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  #21  
Old Posted Aug 11, 2012, 7:14 AM
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I think a dedicated mod like Glowrock is a great first step. The contests will help drive activity but they need to be consistent and timely.

Another improvement I thought of: the color scheme for the photo forums could be changed. I like the blue but I think photos pop more on a dark background. Could be an issue regarding text readability and site consistentcy.
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  #22  
Old Posted Aug 11, 2012, 12:51 PM
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I can make sure that the photo contests are timely and regular, Okayyou. I'm thinking of having two per month, allowing for a week of voting, then with a little down time to come up with a new subject and to have people get their photos ready for the contest.

Sound good?

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  #23  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2012, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by LSyd View Post
^i'd prefer quality over quantity, without assjack trolls.

one idea is more feedback/comments for photothreads. how to accomplish this, i have no idea.

-
Citydata's forum is full of ridiculousness, but their threads to seem much more alive. That site has gotten better over the years.

When it comes to this site, this site has the best urban photography forum for sure that I have found. The comment thing is ridiculous though. Don't know if veteran forumers will not comment on newbie's threads, or if less quality amature photographers like myself don't deserve comments. The first issue seems to be the most true. Either way the hour minimum to just link your photos and not even counting the editing and uploading time is probably not worth it for a few comments.
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  #24  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2012, 8:22 PM
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Originally Posted by CubicalRebel View Post
Citydata's forum is full of ridiculousness, but their threads to seem much more alive. That site has gotten better over the years.

When it comes to this site, this site has the best urban photography forum for sure that I have found. The comment thing is ridiculous though. Don't know if veteran forumers will not comment on newbie's threads, or if less quality amature photographers like myself don't deserve comments. The first issue seems to be the most true. Either way the hour minimum to just link your photos and not even counting the editing and uploading time is probably not worth it for a few comments.
Just use quickr pickr you'll have a photo thread up in 5 minutes,if you get only a few comments, so what I'm sure you won't lose any sleep over it (I don't)
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  #25  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2012, 1:37 AM
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Just use quickr pickr you'll have a photo thread up in 5 minutes,if you get only a few comments, so what I'm sure you won't lose any sleep over it (I don't)
What the heck is quickr pickr? For me it's not terrible making photothreads given the fact I just copy and paste the links right from my photobucket page, but it does take a lot of time to put together a reasonable number of photos for a thread, the editing efforts, comments, etc... I agree with CubicalRebel that sometimes it just doesn't seem to be worth it. Most of my threads don't get more than 10 or so comments, doesn't seem to justify the effort put into the thread creation. Not sure how to possibly encourage this to change though. Maybe just a sign of the times?

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  #26  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2012, 2:02 AM
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That was the idea behind this thread, to improve the photo forums so activity is increased. It's pretty dead around here most days. As far as the suggestions, do they need to be PM'd to the site Admins? Do they want to improve this area of the site or are they happy with the way it is?

I think the photocontest revamp was helpful and has seen good participation. The getting to know the SSP photographers was good to get going again but it stalls out pretty easily. There doesn't seem to be much discussion after an interview is posted. As mentioned previously, I think the question format could change.

Quickrpickr is a web app that generates BB code from your flickr photos. It saves a lot of time. For instance you can search for all the photos with a certain tag and it will output bb code based on the parameters you specify. It works ok, but I still have to use Excel to mass edit the generated code because there are no dynamic thread editing features here on the site.
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  #27  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2012, 7:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Okayyou View Post
Had some thoughts recently, wanted to see what others think.

I feel the My City Photos section is vastly underutilized. The sheer volume of city photos and locales represented is not matched by many other places on the web. Additionally, the photography presented here is often of a higher quality than what can be found through random web searches. SSP photo threads do an excellent job showcasing places of interest. For example, when I travel somewhere or want to see what a place is like, the best way to do so is look at photo threads from that area. Doing a Google image search for Portland produces skyline or city results. These are ok, but if I want to see neighborhoods and don’t know much about the city, it is hard to know specifics to search for. This is where the photo threads here really shine. They often showcase particular neighborhoods, or display the native perspectives of cities. The problem I’ve found is that the search function and visibility of threads is limited and underpowered.

