What To Expect Next From Photocrati

What To Expect Next From PhotocratiThe Photocrati Theme update is now out with all the new fantastic features like extra widget areas, stylesheet caching, blog and home page templates.

So you might be wondering what is up next. We want to share our plans, but before we do you need to understand a little about our company.

History

Photocrati is a small team, with only 3 developers. You can learn about our team here.

For the past few years (since acquiring NextGEN Gallery), we’ve had 1 developer working on the theme and 2 working on the NextGEN products. In fact, it was more like this:

  • Photocrati Theme: 1 developer
  • NextGEN Gallery: 1 developer
  • NextGEN Plus & Pro: 1 developer

As you might imagine, that slows down development speeds. Even with our developers helping each other out as needed.

(I forgot to mention we’re hiring developers!)

Up Next

The next step for the Photocrati Theme is to strip out the ability to create new galleries in the Photocrati gallery system that’s built into the theme.

The reason for this is because we will be offering NextGEN Pro to all currently subscribed Photocrati Theme customers with access to Photocrati Pro (aka Photocrati Theme 5.0).

That’s a HUGE advantage as the Ecommerce system in NextGEN Pro.

If you don’t know what NextGEN Pro is, check out the NextGEN Gallery website.

As you will see, NextGEN Gallery offers a huge advantage also for gallery management and features. There’s a centralized system for galleries and albums as well as the ability to manage and insert galleries or albums from any post or page.

NextGEN Pro comes with multiple gallery display types like you’ve seen in the Photocrati Theme, and then some!  For example, masonry is pretty popular in NextGEN Pro.

The Ecommerce aspect offers proofing, digital downloads, print sales, image protection and much more.

So you as you see, all the benefits of NextGEN Pro (valued at $99/yr) is worth the transition from the Photocrati gallery system.

Ok But Then

If you are still wondering why go through all of this if NextGEN Pro is already done. Why shouldn’t Photocrati customers just buy NextGEN Pro?

The simple answer if that you’re already paying a premium for the theme each year, and we don’t want you to have to pay 2 premiums each year.

But there is also one more huge advantage of you using NextGEN Gallery and NextGEN Pro over the Photocrati gallery system. We are working on integrating with some of the best print labs in the world.

Even better is that that integration will only be available to currently subscribed customers.

So if at any point you cancel your theme (or plugin) subscription then you would lose access to the lab integration, support and updates. But you could continue using the software with self-fulfillment.

For You

Our team is a mix of artists, photographers, painters, coders and just fantastic and amazingly nice people. And we are here for you.

Everything we do for our products is based on the popular requests that come from you.

So we continue to make sure you have a voice to be heard. We want to hear what you’d like to see in the theme in the future. We also want to hear what you want to see in NextGEN Gallery and NextGEN Pro.

So with that, here is how you can voice your opinion.

The Near Future

I started this talking about how our company is structured, in the development side. I also talked about how we are offering NextGEN Pro to all currently subscribed theme customers.

Here is what to expect in the near future…

Once we strip out the gallery system from the theme and offer NextGEN Pro to all subscribers, you will see very little activity on the theme for a while. Updates will mainly consist of any reported bugs that we confirm and also compatibility with WordPress and plugins as needed.

This will continue until lab integration is complete.

We decided to do this so that we can get this huge benefit out to all of our customers, like you.

With that said, we greatly appreciate your patience while we get lab integration complete and out for you.

And if you know any WordPress developers looking for a job, send them our way. Because if we find people that are the right fit for the team it could lead to faster development times and more of the features you want to see.

So within the next couple of months a new theme update will be out there for you. If your Photocrati Theme subscription is currently active then you’ll get the update and notice the gallery system removed. So you will no longer be able to create new Photocrati galleries. You will also notice the ability to quickly install NextGEN Gallery and to manually install your own licensed copy of NextGEN Pro.  Cool, right?

New Brand

Along with these changes comes a new brand.  That’s right, Photocrati is no longer the brand, but rather just a product we offer.

The new brand is Imagely, and we are very excited to introduce you to it. Under Imagely we’ll be offering our NextGEN Gallery, Plus and Pro series of plugins. As well as a full suite of new themes based on the Genesis framework.

