Unlisted link, optional password and expiry
Who can open a gallery link, exactly
Anyone who has the link can open a shoots.page gallery, with no account, app or sign-up. Add a password (8 to 256 characters) and it is required too; access ends when you revoke the link, the expiry date passes or you delete the gallery.
Last updated
Access at a glance
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Link | https://shoots.page/g/ plus a 48-character random code |
| Who can open it | Anyone with the link. No account, app or sign-up. |
| Search engines | Unlisted: a noindex, nofollow, noarchive header and left out of the sitemap |
| Password | Optional, 8 to 256 characters. Once entered, it is remembered in that browser for 30 days, or until the gallery expires if that is sooner. |
| Changing the password | Anyone who entered the old password is asked for the new one |
| Wrong guesses | Up to 10 password attempts a minute per network address |
| Access ends | When you revoke the link, the expiry date passes or you delete the gallery |
What a recipient sees
Inside, recipients see your gallery title, your studio name if you set one, the number of photos and the expiry date if there is one. With a password set, they first get a prompt to enter the password from their photographer, and nothing about the gallery shows until it is right.
The same goes for link previews in chat apps: an open gallery's preview shows its title, photo count and cover photo, while a password-protected one shows only Private gallery.
How private is the link?
Gallery links are unlisted: every gallery page is sent with a noindex header and is excluded from the sitemap. Search engines are told not to index or list your galleries, and the photos load from addresses that robots.txt blocks, so they stay out of image search. Gallery pages are not blocked in robots.txt, on purpose: a search engine that is blocked from a page never sees its noindex, and can still list the bare link if someone posts it publicly.
Anyone who has the link can open it, so treat the link as the key and send it only to the people who should see the photos. For more control, add password protection and a gallery expiry, and send the password separately from the link.
Ending access
You can revoke access at any time in /app. Revoking switches the link off; your originals stay in your account, and you can publish the gallery again later. Access also ends when an expiry date passes or when you delete the gallery; see delete and expire galleries.
In all three cases, the link then shows This gallery is not available. and The link may have expired or been switched off. Ask whoever sent it for a new one.
Common questions
Can someone find my gallery through Google?
Search engines are told to keep galleries out: each one is sent with a noindex header and left out of the sitemap, and its photos load from addresses robots.txt blocks. A link someone posts publicly can still be opened by anyone who sees the post.
Who can open my gallery link?
Anyone who has the link, and the password if you set one, can open the gallery. No account, app, or sign-up is ever required.
Should I add a password, or is the link enough?
The link is enough when only your client will ever have it. Add a password (8 to 256 characters) when the photos are private or the link may be forwarded, printed or posted, and send the password through a different channel than the link.
What does my client see when access has ended?
When a gallery is revoked, expired or deleted, the link shows This gallery is not available. and The link may have expired or been switched off. Ask whoever sent it for a new one.