DA Photo Contest Forum / Website / DA v3

Image Statistics..........

Sunnyside Sandy — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:20:38 GMT

Hi Eric

Under the My Stuff drop down menu - can we have an Image Statistics selection added?

Or even if it was added to the My Account menu via My Stuff - My Account?

It's just so that we don't have to go into the My Account page before selecting our Image Statistics page from there.

I think I found something...

ScottyZoozie — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:22:09 GMT

that is not supposed to happen...

When having a nosey through somebody's portfolio I believe I was able to see images that are still being voted on, not just archived ones or ones that had won awards.

When you click on one image and then within that window click on "next image" it goes through the entire portfolio and not just the archived ones or the images that have won awards.

I just tried it on my own portfolio and it worked! I have one image that is not archived and has not won awards and it came up.

I believe that Eric is trying to keep everything that is being voted on under wraps until it has won an award and then it is visible. If this is the case, then there seems to be a wee oopsie with this mechanism!

Voting Incentive

Gesta — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:41:27 GMT

We all love to post and compete with our photos, but I've seen a little incentive for voters on a couple of sites which MAY help to accrue a vote or two. It may incite a little voter rivalry. or simply recognition for their contribution

It's nothing extravagant, it was simply a "Top 10 Voters of the Day" list which features the names of those who have cast the most votes on the homepage.

Just a thought

Certificates

Admin — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:34:09 GMT

I've enabled the certificates now. You can access them through your account page (at the bottom). You may need to do a refresh (CTL + Refresh) to get the links to show up. Please report any issues here.

Also, try printing and see how that works.

Close Loop on Voter Identification

wemor — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 08:33:14 GMT

Daily Awards has always been a proponent of both contest entry and voter anonymity. DAv3 has made some strong moves towards improvement over previous versions to protect the anonymity of the active contest entries. Now, most images in the voting pool are masked from view unless they have earned awards. Even if displayed, voting images are not associated with the submitting photographer. While not completely closing the contest identification loop, these steps should go a long way in curbing many members concerns about “negative individual targeted voting”.

One area that has not been addressed in DAv3 has been voter identification. While DA offers a function whereby members may choose to “unmask” and reveal their identification on the votes that they cast; the default and largest percentage of the membership choose to vote anonymously. This process is successful for the vast majority of the voters as the largest weight classification conceal individual identity within the group.

As voter’s weights gets higher, more unique numbers come into play and even if a voter chooses to vote masked their exact weight coupled to their vote is as easy an identifier as if they had chosen to vote unmasked. I made a check and I can easily identify the majority of the masked votes I have receive in the past 30 days.

A quick look of the TOP 360 rank by weight reveals 126 different voting weights. 64 of these values are unique to a single voter. Another 26 weights have only two voters there. 58 of the 85 (68%) members with weights higher than 70 points are identifiable through unique voting weight. While this may not be a problem for those choosing to vote unmasked, if the site wishes to offer the option to truly vote anonymously then this needs to be corrected.

I feel unique voting weight should be used for the ratings calculation of images but it does not need to be uniquely displayed with the vote. Instead of an exact weight a simple range indicating the approximate weight of the vote cast would be enough of a guide for information about individual votes.

Here is a count of voters within various weight ranges today that if used instead of the exact value for vote association, would go a long way to allow a voter anonymity if they should choose.

Weight Breakout

18 voters 300+
17 voters 200-299
30 voters 100-199
60 voters 50-99
69 voters 25-49
148 voters 10-24
??? voters 3-9
??? voters 2 or less

information no longer disclosed ?

Tonka — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 19:14:02 GMT

Okay so now we cannot see the votes on other's images? Or their top images? Is the automatic showing of the award small version images on the profile page due to necessity?

Just curious...thanks
:)

The Tickly Bit...........

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:18:44 GMT

If you're lucky enough to have an image that is doing well as a result of its first dozen or so votes then that's really when the excitement starts kicking in.....for me anyway!:D

It's the Tickly Bit!

