POTD Guide: Input, Please

[RHVC59]

Dale
Thank you for your willingness to take on this task, your persistence in getting it done, and your tutorials. The flicker one is great.

As for the exif data, sometimes I need to just type it in as I am shooting with a few older lenses, which do not record communicate shot data to my camera body. So I appreciate having a "correct" format to record the data in m posts.

Again, thanks for your time and effort at improving our community!

 

[Designer Dale]

This is what I have to go with as on now. I think it covers most of what we have been able to agree on. The tutorials currently online are drafts. I have finalized the following: Uploading Flickr/ImageShack; How to Quote/Multi-Quote. I am working on How to Edit. Thanks all for the encouragement.

Welcome to the Users Guide for Photo of the Day. The POTD thread was the idea of iGary, and was first posted in May, 2006 it was converted to a monthly thread in November 2007 by Arn. POTD is one of the most popular picture groups on MacRumors and often exceeds 500 posts and 20,000 views per month.

Photo of the Day is meant to be a showcase for your best pictures. There is no limit to your gear, just your imagination. P&S and film cameras are welcome along with DSLRs. There are no themes like the Fortnightly Challenge and Weekly Contest. No winners (or losers), either.

Policies

*One Photo per Day - Don't post multiple images in one message.

*Quote with Thumbnails - If you quote an image that has tags, convert them to [img] tags before replying. This will post your comment with a thumbnail and save space. Failure to [img] in quotes is quite a problem at this time. Let's fix that.

*Multi-Quote - To comment on several photos, click the Multi-Quote button. This puts all your comments in one post. The Moderators like that. Observe the [img] policy here, too (especially).

*SFW (Safe for Work) only - This is a site - wide rule. If you wouldn't show it in a public place, then it's NSFW (not safe for work). Think before you post.

Optional - Describe your photo.Tell what it is and where you took it. If you know the EXIF data of a photo, include it. The following EXIF fields are recommended:
Camera; ISO; Focal Length; Shutter/Aperture; Lens.

For step-by-step procedures there are PDF guides in the works.



Dale (aka: Designer Dale)

 

[pdxflint]

I'm agreeing with you on the sizing... and it actually reflects what I was trying to get out... since most dSLR's are 3x2 ratios (same as 35mm) and most other formats are more like 4x3 or 16x9 (point 'n shoots) or basically any shape depending on crop... by simply limiting the "long" side of any shot to 1024px, you'd wind up with an average posted image size of 1024 x 680 (3x2,) or 1024 x 768 (4x3,) or 1024 x 576 (16x9) in the horizontal landscape mode.

Now if you just rotate them for portrait... they're still the same size, so no need to have two different procedures for landscape vs. portrait.

Your proposal of 680 wide for portraits would be basically the same thing. What I meant by limiting the "width" was perhaps slightly misspoken... what I meant was limiting the longest dimension to 1024px will basically take care of the other dimension automatically.

Anyway, you have the patience of a saint...!! (Which was a great song by an obscure band called Electronic way back in the early 90s, BTW. )

 

[Phrasikleia]

Limit yourself to a maximum of the following fields:
Camera; ISO; Focal Length; Shutter/Aperture; Lens.

Do you really think a limit on shooting info is necessary? For example, people may want to share strobist information. Perhaps you could have it say something like, "The following EXIF fields are recommended:"

what I meant was limiting the longest dimension to 1024px will basically take care of the other dimension automatically.

I'm a fan of simplicity, so I think this is a very reasonable suggestion.

 

[Designer Dale]

Thanks all. See my edit. For now I am going to go without any size guidelines. Posting without tags is not really approved of on MR as pointed out by gnd. I don't want to make an official stand on that issue to begin this. Even though POTD does fly the pirate flag. Quote, multi quote and using online services are the first things to achieve. If we can just stop MQ with large images we will be making huge steps.

Please check these links for me.

[url="https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1nHFOBDdle8YTk4OWFlNTctNjA4Yy00MTcyLTg2MDYtYjUwYzgxNzdhMzJl&hl=en"]Using ImageShack[/url]

[url="https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1nHFOBDdle8Y2M4MmI5NzAtMTc1Ni00ZjI4LTg0N2YtNmQ4MDIxZjRiYmE3&hl=en"]Using Flickr[/url]

[url="http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1nHFOBDdle8MTU0Yjk4MjMtNGRhYy00MGRkLWI2ZDMtMWUwYWM2NTZmNDkw&hl=en"]Using Quote and MultiQuote[/url]

I need to know if they are public.

