In the effort to ensure that your password locked galleries remain secure, your galleries utilize a Gallery Password Lockout system.
The Gallery Password Lockout is set up to enhance the security of password-protected galleries. When a site visitor enters an incorrect password too many times, the system will lock that specific site visitor out of the gallery for a period of time.
This means that they will not be able to visit the gallery to enter the password until they have been unlocked from the gallery.
After a time, the gallery will automatically unlock allowing the site visitor to try again.
Please note that this will lock out just the site visitor that has entered the wrong password too many times. It does not lock out other visitors to your site.
Please also see this video for more information on the Gallery Lock Out Security feature:
Lock Out Warning
Please note that we do ask the site visitor to contact the photographer BEFORE actually locking the Gallery.
After the second to last attempt, we display the following message next to the password input field: “You have one more attempt before your access is blocked. Please contact the photographer for the correct password.”
Good Practices when Creating the Gallery Passwords
When creating the password to lock the gallery, do please keep these important notes in mind to avoid any confusion when your clients enter the password for the gallery.
- Passwords are case sensitive. So when creating a password, it may be best to use the the same case (UPPER CASE or lower case) if there is a chance that the client may not enter the correct case for each letter in the password.
- Avoid using zeros ( 0 ) and the letter O in a non-contextual manner. This way your clients are able to determine if the 0 or O is a zero or the letter O.
- Same issue with lower case L's (l) and upper case i's (I).
- Avoid using spaces in the password as the space must also be entered when entering the password. This includes adding a space before and after the password as well as adding a space in the middle of the password.
If the client deviates in anyway from the way the password was created (such as entering a lower case letter when it should be capitalized), the system will not allow them to access the gallery.
If security concerns require the use of a strong password with varying letter cases and characters, it is highly recommend to communicate to the client that the password must be entered exactly to avoid getting locked out of the gallery. Also they should be warned to heed the notice about having only one last attempt to enter the password. They should know that when this notice is displayed, they should stop and contact the photographer for the correct password.
Other Important Things to Look for
Getting the Gallery ID and the Password mixed up
A common issue is when there is a mixup with the Gallery ID used in the Client Access page and the password used to lock the gallery. make sure that the client has received the password for the gallery and not the gallery's Gallery ID. The Gallery ID is separate from the password used to lock the gallery. The Gallery ID cannot be used to unlock a password locked gallery. The Gallery ID is used in conjunction with the Client Access page to make it easier for your clients to find their gallery.
The images in the gallery have been given their own separate Access Control settings
Another common issue is when the photographer has locked the images in the gallery separately from the gallery. When this happens, the client is required to enter the password to unlock the gallery and then enter passwords again to unlock each image in the gallery.
To avoid this issue, make sure to set the Access Control settings at the gallery level. Do not click on an image in the gallery, then edit the Access Control settings as that will only apply the Access Control settings to that image.
This can be resolved by making sure that the images in the gallery are set to follow the gallery's Access Control settings.
The images in the gallery that follow the gallery's Access Control settings have the option for Same as Containing Gallery checked in their Access Control. 
For accounts opened after May 10, 2018; please see the below screenshot of how make sure an image is "synced" to the gallery's Access Settings
The link to a password locked Group is shared with the client instead of the link to the Gallery
If the gallery is contained within a password locked group and that group requires a different password, make sure to send the direct link to the gallery to the client. Otherwise, they the client will be required to enter the password for the group Since they only know the password for the gallery, they may enter the wrong password too many times trying to unlock the group.
Click HERE to see how to share the direct link to the gallery.
Testing the Password
To avoid any issues with the password, it is recommended that the password be tested before giving the password to the client. It is also a good idea to test the password when a client has complained that the password they received did not work and that they have been locked out of the gallery.
As the site owner, you will not be required to enter the password for any galleries as long as you are logged in to your account while viewing the galleries. The system recognizes you as being the owner of your account and provides full access to password locked galleries and private galleries.
To test out the gallery's password, first log out of your Zenfolio account. Once logged out, you will be able to see your site exactly as your visitors do- including the need to enter passwords to access password locked galleries.
Unlocking a Blocked Gallery
Unfortunately, it is not possible to manually unlock a gallery for a blocked site visitor. The gallery will only automatically unlock after some time has passed.
If it is important that the client be allowed to access the gallery before it automatically unlocks, you can allow them to access the gallery by temporarily removing the password lock for the gallery by setting the gallery to Public via its Access Control panel. You can then lock the gallery with a password again after a short while.
See this guide for how to change the gallery's Access Control settings to Public and temporarily unlock it.