However, I feel that I'm being somewhat deprived of this on the image statistics because the image's position isn't stated until it has reached the 15 vote gate. So we all have to go looking within the top 100 to find out how close/soon we are to achieving this goal. :D

Multiple Tickly Bits after 15 votes would be the ultimate for the majority of us but alas - most of us only manage the one and that's if we're lucky! :D LOL

Would it be possible to prolong our tickly bit without us having to try so hard to get there by stating an images position after 12 votes rather than 15 as is currently the case?

Some may think that showing your load at 12 votes is a little premature but sometimes if an image is particularly exciting then it's well worthy! :D LOL

:Whistling::D

Noreply@dailyawards.com

Glynn — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:08:58 GMT

When members leave comments on my work I get the usual email. In order to respond to that comment I must go to my portfolio, open up the image and then I can reply. Unfortunately, as its a little time consuming, I usually put off replying to another time - and then I forget altogether. Is there any way in which this could be changed so that I could reply to the comments directly from my email?

It's time for full disclosure

rcmannjr — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:21:35 GMT

I am plum tuckered out from voting.

I am wondering why I have to do all this voting. Because when I read about the site on the home page, or in the About page, Site Overview page or the F.A.Q. page, I am unable to see why I am getting a message saying:

You must cast more votes before you can upload more images.
You have cast xxxxx votes and received xxxxx. Please try to maintain a 1:1 ratio.
The site permits you to run a 25% deficit.

Now granted I know why....but if I were new member, I dare say I would not know why as none of this is stated anywhere except in the forums. I am not sure that is quite being up front about how the site works, is it?

Further you go on about uploads and how many I can earn and they can also be purchased and I did see something about a maximum of 50 active images? So when did that come along and how did that make it to Overview page and not the information about your not be able to upload not only because one has not voted with 25% of the amount of votes they have received but also because some arbitrary and reset ratio for total voting for this site by all members has not been met and uploading for the entire site has been 'turned off'.

Hmmmm....you are probably right not to post it where it can be seen. If I were new and wanted to join and saw all of the above, it would be a definite turn off. Perhaps some of this should be rethought. It doesn't seem all that marketable.

to-do list

Admin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:01:59 GMT

I am posting my to-do list here. I'm sure there are conversations that I haven't had a chance to go over. If there are outstanding items that need to get done on the site, please post a reference to those conversations here, or add a new item.

To Do:
Award Certificates
Add page to fetch password
VOTE button for menu
vote page to skip blocked images
Repair color of vote counter.
Favorites
Articles
Fix Article Feedback
Upload articles as HTML
Feedback Ratings
Admin Pages
How'd they do that
Work Station
Snap.com?
Map with pins

Done:
Vote counter on vote page
Drop-down menu to pick equipment
Ad Free
Challenges
help for this page
Critique
My Challenge Images Page
Delete Challenge Images
multiple sizes on full-size page
Set page titles
Photo Search
thumbnail option on myprofile.aspx page
Image Search
Test and repair comment requests
show only active or archived on myimages.aspx page

What I miss about the old DA

aurock — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:09:07 GMT

I really miss being able to easily view other photographer's images ... personally, having to click on each title to get to the image viewer screen for every image is a hassle and I find myself not perusing other 'portfolios' now. Before I could view all the award winning photos in a large enough size on the profile page and I only had to go to the image viewer page for ones I really liked and wanted to see larger. Even the possibility of having a thumbnail image on the profile page for the archived images isn't going to be as nice as what we had before IMHO.

Also, I know there was a lot of debate about the need for active images not being viewable to prevent targeted voting but I guess I had my rose-colored glasses on and didn't want to believe that such actions occurred. All I know is that (like Tonka has mentioned numerous times while the debate was going on), I think it's a shame that a LOT of purely enjoyable images that don't quite reach award level will no longer be seen by anyone ... that to me is a great loss :(

And I miss being able to see Top 100 photos (with & without awards) by category ... that was interesting to see, particulary the "without awards" page so you could see how close you might be to getting an award :P

I don't mean to sound unappreciative at all. Frankly I'm amazed at the time & effort Eric puts into the site but I gotta confess, there's a lot about the old DA that I miss already ... and I'm only a newbie :hehe:

Is this ARCHIVE or DELETE?

androgeus — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:04:37 GMT

I just wanted to archive a photo(awarded photo).

