Website is One Year Old

[rpk717]

Well actually a year and a couple months. I wanted to get input from you, the users of the website, for any ideas you may have to improve our website. Most all of the original design has now been implemented and I'm pretty happy with the results but I know more can be done.

I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions.

I've thought of adding some more image critique forums but the traffic on the general critique forum doesn't seem to justify that at the moment. It seems that only a small fraction [maybe 10%] of our membership routinely uses the website. I'm interested in any ideas how we could expand the interest in the website(s) to more of our members.

It's been a great year and I would like to see this grow into something even bigger and better.

Thanks for your continued support,

[calmerini]

Robert,

As a new member I wanted let you know how much I appreciate the website especially the image critique along with the other threads. I know this takes time and lots of effort behind the scene- THANK YOU!

I have talked to Robert Smith about this and these are just some ideas to consider, again I have only been here since Jan 2008. So please know I want the best for CNPA.

An 'image critique' forum where you can include man made things. I too notice that the same 20 or so members post images for critique and 80% or more are 'birds, flowers, insects' so much of what I like to photograph is landscapes or unique things in this world and most times there happens to man made stuff included in the image. I tend to think of 'Nature' in very broad terms but I understand why you have the rules you do. Since I am only one person, may be if the idea was discussed by more a better solution may come about.

From other photo websites I visit... I really like forums with Nikon or Canon specific questions. Hearing from others saves money in purchasing equipment that may not meet my needs. Generally the information is good and very helpful. Also this could be expanded into such areas as: general equipment (tripods, bags, memory cards, etc...), computer software for processing images, business issues. I know these may fall into a large general category but I really find the forums very helpful.

I hope this helps since I wanted contribute ideas to the discussion. Now if I could just retire from my day job and do more photography all would be great!

Thanks for reading!
Chris

[SkipP]

Like Chris, I'd like to express my appreciation for all that you've done with the website, Robert! It's a valuable tool and I wish there was more traffic here as well.

I like Chris' idea of a forum that allows "Hand of Man" photographs. Perhaps it need not be a "critique" forum, rather more of a "photo sharing" place? Since this is, by definition (and name), a nature photography association it needs...and should...be primarily about that type subject but many of us photograph other "stuff" as well.

An equipment review/question forum would nice to have. I'm not sure if this board has provisions for it (I assume so) but it could even be set up to rate the stuff that is reviewed if the poster wants.

Here's to many more years!!!

[jckegley]

LOVE the new website. From my perspective it is the most valuable tool that CNPA has to offer me, especially the forums. I think the forums have been executed, administered, and designed, very well. Thanks Robert and please tell the web guy too.

Chris may have a point, there are a lot of folks who like taking photos of old barns, cars, bridges... ect., where the 'hand of man' is more than 25%. It might be nice to have a separate image critique that allows such photos and leave the nature image critique as is. The challenging thing would be the rules for such a critique. If you allow structures, how do you stop someone posting a skyscraper. If you allow cars, how do you stop someone from posting a race photo from the latest stock car race. I think Chris's idea is sound, but I think implementing it (rules and restrictions) might be complicated. Maybe if the 'hand or man' is something historical or antique. Might be worth discussing with those who take that type of photo. Then again, this is a nature photography organization, and that kind of image starts to get out of bounds. Can you tell I am flip flopping on the idea, I can see both sides.

[jwuori]

I too would like to thank Robert for coordinating the website and all the many pieces that go into it. About the" hand of man"issue-----this is a nature forum and I would like to see the 25% guideline maintained. Like Joe said, it would really get to be very difficult to "police". I too wish more people were posting, but considering that we do have some amount of turnover in the organization, the traffic is much improved over the first few months. I am under the impression that more people are actually participating than it looks. I frequently see images that have already received the type comments I would have made if I had seen it first, and don't want to repeat a comment someone else has made, so it is not obvious that I am participating. But I am watching......... And i feel like I know more members now. Thanks for asking Robert, and keep up the good work.

