I'd like to change the design for the members' profile pages so that everyone will have a lot more space to write text and include thumbnails of their images. I'm thinking of something more like our current artist spotlight biographies. If you have an idea of how you'd like the page to be laid out then I invite you to post a quick image of the idea. I think we should include some of the existing information, but we don't all the fields (like "project") that are currently on profile pages.
I'm more interested in getting rid of the current information fields and just leaving a huge open area where you can put anything that you like. It would be like a private wiki page.
Agree with Phil. Some artists already use the signature area of the profile page to tout their causes etc.
As a family oriented site, I could see this being a problem with the naysayers. :~)
One other problem might be that members with great galleries that no longer frequent the site might have some info vanish from their profiles if the related fields are removed?
I think what might help is a default format, which, until removed by individual members, would or could contain all the old info now found on a current profile page.
To address the other issues, such as extreme content, or extreme objection, why not leave a complain button, like the one that exists on current profiles. Anything out of the ordinary could be looked into by a mod, and handled accordingly.
As for design/layout ideas, I'll work on a few I have in my head, and revisit with them, hopefully.
Please, even if you don't visit my gallery, check out my "Faves".I've left them intact since day "1", and would like it if every image there got the attention they deserved.
While a complain button is a good idea Rob, I often find the above mentioned signature statements etc. on profiles that are not often visited by 'regular' users on the site. That means that any minor could read an inappropriate profile and one of the regulars might not see it for a long time, if ever, given the number of user profile on the site.
Mimi, i understand your concern, but the potential for that kind of abuse already exists as the profile page stands now, and has happened a couple of times. I don't think that changing to a bio section will significantly increase the occurrence of it.
We could also get around it by setting up an alert system for the mods notifying them of new members so they'd have an opportunity to check recently added pages. Maybe that's the answer altogether - set up an alert when somebody changes their info on a page. I don't think many people change their info on that regular a basis, so it probably wouldn't be overwhelming to keep an eye on.
Thought I should provide some links as to my ideas for a 'new profile page'.
First I would like to say ... change is a good thing & IMO is always a positive step forward.
Second of all ... I love creating slide shows in Powerpoint & I thought that was a good place to start this project. I wanted to make them rather simple without any distractions.
Most of the features are still there. Basically what I want to see is some sort of navigation bar at the top of profile page & then of course the navigation bar for the galleries, discussion boards, etc would still be as in the the left. There would be plenty of room for members to write what ever they want, but liked stated previously it would have to monitored as far as content goes. Then lastly I think the addition of having some featured images on the user's profile page is a great idea. I think members will be apt to browse through the galleries more. Finally the addition of some featured images ... perhaps one could be a favorite by another artist / member & not just limited to the profile member's images only. I think this feature gives the page a nice touch.
Note : I had to piece two slides together because landscape is the default format in Powerpoint & converting it to portrait would have been reformatted drastically. That's why there are two outlined boxes.
Again, there's a navigation bar at the top ... any feature could be included there ... icons replaced for words or both. I only added friends as I couldn't think of anything else at the time. "Friends List" ... I believe most members would want to keep this private, so I'm saying access by the profile user themselves 'only'. Plus, I for one, forget where my friends list is located. Again this version is going to give much more leeway as far as content goes & that is why I left a 'complain button' on both versions.
Links to a personal website ... I believe this feature should remain as well as the optional email field. I often click on a member's website whether it is art related or not. Then like I do with other sites where my website address is listed ... I believe it's common courtesy to create a link back to Caedes or whatever site.
Then on both versions I did leave in the 'comment' section as I know members do enjoy leaving comments on a member's profile page.
I did these up rather quickly & I'm aware I left some things out. I would like to thank *caedes for giving me this opportunity. I had alot of fun creating them & I believe the main thing is to keep things rather simple for user's / members.
I know other members will have better ideas & such ... come up with a better format, etc. Hop to it!
I can totally understand where the mods are coming from in regards to monitoring content, chasing away trolls, etc. Us as user's are only aware of it ... the mod's are the one's that do all the foot work & deal with such matters first hand. In other words your work to keep Caedes running smoothly is greatly appreciated.
Those images are pretty much exactly what I had in mind. I particularly like the first one. I just want to give people to opportunity to "take ownership" of the page. At this point I'm not worried at all about possible problems with the actual content. As was pointed out above, people are fully capable right now of putting inappropriate stuff on the profile page. Thanks for the contribution.
