Author Topic: Thinking of joining..where to start? (Read 8782 times)

TheDrift- · « **on:** May 15, 2013, 06:55 »

Hi

I have a stock port of 400 - 600 pics (varies according to stocksite)

I have recently launched a website (hosted on squarespace)

Squarespace currently only do a store in the USA but i understand the underlying platform stipe is being beta tested in Europe so I am hoping I would shortly be able to add a store to my website for stock that way.

Symbiostock seems like a really good community, but I'm unsure how to proceed further? Of course it would be great to exchange links with others, to help both our SEO's and selling stock direct seems like a dream come true..any help on the next steps would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
Shaun

ps is there a how to start thread somewhere i cant find?

daveh900 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 15, 2013, 07:02 »

First of all... don't think anymore... do it!

Install Wordpress first. Might be as easy as a couple clicks (depending on your host).

After installing WP, install the Symbiostock theme. Available here: http://www.symbiostock.com/

It's all really easy, post here if you have questions.

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #2 on:** May 15, 2013, 07:18 »

From a very quick look it seems as if Squarespace are quite restricted and don't allow Wordpress.

Leo (the Symbiostock Wizard) is recommending Bluehost where it works "out of the box"

I just needed to do a couple of tweaks to the php.ini to get it working fine on Justhost

TheDrift- · « **Reply #3 on:** May 15, 2013, 07:23 »

Thanks I'll have a look and see if there is anything I can do with Squarespace

Thanks for the link daveh

PS tinny do you by anychance hand round the TP forums as well?

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2013, 07:46 »

Yes I do although not much recently as have been too busy setting up my Symbiostock site and other things, did you happen to see any of the posts where I mentioned it there?

TheDrift- · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2013, 09:37 »

Quote from: Tinny on May 15, 2013, 07:46

Yes I do although not much recently as have been too busy setting up my Symbiostock site and other things, did you happen to see any of the posts where I mentioned it there?

Quite possibly i've know about it for a while and its been on my list of things to look at, if you have mentioned it over there I'm sure its likely i might have picked it up from over there.. thanks

cascoly · « **Reply #6 on:** May 15, 2013, 17:49 »

Quote from: TheDrift- on May 15, 2013, 06:55

Hi

ps is there a how to start thread somewhere i cant find?

there's a FAQ at http://cascoly-images.com/pix/faq-frequently-asked-questions-about-symbiostock/

if there's ANYTHING else that should be added to the 'get started' instructions please let us know as it will help the next person

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #7 on:** May 15, 2013, 19:16 »

Here is something by Amanda Bodack -

- I think she's working on a startup series.

( cartoonpictureshop.com )

Amanda_K · « **Reply #8 on:** May 15, 2013, 22:32 »

You should go for it! Haven't quite figure out Vimeo links yet, but you can see a super quick over view of install where Leo linked or go to: www. vimeo.com/66218389 and I'll be uploading one with a walk through of installing the theme tonight with a few tips. Looking for ideas so if you get stuck at anywhere send me a message.

TheDrift- · « **Reply #9 on:** May 16, 2013, 01:10 »

Thanks for the help guys.

I've checked with squarespace, and I don't think the symbiostock theme is compatable with them.

I think the easiest thing to do is set up a new account with blue host and link to them from my site...although this does mean paying out for 2 websites.

I'll have a look over the next few days, thanks for the help.

I'll also post up my experiences as a new user, as you have suggested to give some feedback.

So far everyone has seemed really helpful and friendly that's a massive plus.

A well publicised getting started page maybe on here and in the symbiostock site could be helpful. I'll check out the guides above thanks again for these, maybe they could be promoted a bit more?

Also does anyone offer a set up service? Eg for a fee they set the whole thing up and you just need to upload the photo's. That would be a great option too!

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #10 on:** May 16, 2013, 02:14 »

You could pay someone to set it up but it is probably best if you learn to do it yourself, that way you will know how to tweak things when you want to

Remember the rest of us are only about 6 or seven weeks ahead of you. The Symbiostock.com site has the straightforward useful information - especially this section http://www.symbiostock.com/forums/forum/support/
This includes useful FAQ's that Cascoly has gleaned from the forum and put together
I did a getting started tutorial
Terry listed the getting started video's that Leo created and they are very useful

TheDrift- · « **Reply #11 on:** May 16, 2013, 17:31 »

Thanks all, I'm calling it a night on this, but Ive made progress.

Thanks for the tutorials that have been posted up, I wouldn't have got anywhere without those!

