Wylio blog

Wylio Shutdown

2022-02-02T10:03:00.005-05:00

February 2, 2022

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce we're shutting down the Wylio service indefinitely.

TLDR:

Wylio was a "nights and weekends" project created and maintained by a few friends for more than a decade.

And, while I still see lots of potential for the service, our personal lives have changed making the continuation of Wylio untenable. We no-longer feel we can give our customers the service they deserve.

Q&A:

What will happen to hosted images?

Images hosted by Wylio (embedded before July, 2011) will continue to be hosted for the foreseeable future.
Images embedded after July, 2011 are either hosted by the user's personal Google Picasa albums, (which is now Google Photos) or Flickr and are hosted at the discretion of those services. At this point we have no reason to believe Flickr or Google Photos will stop hosting images.

Long Story:

   My name is Daniel Jonce Evans. I started Wylio in 2010 to give my wife, Rachel, an easy way to include Creative Commons images with her blog posts. Two good friends, James, Matt, and I developed the idea into a business. We’ve served thousands of customers and learned a lot along the way. And while it never became a huge financial success, for years the income of Wylio covered the expenses of hosting and developing.

   Much has changed in all our personal lives since 2010. I became a father in 2016. Parenthood slowed the pace of development for Wylio but we were still making progress. Then Rachel got sick in April 2019 and died unexpectedly on May 4, 2019. I instantly became a single parent with two kiddos still in diapers, all of us trying to figure out a new life. Then in 2020, like everyone else, our lives were changed once again, as the world started navigating a global pandemic.

   Over the past few years I haven’t used my time to invest in Wylio the way I feel it needs. Thank you to all our customers over the years, it was a pleasure serving you.

-Dan

Version 3.4.0 release

2017-07-29T11:16:00.004-04:00

We've released Wylio version 3.4.0 which includes minor behind the scenes bug fixes.

We're currently working on version 4.0 of Wylio which will include some changes to our underlying business model and feature set. Keep an eye out for what's to come! We think you're going to like what we have planned.

Version 3.3.1

2016-01-13T23:08:00.000-05:00

We've released Wylio version 3.3.1 which includes minor bug fixes.

Fix date issues with subscription reminder emails
Update copyright date
Update date formatting package

Version 3.3.0 Release

2015-12-02T22:48:00.002-05:00

This release includes access to images released on Flickr with newly available licenses. Visit the Settings area of Wylio to change which types of licensed images show up in your search results.

Added access to pictures with new licenses available through Flickr

United States Government Work
Public Domain Dedication
Public Domain Mark

Various minor bug fixes

Version 3.2.1 Release

2015-03-25T23:01:00.001-04:00

Version 3.2.1 of Wylio comes with a couple minor bug fixes.

Fixed a bug with how the sort settings were saved and retrieved
Fixed an issue with signing in with Google on mobile Chrome.
Made selecting generated code work on mobile Safari.

We hope this makes Wylio a little bit better. Thanks again for using Wylio!

Version 3.2

2015-03-19T09:57:00.002-04:00

We've just released version 3.2 of Wylio which includes some minor bug fixes, a few new features, and a lot of behind the scenes updates.

Some notable improvements:

- In addition to copying the automatic embed code, you can now download images from the "Auto" embed window. No need to switch to Manual mode if you want to download an image.

- You can now easily copy a rich text version of just the credits or HTML embed code of just the credits. This is helpful if you want to put the credits in a different location in your article than where the image is placed.

Enjoy!

Wylio 3.0 Released

2014-06-25T08:30:00.000-04:00

We're happy to announce the brand new Wylio! We hope it will make your life a little bit easier.

New Features

TL;DR

Unlimited images
Platform specific embed code (Wordpress, Squarespace, Blogger)
Generic embed code (for both Fixed and Fluid layouts)
New search experience
Annual Billing
Text attribution
Guest Accounts

Details

Unlimited Images and Embedding

Free and Pro accounts can find and use an unlimited number of images. The pictures are already free after all.