1.Entered the archiving page .

2.Press the "Archive image" button

3.Got the confirmation dialog

"Are you sure you want to delete this image?"

see screenshot

Site Voting

rcmannjr — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:41:20 GMT

I checked the site Voting stats and it showed there was over 10,000 votes for 11/19/2007. I thought that was great!!! But now I checked again it only shows 9,588? Why the discrepancy? Doesn't have anything to do with archiving or something like that, does it? Prolly not. Just letting you know.

No Access

Kiwi — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:09:42 GMT

;) Have gone in to check the scores on my OWN photos and can't. Keeps telling me that "ONly archived image or images you own may be shown" THEY ARE MY PHOTOS!

Replying to comments

Tonka — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 08:28:39 GMT

Okay, we cant click on the image name on the image stats page that shows new comments but we can click on the comment tally number..

I did this to reply to a comment left on one of my pics but got an error message..

So I am wondering how to reply to comments.?

Geez that was much quicker than expected eh?...way to go :D hope all goes smoothly..

thanks.

Archiving

rcmannjr — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:32:22 GMT

I did a bit of this yesterday, :) , but I cannot tell how much. Could we get the active archive count back on our account page as well as available upload slots....course not that it matters, still will be a while before I can upload (thanks for that start fresh part that someone suggested that was perhaps not considered ;) ).

BUGS in DA v3

androgeus — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:53:13 GMT

Every new release has bugs - I know it because I am a Software Engineer for myself.

So , here is the first one :

BUG #1

1.In the "Preferences" screen (in the "Account Options" ) , try to change from "Daily" to "Weekly" ( under "Award Notice Frequency").

2.Press "Submit" button

3. Got the error "That user name already exists."

Please check.

Occurs also for other changes in this screen.

BUG #2

In the "Category leaders" screen (by signature and standard) the name hyperlinks are missing - although are looking like hyperlinks .

In the previous version ,the links were OK.

No winners today.......

Sunnyside Sandy — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:06:45 GMT

The Home page seems to have gone and there doesn't seem to be any Category or Signature Winners today.
.

Cannot upload image in DA3

ghorse — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:18:38 GMT

Hi,

I have got the following message when I try to upload image for contest:

""You have exceeded your upload limit of5. You may do one of the following to enable uploading."

So the new system seems to use my account weight as the limit instead of account weight x 5.

Best Regards,

gHorse

Certs for everything

Gesta — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:49:54 GMT

Just a minor glitch, but on the "My Account" homepage i have "Certs" on every single image. Just thought I'd bring it to your attention

Can't view Image Stats........

Sunnyside Sandy — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:02:08 GMT

Within the Image Statistics page when trying to view images and stats from recent votes I'm getting the following error:

[b]Only archived images or images you own may be shown.[/b]

Try it out

Admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:21:58 GMT

Most of the major features of DAv3 are in place (I did not say working as I'm sure there are still some bugs). If you would, try using v3 instead of the regular site as you are online.

[url=http://v3.dailyawards.com]Link to v3[/url]

You must still upload images from the current site, but once they are in the system, you should be able to manage them in v3.

With any new images you upload, it would be a good idea to visit v3's edit image page to set your new colors. If you don't do this, images will be set to the default white background when v3 goes live.

Please report any issues you run across here. I am particularly interested in testing the voting page and the feature that hides the owner of active images from public view. I'm sure there are probably a few ways yet to figure out who the owner is and I want to be sure to clean that up before the site launches.

Thanks for your help!

Missing feature in DA v3

androgeus — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:28:18 GMT

I did not find yet a way to display the first 100 top rated pics in a specified category, a feature that was available in the previous version

Vote Ratio

Gesta — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:36:10 GMT

When I try to upload an image I'm getting a message saying that the vote ratio is too low. Does this refer to my own personal statistics or is it a "Whole Site" ratio?