[cshumpert]

I too have only been a member since early this year and actually didn't realize the website was a recent addition. I haven't posted anything for comment, but hope to soon. I am one of those people that know what I like when I see it, but I'm not all that creative so I won't offer any comments or suggestions for improvement, but I would like to say I enjoy the set up of the website now and find it easy to navigate.

[rphipps]

The website is fantastic. It has made it very easy to invite and encourage people to join CNPA. The website is very professional and user friendly. New, interested, individuals have commented that the presentation of CNPA in this manner has helped them to decide to join.

No thoughts at present for additions.

Best wishes and thank you for your wonderful efforts.
_____________________________________________
Bob Phipps Foothills coordinator

[bobossler]

I agree with all of the other posts, the website is in great shape and very user-friendly. I've been a member since March, but have been more of a "lurker" than a "poster". I've learned a great deal and the site is a big reason why I joined. I'm sure my participation will increase as time goes on.

[jbellis]

I too, love this site, and really appreciate all the work you do. I look at it every day and participate (probably more than I should) fairly often.

I agree with several other members that I wish we had a spot to post and view images with a larger emphasis on man made subjects, but like Joe said, where do you draw the line on what's included. I have several pictures that include shrimp boats, piers, old barns, old timers, etc. that are nature pictures in my mind, but everyone's perception is different.

Again, thanks. If you don't change a thing, I'll still love the site. :)

[rpk717]

I'm glad to hear that the website is so well received and has even been an incentive to join CNPA. Many thanks for the kudos but most of the thanks should go to John Lock the webmaster and a CNPA member.

Looks like overall there are basically two suggestions. I'll tackle the easy one first.

We can set up a Equipment Review forum. I would be hesitant to specify separate Nikon and Canon forums for two reasons. The biggest being that there are many members who shoot with a different system who would feel left out. The second reason is because I want to make sure there is sufficient usage to justify a new forum.

There is an option in the Additional Options section to set up the post as a poll. I think there is also a way to rate a post but how that is done eludes me at the moment. I'll look into seeing what this will take and discuss it with the board.

The second suggestion is to set up a forum where images with the hand of man is larger than 25% or is the main subject. There are several different lines of discussion here. Most understand that moderating a forum like this would be difficult. As mentioned we are a NATURE photography site and drawing the line between nature and non-nature shoots is difficult since one person's opinion what would be OK is quite different from anothers. If you live on the coast you might think a marina [i.e. shrimp boats] is nature, if you live in the mountains including an old barn in a landscape is a natural choice. Drawing the line of what is allowed and what is not would fall to me. I can see a forum like this getting out of hand very quickly and feelings being hurt. Even with the current image critique forum and what I think is a simple set of guidelines I get some emotional emails behind the scenes from members who are upset with my enforcement of the rules. But I also get emails of encouragement for deleting an inappropriate image from members who follow the guidelines.

Say we set up the new forum and have some rules about what is allowed. We allow the hand of man if the subject is historical or antique as suggested by Joe. But I know that people will read that and decide to stretch it a bit and post an image of an old guy they saw in the mountains or a rusting car in a junk yard. We begin getting away from the intent of our club, to promote nature and the environment.

I will discuss this suggestion with the board [on the board forum:D ] and let you know the results of that discussion.

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks for the input, I knew you guys would have some suggestions.

