Password protected video sharing for wedding galleries

A password protected gallery with a lock screen that matches it

Open a gallery, click Access in the rail and flip on Require a password. The couple types it before the gallery opens. Once they are in, their browser remembers, so they do not retype it on every visit.

The lock screen is styled, not a bare login box. Write your own headline (the couple's names unless you change it) and message. Set the background to their cover photo, blurred so it carries the film's color without showing their faces, or to the look's own color. Then match the gallery's paper and type, or pick light or dark. See the lock screen opens it as the couple will see it, even though you are the owner.

Guesses are limited: after ten wrong tries in a minute, the page asks them to wait a minute. Passwords are case-sensitive, and setting a new one stops the old one working straight away. A Don't have the password? Email link under the form goes to your studio's email address.

Share video without a download option, or let them keep it

On most looks, downloads are a per-gallery choice, set with the Downloads row in Layout; the Gallery and Cinematic looks have no switch, so downloads stay on. With downloads on, the couple gets a Download sheet listing every film, with 4K full quality or HD 1080p for films that have a 4K copy; the detail is on the 4K streaming and download page. With downloads off, the gallery is stream only: the films play, and there is nothing to save.

On a gallery with a password, the download asks for that password first. And with downloads off, Hailo's download reminder email knows not to send, since there is nothing for the couple to save.

An expiring video link, with plenty of warning

Every gallery closes a year after its newest film upload. Adding a film moves the date on by a year from that film, so a gallery you keep adding to keeps running. The close date shows at the top of your editor and never on the couple's page.

To close one sooner, flip on Close this gallery early and pick a date. The link works until the end of that day in your studio's time zone. You can only bring the date forward, and clearing it puts the gallery back on its own year. When a couple wants longer, you can buy more years for that gallery, or let them pay for more time themselves through your Stripe account.

Nobody is closed on without warning. The couple is emailed a month and a week before the date and asked to save their films, and you get a notification 45 days out, so you hear first. Both emails are yours to reword in lifecycle emails. A gallery is a delivery, not an archive, so keep your own copy of every film.

Password protected video sharing: what to compare

Password protected video hosting is easy to find. Vimeo, for one, lists password protection among its privacy settings, so you can password protect a video on Vimeo. When you compare private video sharing platforms for a wedding film, the details around the password matter as much as the password:

• Can each gallery have its own password, and does the lock screen look like your studio?
• Can you turn downloads off for one gallery and on for the next?
• Can you set an expiry, and does the couple get warned before the link stops?
• Does a text message of the link stay private? A Hailo gallery with a password previews as your studio name only, never the couple's names or a still.