Guest uploads and limits

Guests upload photos and videos from their phone or computer on the Upload tab of the guest page. Files are stored as they are; the studio sees all of them on the Content tab in the panel.

This article covers the guest's upload steps, the accepted file formats, the limits, and what happens when the connection is weak. For wishes, see Wishes and the wish book.

What you can do today

• Collect guests' photos and videos in original quality
• Turn photos and videos on or off separately per event
• Change the upload limit per guest or make it unlimited
• Let guests view, download and delete what they uploaded
• Download all guest files as a single ZIP

How a guest uploads

1. The guest joins the page and opens the Upload tab.
2. They tap Choose photos and videos and select one or more files from their gallery. On a computer they can drag files onto this area.
3. The files are queued and uploaded two at a time. Each file shows its state: Preparing, Uploading, Checking, Uploaded.
4. When the upload finishes, the page shows how many files were uploaded. The files appear on the My uploads tab.

While files are uploading, the page shows "Uploading; please keep this page open." and an overall progress bar.

Uploads only run while the page is open. If the guest closes the tab or leaves the browser, unfinished files are not uploaded; they need to come back to the page and select those files again.

The Upload tab is shown only while the upload window is open and Photos or Videos are turned on for the event. You change the window and the content types in the settings described in Creating and managing events.

Original quality

The file itself is stored unchanged; it is not compressed or resized. So that the guest page and the panel load quickly, the browser also prepares a 2048-pixel display version and a 400-pixel thumbnail for each photo. For videos a poster frame is taken and the video plays from the original file.

The gallery, the slideshow and sharing use the display version. The original file can be downloaded by the guest who uploaded it on the My uploads tab, and by the studio in the panel.

Supported formats

If a file outside this list is selected, it is marked "This file type is not accepted." and is not uploaded. Files of a type you turned off for the event get the same message. When an upload completes, the server checks that the file really is of the declared type; a file that cannot be verified is not saved.

Some browsers cannot open HEIC photos. In that case the original file is still uploaded but no preview can be prepared, and the photo shows "No preview" instead. A photo without a preview is not shown to other guests in the public gallery or on the live slideshow; you can download the original from the panel.

Limits

There is no separate duration limit for videos uploaded by guests; the limit is the file size. There is also no separate limit on the number of files; a guest can keep uploading until the per-guest space or the event archive is full.

If a guest selects more than 30 files at once, the first 30 are queued and the page asks them to pick the rest when these finish.

You change the per-guest limit in the Limit per guest (GB) field on the event's Settings tab. The options start at 250 MB and never exceed the event's archive size; with Unlimited the only limit is the event archive. Guests see how much space they have used in a bar on the Upload tab.

A guest who hits a limit sees one of these messages:

• The file is too large. The file exceeds the size limit for its type.
• The upload limit is full. The per-guest limit has been reached.
• The event's archive space is full. You can make room by moving to a larger archive.

What happens on a weak connection

Venue networks can slow down when they are crowded. Uploading is built for that:

• Two files upload at the same time; if one stalls, the other keeps going.
• When the connection drops, the upload retries by itself. Each step is tried up to 4 times, with a longer wait between attempts.
• Files larger than 64 MB are sent in 16 MB parts. If a part stalls, only that part is retried.
• If the retries also fail, the file is marked Failed with "The connection dropped. Please try again." The guest taps Retry and the file is uploaded from the start. Other files in the queue are not affected.

You can suggest that guests with many or large videos upload them after the event over Wi-Fi at home. By default the upload window stays open for 7 days after the event.

If the same file is uploaded twice

There is no automatic check for duplicate files. If a guest selects the same photo twice, it is uploaded as two separate items and both count towards the space used. The guest can delete the extra one on the My uploads tab, and the studio can delete it on the Content tab.

The My uploads tab

On the My uploads tab a guest sees their own photos, videos and wishes. When they open a file they can get the original with Download or remove it with Delete. When a guest deletes an item, the file is deleted too.

If Publish after my approval is selected for the event, new uploads carry an "Awaiting approval" badge, and items the studio has hidden carry a "Hidden" badge. See Moderation and content reports.

On the studio side

The Storage box at the top of the event page shows the space used and the archive size. On the Content tab you can open any file and get the original with Download, or download all guest files as one archive with Download all (ZIP). Inside the ZIP, files are placed in folders by guest name and written wishes come in a separate text file; items you have hidden are not included. Download and sharing options are covered in Sharing and download.

Related articles

• Creating and managing events
• QR code and guest page
• Moderation and content reports
• Sharing and download