An overhaul of the Yahoo! Photos property, the most substantial improvement to the property since Yahoo! Photos was initially launched in 2000, will soon be rolled out to Yahoo! accounts worldwide. Unlike the Y! Mail Beta, users will not have the option of switching back to the original version once converted. But there are several reasons to be rid of the "old" version.For starters, the information you can assign to each photo includes tags (comma separated tags no less - my favorite) for easy locating later, ratings to help the better photos rise to the top, sharing at the photo level (not at the album level like before), comments by friends (a la Flickr) and photo details (this looks like the camera provided data is being used).
When first accessing the new Y! Photos property, you have easy access to the three primary functions - add photos, select your own photos using tags or preassigned albums, and view your friends' photos. Speaking of friends, how are they assigned in the new Y! Photos? They can come from your Y! 360 friends, Flickr contacts, Y! Messenger contacts and your Y! Address Book.
The user interface is updated to today's drag-n-drag standard (no more checking boxes and refreshing pages). For instance, in the screen cap below you can see the view of "All Your Photos" which has several 'Action' buttons at the top. Simply drag the photo(s) you want to perform the action on into the 'drop zone' (my term) below the buttons and then click on the button.
So far, it's truely impressive. The new Y! Photos is smartly designed for the family user who wants to collect their photos, print them occasionaly at Target and on coffee mugs. They want to give their friends access and to view photos their friends want to share but they are not trying to reveal their photo collection to the world. And that is the principal difference between those who will like Flickr (global exposure/RSS feeds) and those who will like Y! Photos (sharing with friends and family).
I'll post more here later. Feel free to leave comments with any specific questions or concerns and I'll do my best to answer them.
And no, I have no idea how you get into the beta group. To check to see if you have been invited, go to Y! Photos after logging in with your Y! ID and look for "Join Beta" next to the "Help" link. If it's there, you're being offered the opportunity to try it during this limited beta.
1. Thanks for the info! I've been looking forward to the beta yahoo photos for a long time. I currently do have a flickr account and was wondering if like flickr you could publish photos to your blog easily?
Posted at 3:50AM on Jun 8th 2006 by rfbjames