[mdaphoto]

first of all it's a great site, and the reason i am a member.

one thing i would like to see more of is the curant conditions at the hotspots, what are the bears feeeding on at cades cove? are the leaves changing color? are the migatory birds showing up at mattamuskeet? that sort of thing.

with gas prices up the way they are it realy helps if you can show up at these places, and others at peek shooting opertunity times.

maybe renaming "favorite shooting locations" to "Conditions at favorite locations" would help encourage more post in that area.

again great site, and kudos for all the work you do!

ps happy birthday

[rpk717]

first of all it's a great site, and the reason i am a member.

one thing i would like to see more of is the curant conditions at the hotspots, what are the bears feeeding on at cades cove? are the leaves changing color? are the migatory birds showing up at mattamuskeet? that sort of thing.

with gas prices up the way they are it realy helps if you can show up at these places, and others at peek shooting opertunity times.

maybe renaming "favorite shooting locations" to "Conditions at favorite locations" would help encourage more post in that area.

again great site, and kudos for all the work you do!

ps happy birthday

I'm not sure about changing the name of the forum but I do have a suggestion. When asking about conditions at a certain location, if it's in one of the regional areas, post your question in that region's forum. I've seen this work several times. Folks that live close to a location are more apt to respond than the general membership.

[rhunter58]

Hi Robert and All,

The new site is clearly a big improvement over old (I’ve used both). The forum topic selection is very good, easy to use and provides useful info to members. The image critique forum is very enjoyable. I too look a good bit but don’t comment as often as some—the overall quality of the work leaves little room for me personally to provide a “constructive critic”. Also enjoy the galleries.

Re the “hand of man” forum discussion: I tend to agree that our forums should stay focused on nature photography—that appears to be the main reason folks specifically join this organization. However I do enjoy other areas of photography and wouldn’t mind seeing works of our members on other subjects. I think Jim Ellis (and several others) have a good solution to this question. In reading one of Jim’s posts, I noticed his signature line had a web site. Being a nosey scoundrel, I clicked and up comes some of his other work. Instituting this kind of club policy may provide a quick access way to see other areas of our members photography with out diluting the main thrust of the CNPA site. (Have our cake and eat it too??) I didn’t explore the “host site” Jim was using (I plan to) but it was a very nice presentment of his work.

Thanks Robert for managing and excellent site and to all for a bunch of great pictures.

Bob Hunter

[mikebaker]

I too appreciate and enjoy the site; although it can be a bit of a distraction...I visit way too often some days. I think the new brand oriented "gear" forums are a good addition.

Thanks for the work that goes into this.

Mike

[rpk717]

I too appreciate and enjoy the site; although it can be a bit of a distraction...I visit way too often some days. I think the new brand oriented "gear" forums are a good addition.

Thanks for the work that goes into this.

Mike

Mike, glad you like the new equipment forums!

[JAM4E]

Robert I just love this website. I wish I knew how to do all the things on my website that you have going for you. Its a great resource. :D

[rpk717]

As a direct result of these discussions and following the suggestions of Chris, Skip, Joe, and Mike we have set up an Equipment Forum section. They are already being used so it looks like they were a great addition to the website. Thanks for the suggestions and we will do this again in the near future.

:) :) :)

[rpk717]

Robert I just love this website. I wish I knew how to do all the things on my website that you have going for you. Its a great resource. :D

Deborah,

I don't know how to do all this stuff, our webmaster John Lock does all the heavy lifting, I just make suggestions and ask John questions. John does this for a living and the board selected him partly because he designed the NANPA's website. John has since joined CNPA and is obviously an important part of our group.

[jschornak]

I'll echo the good sentiments about the website and a big thank you to all those who made it possible (including the CNPA members who use it).

I won't get caught up in the 25% man-made limit (I believe I see both sides). But I will say that the rules and policing only get cumbersome if we feel obligated to restrict ourselves to coloring inside the lines.

On the rules or security side of things ... I would like to recommend one major basic change to our website. I would like the see the CNPA Region Forums only available to CNPA members (not readable by anyone who surfs the website). I sure some will say that it draws new members, but I think we have plenty of content that meets that goal. If the Region Forums were more secure, then I think it would free those of us who do some of the communicating and planning within our particular region to work more efficiently and effectively.

