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Jeff
Owner
Dec 13, 2013, 8:46 AM
Post #352 of 430
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ncrockclimber wrote: The first thing you see on the hompage is the photo. Have you looked at these photos? http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Profile/Me__122089.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Nic_and_Natalie_while_on_the_Bear_Mountain_Trail_122337.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/80_degrees_tropical_humidity_and_lots_of_Mosquitos_ill_have_a_swig_of_water_to_that__122338.html Those three have NOTHING to do with climbing. http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Trad/Tahquitz__122186.html Honestly, this looks like a parody of a new climber who does not know what they are doing. There are 19 photos that rotate on the front page. I picked out the 4 worst, but some of the others are not that great either. Take a look at Supertopo or MP.com. Both sites have some great photos on their front page.
Completely agree about front-page photos needing fixing up. Kristen was working on this two week ago, and she'd figured out the moving parts in the code--there's a scheduled task that runs every so often and identifies high-starred photos. She was starting to work on a fix at the code level rather than just those particular photos. But things got pretty crazy at her job last week, and I expect it'll be another few weeks till things settle down--she's been finishing work after midnight the past week. But it is definitely on the radar.
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Jeff
Owner
Dec 13, 2013, 9:39 AM
Post #353 of 430
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Quick status update:
I've probably averaged 8-12 hours a week on RC related tasks the past month. You guys don't see most of it because it's behind the scenes stuff, so here's a quick list of some of the stuff we're working on right now:
1) Getting a handle on spam - spent a lot of time exploring the quick options, and ended up making it so all new users have to be manually validated by the admin. This is a royal pain for me and for the new users, but it seems to be pretty effective as a band-aid solution for now. Next steps are coding something up so moderators can approve new users, not just me/Kristen.
2) Setting up automated backups--right now there are supposedly daily backups, but they've never been tested, and anyone who knows computers knows that untested backups are often the same as no backups, so this system needs to be tested and most likely replaced with a more robust setup.
However, coding of any kind requires a test server--basically you want to test the code on a server that is a clone of the live server, so that if the new code breaks something, it doesn't take down the live website.
3) Creating a test server, at least creating it the right way, will take a good bit of time. Mainly because the current servers are undocumented, plus neither Kristen nor I have much experience with sys-admin tools like vagrant & chef, and partially because even when you know what you're doing, it still takes a bit to setup the first time.
4) Getting the ad server setup correctly. This is taking a good bit long than I expected--mostly because I'm a complete n00b when it comes to display advertising, my prior experience is in social ads realm and there's a lot more going on in the display world than I realized.
At this point, I've got a pretty good handle on the tech/theory, but a good bit of work left to do to implement it. I know most of you don't spend much time thinking about this, but if you are curious about the nuts and bolts of the ad industry, I found the archives of http://www.mikeonads.com to be incredibly useful.
5) Setting up basic security with SSL and some other changes.
Again, to set realistic expectations, I've got 8-12 hours a week that I can put into the site, and while Kristen's got about 5 hours a week. Most of the stuff we're doing, we are learning as we go, so we aren't the fastest, but we are figuring things out and chipping away at things.
As a result, and despite my best intentions, I've had very little time left to chat with all y'all. Once we get a solid foundation of proper setup for servers + backups + ads, that will free up a good chunk of time to spend talking/thinking about the non-technical stuff like site vision, moderation policies, homepage content, etc.
(This post was edited by Jeff on Dec 13, 2013, 9:41 AM)
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ncrockclimber
Dec 13, 2013, 2:16 PM
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Thanks for the reply, Jeff. I know that this type of stuff takes time, and I am looking forward to seeing you continue to implement your vision for this site.
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Jeff
Owner
Dec 13, 2013, 7:56 PM
Post #356 of 430
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Nope--had no idea. :-)
Just PM'd you to follow up on this.
