Your thoughts and ideas.

[Rob8891]

WOW !

Kind of sums it up in one word really !

" Improve "

Well that's not really the word but I wish I had written that post , welcome back Rob 8891 , I missed you

Thanks, Goompa, but you're making one MAHOOSIVE assumption there.....

[MJP]

Completely agree with Robbie. Apart from the being in awe of the MJP bit. MJP has lost what little inspiration, vision and skill the ass clown even had.

[Goompa]

Still got the Moobs though ?

you can always borrow half of the five-eighths of frig all I have Mikey !

just saying ...

Cheers

[Rob8891]

Completely agree with Robbie. Apart from the being in awe of the MJP bit. MJP has lost what little inspiration, vision and skill the ass clown even had.

You and me both, pal. Which reminds me.... I must get Mrs R to dust the cameras sometime......

[MJP]

Still got the Moobs though ?

you can always borrow half of the five-eighths of frig all I have Mikey !

just saying ...

Cheers

The weight problem blew up seriously bad post Christmas. I'm like Professor Sherman Clump.

[Rob8891]

Still got the Moobs though ?

you can always borrow half of the five-eighths of frig all I have Mikey !

just saying ...

Cheers

The weight problem blew up seriously bad post Christmas. I'm like Professor Sherman Clump.

Idea for a new thread....weight loss techniques in TVF members??

[rhythmworx]

Refer to rule #1

[MJP]

Still got the Moobs though ?

you can always borrow half of the five-eighths of frig all I have Mikey !

just saying ...

Cheers

The weight problem blew up seriously bad post Christmas. I'm like Professor Sherman Clump.

Idea for a new thread....weight loss techniques in TVF members??

There's an entire sub-forum dedicated to it.

[shaggy1969]

Wow, thank you !!!........some great posts again today,plus we rolled over into a second page without any dummies being spat out....

Rob & Phra Ek

Quality posts from you both.

The sub forums are more difficult to obtain than I had imagined,but believe me I haven't given up on them and will pursue them until I get my hands slapped.

As for the new threads.....well,I don't believe there is a limit on the amount of threads that can be started in the main photography forum.So get them started,bring

some new life and hopefully some fresh blood (not literally) to the forums.

I still haven't given up on the 'Best shots' gallery either,but again I need some support from the higher ranking Moderators.

At the end of the day folks it is down to us all to make the best use out of our own Photography Forum.So lets make it the best on the net!!!

[Rob8891]

It's more than a bit disheartening to see so few members replying to Shaggy's request for honest opinions on the forum, although I hope if you won't post openly, then you've at least sent him your opinions in PMs.

C'mon folks! Shaggy is trying hard to get this forum revitalised and he can't do it on his own. Get your heads out of your <viewfinders> and give the guy your help and support....Don't be so beige and keep plodding on same same!

Edited April 1, 2015 by Rob8891

[sunshine51]

Still got the Moobs though ?

you can always borrow half of the five-eighths of frig all I have Mikey !

just saying ...

Cheers

The weight problem blew up seriously bad post Christmas. I'm like Professor Sherman Clump.

Idea for a new thread....weight loss techniques in TVF members??

On hot days...wear black clothes, carry 15 kilos of gear, drink only water (NO BEERS),

and walk. Step 2....stay off the keyboard & outta aircon. Be out taking pictures instead!

[mrhitchens]

I have sent some suggestions to shag, though one of the main problem is that as a member I an not allowed to update/edit my own thread, I have spoken to the admin staff and seems Its not possible

[mrhitchens]

My other suggestions were the following

I would say create a Flickr group or something similar for TV, as all photographers like to be published, maybe work it as a photo of the day, best image gets added to TV Flickr group.

Threads where users are posting their images are kinda messy, renaming the threads like the following would give the forum a cleaner look and easier to navigate, especially for new users.

