| Please see this link for current Archive status updates: zenfolio.com/serviceupdate |
Zenfolio has introduced an Archive Tool designed to enhance your business management capabilities, maintain the organization of your current Galleries, and ensure the ongoing safety and security of your images. The Zenfolio Archive Tool is readily accessible within your account and enables you to efficiently manage your archived content whenever necessary.
Reviewing and Updating Archive Settings
What is archiving?
Archiving with Zenfolio involves securely storing older galleries in a new Archive section. This process improves account performance and allows for easy management and restoration of the archived galleries whenever necessary.
What content will be automatically archived?
Galleries that have a last modified date older than 14 months.
What determines the last modified date of a Gallery?
The last modified date of a Gallery is updated whenever specific modifications are made to the Gallery. These modifications may include actions such as uploading images, adjusting Gallery settings, or setting an expiration date for the Gallery, among others.
Will content archived be accessible by clients and visitors?
Archived Galleries will not be immediately accessible to clients and visitors. Instead, Galleries in the archive will need to undergo restoration before they can be made live again.
The estimated duration for a Gallery to become live for clients and visitors after restoration is 12 hours. During this time, the content will be transferred back to active storage.
How will I be able to locate my archived Galleries?
Archived Galleries will be available within your Zenfolio account through the area called Archive. This tool enables you to efficiently search for and handle archived Galleries. Additionally, you will have the ability to search for the Group(s) in which the Gallery is located.
Can I easily restore Galleries in the Archive Tool?
Yes, it is possible to restore Galleries directly in the Archive Tool by selecting a Gallery and clicking on the Restore option.
Will there be a search function inside the Archive Tool?
Yes, the Archive Tool has been specifically developed to facilitate the effortless searching of Galleries based on Gallery name, keywords, and Group name.
My Gallery appears to be stuck archiving, how can I fix it?
Galleries that have been moved into the Archive Tool for archiving will initially display a status indicating that the Gallery is actively being archived. Despite this ongoing process, it is possible to select the Gallery and click on the Restore button to prioritize the archival and subsequent restoration of the Gallery.
| Please Note: Galleries which are requested to be restored while in an active archiving status may require up to 24 hours to be fully restored. This is because the Galleries need to be completely archived before the restoration process can commence. |
If the Restore button is not clickable and the Gallery has been in the archiving process for more than 24 hours, please contact our support team with the specific name(s) of the affected Gallery. Our team will assist in correcting the current status of the Galleries.
Are clients or visitors able to restore Galleries?
Depending on the Archive settings of the Gallery, clients or visitors have the ability to restore it. By default, they have the permission to restore the Gallery, but this can be modified if you prefer to have control over the restoration process.
When a client or visitor accesses an archived Gallery, they will be notified that the Gallery has been archived. To restore it, they will be prompted to provide an email address so that a notification can be sent once the Gallery is live and ready to be viewed.
If the Gallery has expired according to the Gallery access settings, you will need to initiate the restoration process as the client or visitor will not have the capability to do so.
How long will it take for restored Galleries to be available?
Galleries that have undergone restoration must be transferred from archived storage to active storage in our system. This procedure will require a duration of 12 hours before the Gallery becomes accessible and ready for viewing.
My Gallery appears stuck restoring, how can I fix this?
If an archived Gallery takes longer than 12 hours to restore, we kindly request that you contact our support team and provide the specific name(s) of the affected Gallery. We will then assist you in completing the restoration process.
Will a notification be sent when a Gallery is live after restoring it?
Yes, in the event that a client or visitor makes a request for the restoration of the Gallery, they will be promptly notified once the Gallery is operational. Furthermore, as the account owner, you will also receive a notification indicating that a client or visitor has requested the restoration. However, it is not necessary for you to take any action in order to initiate the restoration process.
As the account owner, in the event that you choose to restore a Gallery, the system will generate a notification which will be sent to the email address associated with the account.
Will the URL and Gallery settings stay the same if a Gallery is restored from the archive?
Yes, when a Gallery is archived, the original URL and Gallery settings are retained. Consequently, if the Gallery is restored, clients or visitors will have the same access to the Gallery as they did originally.