Free accounts can use manual attribution.

Pro accounts get nifty automatic attribution in addition to an image history and Guest accounts. We've also got some some more Pro features planned.

Platform specific embed code

We've carefully constructed multiple embed code options to work natively in the latest versions of Wordpress, Squarespace, and Blogger. The code has rich meta data that allows you to modify it from within your platform and change layout of the embedded image should you change after your mind after you paste the code from Wylio.

Generic Embed Code

We've included Generic Fixed and Generic Fluid embed code options for anyone who just wants a HTML block to paste in any number of CMS platforms or a custom site.

New Search Experience

Your search for images is front and center and our interface gets out of your way. When you reach the bottom of the results, just click "Load more" to get more. With over 100 million images available from Flickr, you should be able to find what you're looking for.

Annual Billing

All new Pro accounts are $36/year (billed annually). Pro accounts also have the option to add-on Guest accounts for $1/month each (billed monthly).

Text Attribution

From now on the attribution that goes with the image embed code will be text and text links. This is nicer all the way around since it allows you to easily re-size the image in your blogging platform without worrying about distorting the attribution.

Guest Accounts

All Pro accounts can now add up to 100 additional Guest accounts for $1/mo each. This is a great option for small businesses, large business, people with friends... okay so it's a great option for everyone.

New Billing System and Pricing

TL;DR

Pro accounts are $36/year
New customers can add a credit card directly in Wylio
Existing Customers can continue with their current Paypal subscription
All paid accounts are now Pro accounts
Existing accounts will be migrated automatically
You can add-on Guest accounts for $1/mo each

We're using the awesome credit card processor Stripe to securely store and charge cards.

Details

If you have an existing Premium or Pro account (from June 24th, 2014 or before) you can continue to use Wylio without interruption. However, if you want to take advantage of the annual billing pricing, or would like to add-on additional Guest accounts beyond your free allotment, you will need to "unsubscribe" from Paypal and add a credit card to your account.

Migration for Existing Accounts

All "legacy" Premium and Pro accounts (those created June 24th, 2014 and before) will be migrated to the new Pro Wylio account type.

Dormant Free accounts (accounts not used for a year or more) will not be migrated, users with these accounts will need to create a new Wylio account.

We recommend that legacy Pro account users unsubscribe from their Paypal payments and purchase a new Pro subscription if they wish to take advantage of the new lower pricing for Pro.

With the new Wylio there is no-longer a "Premium" level.

We hope you enjoy the new the new Wylio!

Scheduled Maintenance

2014-06-24T22:42:00.001-04:00

We're in the midst of upgrading Wylio to a brand new version. We think you're going to love it.

New Version of Wylio, coming June 2014

2014-05-29T22:06:00.003-04:00

The calm surface of this blog over the past year is not representative of the hours of work we've been putting into the new version of Wylio behind the scenes.

I'm happy to say, release is just around the corner!

We've completely re-written Wylio from the ground up.

New technology, new features, and the same goal of providing a super easy way to credit already available Creative Commons photos.

We plan to launch at the end of June. Stay tuned for more updates!

Research and Development

2012-11-12T19:46:00.002-05:00

We're still working hard behind the scenes to make Wylio better and better. There's been a lot going on in all of our personal lives which put some of the updates for Wylio development on the back burner these past couple months. But have no fear, we're still here! The upside of bootstrapping Wylio with our own funds is that we can move at our own pace. The downside is that we can't put full-time energy into it (since we have to make money to live from other jobs) and sometimes that slows the pace of development. That said, thank you for all of your support! We are grateful to everyone who has found our service useful and want you to know we're working to make it even better.

Currently we're developing:

Updated search results page and navigation
New account login types without the need for a Google account
Better sign-up experience and flow
Additional credit types and updated embed code including text links

We don't have an ETA for the new developments, but they're in process. If you see ways we can improve Wylio, feel free to let us know. You can contact us at: support@wylio.com or leave a comment after this blog post.

