Intro
I had some time time on my hands and just completed a redesign (upgrade) of my photography website (https://franzzihlmannphoto.com). To develop the site, I used Backlight from TTG. Because I skipped several TTG releases and I wanted to redesign the site, I decided to start development from scratch. Note that The Turning Gate (TTG) always provides upgrades/tools for its new product versions.
Since the inception of my website many years ago I have been using The Turning Gate web development tools.
Website objectives
Before I started with the development, I put down the major design objectives:
- Improved usability on mobile devices like smart phones (Android and iPhone) and iPad like tablet devices
- Improved user interface for laptop and desktop computers
- Improved website security
- Album background color for image viewing that is neutral to images
- Add “Blog” capability to the site
- Quick and easy website image updates from Lightroom
The tool (Backlight by TTG)
With so many choices available, why did I choose TTGs Backlight for website development? The short answer is customization and keeping control of my assets. Yes, it may take somewhat longer to develop the site, but it will work, look, and feel the way envisioned. I like the fact that I can pick my own Host Provider giving me a sense of control where my assets are stored.
Backlight allows photographers to create personalized online photo websites. TTG also offers some powerful add-ons and applying these enables you to run a photography business through a website. Without going into details, find out about TTG and Backlight at the TTG website: https://theturninggate.net/
Level of knowledge needed
It is fairly easy to setup a simple Backlight photo website. The the most challenging part is the Host Server and uploading information to it using an FTP client. It also will take some time to understand the Backlight architecture and website development terminology. Developing a simple photo website does not require any programming skills
A more sophisticated website will take additional skills. To get a calibration, I would rate my website complexity somewhere in the middle. I did some customization using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and PHP scripts. Most of these CSS and PHP scripts used are based on samples provided by the TTG Forum Moderators. Here are two example sources and links: (1) TTG Tips and Tricks by moderator Rod Barbee (https://ttg-tips.com/) and (2) Lab.Danielleu.com by moderator Daniel Leu (https://lab.danielleu.com/blog/category/backlight/).
I also used two TTG add-on products, namely: (1) Theater album, and (2) WP Theme (WordPress ad-on).
The process
Developing the website and getting up to speed with technology took some time because I have no practice doing so. Because I kept my “old” website running, I had time to learn the new TTG features and capabilities. Developing the new site on a subdomain gave me the time to prototype and test the new site. For obvious reasons I highly recommend this approach.
TTG development support
TTG provides a good amount documentation and some videos that help to get familiar with Backlight upfront. The TTG Forum (https://discourse.theturninggate.net/) is an outstanding tool to ask questions that arise during development. The Forum site is professionally managed and categorized for different type of questions. The site moderators provide almost instant answers to questions. They have a deep product knowledge and provide a first-class support to its users. It is my experience that this Forum is the most useful tool in getting answers to sometimes “blocking” issues during the development process. It is also a place you want to browse through and find out other user’s solutions to problems they encountered during the development process.
Please note that I have no association with The Turning Gate company, and I wrote this article on my own terms.
Franz Zihlmann
Franz Zihlmann Photography