Help

Working with Amalgram

1. What is an album?

   An album can take many forms. In general, it's an activity where at least two or more people are participating. For example, a trip, a graduation ball, a cycling tour, a group expedition, a party, a wedding, etc.
   An album may have a theme. For example, a group of bird watchers may want to group together all the photos taken of a Snowy Owl. The same could apply to lovers of mushrooms or astrology.
   An album is the basic reason for sharing photos. Albums can be grouped by into "Album Type". For example, one album type could be "Vacations", which would group the following events: Vacation in Italy May 2013, Vacation in California October 2013, etc.

2. What is a participant?

   Participants are the people who were invited with the "Invite" button. The participants represent all the people with whom you wish to share or exchange information (photos, forum). Generally, when you invite someone, you hope they will participate by sharing their photos and commenting on the event. However, it is possible that someone who missed the event would like to see the photos of the event. You could therefore invite them even if they did not participate in the event.

3. How do I create an album?

   From the album, click on the "Create an album" button. Only the first step is mandatory. At this step, we then invite you to enter the basic information about the album. If you would like, you can "Create album" after this step. The two other steps (adding photos and inviting participants) can be done next.
   In step 2, you can add photos. You can always add more photos later. If you would like, you can "Create an album" immediately or proceed to another step before creating the album. The last step (inviting participants) can be done next.
   Finally, in step 3, you can invite participants. You can always invite more participants later. To invite participants, you must enter the firstname, lastname and email address of each participant.

4. Why create an album without adding photos immediately?

   You may want to create an album before the event itself actually takes place. This allows participants to use the forum to communicate about the event organization. Once this event is over, each participant can add photos.

5. How do I view all the photos of an album?

   The main screen of this application is called "Album". Once you have entered your user name and password, you will arrive at this screen. Here you see all your albums as well as albums to which you have been invited. To best represent the albums, we designed a square that summarizes each album, including a photo, the album creator, the month and year of the album, and various quantitative information. To view all the photos of an album, click on the photo. You will access the details screen of the album photos. This screen scrolls up and down.

6. Can a participant invite other people to share photos?

   If you select the "can invite" option when inviting a participant, this participant is allowed to invite others.
   If you do not select this option, you ensure that only the people you invite can share photos for this album. Generally, you should delegate this responsibility only to those you trust.

7. How do I share my first photos? How do I add photos?

   There are three places in the application where you can add photos:

   1. In the process of creating an album (step 2)
   2. Using the "+ Add photos" link from the album
   3. Using the "Add photos" button on the album photos screen.

   You can therefore use two methods:

   1. By clicking the "Select photos on your computer" button, you can select photos stored on your computer. To select several photos, use the « ctrl » and « Shift » keys. Click on the first photo, then hold the « ctrl » key and click another photo. You can also select each photo individually. You can also select several consecutive photos by clicking on the first photo, holding down the  « Shift » key, and clicking on the last photo. You will see that the files of the selected photos change to a different colour from the other files. Next, click on the "Add" button.

   More experienced internet users can use the "drag and drop" principle.

8. How do I view and add comments on the photos and albums?

   To comment on one photo in particular, select an individual photo from the album photos screen and click on that photo to enlarge it. Next, click the "Details" button in the upper right area of the screen. You will see all the comments made by other participants and at the end of these comments, you can add your own.

   To comment on a specific album, go to the details of the album photos. Next, click on the "Forum" button. You will see the comments made by other participants and at the end of these comments, you can add your own.

9. Is there an order to be followed for the steps of creating an album, sharing photos, inviting participants, and adding comments?

   Yes, you must first add the basic details of the album by following step 1 from the procedure for creating albums (step 1 of the creation of an album). Next, all the other steps can be followed in any order and at different times.

10. What is the link with other social networks?

    From the photo details, it is possible to download a photo and then share it on social networks. You can also use the Facebook login button to register and access Amalgram.

11. Can I view the photos of other participants without adding my own photos?

    Yes. If an album is private, however, you must be invited to view the album. You can access a public album directly using the public link. (see point 13)

12. Why aren't the date and time at which my photos were taken saved in Amalgram?

    If your photos were uploaded using an iPhone or an iPad, the data provided by the camera is discarded. This is not a bug, but an Apple security feature.

    One of the main reasons why Android users don't like iPhones, and why iPhone users don't like Androids, is because the iPhone is very limited (in terms of of the freedom to change, modify, etc.).

