Webshots closing

[Aquahound]

I was already logged into webshots. I clicked the go to smile button. I scrolled down to...

 

Thanks Gina. I'm trying the same thing. Over 5000 photos...should be interesting.

[K1200S]

I keep all my pictures on flash drives. I use phtobucket to upload any pics to CC which isn't many. I have more trust in my flash drives then some web site, here today gone tomorrow.

[Dotsie]

What's worse, when I go to my account and click "Cancel Premium Membership," it takes me to their stupid blog and no link to cancel. So, I go back to Smile sign-in and again, it wont recognize my Webshots sign-in.

 

Anyone else having this problem?

 

Unless you've downloaded all of your pictures, I would wait to cancel to see what happens. They should offer an extension if enough people complain (I sent my complaint email today). Webshots should have waited to release this until they worked out all the kinks.

 

They are getting plenty of negative feedback on their blog. One person has over 40,000 photos on her blog as documentation that will no longer be visible:

 

http://blog.webshots.com/2012/10/3874/#comments

[mommabean]

Thanks Gina. I'm trying the same thing. Over 5000 photos...should be interesting.

 

I hope they send the info in the promised 48 hours, too. Saturday is the latest I can mess with it. Sunday - packing. Monday - flying to cruise without my PC until after the picture download deadline.

 

Had I not seen this here, I'd have never known. I didn't get any email from webshots either.

 

Gina

[Desert Cruizers]

Glad I ran across this thread, I knew nothing of the change over. I have enjoyed using Web Shots but don't like the idea you can't go in an view others photos soon. Perhaps I will end up back at Photo Bucket. Only reason I left was because i was having trouble uploading photos.

[bajathree]

This is probably true. Changes in business models, such as this one, never please anyone. I, too, have many cruise related photos and daily activity sheets that I've posted over the years. I will download them from Webshots, and I will have to search for another "free" service.

 

Laura

 

Yea Laura....change always takes a bit to get used to...it is a shame that all those pictures posted will go puff....but I guess there isn't much one can do about that....now to look for a new service just like you are.

 

Uggh!! I'm trying to convert to the Smile so I don't lose my photos, but the sign-in is saying "invalid." It won't even e-mail me a temp password. Well, back to all the old SD cards and hours of re-labeling.

 

Sayonara Webshots. You suck!

 

Paul...I had some trouble trying to sign in also...things obviously aren't working as smooth as they are supposed to. Once I did get in I followed where is says:

 

Can I download and save my Webshots photos and videos?

Absolutely. We’ve made it easy for all members to download and save their images. (Once you have them saved to your desktop, you can still check out our new service too). Get started downloading and saving your images now.

 

I did that and got a message that it is processing and I will be notified when they are ready for download in 48hrs. I ended up getting an e-mail in about 30 minutes they were ready along with a link in it to click on for download....the link didn't work either:rolleyes:...so i went back to smile and found the download link there....don't remember where exactly though...sorry....in any case it took a good 20-30 minutes to download them all to my computer...it downloads in a zip-file and my photos were downloaded in albums....looks like all is good and they are all there. I am sure uploading them to a new site isn't going to be fun.

[mommabean]

Thanks Gina. I'm trying the same thing. Over 5000 photos...should be interesting.

 

I got the download link. It won't work for me either. I tried using Internet Explorer since that usually solves non-working issues. No luck. :( :mad:

 

Gina

[mommabean]

Thanks Gina. I'm trying the same thing. Over 5000 photos...should be interesting.

 

I finally went to their help menu after emailing them about the problem. The first time I checked the help menu, this didn't happen. But I went again and clicked on the first "how do I download my pictures" and clicked the link to initiate the process again. And it gave me the links for the downloads right there. I have 13 files to download and will begin now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Gina

[megr1125]

the actual download wasn't bad....just opening them...editing (many are 8 or so years old...and lousy...oops)...then moving is taking a while...

 

thanks again to the OP for pointing this out.......you have saved many people's photos!!

[mommabean]

I finally went to their help menu after emailing them about the problem. The first time I checked the help menu, this didn't happen. But I went again and clicked on the first "how do I download my pictures" and clicked the link to initiate the process again. And it gave me the links for the downloads right there. I have 13 files to download and will begin now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Gina

 

Each file says it has 1 or 2 hours left to go. :( And that is just 6 of them. Apparently I can only do 6 files at a time.

