A thumbnail gallery page is one that is composed of several small images called thumbnails. Each thumbnail is linked so that when the surfer clicks on it, the full size photo appears in their browser window.
Used to be, adult free sites would have a surfer sample images by clicking on text links or button icons. This was confusing to the user because they were not sure what kind of image they were going to see when they clicked a button. It was also limiting to the adult webmaster because this old method resulted in many impatient surfers leaving a site.
Then the Thumbnail gallery and Thumbnail Gallery Post was born. Users could click on a gallery page from a Thumbnail Gallery Post (TGP) link. They would then be taken to a page with small, quick-loading preview images of free porn. Surfers stayed longer on gallery pages because of the previews and visited TGPs heavily because of the listings to free smut.
Because this lesson is on how to build a Thumbnail Gallery page, one must first know how a gallery page is supposed to appear. You will find that every single TGP has special requirements for galleries that they list. An understanding of each TGPs rules will aid you in building successful thumbnail galleries.
A thumbnail is a sized-down version of a full size image. Thumbnails can be either in GIF or JPG format. The smaller file size a thumbnail has, the better. The thumbnail should be at least large enough so that the surfer can properly preview it. The thumbnail should on the other hand, not be too large in file/pixel size. Larger thumbnails mean slower downloads. Below is a table of generalized thumbnail standards by pixel size. Note Width and Height do not necessarily or often need to be the same number.
- 48x48 very small
- 80x80 small
- 110x110 medium
- 140x140 large
- 160x160 extra large
- 190x190 super large
- 225x225 ridiculous large
You can use many different graphics editing programs to achieve a thumbnailed version of a larger image. Software that has settings to save images in thumbnail size by groups (or batches) exists also. Look in Cozy Frog's Graphics Editing Software and thumbnailers or inside Cozy Frog's Web Design Guide. However you make your thumbnails, once you have them, you will be ready to build your thumbnail gallery.
Most gallery pages feature a minimum of ten clickable thumbs laid out on the page. While ten images are a good minimum, twenty CAN be considered too much.
When laying the thumbs out onto your page, your gallery has a purpose behind it. You are trying to use it to either sell a sponsor's membership or to encourage surfers to visit your main page or paysite. Your thumbs should be placed on your gallery where they can be found but still direct your visitor's eyes to your sponsor banner or link.
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Some choose to apply a sponsor banner or link above the thumbs. Some put desired destination links within the gallery. Still some find it effective to attach sponsor/sales buttons all over their gallery page. Regardless of your method, knowledge of HTML tables comes in very handy when building galleries. Tables are an HTML code tag that places text or images in neat rows and columns. If for instance, you want a text link to reside in the middle of 14 thumbnail images, a table will put it there and make it look tidy. Refer to our Cozy Frog's Code Professor for more instruction on tables.
Where you place sponsor banners or text links is important. How many of these you post on your page is just as important. For your gallery to generate sales, it has to be listed by TGPs. TGPs will not list galleries with too many ad banners, text-links or pop-up windows. The standard minimum of sponsor banners and links is two. Make sure to carefully read each post's submitting rules and guidelines.
Other banners and links require careful placement consideration. If you have your gallery on a free-host, there will be the free-hosts embedded headers and footers on your page. Just about every single TGP nowadays will not list galleries from free hosts because of various reasons. A hit counter is usually a graphic and some TGPs consider THAT a sponsor banner.
Many TGPs will place your gallery higher on their list if you place one of their links/buttons (with a reciprocal link to them) on your gallery. If you put one TGP button on your page, it is best to go ahead and place the buttons of two other TGP sites along with it on a gallery if it is allowed. The problem with this is, you have to make many different pages with combinations of TGP buttons for one gallery. A good way to deal with this is to ad NO TGP buttons or links at all to your page. Then, when you submit your gallery for listing on TGPs, submit it to only those allow button free or "clean" galleries.
Basically, the layout of a gallery should be one where the surfer gets so exited by your sample thumbs; they click on easily seen sponsor banners/links.
Details on Thumbnail Gallery Construction
Remember you need to link each thumbnail picture to its larger image only. Most TGPs will not list thumbs that link to HTML pages.
Make the file size of your gallery page as small as possible without sacrificing the quality of your thumbs. 75k-150k is a good range for the size of your gallery.
Keep the URL or Internet address of your gallery as short in length as possible. No TGP wants to list a site with the URL:
http://www.adulthost.com/myaccount/galleries/sponsor/soft-p/blondes/002/My-Gallery.html