Street

People

Abstract

Nature

Architecture

Macro

Cityscape

Waterscape

Add the usual "Introduce yourself" Thread, also give users a place where they can get something from TV

an example is a place where you can share presets etc

The problem is that the forum is only being used to post images, seems everything else is being done via the PM

[Rob8891]

I agree with what you're getting at Mr H....that would simplify things a lot,..... and having a discussion thread(s) would allow more interaction between users. Maybe if we could have had a hierarchical structure to the photo threads it would have been good to use your headings and then possibly have separate threads beneath them...but I don't think TV can be re-structured like that. Nevertheless, I hope it could be explored and considered by the powers that be.

[mrhitchens]

I agree with what you're getting at Mr H....that would simplify things a lot,..... and having a discussion thread(s) would allow more interaction between users. Maybe if we could have had a hierarchical structure to the photo threads it would have been good to use your headings and then possibly have separate threads beneath them...but I don't think TV can be re-structured like that. Nevertheless, I hope it could be explored and considered by the powers that be.

I have had a lot of experience with forums and its a simple task for a admin or moderator to rename and merge threads, keeping the board simple it the way to go in my option

[MJP]

I agree with what you're getting at Mr H....that would simplify things a lot,..... and having a discussion thread(s) would allow more interaction between users. Maybe if we could have had a hierarchical structure to the photo threads it would have been good to use your headings and then possibly have separate threads beneath them...but I don't think TV can be re-structured like that. Nevertheless, I hope it could be explored and considered by the powers that be.

I have had a lot of experience with forums and its a simple task for a admin or moderator to rename and merge threads, keeping the board simple it the way to go in my option

I never found the controls very easy, used to get horribly confused.

[MJP]

We we're all in the same place, whenever that may be, how about a Mekong river cruise up to Luang Prabang?

[Tywais]

I agree with what you're getting at Mr H....that would simplify things a lot,..... and having a discussion thread(s) would allow more interaction between users. Maybe if we could have had a hierarchical structure to the photo threads it would have been good to use your headings and then possibly have separate threads beneath them...but I don't think TV can be re-structured like that. Nevertheless, I hope it could be explored and considered by the powers that be.

I have had a lot of experience with forums and its a simple task for a admin or moderator to rename and merge threads, keeping the board simple it the way to go in my option

The option is there but we are no longer allowed to rename or merge threads. It creates havoc with search engines by breaking links and damages TV's rating by the 404 errors that it will generate from failed links in the search. TV is high up the Google food chain and it can damage it's SEO ratings. It can actually lose us members by no longer being a reliable search result source. Also any article that goes out in the newsletter, the link will also break by renaming or merging topics.

[Ace of Pop]

Oh Dear, im that confused i cant understand any of this. .Not that it surprises most here.

[MJP]

We need a babble thread. A thread where I can just babble away in the corner like a big stupid baby all dribbling and wotnot.

Kind of a thread equivalent of a padded cell.

[Rob8891]

We need a babble thread. A thread where I can just babble away in the corner like a big stupid baby all dribbling and wotnot.

Kind of a thread equivalent of a padded cell.

I guess you could have this one when we've sorted out Shaggy's request....it'll save you the stress of finding a new corner...."stupid baby- dribbling"... Jeez...I still think of you as Benny Hill!...maybe same same, but different...

Mekong cruise is quite a neat idea...we'll maybe have wait for some water in it, or it'll be a long walk. We went down river to Luang Prabang last Songkran (BAD idea), lots of photo ops..... There's a Laos thread from last year which I flooded with mediocre pics.

A cruise....Hmmmm....anyone breaking forum rules gets keelhauled..... GREAT IDEA MJP

[sunshine51]

^^^ Rob...Keelhauled at low water...OUCH!

[Fiddlesticks]

Hey Shaggy i crawled out from under my photographic rock for a short while.

I received a PM from my buddy MJP asking where the heck I have been hiding and asking if I had any suggestions that I thought might add more interest to the photog forum. I have to say that I think some of the suggestions made here are very good and I would like to add my two satang. Here is a suggestion I made to MJP and after thinking about it more I wanted to run it by you and see if it is practical. Anyway, here goes (this is a copy paste from my PM with MJP):

It seems that many folks do not spend time on the Photog forum and this may be because many do not know about it. However, I was surprised to see that people are VERY interested in the local forums such as the Chiang Mai forum, CR forum, HH forum, etc. I say this because i am able to track the number of viewings of my images on the TV forums and the majority come from the local forum posts. For example, the images I posted on the Hua Hin Images forum thread have been up there since mid-April of last year and to date, they have had more than 6,600 views. Now if those people viewing had been "directed" to the Photog forum rather than the local image forum thread, we may have seen considerably more awareness and activity on the Photog forum.