I have cast over 20,000 votes - about 300 were cast yesterday, but I am still not permitted to upload? Can someone clarify this for me please? TIA

Voting Image Uploads

wemor — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:17:53 GMT

There has been some recent discussion about the number of active (voting) images members should manage in the Daily Awards Voting Pool. What do you feel is a good figure to allow for members to have active in the voting pool at any given time. Fewer images in the voting pool should produce an increased velocity in the rate of votes received per image over any period of time.

Voting is Important

rcmannjr — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:21:03 GMT

So why is there only one link to it from the contest drop down box? Why isn't there a link to vote on every page? Wasn't there a link on each account page....oh...maybe that was when the menu was all on the side...that was probably better....it was there in the open and note hidden like is now. Just a thought.

Release Notes for DA v3

androgeus — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:12:13 GMT

As a software engineer I am used to attach release notes for new releases of an existing software.

Is it possible to get the relese notes for DA v3?

You're only as good as.......

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:01:26 GMT

[b]Profile - Award Winning Image Order[/b]

Would it be possible to place award winning images in reverse from what they are now?

I think they're sorted in upload date order? Or oldest(first) winning award order?

My reasoning is that most of us are getting a bit better ......and that [i]we're really only as as good as our last DA Award winning image[/i] aren't we? :D;)

I guess the absolute ultimate would be to be able to shuffle them about as you please but that might be asking a bit much. I'm sure Eric's got enough on his plate.

.

v3 will be default soon

Admin — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:30:59 GMT

I have gotten further than I anticipated with v3 and there have been fewer problems identified than I expected so I may take v3 live soon. I know there are a number of enhancement requests outstanding, and I do have them on the list, but the core features are in place today.

If you can identify any issues that should be addressed before we make the change, let us know here. I intend to spend a few hours working on admin functions then I will revisit this thread to see what people have identified.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with the testing so far!

Challenges

Admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:29:18 GMT

The challenge system for DAv3 is nearly complete. I have reset all the votes on the previously submitted challenge ideas. If you have some time, please visit [url]http://v3.dailyawards.com/members/challenge.aspx[/url] and vote for the ideas presented. I will then activate a few of the top ideas and you will then be able to upload and vote within those challenge topics.

Some details:
- Challenge votes are weight limited to the threshold between standard and signature (presently a weight of 17)
- The challenge vote page is very basic and does not allow comments or show your last vote. This is by design as challenges are short events.
- Challenge images are uploaded separately and remain separate from the rest of DA
- Challenges are limited to subscribers.

Please post any issues you run across or comments you may have here. Thanks for helping to make v3 great!

Would it be possible...

ScottyZoozie — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 08:57:37 GMT

and I haven't read all the threads because there are too many so this may have been mentioned.

But....when looking at the stats for my images I have to keep clicking on "active" and then when I go back to my portfolio I have to click on it again. Would it be possible to have active images and archived images on separate pages???

Thanks! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I can't wait for this v3 - all the suggestions I have read sound groovy! :D

A Work Station?.......

Sunnyside Sandy — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:30:56 GMT

How about a Work Station within V3?

At the moment, we can place images so that they can get critiques. Ok, great.....but.......

How good would it be if members could submit images for the more experienced and technically advanced members to work on? Explain what software was used and how they managed to produce the end result?

Using their knowledge of certain software packages as well as their knowledge of photographic principles (e.g. not a digital art class though those options would be great too!)

E.G. You've got a potentially good image.

1) You're not really sure on the best way to obtain the most from the image.

2) So you post the image and ask for suggestions and examples. Other members can copy your image and adapt it in such a way to gain the best possible colour, composition, sharpness etc, etc, etc.

3) Anyone undertaking such an extremely helpful excercise should detail - step by step - what software they used, what functions they incorportated and basically how they obtained the final image..

