When we first built f-swap, 12 MP was reserved for only the highest end DSLR cameras.  Now you can hardly buy a point and shoot with less than 12.3 MP.  In response, we’ve upped the available range of photos sizes to 21.1 MP.  You can now set the maximum photo size displayed up to this level.  You can even require photos be at least this big to be accepted in your event gallery.

Note, that users can always upload photos bigger than the maximum size you set for your event, but they’ll be resized down to the maximum size so they download faster and take up less space in your event.

Enjoy the bigger photo sizes!

Loading times have been reasonably quick and filtering virtually instantaneous but smaller events but with larger ones (several hundred to thousands of photos) there was a noticeable lag as you checked on and off different users, different dates or indicated photos as favorites.  That was the case, anyway.

We’ve made some major improvements in filtering and loading for large events.   The initial loading time should be much faster as we’ve reduced the size of the photo data xml file by nearly 60%.  Further, all the user-date combinations are now cached so filtering is now nearly instantaneous for all but the largest events, and even then the results start appearing within a second or two.  Finally, we’ve batched the filtering of favorites, so indicating an item as a favorite happens instantly and any delay (noticeable only on big events) only happens when switching to viewing only favorites after adding or removing a favorite.

Reduced, cached and batched.  Bottom-line: A much faster f-swap.

This new feature will prove to be one of the most used on F-Swap.  As you browse events, you can now click on the star under any photo that you like and by doing so add it to your favorites list.  Another click of the star will remove it from your favorites.  Then in the left column, you can change the filtering settings from “all photos” to “my favorites” and see only the photos that you’ve starred.  Your favorites are saved to your account, so they will be there on future visits and any other computer you log in on.  Why is this helpful? Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been planning this feature from the beginning and its finally here.  You can now select photos from an event that you like and order them as prints.  There are a variety of sizes and even some specialty items like coasters and puzzles.  To order prints, check the ones you like, then from the “More Options…” drop down menu, select “Order Prints”.  You’ll be redirected to our photo printing partner where you can select sizes and quantities and then place the order.  Enjoy!

We’ve upgraded the upload tool so it is compatible with the latest flash plug-in (version 10) so users whose browser has this plug-in can continue to upload multiple files with ease. The upgrade involved installing an alternative approach to launching the photo selection dialog.  A “security fix” in the latest version of the flash plug-in broke our previous method of launching this dialog.  However, for all intents and purposes file uploading will work as it did previously.

Events can now be renewed annually.  Wait, your thinking, this didn’t exist before?  Well, the site hasn’t been around that long.  Our first paid accounts are just coming up for annual renewal in the next couple of weeks, so we didn’t need to finalize the event renewing functionality until now, but its done and along with it we’ve added a number of helpful tweaks like better messaging on the site when events are about to expire, have expired but can still be renewed, and finally, when all the event and all the photos have been removed.Now, you’ll always know what the status of your events are and you won’t miss out on the opportunity to renew your events for as long as you need them.

For users who have both created many events and participated in many events other people have created, the events page could be a little confusing.   What events are mine?  Whose events are all these other ones?  What happens when I click on the red X?  We’ve hopefully cleared up all these questions for our users.Now the events are separated into two lists.  Events you’ve created and events you’ve participated in.  Hit the red X on an event of yours and delete it completely, folders and all, so you have space to create more free events.   Click the red X on the events of others and it simply removes it from your list and stops alerting you about new photos.  And of course, the relevant information displayed is different between the two.  On the events of others, you want to know who created it, and care less about how close it is to its capacity.I hope this helps all our heavy users and makes participation easier for everyone.  On another note, keep watching for more improvements and upgrades this fall.  We’ve got a laundry list of features and fixes we are eager to complete.

We’ve completely re-written the download script to improve its performance.  You should no longer have the timeout issues posted about previously, so you can go ahead and download up to 50 photos at a time.  The download should start quicker than previously.

Interestingly, your download will start sooner when downloading the full sized photos than when downloading smaller photos (since they don’t have to be re-sized first) but even with this initial delay, the total download time will usually be faster because of the smaller file size of the re-sized photos.

We will continue to test the new download utility and hopefully be able to raise the 50 photo maximum per download.

You can now export your photos from an event directly to your Flickr account, in addition to being able to export photos to Facebook. You don’t have to download them from Full Photo Swap then upload them back to Flickr, you can send them there directly. Further, you can limit the dimensions of the photos transferred to speed the transfer and save storage space in your Flickr account.

To use this feature, check off the photos you want just as you normally would, then from the “More Actions…” drop down menu select the “Send to Flickr” option. This will launch a pop-up window where you can log into your Flickr account and give Full Photo Swap permission to communicate with your account. You can then select an existing set for the photos or give them a new set, and select the Maximum Photo Size to use for the photos. Then just keep an eye on the status bar until the export is complete.

This is probably the coolest feature we’ve added yet.  You can now export the photos you like from an event directly to your Facebook account.  You don’t have to download them from Full Photo Swap then upload them back to Facebook, you can send them there directly.  Further, we automatically downsize the photos to the maximum size at which Facebook displays photos, so the transfer is really fast, even if the original images are 10 megapixels.

To use this feature, check off the photos you want just as you normally would, then from the “More Actions…” drop down menu select the “Send to Facebook” option.  This will launch a pop-up window where you can log into your Facebook account and give Full Photo Swap permission to communicate with your account.  You can then select an existing album for the photos or give them a new album.  Then just keep an eye on the status bar until the export is complete. Once complete you can visit Facebook to view the photos and approve them.