Tim, I have both read and understood everything you've written. I'm not sure you're doing the same with what I'm writing, however. I never said that your suggestion was a bad idea or wasn't worth trying. Quite the contrary, in fact (assuming that setting things up technically to implement a trial isn't a Herculean task). Your rationale seems, on its face, sound to me. All I'm saying--and this is the third time I've tried to make this point--is that ideas that seem intuitive and sensible sometimes don't pan out when the rubber hits the road; there are frequently things that we can't anticipate that end up making well-meaning and seemingly flawless ideas fail in the end. I'm not predicting that will be the case here; merely stating that I've seen it happen countless times in the past; the worlds of business and public policy are littered with examples.

So, in the final analysis, if what you suggest can be implemented (and undone) relatively easily I think it makes good sense to give it a try and see how it goes. And with that, I'm out.

I'd like to see the ability to show images as part of a story, rather than at present having to do things in parts with only 1 image at a time every 24 hrs, the impact gets lost I feel.
Say for example to have a max limit of 4 images, even perhaps a separate category to showcase this?

Cheers
Marc

Marc--we used to have such a forum here at NSN. It died from lack of use...

-Paul

How long ago Paul? Have been a contributor here since '04.

We gave it a good try, 'Photo Essays and Montages' ran for five years, from 2004 to 2009 Marc - and as Paul rightly said, it really died from lack of use.

Another take on the "annonymous comments" idea.
IMHO, people who consistent, diligent and thoughtful in their comments should be recognized by all, and I think those people may inspire others to do the same. Perhaps if they also receive more comments on their own work, it is justly deserved, and maybe makes for a general feeling of camraderie . This scenario raises to bar for comments in general (hopefully). For instance, if someone posts a lot but rarely comments, (an ongoing problem in any forum on any site)- anonymous responses would mean no one would know that. As a moderator, I might be able to see that this is the case, but I would not want to have to play police or spend my time finding out how things are going in that regard. How could such a person be encouraged to comment? Although I think this is totally impractical if not impossible, I'd rather see some sort of requirement that 3 (thoughtful, meaningful, helpful.....) comments be made on other people's work before you can post a new image. Yeah, I know. I can see the flames. Just a comment on comments, not a real suggestion. Errr... maybe just a hint.

I did not read all the previous posts but if possible the permission to be able to present a sequence or a bunch (eg. no more than 5-6 pictures) of photos.

This is sometimes interesting to be able to present a whole sequence or a selection of shots.

There are two main issues with NSN IMO

1) There is no critique anymore, for me personally I don't see much incentive for posting here versus say Fred Miranda or even photo.net if the purpose is to just showcase or get "great shot mate" comments those forums gets you more comments So maybe start a new forum called "Avian image critique" for people who are interested in professional and honest critique.

2) 800 pixel posting size is too small for display/critique IMO.

As for anonymous comments I think it's a terrible idea, I for one would leave the site if this materializes.

Excellent, an honest opinion So can you tell us why it is a "terrible" idea, and why you would leave if it was implemented? We can't honestly say what it would be like or how it would impact things until we see it in operation for a short trial period. I can say that I know quite a few excellent photographers who have left NSN because of the way it is now. You may be right, and it won't work, but at least I am trying to suggested a viable option that "may" work. So far I don't think that anyone has given a good reason why it is a bad idea and won't work.

I saw how it worked on photo.net several years ago, and that's why I left that site. After a while you get all of those nonsense "anonymous" comments on your photos and the mods have to spend their time reading and deleting them It opens up the way to spam...If you are going to make a comment you better stand by it. Maybe it's best to split the avian forum into two forums one for "showcase" and one for "critique"

Ultimately it's up to the ownership to decide...

As for anonymous posting of comments, obviously some are for it and some are not. Of course the happy compromise would be to have an option button: "OK for Anonymous Comments". Some sites have these option buttons such as "Image Editing OK" if form members want others to re-edit their posted images.

Hi Tim

Just curious what makes you feel my suggestions above are not "good reasons" ? Not arguing, just curious-it might help to clarify what the "good reasons" are.

