Author Topic: Ktools or symbiostock? (Read 2727 times)

Miguel Calo · « **on:** April 29, 2013, 07:09 »

What makes symbiostock a better option than ktools?

Thanks.

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #1 on:** April 29, 2013, 07:26 »

Leo ?

I don't know much about k-tools but understand that is paid for stand alone system where as Symbiostock is free and you will be able to network with other people. - take a look around some of our sites - some are more complete than others as we are customising and uploading but if you do a search you will see the main difference and see how clients are likely to be able to find what they are looking for

mattdixon · « **Reply #2 on:** April 29, 2013, 08:40 »

Symbiostock hands down.

I've used Ktools but since abandoned it, unfortunately it is very difficult to customise a nice looking front end without the help of a developer. Can become fairly expensive to get it looking how you want.

Symbiostock runs on Wordpress, fairly simple to get the site looking good without any developers. Big bonus and somewhat unique to Symbiostock is that you can network with other Symbiostock buddies so you can build a big collection between you. Also a growing user base here to help you out if you get stuck.

+ Symbiostock is free and open source.

I'd go as far to say it's a better option than Photoshelter.

If you go down the Sybiostock road, make sure you keyword and title your work before uploading, after that its fairly straightforward.

cthoman · « **Reply #3 on:** April 29, 2013, 09:06 »

I'd say potential would make Symbiostock the better option, but KTools is probably more complete right now. Both seem like good options though. I'd say make a list of the features you want or need and research what each can do.

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #4 on:** April 29, 2013, 09:19 »

When you do the research remember that Symbiostock is still in Beta and has only been around for about a month, which seems hard to believe when you see how far it has come in that time and Leo is talking about even more features with the next release

cathyslife · « **Reply #5 on:** April 29, 2013, 09:48 »

What Matt said on all points. I have used both and i have been able to customize this wordpress site a tad easier than ktools.

cascoly · « **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2013, 11:49 »

I've been with smugmug for years and will be keeping it along with symbiostock, since it will take time to transfer and the smugmug site is fully indexed with google (all 12,000 'pages' according to webmaster tools)

but SY has more potential for traffic thru networking and has already been indexed quickly by google. i'm building connections between the 2, right now concentrating on areas for Sy that are different from most sites - antique maps, etc

also, smugmug is fully set up to do prints, and other merchandise, so i'll be directing users there from SY

biggest advantage is it's free & open source so you can test and alter as you wish, and there's already a sizeable knowledge basse here to tap into

Amanda_K · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2013, 22:58 »

Symbiostock. Whatever features it lacks can be added as it matures. My personal experience with Ktools (v4) is that it is bloated, buggy and the support is...iffy. With Symbiostock you get the benefits of the community and networking. Plus making it pretty is a dream compared to Ktools!

Of course it depends on what you are going for and what features are absolutely essential to you. Good luck either way!