SlideShowPro News

08.01.07 | SlideShowPro / Director update pricing and features

Alrighty everyone! After a considerable amount of work, here are a few highlights from the next versions of SlideShowPro and SlideShowPro Director.

SlideShowPro 1.6.0

• FLV playback support
• Integrated media player for handling video and audio
• Transition pause countdown animation
• Revised play/pause feedback element
• Ability to remove navigation bar from view when gallery is open
• Centered text in captions, album titles and descriptions
• More parameters to control the width, height and scale of thumbnail pop-up previews and album previews
• Ability to peruse links in the navigation without snapping back to current image in view (when in auto playback mode)
• Lots of visual improvements to live preview mode to make editing easier

SlideShowPro Director 1.1

• Complete user interface and design overhaul
• Vastly improved organization of content
• New on-demand image publishing system
• Image sharpening
• Ability to copy/move images between albums
• Ability to batch copy/move/delete images in any album
• Editable template system for assigning hyperlinks to images
• Automatic reading of IPTC caption metadata (if available) on image upload
• International language support
• One-click copying of XML file paths
• Interface themes (comes with two - black and white)
• User avatars
• Integrated server/installation information
• Ability to "remember me" when logging in

And now for the best feature of all! Both updates will be free of charge to all current users. Yes, free. Why? Because we're crazy. No, seriously, we could have easily up-ticked both to "2.0" and passed around the collection plate, but we don't roll like that. Consider it a "thank you" for your constructive feedback, word-of-mouth support, and for taking a chance with us in the first place.

All that said, there is one small caveat for a small percentage of Director users. SlideShowPro Director 1.1 will feature a new key authentication system (and revised license agreement) that will allow you to install the software at one domain, and one domain only. If you need to install Director under a second domain (or more), you will need to purchase a new license for each additional domain. Most people use Director at only one domain anyway, so this won't impact the majority of users. But everyone else will need to purchase additional licenses if they administer Director installations on multiple sites.

If you're one of the affected people, you may be thinking "W-T-F." But hear us out. The reason for moving to a system like this is to prevent the escalating issue of software piracy, license agreement abuse, and to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. We dislike these type of systems just as much as anyone else, but for the continued development and support of Director it's simply unavoidable.

Alright, so now that we have that out of the way, the next series of blog posts will highlight some of the aforementioned features, including a demo of SlideShowPro playing FLVs, and a thorough explanation of how Director's new "on-demand publishing system" works. We'll also be offering a private beta for both product updates, which we'll announce more information about in the coming days.