Dale

 

[TheReef]

Hi Dale, lookin good, they're all public.

There's a handy dashboard widget that can be used to avoid going to the ImageShack website, you simply set it up with your account initially then drag images onto the widget, they are uploaded and the direct link is copied to the clipboard automatically. It can be found on the ImageShack website

Also perhaps in the guide for ImageShack, distinguish between uploading with/without and account (you have the power to delete what you've uploaded with the former should you need to) and I think most new users would go straight to uploading without creating the account first.

 

[Designer Dale]

Thanks. I have the ImageShack Uploader but may have forgotten to mention it. I intended to mention both IS and Flickr Uploaders. They both sit in my Dock. When I signed up with IS, you had to register to use the service. Thanks for pointing out what happens if you don't have an account.

I can edit the InDesign documents I used easy enough. I need a bit of a break, though. It amazes me how much this community has been able to produce in what, a week!!!!

Dale

 

[TheReef]

Thanks. I have the ImageShack Uploader but may have forgotten to mention it. I intended to mention both IS and Flickr Uploaders. They both sit in my Dock. When I signed up with IS, you had to register to use the service. Thanks for pointing out what happens if you don't have an account.

I can edit the InDesign documents I used easy enough. I need a bit of a break, though. It amazes me how much this community has been able to produce in what, a week!!!!

Dale

Well deserved break at that

 

[Designer Dale]

It is good to go. I updated the uploader files and will turn this loose on the POTD world. Unless someone beats me to it, I will open the next thread on March, 1. That is 00:01 GMT. International Dateline. It is currently 22:47 GMT.

Dale

 

[Phrasikleia]

It is good to go. I updated the uploader files and will turn this loose on the POTD world. Unless someone beats me to it, I will open the next thread on March, 1. That is 00:01 GMT. International Dateline. It is currently 22:47 GMT.

Dale

Have you asked a moderator to turn it into a sticky? That would be very helpful, I think. Thanks again for your efforts, Dale!

 

[Designer Dale]

I wasn't sure how to do that, so thanks. I want to give it a month on page one of the thread first. I included a link to this thread for comments.

Dale

 

[acearchie]

For step-by-step procedures go to these PDF tutorials.

Using Flickr

Sorry, DesignerDale but doesn't Flickr require a link back as it's terms of service therefore some users may not realise they are breaking their terms of service if following this .PDF

Just noticed and I didn't want anyone to lose their accounts.

From Flickr
Remember! Flickr Community Guidelines specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page. (So, use Option 1.)

As seen on any "Show Sizes Photo Page" Example

 

[Designer Dale]

Thanks. Someone, possibly you, mentioned this when I first developed the TextEdit version of the Flickr guide some time ago. Thanks for the reference to the location of this statement. I couldn't find it before. Flickr says "Use Option 1", but that doesn't work posting to the forum unless I'm doing something wrong. Attaching the Flickr URL and editing the string like I have in the current guide works, but Flickr doesn't provide a How To regarding that. I will see if posting to a forum like this is what they had in mind by this rule and change it as needed.

Dale

 

[carlgo]

Nice work getting this all to work smoothly.

My concern is that those of us who just want to upload from our desktop, without accounts at remote sites, only get a cheesy little thumbnail that requires clicking to view.

I am not sure why an image imported from a remote site would be treated differently than one coming from someone's own computer.

Or, am I missing some technique? Thanks.

 

[pit29]

Nice work getting this all to work smoothly.

My concern is that those of us who just want to upload from our desktop, without accounts at remote sites, only get a cheesy little thumbnail that requires clicking to view.

I am not sure why an image imported from a remote site would be treated differently than one coming from someone's own computer.

Or, am I missing some technique? Thanks.

After you attached the picture, click on the Attachment button. There's a drop down menu showing your picture; if you click on it, it will be embedded and not show up as thumbnail.