We decided to work with the folks at Genesis on Child Themes rather than continuing the Photocrati framework for a few reasons.

For one, coding standards have changed a lot over the years and functionality like what is included in the Photocrati framework is now typically found in plugins. Hence the replacement with NextGEN Gallery and NextGEN Pro for Photocrati Pro users.

imagely

The Genesis framework is one of the most popular frameworks available for WordPress as well as being very secure and with a super fast load time.

So we will be building a variety of photography themes built on that framework.

Along with themes and plugins comes hosting. That’s right, hosting.

Imagely Hosting is launching soon and it will come with all of our themes and plugins and some extra goodies we will share pre-launch.

We’re also planning to start a podcast for photographers, all on WordPress.

Last, but not least, we’re working on a variety of educational materials like ebooks, courses and even potentially Lightroom and other post processing presets.

At Imagely we “Dream Big.”

Thank you

I want to end this with a huge thank you. Without you, your feedback, and your art, we would not be able to produce the products you’re using on your websites.

So here’s to you!

This Post Has 31 Comments

  1. Scott,
    Am I reading this correctly – Photocrati theme v5.0 will come with NextGen Pro for $99/yr?

    Does the Genesis Framework support tags/alt tags?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Edward,

      Yes the Photocrati Pro theme will come with NextGEN Pro at the same $99 that you can purchase NextGEN Pro on its own right now.

      Can you please elaborate on your 2nd question. I don’t quite understand what you’re asking.

  2. Hello,

    Concerning Photocrati theme which is wonderful.

    It would be fabulous, if for the next update it was possible to suppress the display of the logo of the site during the display on a smartphone.

    Now it takes a third of the display, which is a pity.

    Thanks,

    1. Hi Cyrille,

      This can be done via custom CSS. Please contact the support team if you need assistance with that.

  3. Scott,

    I’m using an older version of photocrati which in itself did not have the functionality for potential buyers to purchase/download digital photos. What are the best solutions to get this added or do I have to move up to nextgen pro?

    1. You could either pick up Photocrati Pro once available, or use NextGEN Gallery and NextGEN Pro with your current theme.

  4. Hello Scott,

    To be honest I am not sure that I have understood how exactly this thing will work in practice. You say that after the upgrade the photocrati galleries system will be replaced by the nextgen pro. Does that mean that our current galleries are going to disappear? Does that mean that we will have to create galleries anew within the nextgen interface? How this thing is going to work?

    Thanks

    1. Your galleries do not disappear. Photocrati Pro just removes the ability to create new galleries using the Photocrati system, and required new galleries to be created with NextGEN Gallery.

  5. Hi Scott,
    Great to hear about the imminent upgrade. Both my current gallery and ecommerce gallery are Photocrati galleries.
    Once the upgrade to NextGEN Pro takes place, and the Photocrati galleries are decommissioned, will the existing galleries on my website disappear or will they be transitioned to NextGEN Pro automatically?
    I am concerned that a customer visiting my site will suddenly have no gallery or shop to view on the day Photocrati galleries finish.
    Thanks, Aidan

    1. No the older galleries will remain. We just removed the ability to create new galleries in Photocrati Pro and require NextGEN Gallery and recommend NextGEN Pro (for ecommerce). We currently don’t have a conversion tool built, because your older galleries remain in tact. But we’re considering a Photocrati Theme importer for NextGEN Gallery.

  6. This all sounds fabulous moving forward. I have 5 clients sites in the current version of Photocrati. I assume that for these sites they would simply stay as they are and new sites would be built in the new offerings…correct? And further I would hope that if there was ever any kind of security issue or any issues created by a new WP update that you would continue to provide support for the old Photocrati? It doesn’t sound like this will be a one-click update from v4.9.2.

    1. You’d definitely want future sites to be using the new theme, or one of the upcoming Imagely themes. Up to you which 🙂

      Once Photocrati Pro is out, development will stop on the older Photocrati theme, so it will not be updated.

  7. Hi Scott, I was just getting ready to re-do my site to a different Photocrati Theme then the one I am currently using, should I hold off for right now and wait for the new Themes, or will it be a while before they are expected. Thanks!

    1. You can start with the Photocrati Theme as when switching to Photocrati Pro you can keep the same design. The main difference will be the gallery system.