Ads Showing for Premium Users

2012-02-26T13:57:00.001-05:00

We're currently tracking down a bug that's causing ads to show for Premium users. It got introduced during one of our recent updates to Wylio. I apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we fix the problem.

UPDATE:
This problem should now be fixed

Up and Running

2012-02-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

It appears that Flickr is up, running, and accepting search queries from Wylio again. Thanks to everyone for their patience during the service interruption!

Flickr is Down

2012-02-23T17:08:00.001-05:00

If you're having trouble getting pictures from Wylio today, you're not alone. Flickr, the source for Wylio's images is currently down.

Flickr has posted a couple updates about the problems here:
http://blog.flickr.net/en/2012/02/23/time-for-a-massage/

And here's a nifty utility to let you know if Flickr is actually down for everyone, or if you are having connection issues closer to home:

http://www.downornot.com/flickr

(UPDATE: It appears that the "down or not" site is now... down)

Jan 30th Updates

2012-02-01T13:36:00.005-05:00

We've recently made a few updates to Wylio, here are a few:

The color picker in the dashboard (for choosing credit colors) works better now, the previous color picker was a bit buggy.
We've updated the icons for the positioning, downloading, and embedding buttons.
You can now search Wylio using a url in your browser's address bar. For example: http://www.wylio.com/Search/?search=wrench&page=1
The credits placed under the images should look a bit better now.

We hope these small improvements make our service work a little bit better for you. Thanks for using Wylio!

Plans for the Future

2012-01-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

In this, the first quarter of 2012, we're planning to continue refining our core functionality. We want it to be a pleasurable experience to use Wylio on a daily basis. There are a few known bugs (like odd text artifacts in IE9 during picture re-sizing and usability issues with the color picker in the dashboard) that we're working on. If you have specific suggestions for ways we can improve Wylio, feel free to post a comment here.

Move to Amazon Complete

2011-12-12T21:55:00.001-05:00

Wylio's move from Google App Engine to Amazon's cloud services is complete. We're excited to get back to developing and improving Wylio now that the move is finished! As always, feel free to let us know if you run into any trouble or have any suggestions for Wylio.

Scheduled Maintenance - Moving from App Engine to Amazon

2011-11-14T19:55:00.001-05:00

Due to recent pricing changes for Google App Engine we've seen our costs increase over 1500% from week to week. Anticipating this change, we've been working behind the scenes to re-build Wylio to work on Amazon's cloud services. This week we will be moving Wylio off of Google's App Engine and onto Amazon. During this change, you may notice an interruption in Wylio's services.

This move will not affect how you access or use Wylio. (You will still authenticate using your Google account) but there may be hiccups and bugs during this transition. For instance, after the move, you may need to re-link your Picasa account to Wylio. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work through this.

This transition will not affect any images on your site that use the newer Wylio embed code. However images embedded using Wylio's older embed code (before July 2011) may be temporarily affected during this transition.

3 Blogging Pitfalls to Avoid This Political Season

2011-08-16T13:12:00.001-04:00

1) The Unknown Audience

Whether you've been writing for years, or you're just starting out, you must consider your audience. Having an audience in mind gives you a target to shoot for. It brings clarity to your thought process. After all, it's the constraints and limitations, not freedoms, that gives structure for your creativity. Without an audience in mind, it's very hard to stay on track and write a coherent article. Even if "no one" reads your article, you'd still need to consider your intended audience, for your own sake. If you're experimenting with the direction you want to take your blog, why not write one post for one audience and another post for another audience? The important thing is that for each article, you have the audience in mind while you're writing.

2) Not Reading before Posting
After writing an article, read it. Every word. You won't be able to catch all your mistakes, but the vast majority of simple mistakes can be avoided by a good-old-fashioned read through. If you don't trust yourself to catch mistakes in your writing, ask a trusted friend to read the article through once. To avoid over burdening them (after all, they have their own life to live), ask specifically for help with "typos or glaring mistakes." Make sure you limit what you need from them, don't ask them to re-write the article for you. Also, don't give them a "rough draft." Give them what you would have posted, but just before you clicked "publish" decided you wanted a second pair of eyes to review.

