Forums Changes?

[Jason Manley]

The new gallery system I am almost done with will track images by type. This would allow us to merge forums together. For example all the finally finished forums could be merged into one big finally finished forums.

Do you guys think this would improve things to consolidate the forums down like this?

I want input from the members here on what can be done to improve things.

My list so far:

Upgrade Vbull, spam assassin installation, mod team building, install new gallery technology and viewer, fix bugs.



Jason

[Nike]

That sounds great.

I think it might not be bad to have finally finished merged in one section. And perhaps it would also be good to be stricter regarding what goes into finally finished regarding the qualtity. I really like that on ca - you have plenty of room to learn, doodle, speedpaint, and sketch etc., but finally finished is reserved for quality work. That might be good for this place, too.

[BgDM]

I kind of like the separation that is there now. You know specifically where to post your images. But if you have a system that will automatically sort that, then it's worth a shot.

The VB upgrades and the spam filter is a definite requirement. I have not been here long, but the amount that has needed to be cleaned up was huge. I am an admin over at blenderartists.org, so I know VB fairly well, as far as mod/admin tools go. Not that I want to be come a mod on another forum, but I do have the knowledge, if you need the help for the short term.

I love this site. Just needs the fixes that you mentioned and some more users and it will be even better.

BgDM

[stine]

sounds great!
maybe all the sections that are in the "finally finished" right now could go into the "general forums"? because i like the structure the different motifs give to the threads - it makes it a lot easier to find a good portrait or to see how others handle macro photos etc.

but i second nike that the "finally finished" section needs to establish a certain degree of quality like over at CA.org. it's kind of a "showroom" that people new to this site can look first and get to see what's possible here.
right now most of the threads there have more of a "scrapbook" or "critique center" feel to it. so moving them over to the "general" and the scrapbooks would be good, i think.

another thing: all those spam bots really screwed with the rating system. could be start from zero there? or maybe it's not necessary at all...

other than that it's pretty great here. thanks again for your support and the opportunity to have a whole new forum on photography.

[Nike]

I like stines idea of moving the categories to general.

Regarding the structure, I think it's nice to have for many occasions, but if someone'd like to show a reportage or project that contains photos of different types that belong together, right now I wouldn't know where to put it - therefor I really like the idea of a finally finished section where all finished material goes and a gallery system that tracks the types.

And a minor suggestion for the private boards - there is a section for infractions, could we have another one for mod-admin communication where mods for instance could announce longer offline times? Maybe that might help to avoid situations where no mod is present.

Thank you so much for your effort, Jason!

[BgDM]

The mod/admin forum is a great tool. We have one over at BA.org, which is hidden from everyone else, where we discuss users who are pains, and general forum stuff that the others do not need to see.

BgDM

[purplerose]

I like the idea of having all of the Finally Finished sections merged together. Some photos would not fit under the current topics and it would cut down on placing the same photo in more than one section.

I think a more detailed "Read me Before Posting Here" for the Finally Finished Section should be drafted by all mods. That way, there won't be any confusion when a thread gets moved from that section.

I agree with Nike: In the "Private" section the mods should have an open topic where they could discuss important things (i.e voting on whether to move a thread from Finally Finished, stating if we are going on vacation or if we have enough time to say we won't be around for a while.)

I agree with stine's idea about moving the categories to the general section. That way newcomers won't think they are being "forced" to post in the Finally Finished section because it's the only one with categories.

I think the "EQUIPMENT and REVIEWS" section could be consolidated into one forum under the "General forums section".

Also, on the main page of the Photo Forum, could there be some kind of banner or icon leading people to the "Contests" section alerting them that there is a new photochallenge and the topic? I think it would help generate more attention to that section. From past experiences here a lot people said they didn't realize that there was something like that going on.

I agree with stine on the rating system as well. I know some of us could care less if it's there, but speaking realistically I think it probably won't be removed. So, maybe have the voter write up why they voted (remaining anonymous of course) and have it verified by the mods so the rating could go through? I'm not sure if that's possible though?? Anything similar would suffice.

That's all I can think of right now. Feels good to be back. Can't wait for the changes!

[Grumbledook]

Ah seems my moaning and leaving the spam to build up got things shaking!

oh and welcome back rose ;]

Moving the sections from the finally finished may help, there are a lot of beginner photos and snapshots in there at the moment and one finally finished thread is perhaps the way to go.

I say get rid of the lounge perhaps, a lot of the time I look to post a thread of interest (got one I'm want to link now about photos of 2008) and I know it will get a lot more views and responses if I post it in the main lounge. Makes this one here a bit pointless?

Thread thumnails are a must imo, though the one that uses the first image in a thread not just an attached one imo (same one is used on the inspiring photo forum)

I had a look around on vbulleting.org (the forum mods and plugins site) for something to sort out the ratings. I believe admins can reset them, but I was after some way to restrict ratings to members with x number of posts may have helped.

I think the latest vbulletin though will help with a lot of things.

The forum layout on here is a bit inconsistant compared to the main one

Having a contests box at the top would be good, also some way to link it over to the main site.

[Grumbledook]

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/v...group_datetime

can we have an extended date format please, the american date system is a right pain ;]