https://graphpaperpress.com/plugins/sell-media/

Does it support european vat?

The Graph Paper Press looks good enough.

What I'm really interested in is the connection to the Amazon S3 cloud storage.

Does anyone already use S3?

I don't think it's working.  I just did a keyword search (I think - I tried both search boxes) and nothing came up on your enlightened media site.

Yep, Symbiostock was a BIG waste of time. I am curious why Leo begin new project for illustrators. Is it the same plan to make a platform , to sell some theme and then to abandon the project? I had a symbiostock site, upgraded theme for nothing!

Yep, Symbiostock was a BIG waste of time. I am curious why Leo begin new project for illustrators. Is it the same plan to make a platform , to sell some theme and then to abandon the project? I had a symbiostock site, upgraded theme for nothing!

He's said many times that he is supporting legacy themes. What is broken on your site that has made it a waste of time?

Quote from: farbled on May 10, 2015, 08:23

Quote from: Dragomir Nikolov on May 09, 2015, 13:34

Yep, Symbiostock was a BIG waste of time. I am curious why Leo begin new project for illustrators. Is it the same plan to make a platform , to sell some theme and then to abandon the project? I had a symbiostock site, upgraded theme for nothing!

He's said many times that he is supporting legacy themes. What is broken on your site that has made it a waste of time?

That's the point that keeps being (deliberately?) forgotten here.

My "legacy" Symbiostock site is working fine. I'm about to start uploading dozens of fresh images.

At some point, I may rework it into a new theme, but for now there's no reason to jump ship.

I think that's where I'm struggling with all the negativity. Its self-hosting. Sym and GRFX (which also works just fine for photos btw, as stated many times as well) are software. It works fine as far as I can tell. Unless there's a problem with it, I don't get all the crying and moaning.

I would have to know who Robin is before I let his code loose with my whole portfolio. There has to be some accountability. Who's to say that there hasn't been a backdoor left in to give him access to my whole port, which he can then monetise it by giving away hosted on some Chinese server and offering ads? I knew who Leo was, Robin, I have no idea, just saying.

I feel the same way.

Robin, if you're listening, your stubborn anonymity is a problem for some of us now, and I suspect it will continue to dog your efforts.

Quote from: Semmick Photo on May 05, 2015, 07:06

Quote from: cathyslife on May 05, 2015, 06:58

Plenty of threads on this forum on alternatives, some from even the last couple of months. Look for self hosting threads.

Why dont you just name them instead of giving people the run around...

Alternative would be interesting.
Wordpress + Woocomerce + free Digital Media plugin + vat plugin.
If there is such a setup we just need a crowd founded searchengine that we can all promote. Somthing like a non profit foundation.
Everyone who wants conected to the searchengine pay a membership fee.

you're spot on -- I would be in on a crowd-funded search engine because that concept (of the super-search engine plus networking effect) is a promising one, especially in this day and age of latest Google flavours-or-the-day...

BTW, the Symbiostock theme HAPPENS TO BE mobile-friendly: that's a plus for the (old) Symbiostock theme!

I've watched Symbio with interest... but stayed on the sidelines.  IMO: Symbiostocks global search engine needs improvement.  For example - there should be a way to separate photos from illustrations and commercial from editorial.   

Symbio could be a great success if it's global search tool is comparable to established agencies.  To compete with agencies Symbio needs to look like an agency... while loudly proclaiming it's artist direct fair trade origin.

This is what Ive always felt was a drawback to the whole thing. There's the software part, plus the network part. Both have the same name. I love the software part, works great, etc, etc. The networking part I wasn't keen on, except to maybe get together half a dozen or so like minded, like priced and like quality portfolios, and make something happen.

Save your time and money. I had a SY site for 2 years. The networking part of the SY wordpress theme isnt going to bring the individual photographer any more traffic at all. There are alternative wordpress themes out there that work way better, with way less developer hassles. You still have to do all of your own site marketing in either case. The networking feature was way more trouble than it was worth, for those just trying to sell images.

it's possible to do this but we may not have the numbers -- it would be easy to put together a mini-network search, but there'd need to be enough people involved to make it worthwhile.  i'd support any effort to do this - either by improving the current searches or supplying the database access for someone else to do so.

the current search can't separate commercial from editorial since each site decides how that might be done.  using specific keywords would help, but would require enough people using thse codes.  to date there has been litle interest and few suggestions on how to improve the searches, so i've concentrated on features i can use on other sites such as interactive contact sheets and image galleries.

I'm just looking for those few sites that are suitable to collaborate with and just have a closed network. The old Sym was perfect for it, except that you had to log into each site separately, and the search results still included every other site that used Sym software. I didn't like that and efforts at removing all that stuff kept breaking my site. I don't want to belong to anything huge and generic or one that imposed any kind of control over my own site. There's enough agencies already. I want (ideally, in my perfect world) to just have enough good portfolios that together we can build our own little corner and go after specific (repeat) customers.

Remember last I heard SS had a million customers. If we could get even half of one percent as regular customers, buying at a reasonable rate and purchase price, pure gold... I don't see how that's impossible. I also think targeted marketing instead of relying on the googles of the world (nothing against it, but it's like everyone fishing in the same pond), might work better. Does every single buyer use Google to source their images? Nope. Since almost every tool is freely available, it certainly doesn't hurt to try.

Down the road, if there are enough niche collections like what I suggest, then I could see a hub site being useful. Right now, anyone with the software potentially belongs to "the" network. Whether they sell photos, illustrations, ebooks, music, etc... if its downloadable, you can use the software for it (open source after all). So it would depend on who adds the new sites to what network. Also something that few seemed to realize. There could be as many networks as people wanted. Don't like one? Move to another or create your own...

Anyway, they're all good ideas. It just takes time and effort and a little expense. Sadly I am lacking all three right now.

Honestly, I can't recommend it because there's no sales tracking.  The only way I know what sold is to hold on to the emails.

The new versions use Woocommerce, which has plugins for sales tracking and other reporting.

I wish I had that issue. Someday!