3) Over Generalization
When writing an article about a controversial subject like sexuality, politics or religion that has a lot of passionate perspectives, it's important to focus on specifics. For instance, if you say something like "Republicans think..." or "Democrats think..." you'll instantly be plagued with accusations of "that's a straw man" or "I'm a Republican, and I don't think that." The next thing you know, everyone's talking about whether or not YOU are reliable instead of discussing the actual subject matter of the article. The way to avoid this is to simply be specific. Instead of writing "Republicans think..." be specific. How about "John Boehner said..." and then use an actual quote from Boehner. Instead of "Democrats believe..." be specific. Find an actual quote that represents the issue you want to communicate, like "Obama said...". Assuming you've chosen a quote that accurately represents the person's position, this will quickly give you a factual basis for your article, and a foundation to start a much more beneficial discussion about the issue you're bringing up.

Important Wylio Updates

2011-07-11T21:33:00.006-04:00

We’ve been busy working behind the scenes and are excited to announce some big updates coming to Wylio.

The biggest functional change is that you'll need to have Google's Picasa Web Albums active for your Google account in order to use Wylio. This is because we're shifting the control of the image storage from our service, to storage providers you control. This decision was made after considering user feedback we've received since we launched. Thanks to everyone who's been giving helpful suggestions! (Don't worry, images used before the updates next week will still work as expected after the updates.)

We also plan to add Dropbox as a storage option in the near future. If you have other online storage providers that you think would be a good fit, feel free to suggest them!

Here’s what you should expect to see starting the evening of July 18th:

User controlled image storage (Using Picasa Web Albums at first, more choices planned)
Streamlined embed code
More concise credits
Dedicated credits page for each image that includes information about the owner, license, image title, source
More meta information about the License and image included in the title and alt attributes for the HTML tags
The addition of a Pro account option
Free, Premium, and Pro accounts will now have the same functionality, but have different limitations regarding images per month that you can credit/re-size/use (and Free accounts will still have ads)

Free accounts - up to 5 pictures /month
$2.99 Premium accounts - up to 125 pictures /month
$9.99 Pro accounts - up to 1,250 pictures /month

As a big “Thank You” to all you early adopters, supporters, and everyone who is currently a Premium user, we’re automatically upgrading you to the Pro account at no extra charge for as long as you keep your paid subscription active. This free upgrade will apply to all Premium accounts created on or before July 31st, 2011.

Thanks for all your support!

3 photography basics - ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperature

2011-05-03T13:44:00.000-04:00

photo © 1943 Australian War Memorial collection | more info (via: Wylio)
Ever wonder what those "manual" settings on your camera really control? Here are a few great articles from Darren Rowse (of ProBlogger.net fame) that can help.

Besides physically adding or removing light from the scene, there are three controls you have over the light entering your camera: Aperature, ISO, and Shutter Speed. Once you understand how they relate to each-other, you'll be on your way to taking better pictures. You don't have to be a "pro" in order to benefit from this, you simply need a desire to switch your camera from "auto" to "manual" and experiment a little.

ISO Settings in Digital Photography (careful, your camera is sensitive)
Shutter Speed in Digital Photography (get motion blur... on purpose)
Aperture in Digital Photography (what that "f-stop" setting is for)

3 Blog Idea Generators

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-04:00

Need an idea for your next blog post? Here are a few sites to help with that.

1) Big Huge Thesaurus: Blog Post Ideas

A plain interface, and a simple solution. Shows a list of ideas, and then you can just click the "Get Some More" link to show another list of ideas.

2) Generator Land: Blog Post Idea Generator

Bracketed by advertising, shows ideas one at a time. Click "Create" to generate the first idea, and keep clicking to generate more.

3) 101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle

Not an automatic generator, but a list of generic suggestions that can help you pick a direction and generate blog ideas from the ultimate blog idea generator... your brain.

