Online photo album for coins

It looks great here! I think this sort of gallery is a perfect way to showcase coins. I know of another website which displays them in a pseudo-art-gallery: I'll find the link soon and send it over!

 

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My gallery is at pBase which is not free but is easy to use. I started the gallery there with my non-coin photos and they are supposed to be used by photographers not collectors. They have never said anything about too many of my photos being coins.
You can click on the slideshow option in the UR corner to view them all of select from thumbnails. They have a lot of options I never use.
http://www.pbase.com/dougsmit

 

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement, everyone!

I'm making some test pages of different layouts using their prefab picture galleries. It may end up being better in both ease of creation and ease of viewing.

When I have a few variations ready I'll solicit everyone's input for the test pages.

 

Antique photographs and meteorites eh Doug? Very cool.

 

Here's the link I was going to post: http://tamron.myphotoexhibits.com/

It's quite a nice way to "display" coins and other art with a consistent size in what looks like a gallery.

 

Hmm, interesting. At first I didn't see that you could click on a picture for a closeup and in that view, you can add text.

If you can have different rooms/galleries that might be good. A room for each category.

 

Well done TIF. Your photography skills are impressive. REALLY nice shots and editing on the photos of your coins. Bravo!

 

I've been working on the layout and had created some test pages to see what you all thought looked and worked best.

However, after trying several pre-fab gallery styles I had a clear favorite and have changed all the categories to that style. It will take some time to load all my coins but I have added several more to the Greeks since the OP.

Here is the site: http://inaruvi.wix.com/tifcollection

The top-tier headings (Greek, Roman Republic, etc) all have thumbnail galleries. Hovering over the thumbnail shows the description (in some instances just part of the description if it is long). Clicking on the thumbnail takes you to a page for that individual coin. I can control the size of the gallery displayed on a given page and when the number of coins exceed that, a second page will be listed which will require a click to get to. Shouldn't been a great hardship for the viewer though.

I like the look of the thumbnail gallery without written titles on that page-- a cleaner, less cluttered look.

Another gallery style I tried and nixed was a Java pop-up type. Same thumbnail gallery but clicking on the thumbnail popped up a larger picture. I didn't like the look, plus:
- limited room for attribution and description
- less control over description font and style
- unable to put hyperlinks in the description
- people wouldn't be able to copy and paste a link to that enlarged picture
- etc

Maintaining individual pages for each coin will allow room for additional interesting information to be added-- maps, notes about the types, whatever.

For the moment I've left in an Index page but may delete it. What do you think about such an index page? Good? Unnecessary? It is a hassle to make and adding to it sometimes causes previous work to be undone. I haven't updated the Index with coins added this morning. I'm torn about it. I think it might be nice to have a consolidated list but it is extra work.

I enabled the mobile version which, as expected, makes it look quite different but considerably lessens load time. Some disadvantages of the mobile site:
- can't pinch/spread to enlarge the pictures (surprising!)
- the nice pictures on the landing page is cropped square and therefore only shows half of each side of the coin (not the end of the world)
- the thumbnail galleries are not displayed but the individual coins are listed and clickable so it makes its own 'index'.

I appreciate your input! Also, let me know if loading any particular page takes too long.

 

Can you track how many views a page gets?

 

If I upgrade to a paid account I can use Google Analytics. Don't know yet whether storage or traffic will make upgrading a necessity. Other than curiosity I don't really need to track hits, although it is fun to do so.

 

Very nice gallery! That's not a bad setup and easy navigation. I do recommend that you edit your first post in this thread with the new URL to update it. I clicked on it and it's dead.

Here are my galleries at present.

http://www.coincommunity.org/gallery/index.php?cat=10486

http://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/grid263.php

There is another at Tantalus but it's bugged.

 

Thanks, Gil. I forgot that the name change would kill the first link. Corrected.

I like that you have history with your galleries on CCF and I hope to do the same on my individual coin pages. Maybe a map, some trivia, whatever seems interesting or relevant.

 

Wow => that link took me back into the bowels of the CCF (ecchh, it felt dirty) ...

Oh, but very cool lookin' coin-gallery, my GG friend!! (I do miss the ancient dudes)

Cheers

 

Sorry Steve, but I didn't want to axe my gallery there.

That might be a good idea, TIF. I found that adding a summary of historical data can get some people interested. I do that on my Facebook page as well.

 

That's a cool format that you've got at Tantalus Gil-galad.

I grade it MS-45!

 

I like the index, but at the same time don't think it is a crucial addition. If it's a huge hassle to update, I think the site works just as well without it.

 

This looks great! I like the hover-over descriptions and fade out/in of the larger images. It might be worth writing a mini-intro on the homepage, describing how you're collecting/what you're focusing on/etc. It also wasn't immediately obvious that clicking on the titles (Greek/Roman Republic) showed all of the coins under those pages: it might be helpful to have a "View all coins" link as the first link under them, if possible, or, I'd actually propose not having each individual coin listed in the drop down from the top menus and instead just open the gallery showing all of them up front - I like clicking on the top links, seeing everything, and then clicking on one of them directly.

Some minor navigation might be useful as well - a link on the coin descriptions to view the next coin, or go "Back to Roman Republic", for example, but I don't know how flexible the template is.

 

It is a moderate hassle to update. If I rearrange the order within a category I lose the hyperlinks of the ones being moved, all of which have to be set up individually. That will be less of a hassle going forward since I've got a better handle on how to order the coins (like auction houses, using Eckhel's progression around the Mediterranean). Plus I have to highlight and change text style and color for each little thing (don't have to but I like the way it looks).

Right now I have each category in a separate text box so adding to the list also means dragging/moving other boxes.

I'll think about it a little longer. Maybe I should list them alphabetically (alpha but keeping separate categories).

Thanks! You're right, I should add a brief intro. The home page would be the sensible place to put it although I could also put in on the Contact page (maybe change the title to Info).

I was wondering if that would be a problem. Didn't see a way to do it.

[headsmack] OH! That's how to do it! Duh. I will add a 'page' which will appear first in the drop-down menu as 'View All Coins' and link it to the thumbnail gallery. Thanks

I'm puzzled by that too. Seems like it would be built in the template. Having to go back a page or re-click the category is not optimal. I'll explore the template customization a little more and if there is not a way, perhaps Wix's tech support can make it happen. I could add 'previous' and 'next' buttons to each page manually but that would be a nightmare when adding new coins in the middle of a gallery-- each subsequent coin would have to have the nav links individually updated.

Wondering if I should bother with the comment box on each coin page. I have to add them manually and adjust the settings for each one.

 

Anyone have an opinion on how to order the Provincials? I have a number of them to add so the page is going to get pretty full. Should I list geographically or by emperor?

 

Figure out which way will require you to make more pages. By emperor or by region. Use the one that requires the fewest pages. Or go by emperor to allow for a larger future expansion.

You could also make a map, hover a cursor over it to display a coin and a link to another detailed page. You could do a few like that, but not a large collection.

No easy way for provincials that I know of. Wildwinds has them according to emperor.