4) Their final image should be posted along with all instructions.

Members would then be able to follow the process from - straight out of the camera to an enhanced and optimised image.

Final submitted images should incorporate a watermark to discourage abuse of such a system (let's face it, we don't want to work on an image only for it to be re-downloaded and posted on another site by the original poster.)

If full instructions are detailed along with the edited image then the original poster ought to be able to follow those instructions and still obtain a very similar end result to that where posted by the Doctor(Editor/Enhancer) of the originally posted image.

Hope this makes sense!?

Feel free to ask questions and I'll try and make up an answer! ;-)

Seriously though, what do you all think?

.

More for the account page

Tonka — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:58:33 GMT

Umm I just wanted to list these again for consideration..

The lock on the image page for organizing..pretty pretty please with peaches, cream a cherry and a big hug? :P

and also,,I know it is so darn lazy of me but when we type in our info for our profiles and we list our equipment..well...

when we upload an image and have to add description/question or equipment..can we have a drop down menu in the equipment box that will just auto show the stuff listed in our profile so that we can just click on our choice instead of typing it in every time..I dont even list it cuz Iam too lazy to type it in..:(...or maybe the box could automatically just list the first camera by default ?

also maybe a separate box for the lens choice..with a drop down of all lenses listed on the profile page..

Okay again, just wanted to know..:)

Advertisement Free?

Admin — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:21:16 GMT

So, I was thinking (often a dangerous endeavor) ... what if we made v3 completely free of advertisements whether you are a subscriber or not? Here are my questions for the community.

1. As a current subscriber (if you are) would you be unhappy that the site is now completely free of ads for all?

2. If you are not a subscriber, would you be more likely to subscribe knowing that the site relies completely on subscriptions?

3. Other thoughts?

Smaller Images

Gesta — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:52:32 GMT

How about reducing the maximum image size and increasing the permitted number of images allowed per member. I tend to post no bigger than 800x640. If another member posts at the maximum resolution of 2000x2000 they would effectively be using around 8 times the storage space.

This would throw more images into the voting pool and help some of the higher ranking members to attain their el legible weight points.

Just a thought

voting numbers

Flowergirl — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:04:49 GMT

I would like to see a numbering system that includes increments of .5, at least from 5-10. For example I would like to see the number system 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, and 10. Maybe that wouldn't work with the weighted system you have now, but I feel that this system is somewhat limiting. I find I am giving most pictures a 7 when I would really like to give a 7.5. I hope this makes sense. Just a thought.

Testers needed

Admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:52:08 GMT

I have changed a few things in v3 and I'd like some assistance in testing.

- You should not encounter errors when logging in any longer.
- The menu now has a delay so it doesn't disappear when you accidentally mouse off for up to 250ms.
- I have opened some more functionality.

If you have a moment, please:
-Visit [url]http://v3.dailyawards.com/members/myaccount.aspx[/url] and logon.
- Click the "Image Stats" button
-Try sorting the table (the btnwhatever comment that comes up is just for testing so ignore that).
-Next, try clicking on the rating or sig rating to view the new stats page (particularly the graphs). Does everything look OK?
-Finally, try navigating to your account page using the menu bar at the top.
-Report any issues here.

Edited to change instructions. It was invalid to go direct to the page posted.

Search tool

Tonka — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:05:05 GMT

Umm I was wondering....

If there were any plans to add a search tool to look for specific photos...maybe only one or two keywords could be listed...?..

Just a thought..:)

Survey

Admin — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:25:11 GMT

I would like to create a survey to distribute to the larger population in an effort to capture general attitudes as well as specific concerns with DA in order to integrate those ideas into v3.

What questions would you put on the survey?

Maybe things like:

- How frequently do you visit DA?
- How often do you vote?
- Do you feel you receive a fair number of votes?
- How would you rate the user interface at DA?

... Other suggestions?

How did they do that

Wacky Jacky — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 01:42:47 GMT

Any possibility of a section similar to the one in DP Challenge?

I've learnt quite a lot there and think it will really be useful.