In 2020, when lockdowns became the new normal, we wanted to help our customers as much as we could. Our solution was to offer free VIP membership to accounts that we thought were the most vulnerable. During 2020 and 2021 we gave away 17,615 months of VIP for free to 5,498 members.

It wasn’t a lot in individual terms but for us, a small family business, it was substantial.

We would do it again and have no problem helping our community as needed, as we fully support the community that has built up around PurplePort.

This time we’re giving away something extraordinary to an individual, something that could really have an impact, and we have only one small thing to ask in return.

The first person to refer 1,000 USA customers is going to get $20,000 to do with as they wish.

We know getting 1,000 referrals is possible since we have been operating the referral system successfully for a long time, with some people referring hundreds, and have recorded over 30,000 active referrals.

This time we wanted to go big, and we think a $20,000 thank you is pretty significant. We really wanted a number that was significant enough to change a person's life, and we think $20,000 is it. I recently asked in the groups about what people might spend it on, perhaps you might like to add what you would spend $20,000 on.

We expect this will take less than a year, but the earliest we will review it is in 6 months or so from today.

So, get referring :-)

With this in mind, we have created a new tool called prpl.pro. If you have used tools like linktr.ee then you’ll love prpl.pro. It’s simple and specifically designed to help you keep all of your links together, as well as automatically refer people for you. More on that below.

Common questions

Q: Is there a limit on how and where I can promote this?
A: No, we encourage you to use all facilities open to you. Get creative, just don't break any rules.

Q: What are the rules for this offer?
A: Here’s a link to the rules.

Q: Do referrals prior to today count?
A: No, it’s only new referrals from today, and it’s only for new customers that join in the USA.

Q: Are referrals counted right away?
A: No, we have a tried and tested system, that has been working for almost a decade, that looks at any referred accounts 3 months after they join, and it looks a 15 possible ways an account can be deemed as active and it wants at least five of them to be met. Only then is a referral counted. Inactive referrals do not count.

Q: If I participate but fail to reach the 1,000 USA customer referrals what happens?
A: You can redeem each of your referral thank-you’s as either $5 or 30 days VIP, or a mixture of both.

Q: How can I see my referrals?
A: Go to the purple cog (top right), select Manage your account and click Referrals (near the bottom).

Q: If I redeem my referrals as $5 or 30 days of VIP do they still count towards the 1,000?
A: No, if you redeem them they do not count. Only unredeemed referrals count.

Q: I am in the UK or EU, can I refer people?
A: Yes you can, and should.

Q: Does prpl.pro handle the referrals?
A: Yes, it automatically configures the referrer as you.

Q: Should I use prpl.pro on my Instagram profile?
A: Absolutely, anyone clicking the “get your prpl.pro” link, or your profile link, and joining PP will be referred by you.

Q: Can I use prpl.pro on other places?
A: Yes, any social media or other platform is perfect for it. 

Q: Do I have to use prpl.pro?
A: No, anywhere you can add a link to your PurplePort profile is fine, anyone joining as a result of clicking your link will be referred by you. See this article about the referral scheme.

Q: How do I refer people normally?
A: See this article about how to refer people.

PRPL.PRO

So, what’s with the name? It’s Purple with the vowels removed :-)

If you have used linktr.ee then you will already be familiar with prpl.pro.

We haven’t tried to make an all-encompassing linktr.ee competitor, so there is a lot that linktr.ee does that prpl.pro doesn’t.

Instead, we’ve tried to make a simple tool, that is part of your membership, whether you have a free account or a VIP account, that allows you to gather all of your website links into one place.

It’s perfect for adding to your Instagram or Twitter pages, as well as anywhere that allows you to share links to other sites.

We’ll continue to tweak it, and add new features (such as stats and a lot more customisation) as demand for it grows and time allows, but we think it’s a fabulous addition for our customers to make use of, and of course, it takes some of the hassles out of referring people to PurplePort.

Just for reference, here’s mine: https://prpl.pro/russjfreeman/

If you would like your prpl.pro page, go to the purple cog (top right) and select Manage your account, and then click Your prpl.pro page (near the bottom).

Other features, bugs fixed, changes…

We’ve been busy fixing bugs and improving things all across PurplePort, lots of small and not so small changes have taken place behind the scenes.

Our last site update was on 16th September 2021. Since then we have made just under 500 changes to PurplePort as well as added a ton of new automated tests.

Many changes are often behind the scenes or just changes to tests, such that it’s not worth discussing.

Here’s a selection of the changes that might affect you.