  8. I am really confused with the changes. I have recently this year purchased photocrati pro and was dissapointed to find at the time that I could not do Digital sells, I guess I though Photocrati was Nextgen as it all seemed tied up in the websites ( I understand with nextgen I can do digital sells) So I am very keen to move to Nextgenpro.
    This is my understanding.
    As I already have PhotocratiPro – I will automatically be rolled into NEXTGENPro there after I will pay for the NextGenPro subscription?? is this correct?
    many thanks in advance.

    1. If you are a current subscriber then you have access to Photocrati Pro. If your account has expired then you’d need to purchase again. Within your account you would have access to Photocrati Pro as well as NextGEN Pro. Both are licensed for updates and support within the Photocrati system as long as your subscription is current.

  9. two years ago I purchased NextGen, I coukd never used it since I did not understand how to insert my wedding. photographs.

    Am I going to be able to use photocrati theme now and try to see if I can make it work now?

    Thank you.

    1. Please contact our support team if you need any help. That’s what they’re there for.

  10. Any special considerations for old Photocrati users who have a never-expiring license?

    1. Please contact the support team if you need help determining if you’re eligible for Photocrati Pro under your account.

  11. A little clarification. I am a recent subscriber, and see that you are moving to the Genesis framework? Will Genesis backend come with our current subscribe base with Photocrati/Imagely? Or do we have to purchase Genesis framework from StudioPress? I am in the process of designing my site, and would like to do this once if Genesis is coming. I can wait. Or if we are required to purchase Genesis, I would like to know so I can install that too.
    Thanks.

    1. Imagely themes will be a separate subscription as they’re a completely different product. They will also require Genesis being installed already. So you’d need a Genesis subscription too. With Imagely hosting, all themes will be included without added subscriptions.

      1. Imagely Themes (using Genesis) will be different subscription than my current Photocrati Pro purchase/subscription? Does this mean that the purchase I just made last month will be outdated other than access to the NextGen Pro module? Or will my ongoing payment I made/make for Photocrati Pro give me access to newer Imagely themes that will be compatible with Genesis famework?

      2. Imagely Themes (using Genesis) will be different subscription than my current Photocrati Pro purchase/subscription? Does this mean that the purchase I just made last month will be outdated other than access to the NextGen Pro module? Or will my ongoing payment I made/make for Photocrati Pro give me access to newer Imagely themes that will be compatible with Genesis famework?

    2. Imagely themes will be a separate subscription as they’re a completely different product. They will also require Genesis being installed already. So you’d need a Genesis subscription too. With Imagely hosting, all themes will be included without added subscriptions.

  12. Scott,

    I am trying to understand the emails and transition. I bought NextGen & Pro about a year ago. I use the Avada theme and have no desire to change that. Everything currently works just fine. Is there any impact to the plugin I currently run? If the answer is no then I will move along. If it’s yes, then I hope I like the change, but I can’t seem to get it other than you are merging 2 companies or products together.

    So am I good? or am I going to find an update one day and be completely surprised?

    NextGEN Gallery by Photocrati Version 2.1.23
    NextGEN Plus by Photocrati Version 1.3.10

    Please don’t change my world 🙂 I just want a gallery plugin for my site.

    1. This article only impacts Photocrati Theme customers. It does not impact NextGEN Plus customers in any way.

  13. I am completely befuddled by all of this.

    I am using the “old” Photocrati Theme. Now I see so many things: Genesis, NextGen, Photocrati Pro, Imagely, other themes, annual payments, and hosting all presented in such a confusing way that it is quite difficult to understand the complete cost picture.

    I am left with the feeling that the company, whoever it is, is trying to crank up revenue by confusing the customers. As someone who is quite fond of the Photocrati theme, I am disappointed and have not a clue of how to proceed.

    1. Hi Peter, we answered a lot of questions here. If you have further questions feel free to contact us.

  14. Hi!

    I am using Photocrati Pro 5.0.1 on my site and it’s working great. Now I am about to build another website but WordPress does not seam to be able to load the theme, it just crashes….
    Do I have to buy a new one or should I be able to use the Photocrati on my new website? (my subscribtion has run out…)
    All the best
    Johan

    1. You’re welcome to use your licensed copy of the theme on each of your websites.

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