So, here is my suggestion. Get with the powers-to-be on TV and propose that a thread be placed on each of the local forums for images for those local areas BUT make it a LINK back to a thread on the Photog forum where a local image thread for each local area be constructed and maintained. This directs the local area traffic back to the photog thread gaining it activity and, hopefully, more interest. The TV honchos need to understand that it is the folks on the photog forum that are responsible for most of the local forum images in the first place.

[shaggy1969]

Hey Shaggy i crawled out from under my photographic rock for a short while.

Hello mate,long time no see.......you've been missed!!

A great suggestion and I will pass the link to your post on to the powers that be after I have finished this post.

Btw,blow that rock up and come out into the sunshine.....the world is a much brighter place with you in it!!

[samuijimmy]

Perhaps time to revive this thread again,

But first off we need to thank Shaggy for all his time and effort heading up the Photo Forum, I think for about a year.. and doing his best to get things improved with a lot of enthusiasm ....Thank you, Shaggy!

It's not an easy job, I knew it would be very time consuming before taking it on... I know the hangs on waiting for pages to load on the Forum, have not made it easy for some of us this week... It certainly has not made my job starting off easy at all waiting several minutes for pages to load... Going by PM's it affects some more than others, I don't know why...

I think I'll start with this post from Rob8891 from page 2... Perhaps needs a re read...

An excellent post and I quote it here:

Posted 2015-03-31 16:21:02

POPULAR

I am probably going to ruffle more than a few feathers with this post, but it is not aimed at anyone in particular, I am making general observations and expressing my honest opinion. If you are of a nervous disposition, or have an egg-shell ego, you'd better not read any further!!

I left the forum intending to take a short break when I was fed up with some nonsense here....now, I am not so sure it will be a short break. I have to admit, I miss some of the content and various interaction, but to me, the whole forum lost its pazzaz and became very stale. I'll try to elaborate and then try to make some positive contributions. If you intend to read on, 1) remember the health warning above, and 2) get comfy, cos this will probably be a long Rob rant.... You have been warned...

What do I perceive as being wrong with the forum?

• INANE COMMENTS: Some posters continually post seemingly irrelevant and nonsensical comments between photos: often, these comments make no sense whatsoever - (probably not even to the poster him/herself). It is a big turn-off having to wade through that crap. KanWin tried to get people to agree to have a chat thread or sub-forum, but folk just don't seem interested, they continue to put their messages to one another into the photo threads.
• PERSISTENT OFF-TOPIC POSTS: Some folk slap photos into any old thread without any apparent thought for relevance. Why?
• IGNORING POSTING GUIDELINES: Poor formatting destroys screen displays for most of us. It is just bad netiquette (and that's probably bad spelling).
• OFFENSIVE COMMENTS: Before I bailed, I brought this up publicly, and in a PM comments to the offenders and to the mods on using the 'report' button. There is just no need for it in a forum that has been otherwise very positive. This is totally out of order and darkened the forum. To me that was the beginning of the end of the enjoyment for me.
• SAME SAME PHOTOS: Not everyone can create first-rate stuff like some of the posters, but for the love of God, the amount of repetition in some threads is almost mind-numbing. One solution is to avoid even looking at them, (which is what I usually do), and that appears to be the only solution, but it is made almost impossible by the next point......
• FLOOD POSTING: Some posters seem to try to post into every thread every day, and generally without contributing much new, if anything at all. Quality beats quantity any time IMO, but obviously some folk would disagree - that is their right.
• THREADS ARE STALE: How much longer are people going to post the same old stale photos of *****, *****, and *****, for example, into the same old stale threads? These threads need to be locked - killed off - to encourage people to put some thought into their photography. Again Kanwin has tried to start a new thread, but it seems few people were willing to give him much support. I see Sunshine has made some reasonable suggestions in this thread...He's a good guy and deserves to be heard: I hope his suggestions come to fruition... MJP's too (except for the offer of his moobs)... **

OK...now I am sure I'm going to get blasted for some, if not all, of that. If you are offended, I'm sorry, but perhaps I hit on a nerve? That wasn't the intention, but if it generates discussion, that's no bad thing. I have not taken a swipe at anyone: if you feel hurt, maybe you recognise you're guilty!

