A “401” error shows up if you are trying to access something that you are not authorized to access. If you are getting a 401 error for both SmugMug and Flickr, it would mean that something is messing with the URL parameters that Photonic is using. This typically happens if you very aggressive security settings (either via a plugin or via your host), which either strips out URL parameters, or adds parameters. When this happens, it messes with the authentication process and you start seeing errors pertaining to authorization.
The standard ways to troubleshoot plugin-related problems would be to disable all other plugins and see if the behaviour continues. If the problem appears resolved, reactivate all plugins one by one to identify which one is causing a conflict. If, however, your problem is not resolved, the next check would have to be at your host, to see what calls to SmugMug are being made from your site. They can provide you with URL information, which, if provided to me, will help identify the issue.
If you are unable to get any traction with your host, then there is an older method possible with Photonic that might help (and this is primarily because you have a “Site Password” defined in SmugMug):
- First, delete your authentication token
- Then create the shortcodes old-school. Depending on what you are trying to do one of the links under the “SmugMug” section in the documentation page will help you with the shortcodes.
- For each shortcode you create, add the
site_password parameter thus: site_password="xxxxx", replacing xxxxx with your actual password.
BTW, in all these years this is the first time I am seeing a user lock off the entire SmugMug account with a password. I have had multiple users use password protection on albums, but never on the entire site.
