Flickr is great photo sharing site. It seems to excel in its “social” features. But it lacks some features that I want for my private pictures. Most of the pictures I have uploaded to Flickr are private and I put them on the site to display on my private blog.

The reason I bring this up now is because of a post written by Hillel Cooperman. He points out some features that photo sharing sites are lacking. I happen to agree with him and have longed for the features that he outlines in much better terms than I ever could. These features are:

• background sync
• password protection
• custom look and feel
• use your own domain

I have been thinking of other features that I would like in a photo sharing site. I have started a list.

For example, a lot of sites have RSS feeds for all pictures uploaded. I would like to see multiple feeds. At least one feed for private photos and another for public photos. This would be great for a digital photo frame that has a wifi connection and the ability to subscribe to RSS feeds (they are getting more affordable). I could buy one for my mom, update the site with new photos, and she would see the photos.

What other features should I add to my list?

I mainly share my photos with the readers on my personal blog, and have been looking for some cool things that you can do with your Flickr account. The fact they provide an API and lots of hacks are available was one reason why I chose Flickr over other photo sharing sites including SmugMug.

I wanted to embed a slideshow into my blog so I did a Google search and found flickrSlidr. It was easy to create and works wonderfully.

Does anybody have any suggestions for other hacks using Flickr? Or are there any arguments on why I should be using another photo sharing site? Flickr lacks a few things that I want but it has close to everything.

I am just trying to upload some pictures to try them out. You can either upload each picture one-by-one (I refuse to do it that way) or use their slick drag-and-drop tool (it’s a java applet). There must be a limit to how many you can do cause after about 15 uploads, it does nothing.

I haven’t given up on photodot just yet. They seem like a great site with some cool features. They have free accounts but it is difficult to find the difference for a paid account.

First of all, if you keep your browser on your album for a while, there is a small sound bite that says “Hello?” in a very annoying way. Web pages should not speak to me unless requested to speak (video, sound bit, etc.).

I don’t like the interface. I don’t like the free version so why would I pay for a pro account. There are a lot of missing features that I would like to have.
To be fair, they do have some cool ideas for features. I don’t like how they were implemented though. It also can host videos as well.

I won’t waste a lot of time writing more about photobucket. They missed the boat. They have done something right, however, to be the top photo sharing site on the Internet.

It seems that Photobucket seems to be the most popular. So I will start my search there.

I have a good starting point to start evaluating these sites. Let the games begin.

Here are the following requirements that I have:

• Store unlimited amounts of photos
• I want to be able to link to the photos (hosting)
• Photo streams or sets to organize photos
• Tagging
• API
• Ability to view photos without registration (difficult, I know)
• Ability to purchase photos (preferably in matte)
• Active user community
• Public and private spaces

I am willing to pay a reasonable price for these features. I know flickr has a lot of these features but to me it seems more of a community site. I personally do not want to share every picture of my family with the world. I want to make sure I choose the best site for what I want.

Are there any features that I should look for? I am sure I will come up with more as I begin my search. Also, recommendations are welcome.
I will post details as I do the search. A word of caution: it may take a while (a few weeks).