General settings

The General tab is the first tab of your gallery settings and the first thing you fill in as a host. Here you set the basics of your event: event type, date, languages, gallery title, gallery description and your custom event URL (slug). The title and description are exactly what guests see first when they open the gallery, so it is worth a moment of your time.

Note

The whole tab is visible to anyone with settings access. Only the custom event URL is owner-specific. Moderators play no role on this page.

How to reach this area

1. Open the admin area of your event. You get there from the profile menu in the top right (Manage → Admin portal) or via the gear / manage icon.

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   Reach the admin area from the profile menu in the top right.

2. In the left sidebar choose Settings. Above the tabs you will see the heading Gallery settings.

3. The General tab is the default tab and already active when you open Settings. If you were elsewhere, click General at the far left of the tab bar.

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   Settings → General: this is where you maintain the basics of your event.

Above the tabs on the right you also find a Preview button (which toggles to Hide preview), below it a search across all settings, and a Show all advanced options toggle. The General tab has no advanced fold-away sections, so that toggle only affects other tabs.

The settings tabs at a glance

The General tab is one of several. A red dot on a tab label means that tab has unsaved changes (tooltip “Unsaved changes”). The neighbouring tabs in order:

• General – this page
• Image Quality – see Image quality
• Style – see Style & design
• Features – see Features
• Privacy & Moderation – see Privacy & moderation
• Photo Wall Settings – see Set up the photo wall
• Live Upload – only with the matching plan, see Live upload
• White-Label – only with the matching plan, see Custom domain

Section 1/3 – Event Basics

The General tab is one long scrolling page with three numbered sections (1/3, 2/3, 3/3) plus a closing block for the custom URL. The first section is Event Basics.

1. Choose the event type. Under “What type of event is this? (select closest match)” open the dropdown and pick the best match. Each option has a subtitle:

   • Wedding – Celebration of marriage
   • Birthday – Personal anniversary celebration
   • Conference – Professional gathering
   • Party – Social celebration
   • Festival – Cultural or community event
   • Workshop – Educational event
   • General – Another type of event (default)

2. Set the event date. Under “Event Date” open the date picker and choose the main event date. It is used for reminders and highlights, and displayed as YYYY-MM-DD.

Tip

Pick the event type first. It controls the placeholder text for the gallery title and shows a yellow tip box further down with a matching example (for a wedding: “For weddings, include both names, e.g. Max & Lisa are getting married.”). For “General” no tip box appears.

Section 2/3 – Language Setup

Here you decide which languages your gallery appears in.

1. Choose the primary language. Under “Primary Language (main interface language)” pick the default language of your gallery from the dropdown with country flags. This is the language guests see when their browser language does not match.

2. Enable multiple languages (optional). Tick “Enable Multiple Languages” to support international guests. You then provide translations further down (and within tasks).

3. Select additional languages. After enabling, the multi-select field Additional Languages appears with the hint “Select languages to add…”. Below it the line Selected languages: lists your choice with flags.

Caution

Premium feature. The “Enable Multiple Languages” checkbox is only active if your event plan includes multi-language support. If it does not, an upgrade prompt covers the card and a click leads to the upgrade. See Upgrade & pricing.

Note

If you later change the primary language, that language is automatically removed from the list of additional languages (it cannot appear twice).

Section 3/3 – Gallery Content

This section holds your gallery title and description – and, with multiple languages, the translation tools.

Select Translation Language (only with multiple languages)

As soon as more than one language is active, the Select Translation Language block appears above the title and description:

• Language pills show your languages colour-coded: red = a required translation is missing, yellow = an optional translation is missing, brand colour = complete. Click a pill to enter the title and description for that language.
• Update All button – auto-translates all languages from the text of the currently selected language (overwrites existing translations).
• Fill Missing button – auto-fills only the still-empty fields (appears only when something is missing).

How it works: the title and description are entered per language. Pick the language above, type the text – or let it translate automatically.

Gallery title and description

1. Enter the gallery title. The “Gallery Title” field holds up to 60 characters. The placeholder depends on the event type (e.g. wedding: “E.g.: Anna & Mark’s Wedding”, birthday: “E.g.: Sarah’s 30th Birthday Bash”, otherwise “E.g.: Tech Summit 2024 Gallery”). This title appears at the top of your gallery. A small status icon before the label shows whether all translations are present.

2. Read the tip box. Directly under the title, for every event type except “General”, a yellow tip box shows a concrete example for your type.

3. Write the gallery description. The “Gallery Description” field holds up to 500 characters (4 rows). This introduction appears at the top of your gallery and greets your guests. Placeholder: “Describe your event and what people can expect to find here…”.

Tip

Keep the title short and recognizable. For a wedding or birthday, put the names in – guests will spot the gallery instantly.

Custom event URL (slug)

At the very bottom, under Custom Event URL, you set a short, memorable link for invitations and QR codes.

1. Enter your desired address. The field is prefixed with the fixed photogala.net/a/@. Type your desired name after it (placeholder “my-event-name”). Input is cleaned live: only lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens are allowed.

2. Mind the rules. The slug must be 3 to 42 characters long and start and end with a letter or a number.

3. Check the live status. A message appears under the field immediately:

   • Checking… while availability is being verified
   • green Available when free
   • red This URL is already taken when in use
   • red on format errors: “At least 3 characters required”, “At most 42 characters allowed” or “Only lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens allowed”

4. Copy the permanent link. Below you find “Permanent link (always works):” with the address photogala.net/a/YOUR-EVENT-ID and a Copy button (briefly turning to Copied!). This link always works – even if you change the slug.

Caution

If you change an existing slug, a warning appears that all previously shared links and printed QR codes with the old URL will stop working. When you save, you confirm in the Change custom URL dialog with Save anyway (or Cancel). Use the Remove custom URL button to delete an existing slug.

Tip

Set the slug early – before you print QR codes or invitations. See Invite guests for how to share the link and QR codes, and Join an event for how guests join via the link.

Saving & applying changes

1. Save changes. At the very bottom sits a shared Save changes button. It saves every tab with unsaved changes at once (not just the General tab). While saving it shows “Uploading…”.

2. Confirm success. On success you see “Event settings saved successfully!”. On error the message offers to try again.

3. Use the preview. The Preview button in the top right shows live how the title, description and language look in the real gallery.

Note

If you leave the page with unsaved changes, a dialog warns you and the browser tab title gains a “Unsaved changes” note. If the slug is invalid, saving is blocked with the hint “Please fix or clear the custom URL before saving.”

Troubleshooting

• The multi-language checkbox cannot be enabled. Your plan does not include multi-language support. An upgrade unlocks it – see Upgrade & pricing.
• The slug shows “already taken”. Choose a different name. The check runs server-side with a short delay.
• An old QR code or link stops working after changing the slug. That is intentional. As a fallback use the permanent link photogala.net/a/YOUR-EVENT-ID, which always works.
• Translations are missing. Coloured pills and warning icons in the translation block show it. Use Fill Missing or enter the text manually.
• The title gets cut off. Mind the limits: 60 characters for the title, 500 for the description.

Related topics

• Change language (guest view)
• Join an event
• Invite guests
• Manage tasks – where you provide further translations
• Style & design, Features, Privacy & moderation