Blog EntryThe Right Rail Of My DreamsJul 1, '08 4:40 PM
for everyone


Yes, I've been waiting for this all my life. Today I caved and bought a Premium Account to see what it's all about. It stores your Media Locker photographs forever for as long as you subscribe, whether you share them via your Multiply photo albums or not and also keeps your HiRez/Hi-rez/Hi-Res...whatever... photographs and video download links as well.Well, none of that was really a big draw for me, as I store my media on an external hard drive and photobucket, so I did a bit more reading and was suckered.

For a paltry US$19.95 a year (no, make that "poultry")  you get to be ad-free on your own page and on any page you visit. The right rail is then available for you to customise with your own words of wisdom, photographs and other HTML . The upgrade to Premium happened as soon as my payment was accepted. I then had to click on Customise My Site and the right rail box with Edit feature, like the ones in all the other boxes, was supposed to appear. It didn't, so I e-mailed Customer Service, who replied in under 15 minutes and advised me to clear my cache. It worked.

Then it was simple enough pasting HTML from my photo album into the box. Non-politically correct as it is to admit to missing anything on Yahoo 360, I always liked the 4 avatar photos you could use there. It was a very effective way for showing something about yourself very quickly without making people read through endless blogs. You have to be careful about the sizing though. If you google an image and get the thumbnail, right click and save directly from the thumbnail rather than the full-sized image. Then you get one which fits within the rail. Upload to your Multiply photoalbum and embed the HTML code for the photograph in the blog. If you upload a full-sized image, it extends off to the right and you have to scroll across to see it, which is a pain.

I've uploaded my friend Francie's gif avatar to a Multiply album and saved it, followed by a glitter-graphics animated gif  of Aslan which she's not entirely sure about because  it looks as if it's about to have her for dinner. I also embedded an imeem video on autoplay, but unlike a soundtrack in the Welcome box or a blog, it played when a blog was opened as well and interfered with Glynis' viewing of a video. Thanks to Glynis for pointing that out. It also bumped Francie's photo off the rail, perhaps because the rail is of a finite length unlike the page. Since there seems no point in having a music track which isn't on autoplay on a front page and there's a separate feature for videos, I don't think I'll waste time on those.

This right rail's going to keep me busy for a long time now, which is great because I was beginning to feel a bit restricted by what I could do here without spending more time than I think I should learning CSS. The only thing is that it doesn't notify people of changes, but that's probably not a bad thing for people on the receiving end.

39 Comments
kittigory wrote on Jul 1
How did you know I was going to ask you about this Premium thing?

Sounds very interesting, G! But we know I don't need to spend any more time here...
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 1, edited on Jul 1
This is just for decorating your page, tinkering about like an old fogey fussing over fuchsias or rearranging his stamp collection.
kittigory wrote on Jul 1
*chuckles* Aunt Millie pottering... I understand!
croughsnestwest wrote on Jul 1
Makes your Page look lovely..hmm...I've have think about this upgrade...I uploaded my photos yesterday...I do need to free up my memory....
mazza1973 wrote on Jul 1
Oh how awesome...I will have to check this out. Thanks for sharing Giles - I was wondering when I was visiting pages last night what this Premium mumbo jumbo is about :)
ummancan wrote on Jul 1
I loved the lion as it is my favorite animal.Enjoy yourself and thanks for sharing.
nancybug wrote on Jul 1
Well well well very interesting!
I like what you've done with the place.
But I don't think I'll be spending 19.95 any time soon
Hell what am I saying? I just spent that much on an online game
Oh wait..that was a one time fee. Never mind !
emmm1 wrote on Jul 1
I must admit I'm tempted by the premium offer. I don't do Hi res photos for sharing though. All my images are saved to be viewed as just blog size. I'm not sure how useful the storage feature would be. I suppose it would mean I could access images from multiple computers though.
I like the idea of the customisable rail. Does it appear on all your pages?
Trots off for a look.
nancybug wrote on Jul 1
Don't we all have access to the Media Locker anyway?
Does the premium account do more than the Hi-res thing and the right rail decorating thing?
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 1
emmm1 said
Does it appear on all your pages?
Yes it does, which is why the Autoplay is a nuisance.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 1
Don't we all have access to the Media Locker anyway?
Does the premium account do more than the Hi-res thing and the right rail decorating thing?
Yes, and no, I don't think so.
croughsnestwest wrote on Jul 1
you only have access for 30 days, if you choose not to upgrade!!! So your hi res pics will disappear..
magickat wrote on Jul 1
$20 isn't bad I guess....but not sure I even need it really.
nancybug wrote on Jul 1
What's a Hi Rez picture anyway ??
pferox wrote on Jul 1
Congratulations on becoming a "Right Railer", is that like a "Right Winger"? Since I am a lowly "Freeber" I feel unworthy of reading your great bloggies, and viewing your wider unadvertised page ... OK, that lasted about 2 seconds, now hows it goin, bud. lol. I will admit, it is nice to have no ads showing up, and thats worth 20 bucks a year for sure.
beeagain wrote on Jul 1
I got it and love it!!!

wise choice!
franci22 wrote on Jul 1
What have you done Giles ????? It's hunting for me ....
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4601310a11.html
citybreezes wrote on Jul 1
Thanks for the information Giles...it looks good too :)
lvlila wrote on Jul 1
I've been toying with the idea of upgrading purely because I don't like running the ads on my page. After seeing what you've done and reading your explanation about how simple it is... I'm sold on the idea.

