Webshots and Smile - A Positive Outcome

[Kevin Rooney]

There have been some recent negative comments re: the status of photos on Webshots since its purchase and transfer to Smile. When I read them I tried to login to Webshots to check mine, but found I couldn't. So, I thought "Oh well, there's 15-20 years of photos there, but I have them on my PC somewhere also. Nothing lasts forever", and decided I had other things to fret about (like the outcome of the election). When I rec'd an email yesterday from Webshots/Smile explaining the changes, and suggesting I could download my Webshots for a limited time, I was skeptical, but decided it was worth a few seconds of my time to follow the link. Shortly thereafter a msg appeared that my photos would be available shortly in a zip file, and I'd get an email when they were available.

For longtime Webshot users, you may recall that Webshots backup has never been a real option (I think you could backup the first 3 folders you created) unless you bought a package, and at the time I created a Webshot account I don't think services like Picassa, SmugMug, etc were an option. Still, for early adopters of online photo sharing, it was a big step forward. I've since created a Picassa account, and much to my delight have found that photos I store there are automatically available on my Android smartphone as I also have a Google account. So, I can change backgrounds easily using my favorite photos from my travels.

This morning there was an email awaiting from Smile that said my zip file was available for download - all 240MB of it. A few minutes later the file was unzipped, and I spent several minutes looking at photos and remembering adventures I hadn't thought of in many years - very delightful.

So - were any photos "lost" in the process? I dunno - there were scores and scores of them on Webshots, carefully cropped and adjusted over the years. As far as I can tell my account is intact. My attitude is that anything I upload to a free site is a gift, and like other gifts, I don't expect it to be returned. If/when it is - I say "Thank you".

Thank you, Webshots.

 

[Nif]

I downloaded mine the other day too. I didn't even realize webshots was converting until I read Arm's LT report. I had moved to smugmug. I have the ZIP files on my hard drive now. I have yet to look at how they actually downloaded. Like if they are in the individual albums, with captions, etc. But I do appear to have them. As you said it was quick and easy.

 

[Fitz]

I had 1,400 photos and one video.

So far all I got back was one video.

Sux.

 

[Nif]

Try the send zip file link again Fritz or message them. There was a link if you had problems. I unzipped my downloads and all my stuff is there. Not in albums or w/my photo descriptions anymore, but I do have them all still.

 

[Fitz]

After a couple of days, the Customer Service folks came through and I was able to obtain my photos.

Cheers,

Fitz