Gallery suggestion

[matt_xyz]

I think the quality of images in the gallery is extremely high and I can't get over the number of top quality images that are uploaded on a daily basis. However, does anyone else feel that the turnover of images in the bird gallery in particular is perhaps a bit too high? If you don't visit the bird gallery for a day or two there are pages of images to catch up on. Also, when you upload an image it can disappear within a couple of hours due to new uploads.

Since the bird gallery receives far more images than any of the other galleries I therefore wonder whether it would be an idea to sub-divide it into 2 or 3 galleries (or maybe even more in time). Maybe a separate category for waterfowl? Birds of prey? Sea birds? These are just off the top of my head but does anyone else feel the idea of sub-dividing the bird gallery is a good idea?

Matt

[wildone]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

Since the bird gallery receives far more images than any of the other galleries I therefore wonder whether it would be an idea to sub-divide it into 2 or 3 categories (or maybe even more in time). Maybe a separate category for waterfowl? Birds of prey? Sea birds? These are just off the top of my head but does anyone else feel the idea of sub-dividing the bird gallery is a good idea?

Matt

I seem to remember that had been suggested in the past and agreed. Perhaps everything is moving so fast that we just cannot keep up.

How about:-
Passerines
Birds of Prey
All Waterfowl and Gulls

for starters. They then could be further divided as needs be.

[matt_xyz]

It's true that the gallery editors (and Stu) seem to be very busy. I don't want to create work for anyone - maybe it can be a long term goal if it's not possible in the short term.

Matt

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

It's true that the gallery editors (and Stu) seem to be very busy. I don't want to create work for anyone - maybe it can be a long term goal if it's not possible in the short term.

Matt

Sounds like a good idea. Your right Matt. I uploaded some images yesterday, there already lost and forgotten!!

[StuartDH]

If it's OK with the editors then it's OK with me

If we can get a definitive list of sub-categories put together then I'll build them. Then it'll probably be best to put a hold on uploads for a day, while we sort them out.

Stu

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Sounds like a good idea. Your right Matt. I uploaded some images yesterday, there already lost and forgotten!!

If we're honest I think most people would like their images to stick around a bit longer!

The number of bird uploads seem to have increased in the relatively short time that I've been a member. This is obviously a good thing and shows the popularity of the site. It also shows how popular bird photography is. In the site's early days the current gallery structure was probably fine but maybe now needs some fine tuning to accommodate this rapid growth.

Matt

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by wildone

How about:-
Passerines
Birds of Prey
All Waterfowl and Gulls

for starters. They then could be further divided as needs be.

those categories sound sensible to me.

Matt

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

those categories sound sensible to me.

Matt

Sounds OK, it would help. The majority we get are obviously Passerines.

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Sounds OK, it would help. The majority we get are obviously Passerines.

hmm, it looks like 60-70% of the gallery are passerines. Maybe we could separate tits and finches from other passerines?

so how about,

Tits and finches
other passerines
birds of prey
waterfowl and gulls

[wildone]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Sounds OK, it would help. The majority we get are obviously Passerines.

How would you suggest splitting the passerines, gl?

I am just thinking Goodness help us now that we are comming into the warbler season.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by wildone

How would you suggest splitting the passerines, gl?

I am just thinking Goodness help us now that we are comming into the warbler season.

Matts Idea sound good,keep it simple. If we do as he suggested, Tits & Finches under one heading, all other Passerines under the general heading. I think that would help a lot, without making our jobs too difficult! Even I know what a Tit or a Finch is! and a large number of posts are Tits and Finches. It would at least give the others a chance to show longer.

[wildone]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Matts Idea sound good,keep it simple. If we do as he suggested, Tits & Finches under one heading, all other Passerines under the general heading. I think that would help a lot, without making our jobs too difficult! Even I know what a Tit or a Finch is! and a large number of posts are Tits and Finches. It would at least give the others a chance to show longer.

I am happy to go along with that.

[fbcpmike]

Whilst there are suggestions for reorganising the Gallery headings can I also add my ha'peth for renaming the current categories to -

Amphibians & Reptiles
Astronomy
Birds - Birds of prey
Birds - Tits and finches
Birds - Other passerines
Birds - Waterfowl and gulls
Butterflies
Caterpillars
Dragonflies & Damselflies
Insects
Invertebrates
Landscapes - Eastern England
Landscapes - Midlands
Landscapes - Northern England
Landscapes - Scotland
Landscapes - Southern England
Landscapes - Wales
Mammals
Moths
Mushrooms
Spiders
Trees & Shrubs
Sounds
The Great Outdoors
Water Life
Weather
Wildflowers
Wildlife - Foreign Nationals
Wildlife - Miscellaneous
Wildlife - Unidentified

Removes the odd "Pictures of" and "Gallery"'s and alphabetises the list.

[wildone]

Neat!