What do I see as ways forward: (in my opinion, that is!)

• This forum has a huge reserve of talent, skill enthusiasm and experience, but it is shackled (IMO) by stale and technically & artistically limiting threads that don't encourage people to let their talents expand and don't let us learn from each other. Take one example...the Umbrella thread (my thread so I'm safe here!). There is no scope really to get people to be imaginative or to use great skill. It's a filler...a bit of fluff to have my name on the start of a thread....I guess we could substitute any other single-word threads here too....*****, *****, *****, *****, ...the list goes on. Go and look at just page one of the list of threads to see what I mean.
• An "Ignore Thread" button. Can we have such a facility whereby we can hide threads that really have no appeal whatsoever, so that we can enjoy the rest?
• We need some short-life threads where people have to go out and try to get the shots. One example could be "Songkran 2015" (a lousy example but it should illustrate what I am getting at). It can't run for long, won't get stale and then people can move on to another topic without getting bored. It allows for some dynamic situations where human photography - traditional street stuff, if you like - is encouraged.
• Another idea on the short-term thread would be to have a topic of the month, (chosen by a mod )
• Take stupid comments out of the photography threads. Use a chat thread or sub-forum...get a room, whatever! Get inane comments out of the photo threads once and for all and leave then free for photos and relevant photographic questions/comments
• Explore the possibilities of the sub-forums suggestion, then, if someone wants to post inane comments, or floods of certain photos, they are free to do so: those who want to see that can, and those that don't won't. A great solution, MJP, except how many sub-forums can we expect of TVF...and think of the modding implications! (Shaggy writes his resignation in anticipation....)
• Respect for forum posting guidelines....etiquette and formatting. This only really applies to a very few people, but their impact is disproportionately negative.
• Everyone should start thinking of new topics Ideally short-term) to revitalise the forum...topics where technique is used much more: topics that demand us to think and experiment, or at the very least tax our skills so that we improve. There are some incredible photographers amongst us, and personally, I'd like to see more of their best work. DAL for one, Goompa, Shaggy and MJP are just the ones who spring to mind,The first three have really blossomed in this forum - - and MJP, well.... I'm just in awe. We can learn from these guys, inter alia, but we need inspiring material or direction. Apologies to other top-flight folks for not highlighting you too.
• The idea of a TVF Toggers Together meeting has scope and is to be applauded, but I wonder how many folk would be excluded because of being out of country? It is well worth exploring nevertheless...maybe it could lead to an exhibition of members' shots at the time?
• I suggest that we have new sub-forums for each of the countries of SE Asia. This would allow us to show what we have seen elsewhere and to learn about other areas we have yet to see...encouraging travel, or at the least to see certain sights when we get the opportunity to travel. Educate each other!
• That reminds me of Harrry's request a long time ago, which I echoed in posts several times...and which someone mentioned in this thread. Put locations on photos of interesting places (not where you saw a tuktuk, etc, but where landscapes, special townscapes, festivals, etc are).
• Technical info on tricky photos...YES PLEASE! We can really learn from that, and that is the essence of the togging forum, surely.

That's all I can think of to try to make positive suggestions... maybe more will come later.

If I have managed to offend anyone (anonymously!!), feel free PM me.

Finally, good luck with the forum! I hope it goes from strength to strength."

End of quote.^

OK guys and girls.... let's have some fresh input, ... ideas for some changes, some threads I think and some others think, based on PM's , are not attracting much interest even though they are used a lot for posting ... but is the quality there?