 

I notice I'll have to fix my old signature. The only safe pictures are the Carnival pictures (so far) at flickr. It looks like quite the FUN cruise, too. LOL That's what friends (and sisters) are for. :)

[Aquahound]

I finally went to their help menu after emailing them about the problem. The first time I checked the help menu, this didn't happen. But I went again and clicked on the first "how do I download my pictures" and clicked the link to initiate the process again. And it gave me the links for the downloads right there. I have 13 files to download and will begin now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Gina

 

Thanks Gina. Doing the same thing. The first method didn't initiate anything.

[johneeo]

I use both Photobucket and Shutterfly.

 

Like both which are free. But I have been using Shutterfly the most because I like the functionalities for the albums on SF. Also, SF has great abilities to do photobooks, which I really like.

 

If you want to see what I have done on SF, take a look here.

[mommabean]

Thanks Gina. Doing the same thing. The first method didn't initiate anything.

 

One file just finished - over 2 hours now. That allowed me to initiate the rest of the files. The 7th one started on it's own. I then clicked the video files one by one and they have all started.

 

Too bad this thread was moved from the Royal Caribbean forum. It's not going to help many people over here who didn't see it before it was moved. Had it been moved before I saw it, I never would have known. It's not like we are looking over here to see if our pictures are safe on webshots.

 

This thread should be made available at every individual cruise line forum - at the TOP as a sticky for the duration of time that we have to get our pictures back.

 

Gina

[Dotsie]

Too bad this thread was moved from the Royal Caribbean forum. It's not going to help many people over here who didn't see it before it was moved. Had it been moved before I saw it, I never would have known. It's not like we are looking over here to see if our pictures are safe on webshots.

 

This thread should be made available at every individual cruise line forum - at the TOP as a sticky for the duration of time that we have to get our pictures back.

 

Gina

 

I agree.

 

I was also hoping to find out any tips or transitioning suggestions from others who are switching and downloading to new photo sharing websites.

 

Dotsie

[Aquahound]

One file just finished - over 2 hours now. That allowed me to initiate the rest of the files. The 7th one started on it's own. I then clicked the video files one by one and they have all started.

 

Too bad this thread was moved from the Royal Caribbean forum. It's not going to help many people over here who didn't see it before it was moved. Had it been moved before I saw it, I never would have known. It's not like we are looking over here to see if our pictures are safe on webshots.

 

This thread should be made available at every individual cruise line forum - at the TOP as a sticky for the duration of time that we have to get our pictures back.

 

Gina

 

Thanks again Gina. Mine was stuck on 0% for so long, I ended up canceling the download. Now that I know it does take so long, I'll try it again.

 

I agree about the move of this thread. I didn't even know this forum existed.

[Aquahound]

I agree.

 

I was also hoping to find out any tips or transitioning suggestions from others who are switching and downloading to new photo sharing websites.

 

Dotsie

 

Well, I'll say one thing. I created an account and I'm learning Shutterfly. It's pretty easy and I like how you can create your own websites through them.

 

Transitioning? Pffft. I still haven't figured that one out. :rolleyes:

[pierces]

From a little browsing, it looks like Webshots has been sold and all content will be transferred to "Smile by Webshots".

 

Quoted:

We are transferring our members’ photos and videos to Smile by Webshots, but you will no longer be able to upload photos into your old account or download photos from Webshots. All new activity will be on smile.webshots.com, and the Webshots site will be coming down on December 1.

 

For detailed information on the transition, read our welcome page or visit Help.

 

I don't like this part:

 

"You retain ownership of your Content, and you hereby grant TPI and its designees a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicenseable (through multiple tiers), assignable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable right to use, reproduce, distribute (through multiple tiers), create derivative works of, and publicly display and perform (publicly or otherwise) your Content, solely in connection with the Site (including without limitation for purposes of promoting the Site). Please note that, while you retain ownership of your Content, any template or layout in which you arrange or organize such Content through tools and features made available through the Site are not proprietary to you, and can be used by TPI and others for any purposes. You acknowledge and agree that you have no rights in any such template and/or layout, and such template or layout shall be the sole and exclusive property of TPI."

 

So: "you own the pictures but we claim a permanent non-revocable right to use them and distribute them without compensation..."

 

Wow...

 

Dave

[dileep]

I have read a few reviews in the last few minutes and so far flickr seems to be the best for my needs. Does anyone here use flickr? Can you group your photos into albums? Would you mind letting us view an album of yours? I will not be using Webshots.