 

[Designer Dale]

I ran a test of the above and I can't do that. I uploaded from my desktop and I get a thumbnail from the MR server. I don't see an option to change it to embedded. I think I got it. Never did that before...

No go. This is what I got. What did I do wrong?

View attachment 217035

Dale

 

[NeGRit0]

I just did it, you click the paper clip, then click the the file in the dropdown and it will insert this into your post

[ attach ]217044[/ attach ]
[I]without the spaces of course...[/I]

EDIT: @Dale when i click your attachment link i get a vBulletin Error
"Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

Maybe thats why yours didnt work...

 

[Designer Dale]

Test of stuff.

I went Select File/Upload/Preview Post/Manage Attachments Drop-down. (I couldn't do anything with the dropdown until I Previewed)



I still get a thumbnail. The image is 1203X806 @ 475K.

The hyperlink that failed in my first post was a test of linking to the photo URL.

Dale

 

[Designer Dale]

View attachment 217044

I just did it, you click the paper clip, then click the the file in the dropdown and it will insert this into your post

[ attach ]217044[/ attach ]
[I]without the spaces of course...[/I]

EDIT: @Dale when i click your attachment link i get a vBulletin Error
"Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

Maybe thats why yours didnt work...

I think we are on a different track from the guy/gal who asked this in the first place. Both of our posts here link to large images from thumbnails. carigo was wanting to post large images that don't have thumbnails without using an on-line source.

Dale

 

[pit29]

I think we are on a different track from the guy/gal who asked this in the first place. Both of our posts here link to large images from thumbnails. carigo was wanting to post large images that don't have thumbnails without using an on-line source.

Dale

Maybe that was my mistake then. I thought it was about posting a picture witthout the "Attached Thumbnail" stuff, and that works the way NeGRit0 described.
True, the image is still not full size - I didn't realize that until now.

 

[carlgo]

Thanks for all the replies and attempts. Hope someone can come up with a solution.

 

[Ruahrc]

Just another idea, do you want to give a brief outline on what is/is not acceptable as far as critiques & commentary? I must admit I don't frequent the POTD threads but is it generally acceptable to have long discussions about a photo or topic, or-given the high volume of pictures posted should the thread really be more about posting a photo to share? And if you want in-depth critiques about a particular photo, perhaps a separate thread is more approprate.

A brief comment about critiques/comments being welcome may greenlight newcomers who might otherwise be hesitant to join in.

Ruahrc

 

[Designer Dale]

^^ Been a while since I checked back here. I should maybe subscribe to my own thread.

You are correct that we do sometimes break into discussions, but I for one find them informative. They don't really take up all that much space and are more relevant than not, like the comments on technology taking the art out of photography. I was a lurker for a while before I joined in, and that would have caught my eye and assured me that POTD members were passionate about their craft.

The Welcome to POTD page is a bit bland and a short note encouraging comments would be good. I don't want it to be just a " your quotes[/COLOR]" page. It could outline what we are looking for in comments and what we would like to see in seperate threads.

Any thoughts from others?

When the Welcome was under construction, some members suggested that it become a Stickie. I put this question to the Site Comments forum and I was pointed in two directions. One was to make it a Guide and link to it, but that would move it off the forum. It could be a Stickie, but that would require that a mod elevate it to Stickie status. That's always Iffy. The best advice was from one of the Admins, Dr. Q. He suggested that we simply keep it "in house" and manage our own affairs. They prefer that, and so do I. That makes us responsible for maintaining and updating the content. That's OK with me. That would mean a pool of members willing to copy/paste the opening page from one month to the next. I'm usually able to do that, but not always. And I don't want to act like I "own" POTD.

Comments?

Dale

 

[NeGRit0]

I doubt anyone thinks you "own" that thread. I for one am impressed that you took on the role to even setup and create the guide. I wouldnt mind if you started the thread every month. Or, if someone else was to take the initiative to start it, they should also take the same initiative to copy/paste the beginning. Like how we already have it for the Weekly Contest.

 

[Designer Dale]

^ Thanks. Having it at the beginning of the thread like the Contest was what I had in mind when working on this. The opening of the Contest serves as a reminder of what is expected. If someone is out of line with comments or such, then just point them to post one. The way in which the Weekly Contest manages itself was my model when working on this.

As for me, I'm modest.

Dale