Let's be honest.... almost same same every day and obviously not helping the forum with reasonable to good quality images. Please don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting it turn into a professional photographer's site... I have often said it is about showing images "Life in Thailand" ... but perhaps on some threads, "less is more" ?

We have some great photographers around, some of us are still learning ... and with the help of knowledgeable members some will help some improve...

Just to throughout one idea, perhaps weekly or bi weekly themes.. (sorry no prizes!) but something to make us work on some new or different challenge... ?

OK over to you all... Feedback time...please!

or perhaps I should run for the hills!

Jim

[FracturedRabbit]

In the absence of any feedback, and based on the suggestion from another ex-member who has currently given up posting images; I propose the following.

All existing threads, with the exception of the monthly competition, be closed (but still available for viewing). Most topics have been done to death anyway.

Each member is encouraged to add a new thread titled with his/her name into which they can post their own photos. This means that we can all view the photos of people whose photos we enjoy, and ignore the photos that we don't. Plus, this makes it easier for family and friends of the contributor to follow their photos. Only the person "owning" that thread can add photos, but other members can comment/like.

The current focus on "topics" is clearly not working. People don't follow the intention of topics ("What I saw" is an example of an interesting challenge which was completely ignored after the first few posts and it descended into the usual "anything goes"), and many topics are just swamped with repetitious images presented with little thought. Moving to a focus on photographers allows us to view the work of people we enjoy, irrespective of what subject they are capturing.

Other topics can be started; but any deemed flippant or not in the spirit of photography can be removed by the mod as he/she sees fit. Any new topics started will be closed after one month of postings so we don't repeat the current situation where we have 2,000+ photos of pickups in a single thread.

It's a big change, but if we want to return this to a photography forum; maybe this would help?

I'm off to my bunker now. Fire away!

[Assurancetourix]

That's a good idea FracturedRabbit;

I have sent a MP to Jimmy about an idea like this one;

I like to cycle nearly every day aroung my village in Issan;

when I write " around" it's between 50 and 120 kilometers a day !

For example since three or four days, I'm cycling especially on red roads, in the middle of nowhere ...

where there are so many rubber trees and cassava and still sugar cane ...and no cars or trucks ;

sometimes two or three dogs who want to run and play with my calves , I stop always and try to speak with them in lao; I'm sure they like what I say because they stop to bark and sometimes like to approch me so i can carress them ...

I shall begin a subject which name will be :

my MTBike balade in Sakon Nakhon province.

[FracturedRabbit]

That's a good idea FracturedRabbit;

I have sent a MP to Jimmy about an idea like this one;

I like to cycle nearly every day aroung my village in Issan;

when I write " around" it's between 50 and 120 kilometers a day !

For example since three or four days, I'm cycling especially on red roads, in the middle of nowhere ...

where there are so many rubber trees and cassava and still sugar cane ...and no cars or trucks ;

sometimes two or three dogs who want to run and play with my calves , I stop always and try to speak with them in lao; I'm sure they like what I say because they stop to bark and sometimes like to approch me so i can carress them ...

I shall begin a subject which name will be :

my MTBike balade in Sakon Nakhon province.

If we went with this revised system, your thread would be "Assuancetourix's Photos". You could then add descriptive text "my MTBike balade in Sakon Nakhon province".

[Assurancetourix]

Ok FR, waiting for the Moderation if they will do as you suggest .

For the moment there is the line " my MTBike balade in Sakon Nakhon province. " ..

[samuijimmy]

OK guys and girls!

I have had a few PM's as well, with some suggestions,/ ideas etc....

Let's try and get a few more before possibly upsetting the "apple cart" and doing anything too rash!

A fresh approach may be the way to go... but I do not want to upset too many loyal members, but I think some changes maybe needed...

Just being away from this a couple of days, there is a bit of catching up to do for me...

I don't want to become a "dictator" or just "sit on the fence".... it's your forum....

Either PM me or if anyone wishes to make a public statement of ideas, please do so here!

Perhaps good to discuss some ideas first...

Just an idea I have been mulling over, I did mention before, is challenges, perhaps of things we may not usually photograph, or different short term topics of the same???

Up to you!