 

 

Flickr used to be free Yahoo!Photos and I paid $25 for the first year of service but they just stayed with the free service with limited photo capacity.

[mommabean]

Thanks again Gina. Mine was stuck on 0% for so long, I ended up canceling the download. Now that I know it does take so long, I'll try it again.

 

I agree about the move of this thread. I didn't even know this forum existed.

 

And the only way I found it again is through my past posts. :(

 

My downloads all finished within 3 hours. My computer crashed right afterwards so I haven't checked my pictures yet. They went automatically into a "downloads" folder. I was moving them to their own folder before I open them when the crash occurred. I still haven't opened them. I think I should create subfolders before I unzip them so maybe there will be a bit of organization. I haven't had a chance yet. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Gina

[FL Naturelover]

I guess I never made it that far. Oh well. I hated webshots after they smacked me with spyware while I was paying for their service. I'll never pay another service again for what others offer for free. I think it's snapfish that still offers free photo storage. If it's not easy to share photos from there, I guess I won't share them. I had more trouble with webshots than it was worth. They left me with a bunch of missing pictures, too, showing red x's where pictures were.

 

 

I have to agree. I resisted using them because of the problems that I've heard their spyware could cause. I could not afford to take that chance with my computer. I still store all my photos on my computer and if I want to share - just use FB.

[Cindy]

I just went over there and clicked on the link to get the download...we'll see how it goes. I have all the photos backed up anyway, but they're not organized into the albums like they are at Webshots.

I noticed they've now changed the download deadline to November 15th.:mad:

Regardless of my success/lack of in retrieving my photos, I am done with Webshots/Smile. It really irks me that after paying for premium membership for so many years I had to find out about this change on Cruise Critic. Webshots certainly didn't hesitate to e-mail me a bunch of garbage over the years...but couldn't bother to let me know they were closing the site as we know it. That's just wrong! I agree with others who have said there should be a sticky at the top of every cruise line forum about this. If it hadn't been posted first on the Royal Caribbean forum I'm not sure I would have seen it.

I think the thing that upsets me the most is that I have spent a lot of time over the years both creating photo reviews and posting photos to answer questions. All those posts will now be decorated with X X X X X. :( It's going to make CC less enjoyable for a while, and it will make it harder to research a ship or itinerary.

[mommabean]

I have to agree. I resisted using them because of the problems that I've heard their spyware could cause. I could not afford to take that chance with my computer. I still store all my photos on my computer and if I want to share - just use FB.

 

I keep photos private on FB for friends only. Not even friends of friends have access to most of them.

 

That spyware was a nightmare. I couldn't believe Norton allowed it to happen. I guess since I gave "permission" for the download it was as if I wanted the spyware. :rolleyes:

 

Gina

[mommabean]

For the record. I got all my pictures but they are not normal. They are not in jpg format. They are not visible as thumbnails. Each picture has to be clicked one by one in order to see which one it is. It's not possible to use the arrow to view them one by one. No slide show is possible. And the few videos I have are able to be opened by any program on my computer. The pictures aren't organized in any way recognizable since the thumbnails can't be seen. It's a mess and worthless to download them. I do have my pictures on disks and even on a hard drive. But I wanted them organized the way they were on webshots and labeled. I'm one of the few that actually used sensible labels for my pictures so people would know what they were looking at. :(

 

I'd rather have pictures in photobooks like they offer on shutterfly. At least they are forever organized in a hard copy with descriptions on the pages.

 

I used Creative Memories for a photobook in the past. I ordered an extra book at that time and gave one to a CC friend we met on a Carnival cruise. It came out really nice and does make a great memory and gift. I'm sure their photobook creator is much better and easier now, too. Previously I had to have their software, make the book at home and upload it to them to print. It's likely that it's easy and on line just like shutterfly now. It's probably more expensive than shutterfly though since it's supporting a local consultant.

 

Gina

[Aquahound]

Well, I finally got all mine downloaded yesterday, and the unzipping was rather painless once I figured it out. Problem is, they are no longer labeled. That's going to be a pain because there are several photos from Europe of churches, piazzas, etc, that I am going to have to look up to re-label.

 

Gina, I had the same problem when they were zipped. Once I extracted them, they were much easier viewed.

[megr1125]

I had the same issue until i extracted them....the labels are gone but luckily i can figure out most of them.....

 

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