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Robin, I read the blog but it really didn’t give me any confidence or new information to help me make a decision. The lack of information on Symzio is disconcerting. We don’t know how far in the future it might be released and since you’ve elected to not answered Redneck’s question regarding free or pay service I can only assume it will be a pay to participate option. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have an opportunity to profit from your efforts but by the same token you should be presenting us with the cost up front if you expect us to jump on board.
I know the cross networking is functional on the legacy sites. What I was trying to confirm is that the feature is no longer a part of Robins new version. It has been jettisonned in favor of a hub site search engine that hasn’t been developed yet (Symzio) as far as I can tell.
But Network partners as we know them now are gone? Is that correct?
It sounds like for now the new sites will all be independent. At some undetermined point in the future your Symzio search site will search all the sites, much like the Symbiostock.info site does now but that is part of a later development phase.
What, if any, marketing and SEO benefits are there in the new plugin/theme combination that replicate or replace the network partners and network search feature found in the legacy version?
I’m just trying to understand what my motivation should be to change from what I have now. I need a better understanding of the differences, pros and cons, if I am going to invest time and possibly more money in converting.
Please explain – if it’s free how does it fund development? “As an added bonus, Symbiostock Express will be free for all hosting clients. This service is going to be the primary way we fund Symbiostock’s development.”
The way I understood it from a previous post was that the Symbiostock plugin was free. You can add that to any theme of your choice that is woo-commerce compatible. If you want his Express theme you can purchase it but if you opt to go with his full hosting package the theme is included. In short, you get the basic plugin for free. You have the option to purchase themes from him which he hopes will fund future development.
Thanks for the update. A few weeks is encouraging. I was envisioning months of development and testing.
Robin, thank you for clarifying the situation a bit. I do have a few questions.
- Will your version include both photographers and illustrators?
- Do you have plans to include other media, ie: video and audio?
- Do you have a targeted timeframe for your release, particularly with regard to addressing the VAT situation?
I want to remain positive and continue to support the cause. I hope to see some concrete actions to help me feel optimistic soon.
Unfortunately, the legacy Symbiostock update system is being used for marketing purposes by the previous developer of Symbiostock. I have asked him to stop doing this, but he feels it is appropriate. At this point there is nothing I can do because he is not giving me access to the update system, which is password protected on third party servers. I recommend you follow the instructions posted above to disable the update notification and not install anything on your legacy Symbiostock server unless it is posted on the Symbiostock.org forums/blog. I apologize about the confusion.
I’m sorry but am I the only one that’s even more confused now? I guess by “previous developer” you mean Leo Blanchette? So you’re basically saying Leo is spamming the Symbiostock community for his own benefit? And you work on a new Symbiostock WP plugin without Leo? What is your relationship to Leo? Is he still on board? And who are you anyway? Do you have a website? Are you developer, photographer, designer, …? Are you doing this alone or with a team? I’m sorry, I really don’t want to be rude by asking so many questions but I simply don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe a little more transparency would be a good idea. Or have I missed an announcement?
Edited to add that this quote function seems a bit odd but my (KLSbear) posts are those below, not attributed to Redneck.
I have the same questions. It seemed like Robin had joined forces with Leo to help with coding then out of then suddenly Leo took off in another direction and Robin took over Symbiostock but Leo hasn’t released all hold on it since he still controls the current WP update process. He says the update release just announces he is no longer supporting Symbiostock and promotes his new GRFX program. Over on MSG there is a thread about that.
Robin, I would like to see a link to any sites you have and know a bit more about you too. What is your involvement in microstock, if any? Will your new version support both illustrators and photographers?
At this point the volatility and bickering surrounding Symbiostock have made that name a liability more than an asset. You may want to consider rebranding too.
Hi Robin,
Thank you for the updates. I haven’t been active for quite awhile so it’s nice to see life in the project again. It’s very generous of you to offer credit for past purchases and I’m looking forward to seeing what the new themes and plugin have to offer. This may be the kick in the pants I need to start shooting and uploading again. Life distractions have kept me on the sidelines for too long.I updated your info in my network so the new site is active as one of my network partners.
Well this is a nice Christmas gift! Happy to see you back.
@donland wrote:
Same here. I also can’t find out where the manual zip download is located to update it manually.
I got the last manual update from this thread . I think it was posted somewhere else too but I not sure where. If this link doesn’t take you right to the post it’s in Leo’s post towards the bottom. I’m not sure what version it is but it’s the last I saw posted.
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=33&start=315
I think the recent upgrades did two things. I recall seeing something about some tweaks to minimize the use of resources and speed things up and also give the option to include some sales reporting on your private page and anonymously grouped with the collective info.
Overall communication with contributors
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😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀@redneck wrote:
@klsbear wrote:
Andre, one of your earlier posts on pricing encouraged me to bump my prices up a bit. I now have mine priced at $3, $6, $11 and $20. I’ve sold one image for $20 and it felt great to get a fair price for it.
My pricing goes like 5, 10, 20 and 50 and I have to admit that I have not sold a single image at the lowest price (smallest size). I’ve had an equal quantity of sales for 50 and 20 and I think only one or two sales for 10.
Try to keep prices up to make your images attractive and valuable.Who can value your images if not even the creator does?
The majority of my work is simple studio work and much of it was shot with my old 30D so they are smaller files. I shoot a lot of food, no models and it’s also on many of the other sites too. That’s some of my reasoning behind my pricing. I also researched several of the sites when I was setting things up and picked pricing that fell in the middle ranges at the time. I expect that I will price some exclusive work higher, especially if I do more complex set ups. I don’t disagree with the theory of valuing my work but given it’s current availability elsewhere I think it’s a fair compromise.
I’m not opposed to it but most of mine would be tagged as the Southeast corner of my basement. I would definitely say it must have the option to turn off the option as I don’t want the images tagged to give my home location.