    Apple's strategy is to create a "fail-safe" product. If you cannot do strange things, strange things will not happen. Apple aims to protect the user in all ways imaginable. They also protect the user during the downloading of images. In the « exif » (the data file accompanying the photo from the camera), there may be data that may affect the privacy of users. Information such as GPS coordinates, or even the time stamp, can impact the user. Imagine if you upload a photo of the beach with the date and hour of a day when you had told your boss you were sick.

    Therefore, fundamentally, it's a security measure to discard all the EXIF data. I and many others do not agree with this strategy, but there's nothing that can be done, unfortunately.

13. What is the privacy level of an album?

    An album can be "Private" or "Public". The privacy level is specified when you create an album and cannot be changed afterward.

    When you select "Private" as the privacy level of an album, only your guests and their guests (if you allow your guests to invite others) can access and contribute to the album. All information related to the album, including the photos, will not be indexed by search engines like Google. Invitations can only be issued by providing the email address of the participant.

    When you select "Public" as the privacy level of an album, it works the same way as a "Private" album, but it can, in addition, be broadcast publicly. With this type of album, you can generate a link that allows all who click on it to access the album in read-only mode without having an Amalgram account. You can communicate this link via social networks, email, blog, Web site, etc. If they access the album using this URL, users cannot add photos to the album. They could, however "Like" and comment on photos if they create an Amalgram account. You can also invite people to add photos using the same process that you use for a private album.

    The album information and the photos will be indexed by search engines. For example, a user could access a photo by specifying a word from the description of the photo using Google Search.

Membership and Deactivation

1. It seems to me that the maximum number of photos is insufficient. On some vacations, I take more than 2,000 photos!

   The goal of Amalgram is to allow users to share their best photos. It's not meant to be your personal album containing all of your photos. Choose only the best photos for each album. If all participants do the same, the album will contain only great photos and a good number of them. Also, you can copy the best photos of other participants into your personal album.

2. Is there a time limit on the basic membership allowance of 75 photos and 5 videos?

   No, there is no time limit. However, after three years of inactivity, your account may be deleted. In this case, you will be notified by email.

3. If I select the "500 photos" participant plan at the annual rate of 9.95 $CAN, what happens after one year?
   

   You will be notified one month in advance that the $9.95 withdrawal will be processed. In fact, you will have 500 photos in addition to the accumulated bonus photos (10 photos per new Amalgram user who signed up after accepting your invitation to a shared album). There is a limit of 500 additional bonus photos). If you no longer wish to renew your package, see the point below.

4. If I do not want to renew my Amalgram plan, what should I do?
   

   To deactivate your account, from the My account menu accessed in the settings, click the "Deactivate my account" button. The following message is displayed: "Warning: All your photos, the albums you have created, and your comments in the forum or on photos will be deleted.

   Note that the albums you have created will no longer be available to those who collaborated by adding photos. The photos that other participants have added to your albums will also be deleted."

5. How does billing work?
   

   Amalgram accepts 2 billing modes:

   1. Subscribe to a package in the "More photo space" menu

      For example, if you subscribe to a participant package of 1,500 photos during the membership year, the number of available photos for your account will be raised for a one-year period, automatically renewable on the anniversary date. A warning email is sent one month prior to your package’s expiry date.

      In this case, when changing your plan, you will raise your limit to 1,500 photos, plus your accumulated bonus photos. The expiry date will be set to 365 days after the current date, and the transaction will be completed.

   2. Prepaid Albums

      You can choose a one-time payment for a particular album. This feature is available when creating an album or managing albums.

      For a specific album, you can choose the number of photos / videos you want. Unlike the renewable packages, the number of photos will include photos and videos added by your guests. This type of package requires a single paymentwith no automatic annual billing.

      At the end of the 3 years, you can extend the album’s package for an additional 3 years. Otherwise, you will be able to download in a single step all the photos of the album.

   3. If I delete photos, will they be subtracted from my usage allowance?

      Yes, these photos will be deducted from your total usage. These photos will no longer be available to other participants of the albums to which they're attached.

   4. How do the promotional codes work?

      Some packages offer promotional codes. These codes will be sent to you in the email confirming your new package. You can share these codes with people who have not already joined Amalgram. When they sign up, they must use the "If you have a promo code, click here" link. They can then enter their promotional code.

      One of the ways to use the code is to use the "Invite" function and to include the promotional code in your email. To do this, you must invite each user individually.