Photos section

[suzerz]

Wonder if we could have a photos section that is only accessible to members after they have posted a certain number of times?  A photos section would be good regardless I think.

Suz

[Molly Mockford]

Technically, yes - it is possible.  I think that we need to discuss the practical application of it, though.

The basic ethos of this Forum is that it is open to everybody.  A couple of boards (health and parenting) are not visible to unregistered guests, and the admin team have a board to discuss admin stuff (don't worry, it's all deathly boring - "I've turned down another spammer" and so forth!).

At present, members acquire stars, displayed next to their posts, based on the number of posts they have made.  Before someone makes any posts, they are a Newbie (with one star, except that there are no posts beside which it could be displayed!).  When they make their very first post, they become a Junior Member, with two stars;  at 75 posts, they become a Full Member with three stars;  at 750, a Hot Senior Member with four stars, and at 1500 a Cool Hero Member with five stars.  None of these rankings confer any privileges whatsoever apart from stars.

It would be perfectly possible to set up a photos board which is visible only to, say, Full Members and above.  If members think that this is a neat idea, where would people think that the line should be drawn?  Is 75 posts too much to ask before somebody is allowed to see the board?  Should the distinction between Newbie and Junior Member be increased, from one post to (say) 25 posts, so that the line could be drawn there?

As they say in school exams:  Discuss!

[Lotus Freak]

I think having a private photo section would be great. I know people are very wary about putting public pics up for all and sundry to see and I think having a private photo board would alleviate any worries...obviously I'm not one of these people

I'm all for full members to be able to veiw the boards. It may seem excessive but by the time you post that many you become part of the community and you should in theory know the folks who post on a regular basis.

newbie= 25 posts
junior member= 50 posts
full member= 75 posts
etc...I think that break down is fair

thoughts....

[Cheap Charlie]

  Great idea.  I'm all in favour of a photos section - Howard and I talked about this when I was in the UK.  As previously posted you can find the existing pics on the board.  Quoting myself:

If you want to find posts with photographs search for jpg - all the functions of advanced search work e.g. search for pics posted by a particular user.
Oddly a search for .jpg does not work.

Simple search here.

I want the full nine yards with tagging - cars, boats, supermarkets - so that you can see all the pics on one tag.

[suzerz]

I wouldn't think people would need to have very many posts to see the photos really, but it would be nice to have a designated go to section, and one that people could feel comfortable posting photos on that they otherwise might not. 

Suz

[Cheap Charlie]

Photo test



In case anybody is wondering what I am doing I've found a simple way to tag photographs on this BBS so that they are searchable with tags.  Right click on the above photo, click properties and you will see alternate text which is searchable via the search box above.  For example search for Fuji Finepix E500, the camera used to take the pic.  Try using alternate text not included in this post, example here.  Bingo - searchable photographs with tags! 
All we need is a dialog box asking for alternate text or 'tags' when uploading photographs.  Not rocket surgery. Capeesh?

[Molly Mockford]

It's a great idea!  However, it can't be made totally simple;  in order to include the alt text, you have to insert the link to your image as HTML, thus:

Code:

<img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/rupertlt/DSCF5926s.jpg" alt="Picture, 8 Jan 2008, RLT, Fuji Finepix E500, Portugal, Caldense, Bakery" />

You can't add alt text if you use the basic forum method of inserting an externally-hosted image using BBC code, thus:

Code:

[img]http://www3.sympatico.ca/rupertlt/DSCF5926s.jpg[/img]

or if you upload an image as an attachment to your post, as I have done below.  But for those who are comfortable with typing HTML code into their posts, it can certainly work just as Rupert describes!

[Cheap Charlie]

Maybe like many geeks I am over-complicating things.  What about:



tags: Picture, 8 Jan 2008, RLT, Fuji Finepix E500, Portugal, Caldense, Bakery

Could we not have custom code [tag][/tag] which would make picture tags searchable?

Better yet could we have this?

On another matter a special plea for this.  I'm not too proud to beg! 

[Molly Mockford]

OK, what's the forum consensus?  Would people like this facility?  How useful would you all find it to be able to search for photos on a specific subject?

And which method would you all prefer?  Mentioning the subject of the photo in your post to enable an ordinary search;  or installing an unofficial Gallery modification (which claims to be compatible with the version of the software to which we will be upgrading on Thursday);  or installing a modification to wrap descriptive text around the photo (which does not claim to be compatible)?

The decision, as always, is in the hands of the members!  I'll set up a poll in this section.

[Added after:  Now done, at http://www.ukusforum.com/index.php/topic,2776.0.html.]

[wiseguy]

anyone can look at my ugly mugshot

[wiseguy]

some pictures i post i wouldnt class as jokes so sorry mods if i put them in gen chat
feel free to move them where you wish
but a picture section would be good and easier on both members and the forum staff lol