photo.net Wish List

[whoz_the_man_huh]

<p>Right on, Per. I guess you're one of the good photographers I was referring to.</p>

[gman]

<p>A "favorite threads" file for those threads we would like to bookmark and keep as a reference. </p>

[pcnilssen]

<blockquote>

<p>Right on, Per. I guess you're one of the good photographers I was referring to</p>

</blockquote>

<p>:) :) ...</p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>And, I would like a feature, telling me the exact date and time my photos were uploaded to my gallery.</p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>Josh, forget my last wish (04:30 p.m.). I found the info by myself (no, I don't read that much user guides either ;) ) .</p>

[aldrich]

<p>Someone beat me to my original idea - iPhone app! (Try to keep the price under $10).</p>

<p>New idea: (Josh please don't kill me) Integrated chat, a la Facebook. We have a page for "who's online," but as far as I know, we do not have integrated chat where one could make themselves available to chat 1:1 with other PNetters in their area, or around the world!</p>

<p>EDIT: Live group chat rooms too!</p>

<p>--Ryan</p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>.... and to ruin the day of the site managers: Video conferences! ;)</p>

[whoz_the_man_huh]

<p>I agree, Ryan. Integrated chat, one on one or with multiple participants, would be awesome!</p>

[williamting]

<p>A working search function would be nice. :)</p>

[michaeljlawson]

<p>I guess I don't get the desire for integrated chat. The forums and email aren't fast enough? People complain about the lack of annon critiques and ratings, but we think someone will critique a photo "to our face" so to speak? What do we stand to gain as a photographer on this site with a live chat option, that you can't do by sharing an AIM, MSN, etc chat ID with those you want to chat with?</p>

[jimmckinnon]

<p>Here's a thought for encouraging participation in rating photographs. How about an icon system for ratings given, similar to the film canisters for forum participation?</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>I liked the devil-looking "Demon Spawn" icon suggestion brought up in another thread. I suspect I've already earned mine. I would like to be among the first proud recipients. =;^)> [sad attempt at a Devil drawing.]</p>

<p>I suspect Josh and Lex say they aren't too keen on hearing suggestions because they're actually doing the work. If they weren't doing any, that's when we would be in trouble. </p>

<p>How about just having a new rater go through a brief introductory period where they submit for ratings before they rate? Or maybe some kind of guidance or mentor examples on rating or something? Put up ten photos for critique only and get them evaluated before your numerical ratings count on someone else's tally. You could phase it in, to keep the ratings rolling.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<blockquote>

<p>"I suspect Josh and Lex say they aren't too keen on hearing suggestions because they're actually doing the work."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No, I was sincere when I said I was interested in what others have to say. That's the only reason I'm not participating in this thread otherwise. I don't want my feedback to influence the conversation, so I'm just lurking.</p>

<p>BTW, I don't make any administrative decisions. That's Josh. I'm just a moderator on a few forums, not including this one.</p>

[joshroot]

<blockquote>

<p>New idea: (Josh please don't kill me) Integrated chat, a la Facebook. We have a page for "who's online," but as far as I know, we do not have integrated chat where one could make themselves available to chat 1:1 with other PNetters in their area, or around the world!<br>

EDIT: Live group chat rooms too!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>PN had a chat room in the "way before" and it eventually died out for lack of use. I suppose that it's something I might consider again. But I really think we have bigger fish to fry before we get around to chat.</p>

[carlos_rodriguez3]

<p>1 - I would also like a separate rating system: one for anonymous users, one for members:<br>

2 - Also, I would like to be able to sort a particular photographer pictures (mine and specially from others) according to rating: This way we could see which ones have the highest ratings<br>

3 - A way to change the font. I have a low vision problem and the strandard font from Photo.net is harder to see than the ones in other sites. I constantly use a screen magnifyer.</p>

<p> </p>

[joshroot]

<blockquote>

<p>A way to change the font. I have a low vision problem and the strandard font from Photo.net is harder to see than the ones in other sites. I constantly use a screen magnifyer.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You can do this from within your browser.</p>

[mike dixon]

<p>In Firefox, pressing Ctrl and + together will increase font size. Do it repeatedly to further increase font size.</p>

[tonmestrom]

<p>a overhaul of the category section might be a good idea. For instance, there is no way you can categorise "urban landscapes" while lots get uploaded all over the place while other categories are quite obsolete. Looking at the "humour" category for instance there is very little fun to be had. Doesn't need all that much work either.</p>

<p><em>"Here's a thought for encouraging participation in rating photographs. How about an icon system for ratings given, similar to the film canisters for forum participation?"</em> <br /> Sure, let's do just that so we can have even more mate rating. Also I'm getting a bit fed up with all that talk again about obligatory and what not. While I understand that on a site like this there is some need of give and take I think there is already a lot of that and more importantly, it can only be stimulated not forced. I'd rather have quality than quantity anyway. And let's not forget that this is not a gaming but a photography site. There are some photographers here who's work belongs to the best on this site but for whatever reason they chose not to participate all that much. I rather have them on board so I can enjoy their work than forced away because some people like to receive meaningless points on their photos only so afterwards they can complain how unfair their low scores are.<br /> <em><br /> </em> <br /> <em>"Silence is after all the context for the deepest appreciation of art. The only important evaluations are finally, personal, interior ones".</em> <br /> Robert Adams</p>

[jimmckinnon]

<blockquote>

<p>Sure, let's do just that so we can have even more mate rating.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Ton, I'd like to hear your thought process on this statement. It seems to me that encouraging wider use of the ratings system would have the opposite effect. More ratings would tend to nullify the ratings two people gave each other.</p>