  • We removed a bunch of redundant javascript which results in PP becoming a little quicker for everyone. The aggregation of marginal gains :-)
  • Fixed a bug where we were not checking competition IDs when voting and if a bogus one came in then PP would crash.
  • We made a few things that were popups into proper pages, for example; Creating a group post, a shoot plan, and a few other similar popups.
  • Change the way dates are represented when you hover over or click when it says something like “3 months ago” - now it shows an unambiguous regional date string.
  • Fixed bug where publishing an image in a private album would fail.
  • Fixed bug where moving a message to a folder when viewing a message was not working.
  • Fixed bug where next page was not working when viewing tagged blog posts.
  • Fixed bug where members-only images were being shown in the image search when logged out.
  • Fixed profile vs portfolio and making things a bit more consistent.
  • Fixed bug where the reference summary was not updated when the user changed their display name.
  • Made it so Admin can untag someone from images.
  • Fixed bug(s) where selecting "hidden" when uploading images did not work at all.
  • When deleting your avatar image we now choose the first SFW image as your new avatar.
  • Fixed bug where sometimes changing your avatar didn’t change the avatar used in references.
  • We have cleaned up our email queuing system and made it consistent.
  • Lots of little improvements to the popup image chooser used when selecting an image for a competition or a shout.
  • Added "(private)" and "(members only)" parts to the album title in image manager and image chooser.
  • Added, and tweaked, rate limiting to sign up process to prevent an attack.
  • Added notifications for everyone that is tagged in an image that is included in a blog post.
  • When viewing a collection with filtered images we now show a consistent message and method of showing those filtered images.
  • Prevented pending accounts from viewing members-only pages such as albums.
  • Changed the reset password page so it auto-fills the email address if you are logged in.
  • Fixed broken links on the sharing tools.
  • Fixed bug(s) associated with keywords being added when an image is uploaded.
  • Added the image thumbnail to the “suggest” and “add images to the FPI” popups.
  • Changed so suspending commenting suspends it everywhere e.g. events, images, blogs, albums.
  • Developed prpl.pro and added editing of it to the manage your account page.
  • Fixed bug that allowed some badly formed HTML through into a support ticket.
  • Rewrote a load of code for embedding images in group posts, and added a bunch of tests so we don’t regress.
  • Fixed longstanding bug in the groups where you could not be notified if someone quoted you, plus some tidying up
  • Minor improvements to how image links, and mentions, are interpreted
  • Moved the share a shoot and single image critique post creation to the page instead of using JS popups. Much nicer now.
  • Added theme count and info about how often the themes can repeat to the comp themes page.
  • Fix for crash when using @ mentions in events and castings, and maybe elsewhere too.
  • Fixed minor bug where /sitemap/articles/ wasn't showing avatar images.
  • Added activity for when someone loves or comments on a blog post.
  • Added ability to see events from people in a list.
  • Fixed a longstanding bug that allowed anyone to edit anyone else’s group post replies.
  • Changed posting to Single Image Critique and Share-a-shoot so it warns about leaving the default text in.
  • Added nickname below display name when viewing a portfolio.
  • Added ability to delete message templates.
  • Added ability to have youtube videos in album descriptions.
  • Added other searches to the grey cog on the main search page.
  • Adding group list and group posts to the navigable sitemap.
  • Moved the portfolio notes editor (when viewing your profile) to a page and enabled the newer rich text editor when editing on mobile.
  • Added a WhatsApp icon, and prpl, to the icons available when adding website links.
  • Added unredeemed USA referral count to the referrals page so you can see how you are doing.
  • Fixed bug where showing on recent images option when uploading images erroneously found images that were not within 15 mins of it.
  • Auto-selected to show on recent uploads where possible.
  • Added group post bury reason of “off-topic”.
  • Minor change to the default logged in homepage layout.
  • We made casting calls better obey the content filter settings so if you have NSFW etc. off then you will only see SFW castings on the casting list.

Plus hundreds of small changes, tests, and minor tweaks to make PurplePort better for everyone.

We hope you like the changes and we thank you for your continued support.

What is PurplePort

PurplePort is a modelling website that brings models, photographers and other creatives together with one fantastic service. We provide the tools and help you need to get together and create amazing photos.

Established in 2010, PurplePort has grown from strength to strength and now has 40,000+ active members worldwide. With features such as integrated messaging, calendar, shoot plans, image albums, references, credited photos, busy member forums, hundreds of articles, and dedicated full-time staff to help you, it's easy finding the perfect creatives you need for your next photography project. It's a fresh, fast, and feature-rich alternative to ModelMayhem.

Join the fastest growing, most feature-rich service of its kind and start making magical photos a reality!

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Check out our blog on PurplePort and our social channels below so you can stay inspired anytime:

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