I am sorry Cynthia . . . . I did read your post, and I guess when I first read it, I saw it as more defending the way we have it now, rather than why my suggest would not work. After re-reading, I see that you do make some good points as to why you think it might not work. I guess my thoughts for anonymous comments was based mostly on the unbalanced comments to images at the BIRDS forum. Having been a moderator for a couple of years, and having talked to many people behind the lines over the years (most who have left the site or rarely post now) I got the sense that this was a more serious issue than many will believe. Maybe it's not, and maybe my suggestion would make things worse. I guess I am more of a "half glass full" person, and don't see things going as sour as some of you suggest it would. I can't see why it would open up to harsh comments and spam, but maybe I am just too optimistic about people. I also do not see it as having to police the forums any more than you do already. For me, I would see no change at all if I posted an image under my name with all of my contact info, and then received comments on that image without knowing who the comments were from. The way it is now, there are groups of "friends" who comment on each others images, but rarely comment on others. It develops into an "I like this person, and hate that person" mentality. Speaking for myself, I know for a fact that there are people who will never ever comment on one of my images, no matter what it is or how good it is. I tried to avoid falling into the trap, but after awhile you get sucked into it so that now I will never ever comment on their images. I use myself as an example here, because I know these for facts, but I assure you, this is happening with the majority of people who post at the BIRDS forum. If everyone was to be honest with themselves, how many times have you been annoyed and thought about just leaving and never posting again? For me this is many times. So, because I do believe NSN is the best photography forum on the net, I was simply trying to think of ways that might work around this. Since it appears that people feel this suggestion will not work (without giving it a try), I will give up on trying to change things and just let it go on as it is. &

As touch screen devices will only grow in popularity for web browsing, please make sure the new forum design considers the physical placement of navigation links and action buttons. Today links they are closely spaced and easy to tap the wrong one, as are some buttons. It will be a compromise with aesthetics and grouping things so they are easy to find, to place more space between links and buttons. At least some key functions should be isolated to minimize accidental activation, for example submit and delete buttons.

How about a forum for learners / newbies? I know when I started posting on forums I had spent quite some time "lurking" before I felt happy to join in, and this could be the case for many others.
I might of joined in earlier if there had been a new member / learner forum. It wasn't the quality of my shots that worried me, just making that jump into forums with regular users.
I'm sure there are many here who would be happy to help out starters with useful critique and comments, not just "nice job". Maybe posters could ask for a level of comment, "be gentle" to" help my composition"?
Hope this makes some sense, what do others think about this as an idea?
Marshall

Excellent point. I often hit a moderators name and go to their profile instead of the forum I intended.

This suggestion is for the non-gallery forums.

I really like the sites that let you "mouse-over" and topic and it will show the first few lines of the OP's post. That saves time and I will be more likely to enter the topics that I have an interest in (or might be able to contribute).

From Tim Zurowsky's comment:
"The way it is now, there are groups of "friends" who comment on each others images, but rarely comment on others."
I don't see anything wrong with this. Doesn't it happen all the time in life?
You have developed a "friendship" with some people on the Forum and you select them to comment on their picture.
My approach is; I comment on everybody’s pictures originally. If a person doesn't take the time to have a look at my pictures and spend one minute to make a comment, after I having commented on his/her pictures at least ten times, than I ignore that person no matter how good his/her picture is.
After all do you say hi to someone to whom you said hi ten times and never got a boo in return?
This is just human nature. If I'm ignored by someone, all I can do is to ignore him/her.
The existence of this or any other Forum is to show our pictures and have a friendly discussion about them.
After a while you feel that people who want to see your pictures and make comments are your "friends"
This is how I feel.
About critique.
It is great to have critique, but to much or too harsh can be counter effective.
There are forums were it is a MUST to make some critique, and it ought to be negative.
I don't like it very much.

I appreciate the comments so far and as I am leaving for a 3-week trip I will catch up when I get back. Tim: your idea for anonymous commenting is an interesting one but I have given a lot of thought to how that would work, how we would implement it and what kinds of problems it would cause. Without getting into all the reasons why right now, I can just assure you that we will not be implementing anything like that in the future of NSN. We are implementing some things that will help to bring the community together and better share ideas and comment on articles etc etc all improving the overall experience. And we want people to start using their real names even. Having anonymous posters would go against everything we are trying to accomplish which is to built and enrich the community with good people. Good people do not need to be anonymous. Just imagine the kinds of comments people would get from anonymous people that don't like them - they could now hide behind anonymity. At least with your name attached some folks show a little restraint - others have a harder time with it. Make them anonymous and all heck would break loose - trust me on that!

Thanks again folks - keep em coming!

This spring and summer is going to an exciting one for NSN as we have a lot going on and we begin our 10th year this summer...

Thanks again or the support!

The Previous topic / Next topic links in the image forums work on the order of the most recent responses rather than the order of the original posts. Could the option be added to have them work on original post order ?