Added by Christina Dale, last edited by Christina Dale on Sep 03, 2009  (view change)

Labels:

military military Delete
limited limited Delete
free free Delete
Enter labels to add to this page:
Wait Image 
Looking for a label? Just start typing.

What Happened?

Oops, a couple years ago we offered a bunch of Limited Free accounts to Military.com. The though was that the account holders would upgrade to paid accounts.  That didn't happen. We've stopped the free accounts and emails are coming in as people notice that their accounts are gone.

What Do You Do?

"Be Heroic!" Let's give 'em one more year of SmugMug on us, here's how to make sure it's a seamless transition.

1) Go to the admin page for their original account. Change the type from Limited Free to Standard. This will allow you to move the photos later.

2) Make a note of their name, email address, and nickname. Most likely there will be no address or other info. If they have a bio photo go ahead and grab that information too so that you can set it for them once you transfer the galleries over.

3) Edit the email and nickname so that you can "duplicate" their account.

4) Use the gift subscription page to create a new, standard account : http://www.smugmug.com/photo-sharing/gift-subscriptions

  • Use your card and void the charge or use referral credits and then reimburse yourself.
  • Use their username and email address, set the password to something like smug123

5) Once you've created the new account go to the admin page and grab the UserID number.

6) Go back to the original account's admin screen

  • click on move galleries to another account.
  • Enter an asterisk * in the Albums ID box.
  • Paste the new UserID number in as the Destination UserID
    • Verify that all galleries and photos have transferred, it may take a minute.

7) Cancel the original account and add a quick note saying it was a military.com account and that the new address is .....

All Done!

Now, reply to their email with abject apologies and let them know that the military.com accounts were only intended to be free temporarily. Send them a link to their new account and tell them their login information. Then, let them know that we've given them another year free and that their renewal date will be xx/xx/xxxx.

But, Wouldn't It Be Easier...

So, why can't we just change to Standard and add a year? For some reason these accounts are showing up with created dates in the 60s and 70s. Just to be safe, give them a clean slate. Also, this way it's easy for them to understand that they have one full year from the day you set up the account for them.