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edge
Dec 14, 2013, 1:40 AM
Post #357 of 430
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Jeff wrote: ncrockclimber wrote: The first thing you see on the hompage is the photo. Have you looked at these photos? http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Profile/Me__122089.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Nic_and_Natalie_while_on_the_Bear_Mountain_Trail_122337.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/80_degrees_tropical_humidity_and_lots_of_Mosquitos_ill_have_a_swig_of_water_to_that__122338.html Those three have NOTHING to do with climbing. http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Trad/Tahquitz__122186.html Honestly, this looks like a parody of a new climber who does not know what they are doing. There are 19 photos that rotate on the front page. I picked out the 4 worst, but some of the others are not that great either. Take a look at Supertopo or MP.com. Both sites have some great photos on their front page. Completely agree about front-page photos needing fixing up. Kristen was working on this two week ago, and she'd figured out the moving parts in the code--there's a scheduled task that runs every so often and identifies high-starred photos. She was starting to work on a fix at the code level rather than just those particular photos. But things got pretty crazy at her job last week, and I expect it'll be another few weeks till things settle down--she's been finishing work after midnight the past week. But it is definitely on the radar.
In my opinion, the lack of good pictures to rate into the front page stems from the problems with the routes database. If it were easier to upload pics and the routes database was more pertinent then we would get more action shots from people getting out and actually climbing.
Right now, I do not use the routes database here ever, for just these reasons. I can visit MP and in just a couple minutes "tick" the route, give it a personal rating, add some pics to prove that I actually flailed on it, and add some relevant comment in a discussion-type dialog. I rarely post pics here because the process is so cumbersome.
For now, perhaps the front page rotation could be opened up to a "Best Pics of RC" from all time, sort of a retrospective to celebrate the new ownership and remind us of the site's potential. There are some amazing shots that no one ever sees anymore and have been forgotten. Certainly better than the selfies and endless stream of photoshopped Portrero pics that are there now.
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lena_chita
Moderator
Dec 14, 2013, 3:39 PM
Post #358 of 430
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edge wrote: Jeff wrote: ncrockclimber wrote: The first thing you see on the hompage is the photo. Have you looked at these photos? http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Profile/Me__122089.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/Nic_and_Natalie_while_on_the_Bear_Mountain_Trail_122337.html http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Misc/80_degrees_tropical_humidity_and_lots_of_Mosquitos_ill_have_a_swig_of_water_to_that__122338.html Those three have NOTHING to do with climbing. http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos/Trad/Tahquitz__122186.html Honestly, this looks like a parody of a new climber who does not know what they are doing. There are 19 photos that rotate on the front page. I picked out the 4 worst, but some of the others are not that great either. Take a look at Supertopo or MP.com. Both sites have some great photos on their front page. Completely agree about front-page photos needing fixing up. Kristen was working on this two week ago, and she'd figured out the moving parts in the code--there's a scheduled task that runs every so often and identifies high-starred photos. She was starting to work on a fix at the code level rather than just those particular photos. But things got pretty crazy at her job last week, and I expect it'll be another few weeks till things settle down--she's been finishing work after midnight the past week. But it is definitely on the radar. In my opinion, the lack of good pictures to rate into the front page stems from the problems with the routes database. If it were easier to upload pics and the routes database was more pertinent then we would get more action shots from people getting out and actually climbing. Right now, I do not use the routes database here ever, for just these reasons. I can visit MP and in just a couple minutes "tick" the route, give it a personal rating, add some pics to prove that I actually flailed on it, and add some relevant comment in a discussion-type dialog. I rarely post pics here because the process is so cumbersome. For now, perhaps the front page rotation could be opened up to a "Best Pics of RC" from all time, sort of a retrospective to celebrate the new ownership and remind us of the site's potential. There are some amazing shots that no one ever sees anymore and have been forgotten. Certainly better than the selfies and endless stream of photoshopped Portrero pics that are there now.
I agree, doing some kind of best-of-RC photo rotation would be awesome.
And as far as uploading pictures here, one of the major things that has stopped me is the need to resize. In the old days, sure, I get it. But these days, I can upload a photo on Facebook, and I don't need to first save it as a smaller/lower resolution photo, the uploader figures all of that out and sizes things appropriately. But not on RC.
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Jeff
Owner
Dec 15, 2013, 2:04 AM
Post #359 of 430
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lena_chita wrote: And as far as uploading pictures here, one of the major things that has stopped me is the need to resize. In the old days, sure, I get it. But these days, I can upload a photo on Facebook, and I don't need to first save it as a smaller/lower resolution photo, the uploader figures all of that out and sizes things appropriately. But not on RC.
+1. And you really ought to be able to just upload straight from your phone.
From a tech perspective, the uploading software probably won't change anytime soon, not because I don't want to but because too many other things to fix first.
