Caedes

Frequently Asked Questions

Please post suggested additions and modifications to this page in this discussion.

Is my image legal to upload? Any images which you upload to the site should adhere to the 'Images' section of the Caedes.net Code of Conduct. If you are unsure if an image is acceptable then you may upload the image with a short description asking if it is acceptable, then send a notification to an active Praetor. How can I get more exposure for my artwork? There are a couple actions you can take to get more attention for your images. The first is to be a more active member of the caedes community by commenting on other's images. If you give constructive comments people will be interested in seeing what work you have done and will probably return the favor. The second method is to ask for critique (on specific images) from members of other art-related discussion boards. Not only does this expose your work to people who would otherwise have no chance of seeing it, but it gives good exposure to caedes.net as a whole. How are the uploaded images stored? When you first upload an image it is first stored as a compressed JPEG at quality 95. For this reason it is best to upload the image in a lossless format like PNG to avoid double compression artifacts. For the resized images, they are scaled down using a "Catrom" interpolated cubic filter with blur radius of 1 pixel and saved with JPEG quality 90. What software do people use to make cool graphics? I've prepared a listing of frequently used software. Please consult this before asking about any specific software package that's not listed there. What is the Caedes Cadre and how can I join? The Caedes Cadre is a special group of valued caedes.net members. These members have made special contributions to the site either financially or in other ways. They receive a few perks. The easiest way to join the Cadre is to make a Donation via paypal on our special Donation page. How do I add my personal avatar? Here is a Tutorial on how to add your avatar. How can I put my own art on the site? Just go to our upload page, and use the form to submit your own original work. What are those symbols in front of some user's names? The symbols designate members of special groups on the site. The symbols currently in use are: What does 'HKotDA' & 'OWotGS' stand for? HKotDA stands for 'Honorary Knight of the Digital Arts' for digital artists and OWotGS stands for 'Omnipotent Wielder of the Gilded Shutter' for photographers. They are honorary titles bestowed, by the Praetor Maximus, upon outstanding members. How is 'caedes' pronounced? The short answer is that we don't really care as long as you can type it correctly. The long answer has been beaten to death on the forum: How do You Pronounce Caedes? Who are the Mods? The caedes.net team includes the Image Moderators, Forum Moderators, and the Site Administrator. How can I become a Senate member? We really only add Senate members to the caedes.net team when we see that there is a specific need (either due to the absence of a current Praetor/Consul or due to increased workload). The procedure is for the current Praetori to make nominations and then for the Praetor Maximus to make the final selection from this group. Senate members are chosen based on their level of activity on the website and their maturity in dealing with others. If you are interested in helping out as a Senate member, you should call attention to your fitness for the role by making a positive contribution to the site: leaving constructive comments on images is the best way. How do I update an image that I've uploaded? You can update the title and description of an image, but you cannot re-upload an image to take the place of an older image. This is because it could be confusing as to which version of the image people are referring to in the comments and because the old votes wouldn't necessarily be the same for the new image. If you want to change an image or update it, please just upload it as a new image and (optionally) delete the old one. Why can't I see any images on the site? The website protects itself against people who "hotlink" the images from other websites. The way it tells if you are coming from a website other than caedes.net is by checking the HTTP_REFERER HTTP header when your browser requests a page. If this header indicates that the images is being linked from a website other than caedes.net then the website will reject the request. If you see wierd images or no images at all from the site then that means that you probably have a firewall program running on your computer that is modifying the HTTP_REFERER header when your computer requests a webpage. In order for the website to work correctly you will need to turn off this feature or change the firewall setting to only delete the HTTP_REFERER header instead of modifying it. Changing this setting will have a negligible impact on your computer's security. Firewalls which can cause this problem include Norton Personal Firewall. You can test your browser to see if it is sending the correct header by going to this page. How do I make links within my comments? If you'd like to make a hypertext link within a comment that you are going to post, you can use regular HTML code to do so. For example if I was to make a link to asdf.com, I'd write the following in my comment:

Go to <a href="http://asdf.com/">asdf.com</a>.

Note that you have to use the full form of the address including the "http" part.
Can I modify my username or delete an unused username? Due to the nature of the database which runs this site, it is not a good idea to delete usernames or to rename a user's account. If you are unhappy with your current username then you should just quit using it and register a new username. Can I use these images on my website? All images are copyrighted by their creators, if you want to use an image for something other than your desktop wallpaper, you need to contact the member that created the image and ask permission to use it. Most members will give permission as long as you ask first. If a member's image is found on another site without their permission, it will be requested that the image be removed A.S.A.P.. What does 'HKotDA' & 'OWotGS' stand for? HKotDA stands for 'Honorary Knight of the Digital Arts' for digital artists and OWotGS stands for 'Omnipotent Wielder of the Gilded Shutter' for photographers. They are honorary titles bestowed, by the Praetor Maximus, upon outstanding members. What is the difference between an image "view" and "download"? For each image, we record the number of views and downloads it has received. We record a view when a person looks at the "info page" for the image (this is the page with the big thumbnail and description of the image). We record a download when a person clicks on the big thumbnail and views the image in one of the full sizes. We only record a view or download the first time a given user executes the action; multiple views or downloads by the same user do not increase the count for an image. We cannot detect when a user saves an image to their computer or sets the image as their desktop wallpaper because both these actions are possible while viewing the image full size. I can't log into my account! / I have forgotten my password! You first need to try to login to your the account using what you think is the password. If you give the wrong password, you will get a link that will allow you to reset the password. The website will send you an email to your address that is listed on the account. Following the instructions in the email will set the password and give you access to the account.