State of Relaunch, State of Mind

[Sandy Vongries]

Things are happening, and changes are being made, more pending.  Many of us see different screens and prompts, frustrating and confusing.  My perception is that the outlook is positive, there is communication with Admin, and it is just a matter of time till things are running smoothly.  I have significant experience as a user of this platform on other sites, and it is pretty bulletproof.  I would cite the old wartime slogan from the UK "Keep Calm, and Carry On".  I don't believe anything has been lost and much has been gained.

[Bill Snell]

May I suggest that anyone who is not a "P.Net Pro" downsize their files to what they used in the old site in the meantime.  They will soon reach the attachment limit if they don't! (100 posts @ 5mb or 50 @ 10mb). As soon as someone reaches 488.3mb they will lose the ability to post from their computer. This in my view is giving more problems than anything else. I don't know how many this affects but I notice that postings are well down. I'm waiting to find out how to manage attachments or become a "Pro" before I turn into the World's Grumpiest Old Man.

[ericphelps]

It's difficult to remain positive when after some 3+ years on the site I find I can't even post a photo, nor, until later today a 'Like' on someone's photo.

Today I was twice unable to post a photo, converted to url as required, then discovered that my attachment allotment was at 171% over the allowed limit. Not hard to conclude that we'll soon have to choose a financial level of participation to ever be able to post photos again.

That's what rankles me; we can't delete photos from our attachment folder to get within a better range - I've tried, so we're stuck. I do wish the owners would simply come out with the costs of the levels of participation so we could make our informed decisions.

One more bit of fluff; I notice that 'Likes' now simply show the number gained per photo, not the name of the person 'liking' the photo. To me just another step toward depersonalization, I LIKE to know who's 'liking' my photo!

 

 

[Bill Snell]

I hate the fact that when I'm in my 88th year someone takes my only remaining pleasure away (no words) just to be different like everyone else. I suppose this post will be classed as offensive and I'll be stripped of my Rookie rank and given a dishonourable discharge. So be it. (16 years service - Reputation 28.6K)

 

[flynn]

Hello Bill,

I don't know what just happened to photo.net. After 18 years my portoflio here stop exist, I also have a status newbie and not a single photo is in my galleries. I had 800 photos here.

Peter

[samstevens]

2 minutes ago, normanskiromanoff said:

Yay, we can use naughty words

The pleasures of being a boy in Junior High School … oh … wait! 🙄

[Bill Snell]

1 minute ago, flynn said:

Hello Bill,

I don't know what just happened to photo.net. After 18 years my portoflio here stop exist, I also have a status newbie and not a single photo is in my galleries. I had 800 photos here.

Peter

Hi Peter, I don't think they are finished transferring yet, so they will turn up. Worrying times. Bill.

[samstevens]

11 hours ago, Bill Snell said:

I hate the fact that when I'm in my 88th year someone takes my only remaining pleasure away (no words) just to be different like everyone else. I suppose this post will be classed as offensive and I'll be stripped of my Rookie rank and given a dishonourable discharge. So be it. (16 years service - Reputation 28.6K)

 

I think there’s a good chance that not everything you’re experiencing right now in terms of limits is intentional. Lots of these restrictions are probably software defaults that may well be altered as the migration refinement continues. Don’t give up hope … and this coming from someone (me) not always known for optimism when it comes to PN. All I can say is that, so far, mjensen has been pretty forthcoming and has given us the beginnings of a migration that has gone pretty smoothly. Time and patience may well be on your side. 
 

Editing this 11 hours after making the original post.

Edited October 11, 2022 by samstevens
To test the editing time.

[Bill Snell]

8 minutes ago, samstevens said:

I think there’s a good chance that not everything you’re experiencing right now in terms of limits is intentional. Lots of these restrictions are probably software defaults that may well be altered as the migration refinement continues. Don’t give up hope … and this coming from someone (me) not always known for optimism when it comes to PN. All I can say is that, so far, mjensen has been pretty forthcoming and has given us the beginnings of a migration that has gone pretty smoothly. Time and patience may well be on your side. 

If I live that long,,,,,,,,,"So much to do. So little time"

[za33photo]

3 hours ago, ericphelps said:

 

-----Snipped-------

Not hard to conclude that we'll soon have to choose a financial level of participation to ever be able to post photos again.

-----Snipped---------

 

This is what I am expecting , I hope that I am wrong , but on the other hand I can sort of understand this policy , money does rule the world .

 

 

[HarryBaker]

I've been a pro member for 20 years and wonder why I'm described as a rookie. I posted a couple of pictures and tried to like a few but after 5 likes I got the message that I couldn't like more. When I tried to access other parts of the site I was told I wasn't authorised. I'll give it a couple of weeks to become fully functional and if it doesn't I'll probably have to consider cancelling my subscription

[thomasx]

If you are still not getting satisfied answers then contact support. Surely you'll get the best support.