<p>Also, while I don't approve of 'mate-ratings,' I see no way they affect anyone other than those involved. What, exactly, do you gain or lose by the ratings someone else receives?</p>

[tonmestrom]

<p>Jim, I've always been against putting scores on photography. When I started out here I was under the false impression that it was an integral part of the system in place and actually might work here, call that naive on my part because it doesn't.<br>

Your idea of "rewarding" people with an extending icon will likely lead to two things. People who for whatever reason rate a lot will be easy identifiable and a percentage of them will certainly attract mate raters and since a lot of people find such icons important it's likely to lead to more meaningless ratings just for the sake of it. I remember vividly the discussions when these icons were introduced. The POW icon was originally meant to be in place for only twelve months but after a lot of protest admin relented and now it stays in place and seems to be considered as a lifetime achievement award or something despite the fact that the Elves and admin keep emphasizing that these photos are chosen because they are deemed to be interesting and worthy of discussion. We all know I guess that more often than not they're not the best a selected photographer has to offer. It's all so very childish.</p>

<p>Personally I think that if people want to play games it's no skin of my nose. But for me photography is quite something else than a game. Ratings have some serious drawbacks:</p>

<ul>

<li>beginners could come under the impression that it actually tells them something worthwhile about their photos. It doesn't</li>

<li>ratings tell you absolutely nothing about the quality of any given photographer. It's just a score, nothing else</li>

<li>I seriously think that a lot of people who put so much effort in and attention to rating would be better of directing that at their own photography so they have at least a chance to improve their work. It's really an exercise in futility.</li>

<li>to get exposure here one needs to play the rating game or so they think. I stopped giving and asking for them after a little while and I'm not complaining. Participating in the forums for instance is far more productive and gives a lot more back to this site and those who visit it.</li>

<li>I've seen many stating that ratings have educational value. Forget it, it's just pretense. </li>

<li>hardly a week goes by without someone complaining how unfair it all is instead of considering how mediocre their work actually might be. </li>

</ul>

<p>I'm sure this or any rating system will stay in place because of it's obvious appeal to so many people and you won't hear me say I have a solution for improving the current system. But as far as I'm concerned the sooner the rating system will be split from the critiquing section, as Josh has already announced several times, the better it will be for all who are either for or against.</p>

<p>And as I already have said in another forum<br>

Rating is a bit like making love when you are young and start dating. Either you meet a frigid one which is impossible to satisfy or you end up with one who simply can't get enough of it. Either way it leaves you feeling inadequate.<br>

There´s nothing to be gained.</p>

<p>I hope that answers your question Jim.</p>

[joshuasigar]

<p>I want better forum application as general.<br>

- automatically subscribed to a thread when I post<br>

- active threads bumped up<br>

- a thread with a new unread post will have a visual flag to indicate so</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

[helenjenkins]

<p>This is only a half-formed thought, so please bear with me - but couldn't there be some kind of beginners' critique only forum? I love photography and one of the reasons I joined this site was to learn and I am, but I find the standard really quite intimidating. I therefore feel quite shy about approaching people - I don't know who would be interested and I'm too wary of wasting people's time. I would love a place where I could post a photo I wanted advice about and would stand a reasonable chance of getting some meaningful comments - I don't mean praise, I mean good solid advice on how it could be better. I get the distinct impression (although I could be wrong) that there a lot of experienced members out there who genuinely want to pass on their knowledge, but get put off by the response they get when they try and as a consequence (and from some of the posts I've seen recently about this sort of behaviour I really don't blame them) they don't want to bother any more.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how it could work (told you it was half-formed!) but I think it would definitely have to be a place where nobody could actually gain any kudos by participating - purely for education. No rating, no counting towards any particular trophy. I think it would probably take too much moderating, but I would love somewhere like that.</p>

[michaeljlawson]

<p>Joshua, If you customize the view in the Unified Forum to display the forums you are interested in (you can even color code them), the "New Answers" view will show active threads bumped up to the top (It's how I knew someone added to this thread). It's time stamped with the latest addition so that may work for your "Flag" as well.</p>

<p>I don't think automatically subscribing to threads will go over well with people who post to dozens of threads a day, but the "Notify me of responses" link is right below the posting window. Maybe they can add a checkbox on the confirmation screen instead of a link so you can confirm your text, and subscribe if you want.</p>

[tim_s.2]

<p>Seeing that people might be interested in the perspective of a new member, and being one myself, I'll offer my two cents.</p>

<p>I use PN as a resource on equipment, resources, techniques, etc., and didn't really consider using it as a forum for posting my work (although that may change, but I hadn't thought much about it). So I think Charles suggestion (6/30 @01:26 pm) of tutorials and a wiki system would be very useful. Obviously there is camerapedia on the wiki front but I often find the information there to be limited. The internet is an amazing resource for tapping the knowledge of large groups of people, and it would be great if PN could centralize more of that knowledge.</p>

 

[jimmckinnon]

<p><strong>Ton</strong>, thanks for the response. I agree with almost everything you've said. I still can make no connection between increased use of the ratings system, and an increase in mate-ratings. I remain confident that it would have the opposite effect. </p>

<p>That said, I agree that the ratings system, as is, is more of a feel-good game than a useful tool. I like the idea of separating ratings from critique. In the meantime, what do you make of this scenario? Perhaps the system could open a dialog box immediately after a rating (number) is given. The rating would then not apply until a short comment (10 - 20 words?) is given to explain/justify the rating.</p>

<p> </p>