Glossary

Here you’ll find short, easy explanations of the terms around your event – sorted by topic. You don’t have to memorize anything: just drop by whenever something is unclear.

Around your event

Event – Your celebration in PhotoGala, such as a wedding, birthday or company party. Each event has exactly one gallery.

Gallery – The shared place where all the photos and videos of your event are collected. Anyone with the link or the QR code can open it and join in.

Joining – Opening a gallery and taking part. Usually a tap on “Join as guest” is enough; protected events need an access code.

Event link / slug – The personal web address of your gallery, for example photogala.net/@anna-tom-wedding. The short, readable part (@anna-tom-wedding) is the slug.

QR code – A small square pattern you scan with your phone camera to jump straight to the gallery – no need to type a link. The host designs and prints QR cards in the Design Studio.

Guest vs. account – As a guest you join without signing up and upload photos. With your own account your contributions stay linked across devices and are easier to find again. More under Account & sign-in.

Magic link – Instead of a password, PhotoGala emails you a one-time link. Clicking it signs you in.

Taking part

Upload – Adding your photos or videos to the gallery. See the uploading guide for how it works.

Like – A heart to show which photos you like. Works by double-tap, via the heart icon, or by right-click on a computer. Details under Likes & comments.

Comment – A short message under a photo, so you can get into conversation.

Reply – A response directly to an existing comment. Replies are shown nested under the original comment.

@Mention – Putting an @ before a name in a comment addresses that person directly – they get notified about it.

Slideshow / fullscreen – The large single view of a photo. Here you can swipe, zoom, like, comment, download and start autoplay. The slideshow guide explains every function.

Album – A subgroup of photos within the gallery, for example sorted by part of the programme or theme, so related pictures are easier to find.

Activity feed – A chronological overview of what happened most recently in the event: new uploads, likes, comments and achievements.

Play & rewards

Challenge / photo task – A small photo task set by the host, for example “Take a photo of the cake being cut”. It adds variety and often points.

Points – You earn them by uploading photos, completing challenges or unlocking achievements. They show how active you are at the event.

Achievement – A small badge for taking part, for example for your first photo or for solving a challenge. Achievements make joining in more playful.

Leaderboard – Shows who has collected the most points and adds a bit of friendly competition. Has to be enabled by the host.

Real reward – An actual prize (e.g. a free drink) the host offers for certain achievements. See Redeeming real rewards for how to claim and redeem one.

Confirmation code – A code in the format XXX-XXX you get when redeeming a real reward. The host verifies it and hands you the reward.

Inventory – The available quantity of a real reward. Once the stock runs out, it can no longer be redeemed (∞ = unlimited).

People & roles

Host – The person who creates and manages the event. They have full access to all settings and the admin area.

Moderator – A trusted person who can review and hide content during the party, but doesn’t change core settings.

Admin – A role with extended rights, almost like the host. Given to close co-hosts.

Role – Defines what someone may do: guest, moderator or admin. The host assigns roles under Roles & permissions.

Finding & sorting

Face search – Quickly finds all photos showing a particular person. You tap a face in the face picker; you can also opt yourself out.

Selfie search (“Find me”) – You take a quick selfie and PhotoGala shows you all the photos you appear in. See Finding photos of yourself.

Face recognition – The technology in the background that detects and groups faces in photos. It’s the basis for face and selfie search. The host can turn it on or off.

Map – Shows photos at the place where they were taken. For travel events you can trace the “journey” this way.

Smart album / rule album – An album that fills automatically with photos matching set rules (e.g. a particular person or a time span). The counterpart to a manually filled album.

Cover – The preview image of an album or event. The focal point lets you set which part of the image appears as the preview.

Metadata / details (EXIF) – Extra info about a photo such as capture time, camera model or location. In the slideshow you find it under “Details”.

Safety & privacy

Moderation – The host (or a moderator) reviews content and can hide or remove it if needed, so the gallery stays pleasant for everyone.

Report – If you find an unsuitable photo, you can report it. The report goes to the moderation area for review. See Reporting content.

Approval / pre-moderation – When enabled, new uploads only appear after the host has approved them.

Access code – A code that protects a private gallery: only those who know it can join.

Content check / NSFW filter – An automatic check that flags potentially inappropriate images and presents them to the host for review.

Banning / restricting – The host can revoke further participation from people who repeatedly cause trouble. See Restricting people.

Recycle bin – Deleted photos land here first and aren’t gone for good right away. They can be restored from there for a while.

Storage period – Indicates how long your event’s photos stay available. After it ends they are removed automatically – make a backup beforehand.

Presentation & tech

Photo wall – A live view where new photos appear one after another, often on a big screen or projector at the event, so everyone sees the pictures in real time.

Live upload – Photos from a photo booth or camera land in the gallery automatically and instantly, without manual uploading.

Bulk download / ZIP – Downloading many photos at once as a single packed ZIP file. For guests via multi-select, for hosts bundled under Backing up all photos.

Design Studio – The area where the host designs and prints QR cards, posters and invitation designs.

Custom domain – Your own web address for the gallery (instead of photogala.net/@…), e.g. photos.our-wedding.com.

Branding / white-label – Adapting the logo, colors and name so the gallery fits the event or brand and the PhotoGala name recedes into the background.

Notification – A hint (via the bell icon) when something happens for you: a new comment, a like, an achievement or a reward.

Premium feature – A feature that requires a paid plan (e.g. real rewards or a custom domain).