But from a product/user standpoint, I completely agree.
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dingus
Dec 15, 2013, 1:38 PM
Post #360 of 430
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One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket.
DMT
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Gmburns2000
Dec 15, 2013, 2:13 PM
Post #361 of 430
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dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT
Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best.
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kobaz
Dec 15, 2013, 8:29 PM
Post #362 of 430
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I for one, welcome our new benevolent overlords. Ever since this site was sold to a commercial media outfit I think everything went downhill.
There was never any work on improving the site (other than adding the ability to change the color theme... woopdy do). One of the first things the new owners did was remove the old (much better) logo from the site and move to a (better?) message-board system.
I haven't read through all of the bajillion previous posts on this thread, but in my opinion there's never been a decent effort on improving the routes database... it could use some house cleaning.
(This post was edited by kobaz on Dec 15, 2013, 8:30 PM)
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theguy
Dec 16, 2013, 2:30 AM
Post #363 of 430
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kobaz wrote: I haven't read through all of the bajillion previous posts on this thread, but in my opinion... [restate opinion of prior poster]
Thanks for beautiful illustration of one of the many things wrong with RC.com, as described earlier in this thread:
angry wrote: Forums are essentially bathroom stall walls. People will write bullshit just to see their own bullshit.
Doesn't a thread get locked when it proves its own claims? Either that or the universe implodes, can't quite remember which ;)
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kobaz
Dec 16, 2013, 3:39 AM
Post #364 of 430
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theguy wrote: kobaz wrote: I haven't read through all of the bajillion previous posts on this thread, but in my opinion... [restate opinion of prior poster]
I don't currently have the time to read all 15 pages, but I did want to put in my 'vote' of something that could be attended to. It's not necessarily a bad thing to share the same opinions as others.
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dlintz
Dec 16, 2013, 7:14 AM
Post #365 of 430
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carabiner96 wrote: sungam wrote: sungam wrote: cracklover wrote: rgbscan wrote: I did manage to find that thread though on the wayback machine. Still a good read that never should have been taken down. Yep. IMO, Amber's Fall is one of the most interesting and valuable things to have ever been posted here. GO Isn't that the story that a 3rd party said was vastly exaggerated? Like the fall was like 1/8th the claimed length etc. Gnarly photos though IIRC. Yeah, here was the post I was talking about shaun wrote: Amber, Tim and everyone else: Doug and I (shaun) were also there that night. I read Amber's post and about 8 pages of replies and could stand no more. There were several things that I disagree with. Amber first off, we both want to say how thrilled we are that you are alive and safe. There was a moment when we thought you were going to die. We are so happy that you had the strength and sheer will to live. And after your fall, you kept it together enough to build an emergency anchor and get down safely. It was incredible. That being said, I have a different perspective on the accident and have decided to share it. From our perch a few feet below Tim at the top of pitch 3, it seemed to us that there were some major red flags that were missed. We sat there on our porta ledge for several hours while Amber finished the pitch and rappelled. Much of it was very tense as Amber and Tim argued over Amber's lack of experience, what to do about the gear that was being left behind, etc. It was a very tense and unenjoyable couple hours listening to you two argue. Amber, you were on rappel for about two hours before you ran out of rope. You started the rap around dusk (6:30ish) and the accident happened around 9:00. After getting safely to the top of the block you guys spent an hour or more there finally rapped off around 11:00. I thought you fell about 20 - 30 feet - no more. You basically took a lead fall. As you fell past the piece below you, it became your top anchor. The rope burn occured as the single line rushed through your rap device. Somehow you came to a stop. It was a combination of the friction created by the rope getting caught in the belay device, around your arm, and in your daisy. That's how I remember it. Anyway, my real focus is Tim. Tim thought Amber was rapping on two ropes. Fair enough, but why didn't he notice that one of her ropes was moving as she rapped down. If her ropes were truly fixed, they would have been stationary, but one rope was clipped to Amber's haul line and so was lowering as Amber was lowering. Tim should have seen this, especially since he gave at least 2-3 fireman's belays as Amber rapped (to keep her secure while she worked to remove certain pieces of gear). It's incredible that he was actually pulling directly on Amber's haul line, but somehow neither of you noticed. And finally, Amber was rapping in the dark for about two hours before the accident actually happened. Tim had a flashlight but never offered it to Amber. After an hour and a half or so, we offered one of ours (which ran out of batteries unfortunately). 10 - 15 minutes before the accident Tim told amber (part of all the aguing that was happening) he had done everything he could do for Amber, and that this was her fault for biting off more than she could chew, but he never offered her his headlamp which may have helped significantly. Why? I kinda wish someone had told me to skip to the second to last page, I read the whole damn thing. Definitely read like a well neutered thread.