"just leaving a huge open area where you can put anything that you like." If you give a kid an empty box they will use their imagination and make something of it. I think Artists will also do the same. Just a certain amount of empty space is bound to inspire creativity. I would be very curious to see how everyone takes advantage of this opportunity. . . . Good Idea! Do It!
While trying to create good pictures, I feel as if I am standing on the edge of Insanity. There is a door. I found myself knocking on the door. The door opened.. . . I was knocking from the inside. Oh Rats!
Exactly what I was thinking, I love the idea of a blank canvas profile box. As for fears about other people abusing it, it never really occurred to me, I just assumed that only the user would be able to edit their profile space and the messages space would be left for others, much like it is now. Am I missing something?
I'm not sure I'll be able to present this in a visual ( I will try, in the next few days) but I was thinking about a hybrid of profile page, personal gallery, and faves list.
Perhaps, and I have no idea how complicated this would be to set up, drop down menus... maybe one for seeing a person's faves, or their own selected faves of their own work, or whatever else.
Please, even if you don't visit my gallery, check out my "Faves".I've left them intact since day "1", and would like it if every image there got the attention they deserved.
Great ideas Rob ... I was thinking along the lines of drop down menus also, but like you said it's difficult to do a visual of.
Like LynEve & Jacqueline mentioned it would be nice to have a specific place to list 'tools of the trade (camera equipment, fractal programs, etc). Perhaps this is something that can be included in a drop down menu or on the page itself.
*leaves Les a plate of freshy baked Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies*
Please, even if you don't visit my gallery, check out my "Faves".I've left them intact since day "1", and would like it if every image there got the attention they deserved.
Please, even if you don't visit my gallery, check out my "Faves".I've left them intact since day "1", and would like it if every image there got the attention they deserved.
"Like LynEve & Jacqueline mentioned it would be nice to have a specific place to list 'tools of the trade (camera equipment, fractal programs, etc)."
Thus the beauty of the big blank box, you can put any and everything you want in there, including tools of the trade.
It is so lovely to have a thread that is thoughtful and constructive without dissolving into a bitch fest, I think you all deserve a plate of lamingtons (they're an Aussie thing, look em up, you'll love em:)
Lamingtons - (Drooling) - Lamingtons consist of a small square of white cake (sponge, butter, or pound) that is dipped in a sweet chocolate icing and then rolled in desiccated coconut. Lamingtons are sold in most Australian bakeries and sell very quickly at bake sales. So quickly, in fact, that charities have what are called 'Lamington Drives' . Kelcey bring on the plate and we will all feast.
While trying to create good pictures, I feel as if I am standing on the edge of Insanity. There is a door. I found myself knocking on the door. The door opened.. . . I was knocking from the inside. Oh Rats!
Lamingtons!!!!! Great aussie icon ;) I remember when the kids were little at school and we made our own lamingtons for our lamington drives.. we made 3000 lamingtons one day.. took me years before I could actually look at one let alone eat one.. lol
3000! Lol, I can see why you got sick of them. That's why I get Grandma to make them:) Perfect description Jerry, although I must add, as Danika did, that they are very popular with cream in the middle, I definitely tick that little box on my lamington drive order form...mmm...I think the focus on this topic is wavering, time to break for afternoon tea perhaps:)
I love Sheree's ideas and her post is what dragged me back into the discussion board. I hope that this won't be lost in the muddle that is the quicksand of Caedes' threads. I think it is a good idea to change, but I think that dangling out a carrot and then doing nothing about it is depressing and not good for morale.
We don’t make art to show someone what something looks like. All this requires is eyes (or a lens). Art is supposed to have meaning, emotion, power, or magic. Alan & Mario "FourThirds"
I really like the layout of profiles at DPChallenge.com. They contain separate fields for cameras and tools, as well as lenses, and a biography section. Below that, are 5 thumbnails of the highest rated photographs, and then 5 thumbnails of either, most recent posts or member selected pics. I especially like the side bar of statistics, favorites, and the member's online status. The side bar also includes honorable mentions and awards. A bit over-detailed, but a more streamlined version would be way cool.
Wonderful ideas everyone!