I have made a small donation to Leo for all his work, and going forward I think I will continue with a % of sales..Brilliant stuff thanks...

As I could not use the theme with my web host, my plan is to link to a new website hosted by blue square from my main site..I trust this is ok? I am still working on setting up the pages to me stock site..hope to get that done over the weekend...

I've not uploaded any pictures yet that a job for tommorow night, just wanted to post up and say thanks for the help so far? Ps whats the best way to get some link exchanges going on, my site is looking pretty lonely at the moment

Thanks
Shaun

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #12 on:** May 16, 2013, 17:47 »

Quote from: TheDrift- on May 16, 2013, 17:31

Thanks all, I'm calling it a night on this, but Ive made progress.

Thanks for the tutorials that have been posted up, I wouldn't have got anywhere without those!

I have made a small donation to Leo for all his work, and going forward I think I will continue with a % of sales..Brilliant stuff thanks...

As I could not use the theme with my web host, my plan is to link to a new website hosted by blue square from my main site..I trust this is ok? I am still working on setting up the pages to me stock site..hope to get that done over the weekend...

I've not uploaded any pictures yet that a job for tommorow night, just wanted to post up and say thanks for the help so far? Ps whats the best way to get some link exchanges going on, my site is looking pretty lonely at the moment

Thanks
Shaun

Link exchanges?!?!?!?!

This is Symbiostock, man! Link exchanges are FREE and abundant!

Especially with the new one we're making

PS - thanks for the donation. Good to keep that coffee cup hot and full on the long nights

cascoly · « **Reply #13 on:** May 16, 2013, 18:38 »

Quote from: TheDrift- on May 16, 2013, 17:31

....

As I could not use the theme with my web host, my plan is to link to a new website hosted by blue square from my main site..I trust this is ok? I am still working on setting up the pages to me stock site..hope to get that done over the weekend...

Ps whats the best way to get some link exchanges going on, my site is looking pretty lonely at the moment

for links - for now, use the networking section under the symbiostock area to add other sites -- use the http://cascoly.com/symbiostock-network.asp list - and then post a message in the networking thread here to get others to link to you once you're ready

as far as multiple sites - it's pretty straightforward - I link between my main site and have links there to my smugmug and symbio site cascoly-images.com which also count as external links in google. I also write articles in hubpages and link to my images from there.

I've just added some info about SYM in my article http://cascoly.hubpages.com/hub/How-Best-to-Promote-Your-Art-and-Photography and will be writing a separate article on symbiostock

flashon · « **Reply #14 on:** May 16, 2013, 22:12 »

My website is hosted @smugmug. Do they support wordpress?

cascoly · « **Reply #15 on:** May 16, 2013, 22:52 »

Quote from: flashon on May 16, 2013, 22:12

My website is hosted @smugmug. Do they support wordpress?

smugmug doesn't actually host -- you need a separate domain for smugmug that they monopolize at the root -- eg, http://pix-now.com is the domain name I have assoc'd w cascoly.smugmug.com that actually stores my images

an alternate domain name (but occupying the same physical place) http://buydigpix.com/wp lets me setup wp

I ended up getting a separate new domain for my symbio site

TheDrift- · « **Reply #16 on:** May 17, 2013, 17:47 »

Well I'm getting there...slow but steady progress...

one problem i've hit tho is google refusing to index my site, saying i've got a robots.txt file in place to block google...ive never put in robots.txt file..bluehost say either theme or plugin causing it...i've disabled everything accept symbiostock theme?

anyone else having this problem? or know a fix?
thanks

Leo Blanchette · « **Reply #17 on:** May 17, 2013, 17:51 »

Did you accidentally enable the "block from search engines" option in WP?

TheDrift- · « **Reply #18 on:** May 17, 2013, 18:18 »

I have double and triple checked that under settings > reading ??

I have no .txt file at all tho? www.shaunwstock.com/robots.txt doesn't exist?

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #19 on:** May 18, 2013, 05:28 »

Hi Shawn, a couple of thoughts

- don't forget to keep the Leo and Symbiostock bit in your footer

he is doing a lot of work on this and providing it for us for free so we need to keep his name to the forefront

You might also like to check your Eula unless you want people to credit me with your images

Watermark - I would be inclined to incorporate something that identifies you in it so that if the watermarked pictures get pinched and used they can be readily linked back to you.