[Jon]

Originally Posted by fbcpmike

Whilst there are suggestions for reorganising the Gallery headings can I also add my ha'peth for renaming the current categories to -

Amphibians & Reptiles
Astronomy
Birds - Birds of prey
Birds - Tits and finches
Birds - Other passerines
Birds - Waterfowl and gulls
Butterflies
Caterpillars
Dragonflies & Damselflies
Insects
Invertebrates
Landscapes - Eastern England
Landscapes - Midlands
Landscapes - Northern England
Landscapes - Scotland
Landscapes - Southern England
Landscapes - Wales
Mammals
Moths
Mushrooms
Spiders
Trees & Shrubs
Sounds
The Great Outdoors
Water Life
Weather
Wildflowers
Wildlife - Foreign Nationals
Wildlife - Miscellaneous
Wildlife - Unidentified

Removes the odd "Pictures of" and "Gallery"'s and alphabetises the list.

I am still a new kid on the block so I am a little hesitant to say too much too soon. I think the above list sounds fine my only query is how do I maintain sequences, e.g.
I may want to see what new since last 24hr Suppose I get the list of all the most recent shots If I go to shot 1 and then 2 3 etc do I stay with most recent shots or do I go down a separate route to say mammals, landscape etc/ I some times find that when I try to find the most recent shots I end up going somewhere else unles I go back one step each time to see the master list. Would I maintain the thread on birds in general or would I end up going down a particular route? Or would i down one particular section of birds and then find myself in say landscape or something else? Jon

[matt_xyz]

the 'what's new?' tab in the gallery provides the latest shots across all galleries, so the latest shots are not specific to a single gallery. Presumably this wouldn't change if the galleries were re-structured.

I'm not sure whether I've answered your question?

Matt

[fbcpmike]

Originally Posted by Jon

I some times find that when I try to find the most recent shots I end up going somewhere else unless I go back one step each time to see the master list.

That's the way the "what new since last 24hr" is organised, unless you go back to it each time you will end up somewhere else. My suggestion is for the "master" headings, Ie the ones you see in the drop down list box when uploading pictures or for the Gallery page "Category / Description" headings.

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by fbcpmike

Whilst there are suggestions for reorganising the Gallery headings can I also add my ha'peth for renaming the current categories to -

Removes the odd "Pictures of" and "Gallery"'s and alphabetises the list.

I've alphabetised the categories, but moved some of the pictures, images, photographs text to the end of the category title, because it helps our search engine results - less now than the early days, but still worth having.

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by Jon

Would I maintain the thread on birds in general or would I end up going down a particular route? Or would i down one particular section of birds and then find myself in say landscape or something else? Jon

I think I know what you mean John. You view the 'newest images' page, but as soon as you click on an image, you can't forward to the next newest image - instead you go to the next image in the image's category. I think this is a bug in the gallery that we'll need to see if the techies can sort out for us.

Stu

[matt_xyz]

ah, I now see what Jon meant. Sorry Jon I didn't answer your question.

Matt

[matt_xyz]

It would appear that the rapid growth of images in the gallery is putting quite a burden on the gallery editors. My suggestion above was intended to help the organisation of images but would perhaps actually increase the workload of the editors.

Presumably one solution would be to advise members to limit their daily uploads - perhaps to 3 images rather than the current recommendation of 5-10. So although we would be uploading fewer images, the benefit is that each image would get more exposure as it wouldn't disappear down the pages so quickly. The other benefit is that if we now only upload our 'best 3' images the quality of photos in the gallery will increase even further.

This is just a thought. What do others think? Presumably the above is only necessary for the bird gallery.

Matt

[Rodosranger]

I would go along with reducing the number of daily uploads. I think thats the only feasible way of increasing exposure for our images, even 3 a day seems excessive to me, especially as the membership continues to grow. I would suggest that 1 or 2 a day be a reasonable limit.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

It would appear that the rapid growth of images in the gallery is putting quite a burden on the gallery editors. My suggestion above was intended to help the organisation of images but would perhaps actually increase the workload of the editors.

Presumably one solution would be to advise members to limit their daily uploads - perhaps to 3 images rather than the current recommendation of 5-10. So although we would be uploading fewer images, the benefit is that each image would get more exposure as it wouldn't disappear down the pages so quickly. The other benefit is that if we now only upload our 'best 3' images the quality of photos in the gallery will increase even further.

This is just a thought. What do others think? Presumably the above is only necessary for the bird gallery.

Matt

Thanks for your concern Matt. To be honest the number of images is not what takes the most time. It's having to correct the input, i.e. Common name - Scientific Name, plus keywords, comments put in the wrong box, that kind of thing.
Some of the most prolific users, to mention a few, Me! Digi, Klewis, etc. always have it spot on, so all we have to do is put a tick in a box, so no problem.
We don't expect everyone to have it perfect, and we don't want to put people off from posting if they don't know the correct names, but it makes it a whole lot easier if it is correct. It's very easy to find the correct names, you can simply search for the same image and there it is. Make sure your comments are in the Wild Life Description Box, and only Photography information, i.e. camera, lens, settings etc. in the Photography Description Box.
If everyone did this, Wildone & I could lie back and take it easy.

Please all have a look at the note posted today by Wildone on this matter.

[wildone]

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