*leaves behind a plate of pumpkin pancakes, drizzled with buttery-maple syrup and walnuts*
I'm genuinely interested in this discussion *caedes, but I'm naturally curious are there any other reasons why you feel the need for more change, & if so are you gonna share them with us ?
This remains a wallpaper site that is quite unique, & works well already. :o)
I recall an old expression that still holds true. If it works don't fix it
There are two reasons that I am considering this change.
1. There have been many requests to add options in the profile page for posting more specific information. Rather than make special fields for every different interest, I am more inclined to give everyone a blank canvas where any desired information can be displayed.
2. From reading the "artist spotlight" features, it is clear to me that many of our members have interesting stories that they would like to share. I would like to make that possible for everyone.
Thanks for the reply *caedes perhaps I've been a little restrictive with my first comment, & I know this website is evolving just like any other. Maybe there could be room for further improvements, & I shall think further on the subject. :o)
There are things I like in both of Sherree's presentations. #1 has the view friends button... I like that.
#2 has the Member Since and Last Visit info... I like those. Both have what I consider most important... the My Gallery button. This one addition could greatly reduce the utilization of the Search function since it would be possible to goto a chosen gallery without first doing a search. I wasn't around at the time these pages were posted but Late can be better than never! I am posting this just in case it is not Too Late! :o)
We don’t make art to show someone what something looks like. All this requires is eyes (or a lens). Art is supposed to have meaning, emotion, power, or magic. Alan & Mario "FourThirds"
It looks like you are removing the "age" field, but if by chance you were keeping it perhaps members could enter their date of birth and the system could automatically keep it up to date. Maybe if the member wanted they could make the don public.
Yes I was going to do exactly that. I just left it off this version because I'm still not sure of what fields to keep and which to get rid of. We can probably make the "age" field take up less space anyway:
I have the "journal" system such that it works: my profile. I decided to use uploaded images as the journal entries, so I guess that would make it a photo journal.
Birthdate [66 ][ |v][Feb|v][ |v]
I imagine the above has not yet been completed? Please explain what will be contained in boxes 1, 2 & 4.
Gender [ ]
If you are looking to save space, I have doubts as to the need for all that space for Gender!
Time Format [day/month/year|v]
I believe Time should be Date?
As for the Photo Journal... I see the need for a post of a 'self-image' with the info we wish to have visible to all. And of course it may be modified whenever we wish. It should work!
Happy days are here again... nothing like more work to brighten a day! :o)
Ah! So fine! I see that if the Date Format is changed to MM/DD/YY the Birthdate format does not change with it... :o)
I know... TOUGH! No one can have everything! Nothing is perfect! Don't forget to get some sleep! :o)
Very nice! I like the idea of a 'photo journal'. Allows the user to feature an image that has special meaning or perhaps they used some editing technique that one can share with other members (photography, fractal, CGI, manipulation).
A few questions...
I see you dropped the personal website info. Is this something that can be added to a journal entry?
Is there any limit to the number of images added per journal entry or is it 'one' per journal entry?
Is there the possibility to feature another member's image / works (with permission, of course). Perhaps a member wants to recognize an artist for whatever reason.
Just some ideas.
Then, thank you *caedes for your time & work ... the page looks like it is coming together.
K ~ If I think of anything else, I shall make mention of it. ;-)
Because of Danika's few questions... I tried to display one of her pics in my Photo Journal... here is what happened...!
And what happens if I do this...? It doesn't work! I copy pasted a try to get a thumbnail of Danika here and only the code appeared with the link... plus I could no longer edit the text. I could, however, by backing-up to the previous page.... phew! Only a link to another's image can be safely installed... unless somebody who knows html coding tries this. :o)
*caedes... should you wish to see what I tried to paste... let me know and I will PM it & surrounding code to you! :o)
Well, I'm a little confused - when I went to my profile page over there, I couldn't ADD a journal, it just pulled up my most recent uploads and used those as my Journal entries, with only the option to edit them or remove. Would removing them there remove them from my gallery? Same for editing - would I be editing commentary in my journal about those images, or on the image in my gallery?
Will it be possible to post images in journal entries that haven't been uploaded to the gallery? While I like journal entries, I think it also makes alot of sense to have a blank "about me" (or whatever) paragraph space as there was in the previous version for info that's not going to change (like ya know - how many kids I have, what I do to pay the rent, etc).
Check out the new profile page design.