For the record, I don't recall questioning any of her story. I just remember it being so incredible that she survived.
d.
(This post was edited by dlintz on Dec 16, 2013, 7:15 AM)
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dingus
Dec 23, 2013, 11:56 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best.
I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO????
Lol.
DMT
(This post was edited by dingus on Dec 23, 2013, 11:57 PM)
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Gmburns2000
Dec 24, 2013, 12:28 AM
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dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT
I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites.
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cracklover
Dec 24, 2013, 4:53 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites.
As one of the photo editors here, I'm quite interested in hearing any constructive feedback. I don't have the power to change the software that we use to load pics, but perhaps there are other issues? You mentioned that our track record recently is "spotty at best". Could you clarify what it is you'd like to see done differently?
Thanks!
GO
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stevecurtis
Dec 24, 2013, 5:06 PM
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You've got the best data base for routes out of the three. Emphasize that.
I'll add Little Wing now.
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sungam
Dec 24, 2013, 5:37 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites.
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Gmburns2000
Dec 24, 2013, 7:22 PM
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cracklover wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites. As one of the photo editors here, I'm quite interested in hearing any constructive feedback. I don't have the power to change the software that we use to load pics, but perhaps there are other issues? You mentioned that our track record recently is "spotty at best". Could you clarify what it is you'd like to see done differently? Thanks! GO
Gabe, maybe you can better explain how the front page photo system works. The front page photos have been total crap for several months (some good ones in there, but the overall rotation is really weak).
Do you guys have much influence over which photos can be on the front page (can you add a photo? can you remove a photo? do your votes count more than a non-editor? etc.)
If any of the answers are "yes" then I'd say some ambition in making that part better overall would help.
I'm not saying you guys are letting through pics of dogs humping sheep or anything, just that it surprises me with the supply of good pics that the front page has been boring at best for a long time (as in - when is that stupid troll of a profile pic going to get removed from the front page? someone can't change that?).
That's my suggestion. Not sure what else you guys could do otherwise.
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Gmburns2000
Dec 24, 2013, 7:24 PM
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sungam wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites. There are photo moderators on most sites.
Yes, but on FB they're only there to keep WWIII from breaking out. Here they're here to keep pony pics from ...oh, wait. 
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cracklover
Dec 25, 2013, 10:35 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: cracklover wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites. As one of the photo editors here, I'm quite interested in hearing any constructive feedback. I don't have the power to change the software that we use to load pics, but perhaps there are other issues? You mentioned that our track record recently is "spotty at best". Could you clarify what it is you'd like to see done differently? Thanks! GO Gabe, maybe you can better explain how the front page photo system works. The front page photos have been total crap for several months (some good ones in there, but the overall rotation is really weak).
My understanding is that the pics in rotation on the FP are determined as follows:
- They must be recent
- They must have a high star rating
- They must have enough ratings
The exact levels each of those is set to - I don't know. But basically it's a popularity contest. It's not part of our job as photo editors to arbitrate which photos are better or worse. We do have the power to withdraw pics from FP consideration, which I've done when requested by the owner of the pic.
In reply to: Do you guys have much influence over which photos can be on the front page (can you add a photo? can you remove a photo? do your votes count more than a non-editor? etc.)
Beyond what I said above, no on all counts.
In reply to: it surprises me with the supply of good pics that the front page has been boring at best for a long time (as in - when is that stupid troll of a profile pic going to get removed from the front page? someone can't change that?). That's my suggestion. Not sure what else you guys could do otherwise.
The real problem is that next to zero really great climbing pics are being uploaded on a regular basis. That is probably mostly a factor of rc.com being a shell of its former self.
