Fame Driver

Create private (password protected) collections

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:48:00 -0700

Perhaps you want to have a collection of images which only a client can see? Now you can.

Create a password protected Category and add collections to it. Only users with the password will be able to view those collections.

It is even possible to lock your entire site by locking the first category and dragging it to the top. Just don't do that on accident.

See the video for an example and instructions. This feature is in testing, so let me know if you have any problems.

fd_protected_portfolio.mov Watch on Posterous

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Speed and mobile improvements

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:39:00 -0700

Last night a few upgrades were made to make sites load faster.

The primary server was upgraded to a much faster system. And a new image processing server was created. This will lead to much quicker scaling and serving of images. I want Fame Driver sites to be really fast.

There is still more work to be done, but I am happy with the speed increases.

A new feature has been added: Splash Page. Just add an image and you can have a splash page on your site. Right now this feature is only available for custom sites and when you site is viewed with a mobile phone's browser. It will eventually roll out to all designs.

Finally, the mobile design got a little bit of a refinement. Images are better scaled and you can zoom in on the images without clicking on them.

An example looking at Mona Daly's site on the iPhone.

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Collection ordering gets a little facelift

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:47:25 -0700

fd_reorder_update - Computer.m4v Watch on Posterous

I thought it would be best if you could just start dragging your collections to reorder them. But, I was wrong.

This turned into a problem for customers with a lot of images or a lot of collections.

So today I updated the feature with a simpler version. Just click on "reorder the collections" and you will see all your collections ready to be ordered. Once you are done click "I'm done reordering" and you are back.

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Super Dumb Video Player

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:14:41 -0700

So, I am needing, I don't know for what, a video player. I looked into the current crop of players out there, but nothing felt quite right.

So, I created a really dumb video player. It uses Flash to display the video and handle the audio, but the entire UI is generated using HTML. This HTML can be easily replaced and is very simple.

This is not a very robust player, that is why it is called Dumb.

Check it out if you need a player. Post any bugs you find on the Github page. Have a great weekend.

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Updated iPhone & mobile templates

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:48:37 -0800

Did a little bit of work today cleaning up the mobile templates.
When someone visits your Fame Driver site the software detects if they are using a mobile phone or not.

If they are not, the person will see your personalized design.

But if they are using an iPhone, Blackberry, etc, then they will get a design more suited for mobile phones.

The images will be a smaller scale. And the visitor can click on an image to get a higher res and zoomable version.

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A great day to announce Fame Driver

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:18:00 -0800

I think it might have broken 60 degrees today in New York City. It was warm and sunny which feels great after a snowy and cold winter. The street is alive and people are smiling with their lighter garb. Spring has started.

So I am very happy that this is the day I announce Fame Driver.

Fame Driver is simply a web site for hosting an image portfolio. It's for hair stylists, make up artists, photographers, designers, artists, illustrators and anyone else who wants a portfolio in a few minutes and not deal with installing software, setting up a server, html code or a web developer.

For years, over twelve of them, I have designed portfolios for various artists. But the cost of designing a website is always a bit high. A big part of the cost though is setting up a server and installing (or programming) a content management system. Fame Driver eliminates that step.

It also eliminates the need, but not the option, of using a web designer. You can choose from a few built-in designs and personalize them with your choice of colors and typography. Or you can hire a web designer to completely customize your design.

The application is in its final phase of testing and the doors should be open early next week. But, if you want to take look the invite code is looking good

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