Table of Contents
Introduction to the main FotoWeb interface
18. September 2026
Table of Contents
Accessing FotoWeb
Depending on how the FotoWeb system is configured, a user who accesses it may or may not be automatically logged in. Learn more about how to log in.
After logging in
After a user logs in, they are typically presented with the home page - an overview of all the archives they have access to and any albums that they have created or that have been shared with them.
At the top of the home page is a large search bar that can be used to find content in the archives that the user can access.
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Note: Depending on the URL they used to access the site, a user may be taken directly to another FotoWeb resource after logging in.
Tip
If archives show as generic gray boxes, a poster picture can be set to illustrate what they contain.
Viewing the contents of an archive
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Click on an archive to open it and view its contents.
The top menu
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At the top of the screen, you find several links: Archives, Albums, Pins, Alerts, and Pro
Clicking the Fotoware logo takes you to the home page, where you can see all the archives and albums you can access.
The Archives and Albums links navigate to separate pages that contain archives and albums separately.
The Pins link navigates to the pinned assets (favorites), where users can view their favorite assets.
Alerts lets you configure search agents so that you are notified via email when a new match for the criteria becomes available.
Depending on whether the logged-in user account has been given FotoWeb Pro privileges, there may be a Pro link in the top menu. This link opens a separate browser tab where the more workflow-oriented Pro interface can be used instead of the main interface.
The Upload button will be available if you have access to upload assets to FotoWeb. Learn about the different upload methods in the Upload guide.
On the top menu, there's also a search field that lets users perform searches when they navigate into an archive, and users with site administrator privileges will also see a "wrench" for managing CMS exports, creating screens for evaluating pictures in a group conference, and managing webhooks.
Archive list
Above the grid of thumbnails are all the archives the user can access, listed horizontally. If more archives are available than the screen can display, the additional archives will be listed under the More... menu. Click on an archive to open it and view its contents. If there are more pictures in the archive than the screen can show at one time, the user can scroll down to have FotoWeb load more content continuously.
Tip
Pinning favorite archives makes them easy to access when there are more archives than your screen can display tabs for horizontally.
Asset grid
The assets in the active archive are shown in the main area of the page. Hovering the mouse cursor over an asset displays additional metadata and its rating.
Clicking on the file name field below the thumbnail "freezes" the metadata pop-up for the asset. This allows a user to preview the metadata of several assets directly on the grid page. Click again to close the metadata preview.
To get a more detailed preview of the asset and its metadata, click the thumbnail to open the Details page.
Folders
The left panel lists folders, assuming the archive contains subfolders. When a user clicks on a folder, FotoWeb displays only its contents and updates the folder list to include any subfolders. Breadcrumbs above help show the current folder relative to the top node and let a user quickly get back to a specific level in the folder hierarchy.
Learn more about navigating folders.
Tip
As with archives, you can pin your favorite folders so they show at the top of the list.
Taxonomies
Below the folder list are taxonomies. These are defined by users with taxonomy editing permissions and are used to navigate the archives in much the same way as folder structures. Taxonomies can also simplify metadata input on assets in an archive.
Comments
If comments have been enabled, users can comment on archives, albums, and individual assets and discuss them with coworkers.
Learn more about commenting on assets.
Action bar
When a user has selected an asset (or several), an action bar becomes visible at the bottom of the screen. This bar lists everything that can be done with an asset or a selection of assets, and the functionality available here will depend on the user's access rights in the archive.