Links - see the "Network" section of the "Symbiostock" area and select networking, the page will then change to you can add people to your network. If you look at my site under information there is a page with all (or all I know about) of the current symbiostock network members and you can look at their sites and see who you would like to link to. One V2 is fully tested and released there will be more than five slots available

TheDrift- · « **Reply #20 on:** May 18, 2013, 06:24 »

Quote from: Tinny on May 18, 2013, 05:28

Hi Shawn, a couple of thoughts
- don't forget to keep the Leo and Symbiostock bit in your footer he is doing a lot of work on this and providing it for us for free so we need to keep his name to the forefront

Hi Christine, thanks for taking time to look over my site, very much appreciated, and your set up instructions were very useful!!

I did turn this on and off but Leo should be there..this is the option under sybiostock > Settings > Credit links? its currently set to product page (suggested)...I thinks that right?

Quote from: Tinny on May 18, 2013, 05:28

You might also like to check your Eula unless you want people to credit me with your images

Lol ahem

a stich in nine does not always save time

Quote from: Tinny on May 18, 2013, 05:28

Watermark - I would be inclined to incorporate something that identifies you in it so that if the watermarked pictures get pinched and used they can be readily linked back to you.

Good idea, that said I'm on 6 or 7 stock sites already so my image could just as easy be stolen from one of them, but definitely one to think about

Quote from: Tinny on May 18, 2013, 05:28

Links - see the "Network" section of the "Symbiostock" area and select networking, the page will then change to you can add people to your network. If you look at my site under information there is a page with all (or all I know about) of the current symbiostock network members and you can look at their sites and see who you would like to link to. One V2 is fully tested and released there will be more than five slots available

I'll definitely be heading over there, I just want to get some content up first, unfortunately I live in rural Lincolnshire and live in internet poverty..I estimate it will take around 30-50 hours solid uploading to get my content up...if I lived a few miles away, towards the town, I think it would be about an hour or so

At least my robots.txt file error seems to have disappeared tho

susandaniels · « **Reply #21 on:** May 18, 2013, 06:33 »

hello,
is it the Bluehost basic package? $4.96/mo?
are UK people using Bluehost? reason i ask is i have a portfolio site hosted by Evohosting in the UK, with a wordpress theme, i cant afford to upgrade to a professional hosting package, can i use the Symbiostock theme on my Evohosting site ? or is it better to move to Bluehost ?

TheDrift- · « **Reply #22 on:** May 18, 2013, 07:16 »

Quote from: susandaniels on May 18, 2013, 06:33

hello,
is it the Bluehost basic package? $4.96/mo?
are UK people using Bluehost? reason i ask is i have a portfolio site hosted by Evohosting in the UK, with a wordpress theme, i cant afford to upgrade to a professional hosting package, can i use the Symbiostock theme on my Evohosting site ? or is it better to move to Bluehost ?

not sure if you can use evohosting...bluehost is only that price if you sign up for 3 years...oh and they also add tax...it cost me 100 dollars for 12 months

TheDrift- · « **Reply #23 on:** May 18, 2013, 11:13 »

Well thanks everybody..I'm up and running

Slowly uploading content, now slowly being the operative word..I cant get the FTP to work, the path listed in the symbiostock section doest work??

Having never used wordpress to have a website up and running in a couple of (long) evenings is testament to the great work of Leo and others, Also the community is great to..see this thread and how helpful everybody is!!

If I can do it anybody can

Thanks again
Shaun

PS if anyone has any ideas on the FTP let me know!!..error 550 directory not found? path

ajt · « **Reply #24 on:** May 18, 2013, 11:51 »

In ftp connection you should enter path relative to your root ftp folder. Try to log to your ftp account without giving any directory, and look where you are

For example, if you will be logged to folder shaunwst, then close connection, and in next session enter path "public_html/home/wp-content/themes/symbiostock/inc/classes/plupload/uploads/". Maybe you will be in public_html/home folder (you will see wordpress files and folders there, for example wp-content). In this case as ftp directory you should enter only "wp-content/themes/symbiostock/inc/classes/plupload/uploads/".

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Author Topic: Thinking of joining..where to start? (Read 8782 times)

TheDrift-

daveh900

Kerioak~Christine

TheDrift-

Kerioak~Christine

TheDrift-

cascoly

Leo Blanchette

Amanda_K

TheDrift-

Kerioak~Christine

TheDrift-

Leo Blanchette

cascoly

flashon

cascoly

TheDrift-

Leo Blanchette

TheDrift-

Kerioak~Christine

TheDrift-

susandaniels

TheDrift-

TheDrift-

ajt

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