I lost a sale over the weekend to another photographer because the customer couldn't figure out how buy a print on Zenfolio.     She found the photo she wanted but she never "hovered" her mouse over the photo to get the icon bar to slide out from the left.    She also never saw the "Add to Cart" way up in the upper right of the corner.    

There really really needs to be a very  prominent and ALWAYS VISIBLE   "Buy This Photo" button or control right next to the photo, so that our customers don't need to hunt for how to buy products.  

ZenFolio is a site/service for selling photos.  The selection, buying, and checkout process should be obvious and it should be fluid.  Anything less  is like trying to run a Brick & Mortar store with the checkout lane hidden in the back.   People eventually get tired of trying and go elsewhere.

This is a great option to have.  Best of both worlds, give us the option to have a button or not.  A lot of people have photos that aren't for sale.  I would like to have the option to display a button or have the hover over.

Kevin Pepin:

This is a great option to have.  Best of both worlds, give us the option to have a button or not.  A lot of people have photos that aren't for sale.  I would like to have the option to display a button or have the hover over.

I respectfully disagree.  One of the things that is very attractive about Zenfolio is its focus on being a business site for selling photos.   A big issue with other sites is that they try to be a one-size-fits-all trying to service everyone from "family sharing" up through "professional selling", the end result being that they have deficiencies for everyone.       ZenFolio is having a hard enough time implementing the features needed to better sell our photos.   Let's not water that down by also asking them to become a photo sharing site.

I've been waiting to see what shows up with the Theme Customization stuff, but I definitely agree.  The thing I would like beyond that is the ability to surface both a "Download this image" button in addition to a "Purchase this photo" button.  In my case, they would end up at the same place (though one would default to the digital products, and the other to print products of some sort), but having separate buttons, even if they were right next to each other, would be valuable for me.

The point of this is that if someone is thinking "Cool; how do I download this photo?" they're looking for the word "Download."  If there's a button with the word "Download" in it, they're likely to spot it, whereas they might gloss over "Purchase this photo" and especially "Add to cart."  Likewise, someone looking specifically to buy prints probably wouldn't immediately think to click "Download this photo" to start doing so.  I think having two links would make it easier for people with these two intentions to figure out how to do what they want to do.

--xsdg

xsdg:

I've been waiting to see what shows up with the Theme Customization stuff, but I definitely agree.  The thing I would like beyond that is the ability to surface both a "Download this image" button in addition to a "Purchase this photo" button.  In my case, they would end up at the same place (though one would default to the digital products, and the other to print products of some sort), but having separate buttons, even if they were right next to each other, would be valuable for me.

The point of this is that if someone is thinking "Cool; how do I download this photo?" they're looking for the word "Download."  If there's a button with the word "Download" in it, they're likely to spot it, whereas they might gloss over "Purchase this photo" and especially "Add to cart."  Likewise, someone looking specifically to buy prints probably wouldn't immediately think to click "Download this photo" to start doing so.  I think having two links would make it easier for people with these two intentions to figure out how to do what they want to do.

--xsdg

Very good observations!  Perhaps the new site customization will indeed let us do this.    But I fear from what I've been reading that the new stuff is going to have more to do with styles and color schemes than with functional flexibility such as you describe.  Hopefully I'm wrong.  If it will let us do things like you describe -- e.g., add a "Download" and/or "Buy" button next to the photo -- then it will be a very powerful update.

The upcoming release will not have the ability to change the location of the Add to Cart button. We will try to add the ability to make it stand out more by using color. 

I like the suggestion about the Download button. We will definitely consider it after the next release - it should be an easy improvement.

Vitas [Zenfolio]:

The upcoming release will not have the ability to change the location of the Add to Cart button. We will try to add the ability to make it stand out more by using color. 

I like the suggestion about the Download button. We will definitely consider it after the next release - it should be an easy improvement.

Seems like everything that is being frequently asked for on these forums (packages, coupons, streamlined buying, etc.) is NOT in the next release.   What exactly IS  in the next release.    Is there anything in it that will directly help us sell more photos and/or make more money?

Next release is about introducing new portfolio-style layouts, theme customizations, and more.  Are these features can directly linked to making more money? Depends on how you see it, but we've seen it many times that improving presentation quality will attract more customers.

Vitas [Zenfolio]:

Next release is about introducing new portfolio-style layouts, theme customizations, and more.  Are these features can directly linked to making more money? Depends on how you see it, but we've seen it many times that improving presentation quality will attract more customers.

Is there a preview / beta / test site available where we can see and provide pre-release feedback for the next release, even some early testing?

We are planning to introduce a beta program at some point. We have quite a few members interested in participating. Currently we don't have an easy way of opening early builds to the public as it involves some administrative overhead.