Thanks for the heads up. I have photos on there from my fostering days I will most definately move them to my computer.

I don't like that they are automatically uploading the photos from your computer. I didn't see anything about being charged for the service when they changed.

I can't get it to change the wallpaper on my computer. Anybody have any suggestions? Using the normal Microsoft won't work with the Webshots/Smile to change it either.

Haven't tried it yet but it should make life a bit easier - download all your photos into zip files:
http://help.getsmileapp.com/customer...os-and-videos-

@MaggieLou:
Smile is having a free trial period before the changeover. Then it's paid membership only.

I'm so darn "technical dumb" that I have no idea what to do. Can anyone here help me with "non-tech" instructions? Or what will happen if I just ignore their instructions?

If you ignore their instructions and do nothing, then on Dec 1, any photos still on the webshots site will be gone.
As in...POOF.

If you follow the link I posted upthread (in the post right before yours), it will take you to a page where you can elect to download all your photos - webshots/smile is providing this service.

You sign in and click on DOWNLOAD and you'll shortly (not immediately) receive a link to the .zip file(s) you can download to your home PC or laptop.
That file will only be available for two weeks.
You can request it again, but only if the photos are still on the webshots site.

Not difficult at all.

I did the download from webshots , got an email with a little orange bar that says download your photos and videos and it doesn't do anything. I tried to click on it. Back to the help section over there I guess but it is progress? lol

Okay, I did mine.
Weird.
I got the email and clicked the link. My webshots email is an old aol.com address.
When I went into AOL webmail, the link (orange bar) would not work.
However, when I went in via the AOL portal, the link opened a web page that allowed me to download it.
Mine was one zip file, but I had under 300 pictures.


So that's weird. I open links from within AOL (web) all the time so I don't know what's going on.
And it seems your issue is similar.
Like I said, weird.

And what a cluster&(&W the download is - it's like SMILE doesn't even care about wooing existing users over.

My zip file, when unzipped, opens to contain 14 files (= 14 albums I had online, so that's a good sign).
And each folder has the pictures that were online ..but now with some long arbitrary alpha/numeric name.
Certainly not how I ever named them.

And all my notes that were associated with each picture aren't attached in anyway.
So I guess I'm going to have to go in manually and CAP them into word or something temporarily if I want to save them.

And my pictures on the SMILE site-
Just one file with all the pictures in no recognizable order.

You know, they're quilt pictures of my quilts mostly, so they're easily identifiable and I could probably reorder them relatively easily.
But I really feel for people who had thousands of photos...where do they even begin?

Were you successful in downloading your pics?

mine is a yahoo address. I tried to go into my mail different ways and it didn't help. I still can't open it. I sent them a message it says to wait 72 hours. I can't even copy and paste my pictures. It do have some of my foster babies on there that I don't have anywhere else anymore. I am NOT amused.

The more I keep reading, the more I just don't get it.

This from the Smile site:
[h=3]How is Smile different from other photo services?[/h]Smile focuses on two things: 1) creating one secure place for your family's images and 2) making it easy to effortlessly share photos with close friends and family. Many people nowadays have their photos scattered on various computers, phones, disk drives and cameras, not to mention sites like Facebook and Flickr. And they’re worried about losing them. Smile solves this problem by organizing all your photos in one place and securely storing them in the cloud. Smile also lets you share life’s experiences and events with close family and friends instantly, without having to upload, tag or edit photos.

So even if I wanted to send you a link to my quilt pictures in my photostream, and you were a paying member at Smile as well, I don't see a way to direct you to only certain pictures in my photo stream.
Or vice versa.
I want to see your new quilt but could care less about your latest cruise pictures.

Maybe, just maybe, people had their pictures all over the place because they wanted/needed it that way.
Certain blogs use certain photo hosting sites.
What happens to all those links that were webshots based.
You can't even do a mass change to map from webshots.com to smile.com because the names/ID's have been altered.

And the $15/year they'll be charging - or even the $30 for the upgraded account - is really peanuts.
I would have gladly paid it if things stayed relatively the same.

Anyway, back to your problem.
If you go into your pictures on webshots.com, click on the picture, then select full screen.
You should be able to right-click and save the image that way.
A PITA if you have a ton, but if there are some you HAVE to have, then that's a quick way.

Now I have to go back up the zipfile because I have a history of HD fatal crashes.

I have a gmail account. You can download "Google Drive" to your computer. I upload documents, pics, anything else that I want available to my Android phone. I use it as a back up drive. Hope this helps.