As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I was just hoping for some thoughts/opinions/encouragements/discouragements, etc.
Backstory:
You know how everyone is always asking to see everyone else's PhotoPass photos? and my site is essentially world famous for PhotoPass info?
I ran a poll some time ago on my site and overwhelmingly folks were in favor of and said they'd support a free hosting element for PhotoPass photos. So I went on a quest to find the perfect script to integrate into my site that would give me the functionality I required. I found one I liked, but it fell very short and the promised upgrade seem to close the gaps a bit but it has yet to surface.
Current Story:
Then just the other day, I realized I use SmugMug. I love SmugMug. SmugMug essentially has all the features I'd want to integrate into the perfect photo gallery and then some. So I figured why not just take advantage of an amazing service that's readily available?
So I'm working on designing the ScrumpBook (that's my cheap stitch-esque play on the word Scrapbook).
The ScrumpBook will allow anyone to upload Disney's PhotoPass photos (by email) and immediately (or not) have them available for sharing. Posting in message boards, sending to friends, etc. Once the photos go through final approval by me, they'll be sorted into the user's specific gallery (for family sharing, probably kept private and accessible directly by URL) and also categorized into photos such as for the theme parks, the resorts and magic shots.
SmugMug will allow me unlimited storage space and unlimited bandwidth. I could take someone's PhotoCD for example and put it online in a matter of hours. I can do it for PhotoPass shares which will allow people to not have to replicate and separately ship CDs (although there's a stipulation that I need everyone's approval to post the photos).
And the only caveat is the ones that are postable on message forums will have a little line of text crediting the site for hosting it - not the private galleries (but they won't be linkable).
So honestly, is this something anyone might be interested in contributing to?
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i'd have to look into it a bit more, but for starters, no limit on bandwidth (you can post the image as much as you want anywhere and it will never expire for the month or permanently), no file size limit (looks like photobucket is 1MB which might be above a regular photopass photo, not sure), no space limitations - if you have 2 CDs, they can go right up.
but ultimately it's probably more for someone who doesn't already routinely use something. you'll be able to simply email the images as attachments and they'll go up automatically or mail me a CD.
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you need to first ensure the gallery that has the photos allows linking from outside in the customize gallery screen. then you need the url of the image and you just reference it through [img ]...[ /img] tags on here (no spaces).
virtually every picture i post including my sig pic comes from smugmug
so yes, the photos from the public galleries will be able to be posted on any forum/website
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.