available disc space, amount of server memory (PHP memory_limit parameter), the limits applied to the maximum size of uploaded files (PHP upload_max_filesize parameter).

Are original photos saved after the upload?

Yes. Original full size images are saved into a protected server directory. The original image can only be accessed via a special link available in the account backend if you have access to that particular album. Cracking that link is virtually impossible (unless you can guess a 32 character long hash code).

When an image has been uploaded, several thumbnails are automatically generated for it: 96х96 (cropped), 144х144 (cropped), 256, 512, 750 and 970 pixels in the largest dimension. Thumbnails are used to display your photos in a browser: when photos are viewed, published, exported for forums and blogs etc. Thumbnails take up significantly less server disc space than the original image files and can therefore can much faster be transferred over the Internet.

What web browser do you recommend for WebAsyst Photos users?

WebAsyst Photos works fine in all widely used browsers: Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari. However, since in the WebAsyst Photos account backend AJAX is heavily used (data are retrieved dynamically without the page being completely refreshed), it is recommended to use a browser that is fast at execution of JavaScript code. Using Internet Explorer is not recommended, better use Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome or Safari. In all these browsers WebAsyst Photos works much faster.
The publicly accessible frontend (photo gallery) does not use much JavaScript, so it will run fine even in Internet Explorer.

How do I show my photos to others?

WebAsyst Photos offers several ways to show your photos to your friends or colleagues:

• Photo gallery is a publicly accessible frontend with a permanent URL where anyone can view all albums that have the "Published" status; take a look at a demo photo gallery;
• Collections: you can select several photos and combine them into a collection that can be accessed via a single link (example) or as HTML code that can be embedded in a web site (more details at Gallery widget, Slideshow widget);
• Links to a photo and export: for each photo (or several selected photos) you can in one click obtain a link and email it or send it over ICQ/MSN/Skype/Jabber, HTML code for embedding in a web site (<img>), BBcode for embedding in a forum ([img]);
• Collaboration: access to your albums can be granted to other users by registering them in your WebAsyst account (i.e. creating a login name and password for each user).

Can I allow other people to edit my photo albums?

Yes, you can. WebAsyst is designed for online collaboration — each WebAsyst user (authorized with a login name and a password) can be assigned access rights for any number of available albums. The following access levels can be granted for each album: read access (may only view photos), write access (may view and upload photos or edit photo descriptions), full access (may view and upload photos or publish albums).

Read more questions and answers about WebAsyst Photos in section "Support".