generally i know that of the 3 front page pics the ones on the left are the newest. i'm thinking that not all photos ever get on the front page and i am wondering what the selection method is. other photos seem to reappear on the front page quite often. i'm not complaining just curious. i've been looking through the new photos and wondered if they all get a shot at the front page. thanks.

You are correct, Jen, on the note of the two out of the three Featured Images appearing on the front page ... and on the left-hand side/slots ... are indeed 'new' images. Not yet in the 'permanent' galleries.

'Permanent' being a bit of misnomer, in that images in the permanent collections are periodically culled.

Then, the one remaining image in the right-hand featured image's slots ... is, indeed, from the permanent galleries.



"How does an image become a 'Featured Image'?"

Simple. By that of a higher than average C-Index rating or score achieved through the voting booth process. (Typically in the high 60's and above.)

This number has changed/been adjusted from time to time.



"Are there any changes under consideration for the "Featured Images"?

Short answer, yes. Expanding the number, allocating slots to differing genres of art ... i.e. CGI, fractals and then of course, that of photography. (Might be one or two other categories that could be delineated that I've missed here. Rest assured that they are present and accounted for in the changes under consideration.)


"When?"

Have to be patient, no decisions have been made as of this writing here. Not that this is not necessarily a priority item, given that the front page is what most/some visitors encounter firsthand in perusing the site ... simply put, other things are on the plate currently. The site's Code has to be addressed/tested, et al ... to implement any changes on this front.




"Once an image is 'featured', for how long is it 'featured'?"

Can't quote me on this, however forging ahead ... I am under the impression by observation only ... that in a 24 hour time frame, there is a group that might make an appearance one, or twice, more? ... in that time window.

I.e. Three for a short time interval, next three, and then the next three ... rotating to fill the entire and overall time measure/frame assigned by the site's code ... before the next group is introduced.

Believe the idea is randomize the times to give each image a chance to appear on the front page through varying times of the day to guarantee a fairly broad exposure for any featured image.

Bearing in mind the international flavour of the membership, yet alone that of the visitors to the site.




Have to be patient for *caedes himself, or perhaps someone else in the definite know ... to come along and flesh out/correct anything that I erred on in the above.

thanks so much, les. very well explained. i feel sorry when people say that they've never had a picture on the front page.

We don't send notifications when an image is on the front page, so the only way an author would know that their image was there would be to check the page every 15 minutes or so.

thanks. i was reading the comment someone made yesterday and they commented that they had never seen one of their photographs on the front page so i wondered. i had always thought that the front page pictures left and center were totally random.

Les said: ""How does an image become a 'Featured Image'?" Simple. By that of a higher than average C-Index rating or score achieved through the voting booth process. (Typically in the high 60's and above.) This number has changed/been adjusted from time to time."

Does that restriction also apply to permed images?

In a word ... no.


Not sure of the site's coding and exact mechanism of the randomization and selection made for that spot/slot of the "Featured Images", referencing those from the permanent galleries.


/\ In case anyone was wondering or had the thought to ask about the 'age' factor.

Personally, I've seen all years represented (more or less) on the front page on this note and for that one spot/slot.