So this is my idea. Develop a map with each thread geotagged to its specific area. If I wanted to see neighborhoods of Portland, I could zoom the map to Portland and see all the Portland threads in the area. Each thread could be represented by a dot on the map. Maybe the dot could be sized by a thread’s view number so the more popular threads are more visible. The dots could be shaded by age, white are brand new, dark go back to the earliest threads. Filters could be used to see threads just by certain members, or maybe by keyword, thread age, etc. Tagging is pretty common place now; it would be nice to be able to tag threads with keywords. Maybe the keywords could pop up when user hover their mouse over the dot.
A global map with all these photo threads would be a huge asset to travelers that want to see places before they visit. Google earth has a feature like this but you literally have to click every photo which is a crapshoot of whether the image will be good, or even tagged correctly. As I mentioned before, unless you know what to search for, it is really hard to get an idea of ‘Place’ from the scattered images.

I think this format might provide greater exposure for the site. I suppose if anyone had issue with this format, they could opt out of geotagging. I imagine the coding wouldn’t be too difficult; most of the effort would be in retroactively tagging each thread. But if users just tagged their own old threads much of the effort could be crowd sourced.

I don't know if this is the best place to post this. Who runs the SSP photo section? How constrained is the site by BBC code? Just some thoughts...
That's a great idea. One simple way to achieve most of the things you've suggested is to have a link to Google Maps, with an SSP map that has pins for different threads.

You can change the collaboration settings so that anyone can edit the map, and then people can post links to their own threads, or people can post links to threads by other forumers.

Posting a link is pretty easy - just:
- click edit on the map,
- click on the pin icon to generate a placemark
- drag and drop the placemark onto the relevant place on the map
- the map automatically generates a call out box for the pin. In the space provided, give the pin a name (eg name of forumer and city covered by the thread),
- click on 'rich text' in the pin's callout box,
- post some link text in the callout box
- highlight the link text in the callout box
- click on the link icon and post the thread URL into the box
- add any other comments you like into the call out box
- bob's your uncle

There could be a sticky with a link to the map in the photography section, plus people could link to it in their signatures. I'm sure it would also be possible to embed the map itself into a post as well.

Here is an example, with links to a couple of threads:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=203406978152641034248.0004cae63ab9990b98931&msa=0&ll=54.775346,-41.660156&spn=84.794655,158.027344

Last edited by Bedhead; Sep 30, 2012 at 8:12 AM.
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  #28  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2012, 8:00 PM
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Nice work bedhead. I think that is a great start. I added some of my threads but wanted to make sure we get an agreed upon format. Do we want the pin title to be forum member name and a general place name? Or should it be the title of the thread? What I did for mine:

Pin title: Memeber Name - General title (Do we want member name in the title?)
Call out text: Linked title of the thread and image thumbnail.

Now what about the pin icon? Should each member have their own to help distinguish thread authors or should we keep them all the same for consistency?
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  #29  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2012, 10:55 PM
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Yes, agree with that format - those images in your pins look friggin amazing!

I'm happy to go with the majority on pins - I can't see any harm in having different pin icons - we could let members chose their own.
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  #30  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2012, 11:14 PM
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Took a little bit of time but I got my threads geotagged. Any chance we can get the mods to put the map in a more prominent place so others can see and add their threads?
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  #31  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2012, 2:48 PM
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"The comment thing is ridiculous though. Don't know if veteran forumers will not comment on newbie's threads, or if less quality amature photographers like myself don't deserve comments. The first issue seems to be the most true. Either way the hour minimum to just link your photos and not even counting the editing and uploading time is probably not worth it for a few comments."

My take on comments - while they're always nice to see, they're not *the* reason I post photos on the forum. Besides, I'm guessing most people don't feel the need to add another "Nice pics!" to the chorus?
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  #32  
Old Posted Oct 6, 2012, 4:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CubicalRebel View Post
Citydata's forum is full of ridiculousness, but their threads to seem much more alive. That site has gotten better over the years.