See What People Are Saying - A Better Way to Use Google Alerts

2011-04-20T12:06:00.002-04:00

photo © 2009 Thomas Carter | more info (via: Wylio)
You may already know that Google Alerts will notify you when content appears on the web containing search terms you've specified. It's a great way to keep tabs on what others are saying about you, your site, or your business online.

What you may not realize is the trick to getting the most useful alerts is to have a grasp of the simple, powerful, and often unused Google search operators.

For example:

Quotes around a "search phrase" will require all the terms in the phrase.
The site:example.com will return results only from the example.com site
Using * as a wildcard, can be especially useful in quoted phrases like "Google is * "

You can combine operators... So, for instance you could add these terms to a Google Alert:

"Google is * " site:techcrunch.com

If you did, you'd be notified when someone writes "Google is great", "Google is releasing", "Google is horrible" and all other possible "Google is" phrases on TechCrunch.

The Google Alerts page has a "preview" link, so experiment with different operators, searches, and alert options, until you get the results you're looking for. Then click the "create alert" button and you turn your selected options into an alert that will notify you either by email or by feed.

There are many search operators to play with, take a look at Google Search Basics and Advanced Operators and choose the ones that meet your needs.

In case you're wondering, you can get Google alerts without having a Google account, but having an account lets you easily change your alerts and gives you the option of receiving them as a feed instead of an email.

A New Perspective of Being Wrong (and a Kathryn Schulz TED talk)

2011-04-19T12:22:00.003-04:00

In the blogosphere, it can pay off to show how wrong someone else is. You can get your traffic to spike if you destroy illogical statements of others. If you nit pick someone else's metaphor to death, and seem a little more right you "win." Exactly what do you win? A sense of superiority? Readers who enjoy reading about how wrong people are?

Being right has become the metric to measure ourselves and others with. The thinking (subconscious or not) goes like this:

The more we are right, the better we are.
The more we are wrong the worse we are.
And as Kathryn Schulz notes: When someone else is wrong we tend to believe it is because they are ignorant, stupid or the embodiment of an evil conspiracy

But guess what? We might be wrong about that.

This phenomenon of wrongaphobia is just as true for everyday life as it is for online comments and blog articles. However, I would argue that it isn't hardwired into us. This fear of being wrong and the loathing of those who are is something that we've picked up somewhere along the way.

It must have been after our repeated walking failures as toddlers were the mechanism by which we learned to walk. It must have been after our experimental babbling of wrong words was the framework on which we built language.

In the TED Talk below, Kathryn Schulz communicates a powerful new perspective of being wrong. Enjoy!

Amazon's Android Virtual Machine

2011-04-18T11:14:00.002-04:00

photo © 2010 Gerwin Sturm | more info (via: Wylio)
Engadget recently published an article about Amazon's Android virtual machine which allows users to try out apps before buying them. As noted, this isn't simply a flash based mock-up that works "kinda" like an android device. It's a fully functional virtual machine.

Why this is cool:
Normally, you'd need a virtual machine installed on your local computer and/or the Android SDK installed to get this level of accurate interaction. Instead of requiring you to install something, Amazon is sending the input from your clicks to a virtual machine running on their infrastructure and then streaming audio and video from that VM back through your browser.

The downside:
Keyboard input isn't currently accepted. So...

Apps that require a keyboard to really test drive them sufficiently aren't very testable.
Even though you can exit the app you're test driving and open the web browser, you can't use it to check what your blog looks like on an android device (yet?).

Want to try it? Visit this link to test drive the IMDB Android App and click the big green "Test Drive Now" button.

NOTE: The Amazon Test Drive service is currently only available to U.S. customers.

Free Month of Wylio Premium

2011-04-15T08:00:00.005-04:00

We've temporarily increased the free trial period of Wylio Premium from a week to a month. We think you'll like the extra features so much that you'll stick around after your trial is over. Especially since $2.99 per month doesn't exactly break the bank.