 

[Ricochetrider]

Hmmmm… we’ll Im having a mixed experience with the new site. Can’t drag n drop, can’t insert a file directly out of my phone, and I tried just now to post a pic using a URL: 

http://ricochetridersmotomojo.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p1090472955-3.jpg 

 

and got a mssg saying “only httpS urls allowed”. 
 

On the old site, I was posting mostly out of my phone- I’m away from home quite a lot so not often at the desktop. It was easy to choose a photo from my (admittedly vast) phone photo library, pick a file size, and insert it into a post. This is no longer possible and my host site (Zenfolio), where I have most of my film and other more important (to me) photos stashed, appears to configure links in such a way as is not acceptable. 
 

This may well all be temporary but it is frustrating. I’m a relative newbie compared to many of you. My experience with this forum and its members to date has been lovely, and I’m content to wait & see- here’s hoping “they” get it all sorted.  
 

As for the future of the site, and my long term participation here, I for one won’t be paying for a “membership”.  I’d tolerate adverts but paying a corporate media entity for web forum usage just doesn’t make sense. 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Ricochetrider
Adding and editing text

[peter.s]

One of the most botched migrations I've ever seen. No advance communication of the migration or what to expect during the migration; galleries taken up and down like a yo-yo; search capabilities not working; Google links not working; and I can't see my own photos or those of people I usually follow. Can't imagine that the advertisers or paying subscribers feel they're getting any value. Not sure what this will do for the future of photo.net, even if they do get it up and running.

[j._kraska]

Where exactly do we see our own photos?  I am unable to locate my gallery.

[PapaTango]

7 minutes ago, peter.s said:

One of the most botched migrations I've ever seen. No advance communication of the migration or what to expect during the migration; galleries taken up and down like a yo-yo; search capabilities not working; Google links not working; and I can't see my own photos or those of people I usually follow. Can't imagine that the advertisers or paying subscribers feel they're getting any value. Not sure what this will do for the future of photo.net, even if they do get it up and running.

You must not have been paying attention.  This ride started with an announcement of new ownership many months ago.

 

[Sandy Vongries]

Some may recall that we have had missing galleries before, great fuss and consternation, and they were restored. I expect the same in this case.  The relaunch on a new platform was necessary for the site to survive.  The alternative was, as I understand it, to shut down.  There have been changes in response to input since yesterday, and undoubtedly more to follow.  This is a very solid platform, and once the setup is complete, I believe nearly everyone will find it to be very satisfactory.  You can run around with your hair on fire or be calm and patient, the end result will be the same.

Edit:  Please try an edit, I believe the timeframe has been extended.  I can't be certain because I am a Moderator.

[PapaTango]

Because I am old and have little else to do, I am doing an editing timeout test in the Test forum.  Will advise when complete.

Otherwise, I am seeing a few little things being adjusted.  As I think that our senior administrator is pretty buried and busy with fine tuning the platform, we simply need to be patient--and if there is a legitimate problem or request--let Sandy or them know so that it can be considered and added to what I KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT is a formidible undertaking for the esteemed @mjensen.

Hair on fire.  That's a great idea, and I will not mention any candidates...  

ON EDIT: Nope, it's still 5 minutes.

Edited October 11, 2022 by PapaTango

[Dustin McAmera]

I seem to be one of the less angry members. The new board was going to be different from the old one. Programming used to be part of my job, and I know it takes time to get things working. The alternative, of shutting the whole thing down for a fortnight while they made the change, would have been worse. These are my thoughts so far; sorry to be long-winded.