Then to move in a completely different direction (in other words more wide-open), I think it would be neat to periodically have a guest critique provider in the Critique Forum. They would be someone with a great deal of critiquing experience (etc.) and they would be invited by the CNPA to post an initial thread with their credentials. This would also give notable photographers (or perhaps upcoming Annual Meeting presenters) an opportunity to mingle with CNPA members. Once they had opened their thread for business, then members who valued their judgment could post an image to be evaluated. If others liked the critique provider's style then they could also post an image for evaluation. The duration of the thread could be posted up-front in the initial post or decided later by the critique provider. In a nutshell it would be different from our current critique format (where one image is critiqued by multiple people) and would be multiple images critiqued by one person (just a suggestion and perhaps a different slant on the Critique Forum).

I have one last suggestion for the Critique Forum or perhaps elsewhere on the website. It would be beneficial in my opinion if smaller groups or peers (say no more than six photographers of comparable level) could have a place that hosted their monthly (just an interval estimate) critiquing of each others' images. It might bring some "lurkers" out of the woods and it might raise the bar for the more advanced.

Thank you for asking my opinions and thank you for hearing me out.

Thanks!
John

[jenniferbrown]

Love the website and log on daily. Going through the postings for critique is a wonderful way to "escape" when things get a little tense during the day! Many thanks to all hands involved in the creation.

On the rules or security side of things ... I would like to see the CNPA Region Forums only available to CNPA members (not readable by anyone who surfs the website). I sure some will say that it draws new members, but I think we have plenty of content that meets that goal. If the Region Forums were more secure, then I think it would free those of us who do some of the communicating and planning within our particular region to work more efficiently and effectively.
I really like John's idea.

[rpk717]

Love the website and log on daily. Going through the postings for critique is a wonderful way to "escape" when things get a little tense during the day! Many thanks to all hands involved in the creation.


I really like John's idea.

If the Region Forums were more secure, then I think it would free those of us who do some of the communicating and planning within our particular region to work more efficiently and effectively

Please help me understand in a little more detail why you think this would be better. You were right that our original thinking was that seeing what we do would be a great tool for signing up new members. They can only read the posts and cannot comment on what is posted, the posting of comments is a member's only benefit. I have received many emails in the past year from new members that had just signed up that the website and it's content as a reason they joined.

What type things would you write if they were secure that you wouldn't write now. The only thing I can think of is contact information hopefully available in the Member's Directory which is not available to the public and/or Private Messages which can be sent to all members unless they made a choice not to receive them.

I'll bring this request up to the board once I get more detail.

[jenniferbrown]

In thinking this over, would it be reasonable/possible to create subsections within the regional forums and have outing details "members only" access? This would allow anyone visiting the site to see outings planned, meeting schedules, meeting location information, and meeting agendas while preventing them from accessing outing details. To me, this would encourage meeting visitation and encourage membership to get the details for outings. Just a thought........

Thanks, again, to everyone who makes this website so totally COOL! :)

[rpk717]

In thinking this over, would it be reasonable/possible to create subsections within the regional forums and have outing details "members only" access? This would allow anyone visiting the site to see outings planned, meeting schedules, meeting location information, and meeting agendas while preventing them from accessing outing details. To me, this would encourage meeting visitation and encourage membership to get the details for outings. Just a thought........

Thanks, again, to everyone who makes this website so totally COOL! :)

I think subsections are beyond the capability of the software so I don't think that is an option.

[jlock]

Just catching up on forum activity... glad everyone is happy with the website and especially the forums!

Couple things I'd like to throw out -

1) Sub-forums are possible. Also sub-sub-forums, sub-sub-sub-forums... you get the idea. Access to each one can be controlled individually. So, some could be publicly readable while others are members only. However, keep in mind that it makes the entire structure more cumbersome to navigate and you can get too much of a good thing.

2) Private forums are also possible. These only show up to authorized members and an additional password can be required to get in. For example, if a region wanted to have a private forum to do meeting planning and coordination, that's certainly doable.

Please keep in mind however, that CNPA governs how the forums will be used. So please clear any requests thru Robert.

Cheers!