david robinson

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Brian thank you for at least setting the record straight. Your honesty is appreciated. At least now we know where things stand with you.

Brian, you never quite get it do you? A community had developed around the Critique Only Forum. A community based upon our interest to learn from one another. A community you pulled the rug out from under with out so much as a word of explanation. When you made changes to the Photo Critique Forum you eliminated the assess and visibility to the Critique Only Forum. To our polite requests for information for the plans to return the Forum, you gave us the most curt response possible. Never once have you taken the 5 minutes that would have been required to tell us of the plans to return the Forum. A simple explanation was all that was required.

 

When it comes to people skills Brian, you are quite blind. Now go on back to the comfort and security of your computers. The chaos you left in your wake, is behind you. Why should you have to respond?

Jenifer, you will be most welcomed in the Critique Only Forum. Unfortunately, management here is doing what it can to keep the Critique Only Forum hidden from view -- maintaining this moronic rating system at any cost.

Thanks Bill for offering up a rather simple solution to resolve this issue. I am sure there are several methods by which visibility to the Critique Only Forum could easily be restored.

 

My guess is that they don't want the Critique Only Forum to be successful as it contributes nothing to the moronic ratings game that is so important to management here.

 

Cartens's visibility with his POW pointed out that increasingly the talent on this site is more interested substantive critiques than with meaningless ratings.

 

So just watch -- even if the visibility for the Critique Only Forum returns, it will return in the least visible manner possible.

 

Meanwhile, they are in no hurry to fix this problem. Their silence communicates more than they realize. Communication after all is not their strong point...

Salute from me, Ben. You worked very hard to create a sense of community here. Your example shines bright. Reagards...

Darrell, the Critique Only Forum is way, and I mean way, down on the list of priorities by management here on this site. It has all but disappeared. The community that was thriving here, despite being paid members, apparently contributes nothing of value to this site, and is now being ignored. We have posted several requests since the site changes, which eliminated us from view, seeking information and a chance for input on the plans for the Critique Only Forum. We have received one curt response to the effect that the Critique Only Forum is still accessible through some obscure address which is all but invisible to anyone looking. At all events, the management here holds the Critique Only Forum in contempt by its lack of response to our requests.

A very generous offer and one that could remedy a serious problem on this site of very poor communication. Now let's see if management has the wherewithal to recognize this problem exits, and work with Christopher to address it. Surprise us Brian.

Well, Brian, thank you for letting us know that the Critique Only Forum will return. The current link to it is buried and all but invisible on this site. What we are more curious about is what form will the CO Forum take. Will images posted to it be presented as they are in the Critique Request Forum, only in a separate listing. That would be nice. I would also like to advocate that it be listed and linked to under 'Gallery as a separate listing which would increase its visibility. How about it Brian? What are the plans?

Yes, please do take 5 minutes to share with us your plans. If changes are being contemplated it would be thoughtful and beneficial at this juncture to involve some of us who actively use this forum.

Those of us who use the Critique Only Forum would appreciate the continuation of this forum. We would also like to be able to see the images posted to this forum in a coherent manner, not lumped together and lost with the general Critique Request Forum. WE would appreciate hearing what your plans are to restore this forum.

I am in complete agreement with Jayme and Mark when they say, "A lot of members, like yourself, have quit using the rate recent queue. This is why I think the TRP is failing to represent the best of the best PN has to offer."

 

You have both put up very good ideas. Unfortunately, I think it is rather clear this site values quantity of ratings over quality and values inflated, artificial image counts over actual view counts. It's a numbers game. This is not about our viewing pleasure.

 

I'd be interested to know who else doesn't bother to rate from the shooting gallery...

This isn't going to happen folks...

Joan your comment #2 made me think. Maybe this hasn't been done for exactly this reason. Forcing folks to go page by page increases the count for all of those images (as the number of views relate to each time an page is viewed). Something the admisnitration is keen on.

 

It would be really appreciated if administration would respond to this request.

Thanks Seven and Joan. Joan I had forgotten this. I too will bookmark it. How long did this take you to code?

Duh, Tim. I've been going about this all wrong. I thought giving folks honest, but respectful, feedback was the way we could generate learning and work towards the improvement of our work as artists. I didn't realize that abusive attacks on other's self esteem actually helped them to learn.

 

I can see where you would form your reference of "our sorry lot".

Actually, I think Carl is rather angry over (his) great images getting poor ratings. He can't say this -- so he expresses himself clumsily.

Yes, thanks Ricardo, I am aware that you can start at the rear. With a "go to" option we could start in the middle of the deck to look around if we so chose. A worthwhile option that could be added to enhance our viewing pleasure. I don't often rate. I am more inclined to comment on others' works I find interesting. But I will often rate what I perceive to be neglected images, those with mediocre ratings that have been overlooked or unappreciated, and these are often found midway in the pages of the TRP.

I want to thank again the administration of this site for adding the

category filter for the TRP. This has improved the options for

viewing images immensely. Now when will you be adding a "go to"

option for selective viewing of pages that are deeper in the TRP?

That too would be very helpful. Thanks folks...

You do know can see the highest rated images as selected by an indiviual member by going to that member's page, look under PHOTO RATINGS and you will see the link to "photos rated highest by this member". It will order images first by highest ratings then by date. I think it only shows images 6/6 and higher and will show the highest 300 images as rated by that member. You can also check out images that a member has been commenting upon, another way to find interesting images. The key here is that you can now filter images based upon an individual photographer's responses, and not group ratings...

For the record, I also think James put foreword some good ideas as they relate to ratings. If his ideas were implemented I might very well go back to seeking ratings. As the ratings game is now played I could not be less interested. The rating are highly suspect. I know, for example, I don't do any rating in the shooting gallery. I doubt very seriously that few if any of the photographers I respect here do. So who is doing this drive-by rating? The results speak for themselves. Someone the other day said Disney Landscapes. These raters, accustom as they are to video stimuli, seem capable of only responding to stimulation that reeks of highly saturated sunsets and the like.

Ben I have to agree with you. Our agenda takes us a bit off course here. That's OK with me. Our journey will be more interesting. I salute what you are doing...

For a while this site featured the photographs as rated highest by selected photographers. This was very interesting to me. A learning tool that I found very helpful. For some reason the site highlighted the picks of selected photographer only once or twice and then abandoned the idea. Too bad -- I thought it was a great idea, one that exposed me to a new works and different photographers. Of course you can do this on your own without having to be force fed. Something I regularly do...

 

Unfortunately, for those of us who choose to submit our photos for 'Critique Only' our images will not show up in the ratings of others. Something I haven't always considered...

If you are suggesting that each viewer is 'forced' onto different pages rather than at the top or start of the TRP then I don't think management is going to bite. Their interests lies in generating as much competition as possible to get and keep their numbers up. Accordingly, they are going to want to keep the TRP intact. As photographers submitting and as photographers viewing other works, our agendas can be quite different, and different yet again from that of management. But simply giving us the option to go to different pages would not upset the ratings game....