How do you use a Photo Gallery for eCommerce?

Create Photo Albums Easily for eCommerce Sites

Photos are one of the most powerful forms of information sharing available to us.  Thankfully, Web Shop Manager™ has created an extensive Photo Gallery Module with easy to use features and many uses.

Creative use of the eCommerce Photo Gallery Module will enable you to convey more than you could with words alone.  There are many applications for photo albums within the photo gallery to consider, some of which include:

Portfolio – Sharing the best examples of your work, as you would in a job interview, is a great way to way to impart your level of expertise.  Prospective customers can determine very quickly whether your services will be a good fit for their needs. 

Historical Photos – Many companies have a rich history and the Photo Gallery is the perfect place to show off those black & whites along with your longevity.  Staying power is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to quality and trustworthiness.  

Customer Submissions – Allowing customers to submit photos of them using your products is a great way to encourage participation, and also express how people enjoy your products.  Customers would not submit if they were dissatisfied would they?

Events – Do you have a race team, or recently hold a fashion show?  Use event photos to show your goods in action, and also encourage people to sign up for your newsletter so they do not miss the next event. 

Store Tours – From the parking lot to the warehouse, you can use a store tour to let people know what to expect when they stop by your office or retail location.  You could also show off a recent remodel, or detail a new retail location.

Pretty to look at with Substance too

Not only is the Photo Gallery Module incredibly practical for eCommerce sites, it happens to be loaded with features.  These features exponentially expand the capabilities of this module so that you can display your albums exactly how you want, and where you want them.   

Slideshow – Site visitors can sit back and be awed by the amazing products you have available to them with just one click.  With the use of embedded widgets, albums or photos can be called from one page to appear on another.  This works especially well if you wish to place a slideshow on your homepage and the photo album stays on the portfolio page.  

Nested Albums - Organizing photo albums is a lot like making folders and sub-folders in your computer.  This allows for more control over how the photo albums are viewed and in which order. 

Lytebox Zoom –Lytebox zoom allows for an image to be isolated and shown larger than in the gallery page.  

Comments – User-Generated Content in the form of comments can be left by registered site visitors.  Comments can be used to gauge the interest of your audience, and a way for site visitors and staff to interact with one another.  Encouraging the conversation is a great way to increase brand loyalty, and customer retention.

Multi-file Upload Tool – Easily upload dozens of product photos with a few clicks.   

Automatic Resizing – No need to spend time resizing photos before uploading.  WSM™’s intelligent Content Management System (CMS) will auto-format the photos for you. 

Easy to use eCommerce Photo Gallery

Once the photo albums are created, you have several options for updating them.

This icon will allow you to edit the information entered when the album was created.

This icon will display sub-albums, if any, that are assigned to this album.

 Use this icon to access the photos that have been uploaded to the album and to add more.

This icon will display the album as a web page.

Adding Albums

To access this module, highlight Module and click Photo Gallery.  A screen similar to the one below will appear.  This site has already created two albums.  

To add a new Album, click the ‘Add Album’ button. After you create your album you can return and make changes and add additional photos. There is no need to have your photos ready to upload before you create your album.  Each numbered item is discussed below.

1. Title – This is the name for your album. This name should describe where your album is used and for what purpose, i.e. In The News.
2. Description – Use the description for additional information about the album.  This information can help if you have multiple people editing your site or as a reminder for yourself.
3. Priority – The priority sets the order of the albums. Higher priorities are listed first.
4. Parent – You can create an album that contains other albums. Similar to creating folders and sub folders on your computer. This may be useful if you plan to have several albums related to one topic.
5. Template – This determines which site template to use when displaying this page. If your site utilizes more then one template click the drop down arrow and select the appropriate template for this page. If your site only has one template then you do not need to change this field, just leave the dropdown list at – none-.
6. Hidden – If you do not want your viewers to have access to this album, click ‘yes’ to hide the album and the content.

Add Album – Once you have provided the required information, click the Add Album button to create and save your album. You can edit the album later if needed.

Adding Photos

You can add photos two different ways; individually or multiple files at the same time. Both are available from the same Add Photo screen.  See #5 and #9 below.

To add photos, click the    icon.

Each numbered item is discussed in detailed below.

1. Title – This is an optional field. It can be used to describe the photo you are uploading. If you choose to upload using the Multi-Files feature, leave this field blank. You can add a name to the individual photos after they are uploaded.
2. Album – Click the drop down arrow to select an album for the photos.
3. Description – You can use this field to include a detailed description of the photo.
4. URL – This is the URL the image will link to; used in promotions, portfolios, and press releases.
5. Upload Image – Use this field to upload a single file. Click the ‘Browse’ button to open a window. Navigate to the location of your file, click the filename, and click the ‘Open’ button.
6. Priority – This number is used to specify the order of your photos. If you are uploading Multi-Files, you can leave this number at 500. We will discuss changing the priority in more detail later.
7. Hidden – If you want your photo(s) to be included in the album, leave this setting at ‘No’. If you want to remove a photo for a temporary amount of time, you can change this setting to ‘Yes’. The photo will remain part of the album but will be skipped when viewing the Album.
8. Add Photo – Click this button to finalize the single file upload process.
9. Multi-File Uploader – This section of the ‘Add Photo’ screen is very useful if you have more then one file to upload. Begin by clicking the ‘Browse’ button under the ‘Select Files to Upload’ heading. This will open a window just like the single file upload feature above. However, this time you can select multiple files from the same folder. First, navigate to the folder that contains the files you want to upload and then select the files. You can use the following keyboard and mouse actions to select multiple files.
   
   Selecting Files One at a Time
   Click the first filename. Hold down your ‘Ctrl’ key (PC) and click the remaining filenames. If you click a file you decide you do not want, continue to hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key and click the file again. This will unselect the file. Once you have all of your files selected, release the ‘Ctrl’ key and click the ‘Open’ button. WSM™ will display the filenames in the Multi-File Uploader screen.
   
   Selecting Multiple Files at a Time
   This feature is useful if your files are listed together in your folder. Click the first file in the group, hold down the ‘Shift’ key (PC) on your keyboard, and click the last file in the group. This will highlight all files in between. If you have a file or files in this group you do not want you can use the ‘Crtl’ Key to remove them. Press the ‘Crtl’ key and click the highlighted file to unselect it. Click the ‘Open’ button. WSM™ will display the filenames in the Multi-File Uploader screen.
   
   Click the ‘Upload’ button below the list of your files to add these photos to your album.

   Your photos will then be displayed in the album as shown below.

Edit individual photos by clicking the edit icon. This screen will allow you to edit the information you provided when uploading or to provide additional information.

The only differences between the ‘Add Photo’ and the edit photo screen are:

You are editing the information for a single photo.

You see a thumbnail view of the photo you are editing.

You can delete the photo, which will permanently delete it from the photo album and WSM™.

If you made changes, click Save Photo before leaving this screen.

Showcase your eCommerce Products in WSM™’s Photo Gallery

Pictures speak louder than words so when words fail you utilize our eCommerce Photo Gallery to help spread the word, and increase sales.  Whether your photo gallery acts as a portfolio, store tour, or highlights events, whatever creative use you have for your photo gallery you will be tremendously happy with the results.   

Want to know how the power of photos could help improve your eCommerce site?  The first step is to allow us to create a custom web design quote.