However, the images within the restored Galleries will be assigned new Photo IDs. This could potentially affect the visibility of images that were previously marked as Favorites or added to a shopping cart before the Gallery was archived. Furthermore, if you have shared or published direct links to the images themselves, those direct links may no longer be functional.
Will restored Galleries go back to the Groups they were originally in?
Yes, when a Gallery is archived, we assign the Gallery with the Group name it was associated with before being archived. In the event that you restore a Gallery, we will make an effort to place the Gallery back into the same Group it was originally in.
In certain instances, a Gallery may encounter an issue during the restoration process if the initial Group containing the Gallery has been removed. It is advised to refrain from deleting any Groups that may have contained archived galleries.
Will my portfolio Galleries linked in my site menu be archived?
At the launch of the Archive Tool, in the summer of 2023, existing Galleries directly linked in your site menu, at that time, were not archived.
However, any Galleries added as a link in your site menu after the initial release will be automatically archived 14 months after the last modified date of the Gallery. You will have the ability to manage which Galleries are set to archive in the Gallery settings.
Will images used on my site be archived (i.e. blog images)?
Images utilized on the pages of your website, such as the blog or custom pages, will not be included in the archival process.
The Galleries containing these images will be archived after a period of 14 months from the last modified date. However, the images will remain accessible on your website.
Will archived galleries still show up inside groups or event page on my website?
Galleries that have been archived and are contained within a Group or Event will be displayed on the client/visitor side with a temporary thumbnail. However, these Galleries will not appear in the Organizer section of your account, as they can now be accessed through the Archive Tool within your account.
Clients or visitors have the option to restore the Gallery by providing their email address from the thumbnail. Once the Gallery is restored, they will receive a notification indicating that the Gallery is active and available for viewing.
It is advisable to set a Group to Private instead of deleting it if you wish to restrict access to it, especially if it contains archived Galleries.
Can I set Galleries to never archive?
Yes, it is possible to handle this in the Gallery settings. Please note that there is a maximum limit of 20 Galleries that can be designated as non-archivable in your account.
In the event that you exceed the limit of 20 Galleries, you will be required to access the Gallery settings of each individual Gallery and manage which ones are set to not be archived.
I found an empty Gallery, did the Archive restore the Gallery without images?
No, any actions such as deletion, relocation, duplication, or direct downloading from the archive cannot be initiated by you or the system.
The archiving procedure essentially involves a binary decision of either archiving (Yes) or not archiving (No):
- YES archive - IF Galleries are older than 14 months without being modified AND contain uploaded content they will be subject to archiving.
- NO archive - IF Galleries are older than 14 months without being modified AND contain no uploaded content no archiving will take place as they do not consume storage space.
Active Galleries not containing any content are likely to have been empty for a considerable period and are not empty as a result of the Archive functionality.
How does this affect Collections?
Collections contain references to images in Galleries, but they do not store the original image like a Gallery does. Therefore, the images contained within a Collection may no longer be visible if the original Gallery where the image is actually uploaded gets archived. The Archive settings will need to be managed at an actual Gallery level.
Upon the release of the Archive Tool, Galleries that contained images in Collections that are linked directly in your site's menu were not archived.
For images added to Collections after the release, the Gallery they are in will automatically archive 14 months after the last modified date. You will be able to manage which Galleries are set to archive in the Gallery settings.
How are videos and RAW files affected?
Images, videos, and RAW files will be stored in the Gallery's archive. When a Gallery is restored, these videos and RAW files will be accessible, provided that the previous Gallery settings permitted it. RAW files saved in the archive will not contribute to your monthly RAW expenses.
How will my order history be affected for archived Galleries?
We will preserve all order history associated with the archived Galleries in the Sales Reports section of your account. For more information on reporting, you can visit this link.
Will my sub-account users be able to access the archive tool (Premium Business/Advanced plans)?
Yes, access to the archive will be granted to all users of sub-accounts belonging to our Advanced and Premium Business customers. However, sub-account holders will only have the ability to manage Galleries that were assigned to them prior to the archiving process. For further information regarding user accounts and assignment privileges, please refer to this link.
I do not want my content to be archived, can I opt-out of this service?
The Archive Tool of Zenfolio has been integrated into all Classic Zenfolio accounts, and it is not possible to disable the archiving of all Galleries in your account. You have the option to select up to 20 specific Galleries that you do not want to be archived, ensuring their continued availability.