We have just added an iPhone specific version of every LayerSpace website. Some people had commented that their site was not visible on an iPhone because iPhones do not show Flash, so now if your visitors are browsing using Apple’s rather nice gadget they will see a site just for them. Try it out – take a look at your site now.

Coming soon:
We are working on an HTML mirror site to improve the SEO of our customers who choose a Flash template. This will automatically show an HTML version of your site to visitors who do not have Flash installed, and it will also be visible to search engines so you will have the best of both worlds!

We are very proud to have received the full 5 stars for ease of use in the recent group test of photography website systems carried out by Digital Photo Magazine. This endorses our belief that a comprehensive website need not be difficult to maintain and validates all the hard work we have put in to ensure our admin system is probably the easiest to use anywhere.

In the test, Michael Topham wrote:
“Uploading images was extremely quick thanks to the multiple image uploader, and you can drag and drop images in the order you’d like them to appear. The interface is very easy to get to grips with as it’s clear and simple, and there are useful help notes so you know how options affect your site.”

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

We have added a feature which will attempt to copy basic meta data embedded in jpeg images when they are uploaded. The data copied concerns Ownership and copyright of the image.

Where to find the File info

To edit the data for an image before uploading it, you can use Photoshop’s File Info viewer (see image, left)

Then go to File->File Info->IPTC->(scroll down to the bottom of the page)->IPTC status

Information which can be edited and will be copied is:
Title, Identifier, Instructions, Provider, Source, Copyright Notice (see image – click to enlarge)

This information is helpful if trying to establish whether someone has stolen your images.

Where to edit the IPTC information in Photoshop

We are pleased to announce the launch of another template – Infinity Centre. It is a similar design to Infinity but has a centred logo and navigation. try it out and see how you like it!

How to prepare images to use as a background for your website.
Click the link under ‘pages’ on the right

We have added a couple of new template designs for use on your HubSpace. They have the menu links on the left in order to match some of the main templates.

In response to several requests from our customers we have introduced a slideshow option for the home page of your website(s).
You can add this feature to any homepage which is set to use an image gallery – just click the homepage tab when editing a Space to see the options which allow you to set the time delay between images changing.

We have revised the way that images are loaded into galleries. You are no longer limited to a set number of images in each gallery. Instead you have a maximum number of images in each Space and these can be loaded into galleries in the ratio that you choose. This means you can have one gallery with all your images in it, or two galleries with half each, or one gallery with 5 images and all the other images in another gallery.  This seems a fairer way to let you use the maximum number of images.

You can now add a background image to fill the whole browser window. With this feature you can show either a single image or create a pattern, a subtle fade or a drop shadow.  Find this feature under ‘details’ when editing a Space or HubSpace. The userguide will be updated soon.

We have decided to offer a ‘no ties’ free trial. This will run for 14 days and you will need no credit card or commitment. Just sign up and get started!

We are pleased to announce that it is now possible to host your domain name with LayerSpace. This will help with SEO (search engine optimisation) and provides a fully featured email address with forwarders.

For more details click here »

We have moved our payment system from PayPal over to a credit card payment system. This will add some much needed flexibility and prevent the occasional difficulties that one or two customers have experienced with PayPal.

Existing customers will be able to move over to the new system if they wish to.

This does not affect E-commerce settings in LightBoxes which will continue to use PayPal where desired.

The new template, ‘Infinity’ has just been launched. It is our most advanced template so far, with sizing that adapts to the visitors screen size, thumbnails which scroll in the background and (of course!) intuitive navigation. Available to levels advanced and higher – check it out

Check out May’s Professional Photographer magazine for a discount code (p86) plus some opinionated insight into website design (p88) from our founder!

Ian Farrell, editor of Professional Photographer writes about the top 5 tips of web designers to improve your website, and in Ian’s words, ‘One company that does Flash well is LayerSpace’. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves, Ian!

A new template ‘ThumbTastic’ is now available. It uses standard size images with the same thumb loading system as Panorama. This is a very intuitive navigation system and is ideal for a wide variety of web users. Try it out!

We have added a feature to the LightBox enabling your clients to mark an image as a favourite before selecting it. This makes it easier to keep track of which images have been seen without the need to enlarge them again.

In the future it is planned to introduce a ranking feature.
If you have any suggestions/requests for the LightBox please let us know – we are always open to suggestions.

The new template Panorama is now available in a version for those of you with wide logos.

The new template has arrived! It’s called panorama and uses large (750 pixels) images.
The template is available to everyone except those on the base level account.

There is a wide logo version on its way.

We have been working hard on the next template
This will be the first to allow the use of large images so will appeal to those with panoramic images to show, or just if you want to show your images larger!

The design of the controls in the content management system (CMS) has been updated slightly. This we hope will make it clearer and easier to use. If you have any comments on the changes (good or bad) please feel free to let us know.