Do guests need an account?

Why there is deliberately no account

Every extra question before the first upload costs contributions, and a registration at a party is the most expensive version of that. It wants an email address, a password and patience from somebody holding a glass. So nothing stands between the scan and the upload.

It also covers older guests with no smartphone ritual. Camera, tap, pick photos — that path fits in 1 sentence.

1. Hand out the link or code. Access to the album is the link itself. Whoever holds it can contribute.
2. Let them upload unprompted. The page opens in the browser and asks for nothing a guest would have to look up.
3. Ask for a name if you want one. If you want to know who sent what, switch the name question on for the event.

What works without an account

A guest with no account can add photos, videos and voice notes, view the shared album, and pass the link on. After sending, the page offers to copy or share the link, which is how they find the album again later without hunting for the table card.

They can also say who a contribution is from, if you have switched the name question on. That is voluntary and replaces no account.

Where this route reaches its limit

Without an account there is no personal area where a guest finds their own contributions later and deletes them. Anyone wanting something withdrawn comes to you; only you can remove it from the dashboard. That is the honest other side of a route with no sign-in.

For you that means taking such requests seriously and acting quickly. A guest who does not know who to ask uploads nothing next time.

Who was that? The name question

After sending, the page can ask whether the hosts should know who it is from. The guest types a first name or stays anonymous. The question is off by default; switched on, the answer also applies to everything else the same guest sends that evening.

It replaces no account and proves nothing — it is a signature, not a sign-in. For sorting after the party it is enough.

Whoever holds the link gets in

Access belongs to the link, not to a person. That is convenient and it has a consequence: a forwarded link works just as well for the next person. If you would rather it did not, put a password in front of viewing the album, or keep uploads closed until you are ready.

For most parties the open link is exactly right. It costs nobody a step and reaches the guests who only hear about it later.

The sentence that removes the barrier

What comes up at the table is rarely a technical question but an assumption: that something has to be installed or signed up for. It disappears the moment somebody says otherwise. Put 1 line on the card — no app, no sign-up, just scan.

Anyone giving a speech can say the same line out loud. It costs 10 seconds and saves repeating it at every table.