When it comes to this site, this site has the best urban photography forum for sure that I have found. The comment thing is ridiculous though. Don't know if veteran forumers will not comment on newbie's threads, or if less quality amature photographers like myself don't deserve comments. The first issue seems to be the most true. Either way the hour minimum to just link your photos and not even counting the editing and uploading time is probably not worth it for a few comments.
hey, don't feel bad if you've experienced this. last January I posted a photothread on the Brooklyn Bridge that apparently wasn't even worthy of one comment! Not even a "wow, those pictures suck!" I know I'm not using the highest quality camera but I didn't think they were that crappy. Not that I developed a complex over this--LOL In the meantime people have been more kind

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=196865
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  #33  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2012, 4:16 AM
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I can't contribute much in terms of how to implement it... but the map is an EXCELLENT idea. With some quality control, maybe, so only the best threads get featured. But I know that is 5 seconds of looking at it I saw half a dozen Okayyou threads that I have missed completely over the years.
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  #34  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2012, 3:31 AM
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Originally Posted by bunt_q View Post
I can't contribute much in terms of how to implement it... but the map is an EXCELLENT idea. With some quality control, maybe, so only the best threads get featured. But I know that is 5 seconds of looking at it I saw half a dozen Okayyou threads that I have missed completely over the years.
Thanks Bunt. I'd still like to try and get the map implemented but also have no idea how to do so properly. Mods, can anyone pass this up to the SSP management? Is that how things work here?

I've had some more ideas about improving the photo forums. I'm not sure why the photo forums are divided into A-M and N-Z. I think when more people were on the site it was to help new threads from being pushed off the main page and vanishing into oblivion. Now I don't think that would happen so much. What I have noticed is that there are really two types of threads that people post. Packaged sets that represent a city or neighborhood and city threads that are continuously updated. Maybe it would make more sense to separate the city threads based on whether they are updated continuously or not. Anyone else have input on this?

Also, I was thinking about starting a Critique thread. Is there any interest in posting photos and letting other people critique them?
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  #35  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2012, 4:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Okayyou View Post
Also, I was thinking about starting a Critique thread. Is there any interest in posting photos and letting other people critique them?
Good idea, Okayyou! Not sure the best way to go about doing this, but I'll give it some thought this week and try to come up with something.

Aaron (Glowrock)
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  #36  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2012, 8:48 PM
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I'm definitely in favor of a critique thread. Giving useful advice to help people improve and develop their skills is always a good thing...
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  #37  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2012, 9:05 PM
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Splitting the city photo forums was controversial back in the day. I always hated the idea. Originally it was split into North America and Rest of the World, then they did the alphabetical thing because the World forum was dead.

This site is definitely not busy enough to warrant the split forum. Even threads with very little activity can stay on the first page for two or three weeks.

I rarely post neighbourhoods or small towns anymore. Just isn't worth it.
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  #38  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2012, 1:15 AM
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I know one thing I plan on doing to hopefully get some buzz in the photography section is to promote my sets on my facebook page whenever I start to do photothreads again. If we all did this that could possibly help generate some activity...
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  #39  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2012, 1:50 AM
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Originally Posted by flar View Post
Splitting the city photo forums was controversial back in the day. I always hated the idea. Originally it was split into North America and Rest of the World, then they did the alphabetical thing because the World forum was dead.

This site is definitely not busy enough to warrant the split forum. Even threads with very little activity can stay on the first page for two or three weeks.

I rarely post neighbourhoods or small towns anymore. Just isn't worth it.
Agreed. I would like to see us do away with the breakdown in the alphabetization thing as well.

Photo section should just be broken down into original photos/ found photos/ general photo forum and nothing else. the fragmentation of the forum was a bad experiment.

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  #40  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2012, 3:53 AM
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I actually like the alphabetization. It helps keep it organized and makes finding certain city threads much easier, in my opinion...
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