Paid Pro/Free memberships: I have never paid to be here. My only contribution here is my knowledge of a few things, and one or two bad jokes, and good behaviour, mostly. It seems that Pro members have had less rights than us freeloaders in the first couple of days. If this is simply a matter of group rights being set wrong (maybe the wrong way round - am I due a rude awakening?) it should be easily fixed by the board admins once they have the whole thing basically working. It seems that people who pay to be here ought to get something more in return. I don't see a way to switch to a paid membership at present; I would be prepared to switch if the extra service is good enough, and if I can be confident that I can stop paying later if I choose. I seem to remember there being a lot of complaints on the old board about automatic renewals happening whether you liked it or not.
Galleries/portfolios: I'm not too worried about portfolios. I don't keep my pictures here. It seems that quite a few members were complaining that they couldn't access their portfolios, though the front page had a big panel saying 'Galleries are down'.
Ranks: I can't even remember whether the old board gave us ranks. In principle, they can help you to assess another member who you don't know (and how likely it is that they know what they're talking about). I'm not sure I would have so many ranks, and I would probably name them differently. I think if you can see the raw stats of how many posts someone has made, and how long the've been here, you can size them up pretty well.
I see ranks have disappeared at the time I write this. It will be interesting to see if they come back and if the have changed.
Some members have been complaining about starting from 'Newbie', but I think it's daft to take that personally. This is a software thing; the computer is not trying to diss you.
Badges: I suppose badges are supposed to act as a reward for productive behaviour; the system notices if you are posting, commenting, and staying here. We haven't had them before, and I don't think I would have asked for them if the hadn't been there; but I guess the new board software allows them, so why not. I seem to have got nine of them within a couple of days. I couldn't find a guide to what more badges there might be. I've been reporting a few spammers, but my 'Snitch' badge seems to be lost in the mail.
I guess it might be nice to adjust the long-service badges to reflect people's time in the old board: we have some twenty-year people. You'd get a tie-pin for that in some places!

 

Overall, photo.net has had a rather austere style for a long time. That suits the sort of people who do old-school photography (with cameras), and certainly the ones who deliberately seek out old cameras to do it with. It suited me. But the old board was not going to be sustainable. The new board software is what allows the new owners to offer the thing to us at all. I like this place being here, and if someone else is going to negotiate the minefield of keeping the board available, with all its years of old wisdom, I'll take that deal, with Ranks and Badges, and Smiley-faced Likes. I quite like the Unread Content view. The All Activity view is hard to go away from.

 

Thanks to the people doing the work, and the mods here!

 

[samstevens]

18 minutes ago, PapaTango said:

Because I am old and have little else to do, I am doing an editing timeout test in the Test forum.  Will advise when complete.

Just edited my most recent post above, made 11 hours ago (added a line in bold at the end and gave a reason), so I now have at least 11 hours to make an edit. Not sure everyone will experience that since there are inconsistencies of user experience (as the migration is relatively young). Also not sure it will stay that long. It could mean editing time will be unlimited or maybe it will be shortened again. I’m assuming there will be some back and forth as things get ironed out. Though I think 10 minutes was a good time frame, many folks seem to want more and it’s not that big a deal to me, so I can live with whatever admin decides … as long as they don’t start allowing us to edit each others’ posts! 🤣

Edited October 11, 2022 by samstevens

[PapaTango]

Dustin is likely correct then--those who are "Members" see more things and have more PN superpowers than us "Pro" cobbers.  As I understood it, the claim was that everyone was made a Pro during the conversion.  But a short lookie when we were back up showed that was not really the case.

I guess mine is an artifact from the fact of being a subscriber for so many years.  I further thought I was getting something extra for free.

TANSTAAFL

That of course is possible for a moderator.  I have seen some 'fired' for doing that--and other boards turn into ghost towns because of it.

Sounds insane.  Let's do it!

Edited October 11, 2022 by PapaTango

[mikemorrellNL]

I totally agree, @Sandy Vongries. I'm impressed by the relativlely seamless transition so far. And I have every confidence that the 'Galleries'' will soon be restored. It gives me great confidence in the future of PN, knowing that a) there is renewed investment and b) there is more technical support for the 'new site'. I saw little reason to renew my paid membership on the old site or many years. On the 'new site'. I intend to renew my paid membership. Just to support its maintenance and devlopment.

I sincerely hope that the new site will make life a lot easier for Admins and Moderators. Though I do notice more 'spam' on the new site which may reguire more active moderation.

Edited October 11, 2022 by mikemorrellNL

[mjensen]

Thank you everyone for your patience!  Yes, things are happening and I've been in contact with both the hosting company and with Roger (Creative Live) daily.  We have a long list of things we're addressing, building, changing after the migration. There won't be one BIG release update, you'll just notice smaller things getting fixed along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. I've been able to address most concerns right away. I knew it was going to be a journey, and I'm happy to have everyone's eyes on the site giving me feedback now that we're live. 

[ericphelps]

1 hour ago, mjensen said:

Thank you everyone for your patience!  Yes, things are happening and I've been in contact with both the hosting company and with Roger (Creative Live) daily.  We have a long list of things we're addressing, building, changing after the migration. There won't be one BIG release update, you'll just notice smaller things getting fixed along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. I've been able to address most concerns right away. I knew it was going to be a journey, and I'm happy to have everyone's eyes on the site giving me feedback now that we're live. 

Great! Now can anyone on the staff advise us how to delete our saved elsewhere attachments, and will that happy deletion permit us to once again post photos here?

[Sandy Vongries]

I don't know what you can see or do, I can go to attachments, select one and delete it then confirm that I want to delete and it is gone.