Thanks gilesy.
junebug131961 wrote on Jul 1
This sounds like a good thing !
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
..but not sure I even need it really
Nobody NEEDS a right rail, it's a luxury item.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
What's a Hi Rez picture anyway ??
They're the huge ones full of detail which appear when you click on a photo.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
What have you done Giles ????? It's hunting for me ....
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4601310a11.html
There you are, you'll soon be Queen Francie of California.
flutterbee1952 wrote on Jul 2
To right rail or not to, that is the question! I'm going to need some more convincing...giggles! I'm wondering if it will be like photobucket and Flickr, unless you have a premium paid account you won't be able to access all your photos there....
sweetrose1021 wrote on Jul 2
I have said I won't do it just because I think Multiply is testing to see how many people would do it and then attempt to charge all users later. I don't know, I could be wrong. The thought of having an ad-free page appeals to me very much. I may have to re-think this idea.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2, edited on Jul 2
The thought of having an ad-free page appeals to me very much. I may have to re-think thi
They did a survey on what people wanted from a photo storing service a few months ago. The ad-free option has been there for quite a while with their other paid-for accounts. I don't think it will be all paid-for because that would get rid of a lot of their users who like to click on ads which is another source of income.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
I'm wondering if it will be like photobucket and Flickr, unless you have a premium paid account you won't be able to access all your photos there....
You have to keep your subscription going if you want to keep your Hi-R ones accessible and all the others in your media Locker beyond 30 days. If you just upload into the usual Multiply albums they won't be HiRes and they will still stay there as they do now. The Auto-Uploader is the good thing about it because it regularly scans files you have on your PC for things you want to send to Multiply for future use. It wasn't too fast, but once I upgraded to Premium it started to zoom, and even uploads to Multiply albums are almost instantaneous.
glynisp wrote on Jul 2
Well this is a very cool development. One less place for us to click to find Filipino brides (or grooms) or magic pills to lose 120 lbs in 3 days. :)

So can you viewers turn off the automatic music track when they want to hear a video?
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
No. You have to make sure you don't tick the Autoplay box on imeem when you bring the imeem HTML code over. Then it won't play unless the viewer makes it do so.
mazza1973 wrote on Jul 2
glynisp said
Well this is a very cool development. One less place for us to click to find Filipino brides (or grooms)
LOL - OMG I thought that only happens to me because I have some filipino things on my blog :)
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
I had them as well, plus Lesbian Men, Swingers, Dog Lovers-Looking-For-Dates, Women Who Just Can't Get Men To Fall In Love With Them (some attraction, huh?) etc
mazza1973 wrote on Jul 2, edited on Jul 2
LMAO Giles - hahahaha - at least you don't get ones for menstrual cups like Paul does! hahahahaaha
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 2
That is a weird concept, as weird as women wanting to eat their placentas after delivery.
mazza1973 wrote on Jul 2
That is a weird concept, as weird as women wanting to eat their placentas after delivery.
Yuuuuuuuuuuuck!!! hahahahaha they bury theirs in the Philippines.
littleronnie wrote on Jul 2
LOL...I'm so observant. LOL. Yep...no adds. I didn't notice the multiple times I had been here previously. I know it's a "poultry" sum and I may yet cave but at this moment I am still not convinced. Maybe it's my Scottish blood....LMAO.
littleronnie wrote on Jul 2
I had them as well, plus Lesbian Men, Swingers, Dog Lovers-Looking-For-Dates, Women Who Just Can't Get Men To Fall In Love With Them (some attraction, huh?) etc
LOL...cracked up at this. Wondering what your content was to attract such ads....LMAO.
gilesy01 wrote on Jul 3
Wondering what your content was to attract such ads....LMAO.
So did I. I lost a lot sleep worrying about it.
littleronnie wrote on Jul 3
So did I. I lost a lot sleep worrying about it.
LOL....LMAO. At least now you don't have to worry.
lvlila wrote on Jul 23
I just caved too!! Got a Premium Account... those ads were really starting to annoy me dreadfully.

Anyway, I remembered you had a very clear and concise blog about the right rail, so I thought I'd come back and check it.

I now see that the answer to my problem was not clearing my cache. *grin*

OK... now I'm off to have some fun with my right rail!! Thanks again for posting this...
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