GO
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Gmburns2000
Dec 25, 2013, 11:28 PM
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cracklover wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: cracklover wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: dingus wrote: One doesn't need permission or approval to upload photos to facebook or photobucket. DMT Yeah, but that's your personal site. You're not uploading to your personal site here on the knob...and I'm glad we have editors to help ensure this stays somewhat of a climbing site, even if their recent record is spotty at best. I'm not uploading any photos to this site. It has a lousy track record for respecting user copyrights and have you LOOKED at the quality of the photo presentation on this site? HELLO???? Lol. DMT I know, me neither. I'm just saying I'm glad there are editors as opposed to FB or other sites. As one of the photo editors here, I'm quite interested in hearing any constructive feedback. I don't have the power to change the software that we use to load pics, but perhaps there are other issues? You mentioned that our track record recently is "spotty at best". Could you clarify what it is you'd like to see done differently? Thanks! GO Gabe, maybe you can better explain how the front page photo system works. The front page photos have been total crap for several months (some good ones in there, but the overall rotation is really weak). My understanding is that the pics in rotation on the FP are determined as follows: - They must be recent - They must have a high star rating - They must have enough ratings The exact levels each of those is set to - I don't know. But basically it's a popularity contest. It's not part of our job as photo editors to arbitrate which photos are better or worse. We do have the power to withdraw pics from FP consideration, which I've done when requested by the owner of the pic. In reply to: Do you guys have much influence over which photos can be on the front page (can you add a photo? can you remove a photo? do your votes count more than a non-editor? etc.) Beyond what I said above, no on all counts. In reply to: it surprises me with the supply of good pics that the front page has been boring at best for a long time (as in - when is that stupid troll of a profile pic going to get removed from the front page? someone can't change that?). That's my suggestion. Not sure what else you guys could do otherwise. The real problem is that next to zero really great climbing pics are being uploaded on a regular basis. That is probably mostly a factor of rc.com being a shell of its former self. GO
I think it would be nice if you guys could get together and agree to remove anything from the FP that's clearly not a climbing pic. Not to say the profile pic wasn't a good profile pic, but it never belonged up there on the FP. I guess it's that kind of initiative that would help.
Sucks you can't do anything other than that. Maybe lobby Jeff for more influence to include not-so-recent pics if the recent ones are getting boring?
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drivel
Dec 26, 2013, 4:31 AM
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Posts: 2459
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lena_chita wrote: mojomonkey wrote: happiegrrrl wrote: granite_grrl wrote: There's nothing to post to on this site anymore. Could that be because.... In reply to: ....over the last two years this place became increasingly more toxic and the "noise" generated by a few high-post count users drowned out the rest of the community and climbing content. As a result, the majority of users stopped participating. Possible. Though what you consider noise may also be drawing in other users with tastes different than yours. The problem may be more fundamental - why bother with RC.com? The site's staying power waned. I used to look at photos, check out the route database, maybe even read the articles posted. But I go elsewhere for those things now because I get a better experience. Years ago RC was the only route database for lots of areas I was interested in. The route DB on MP probably pulls in a lot of users now. It is much broader now and easier for me to find info on, or ask a question about, a specific route. For a question the best you can do here is a regional forum. Folks often are unable to figure out how to post a thread linked to a region and just dump it in general, so good luck finding that info again with the weak search here. On MP I can look through the comments for a specific route. Maybe my question has been covered already. If not, maybe someone answers it and the info is easily found by others. And anyone can comment on the route without having to log an ascent and add it to the notes like here (and only 5 of those are show at a time). So I start using MP for that info. Same with news items, or pictures*, or gear reviews. I found better sites for all of those. So what is left here? What does RC excel at to keep me checking in? But how is this different from other climbing-related discussion forums? When I first joined RC, Facebook wasn't anywhere near what it is now. Deadpoint magazine didn't exist. In fact, most climbing-related news were just starting online versions. Whether it is gear reviews, or climbing videos, the wealth of information on the web now, compared to even 7-8 years ago, is staggering. And of course the websites that are dedicated to one particular aspect of it, such as climbing news or gear reviews, are donig a much more thorough job of it that RC.com does. There are many ways that the informational/database side of RC.com could be improved, and I would dearly love to see those improvements. Whether it is the ability to quickly search for all photos of a specific route, or being able to sort a climbing log, or getting consensus route grades, it' would be awesome and welcome. There are definitely updates to the front page and general appearance of the site that would be beneficial. But forums are made by people. And you searching for a specific photos or browsing database for route comments doesn't contribute to the vibrancy of the forum. People do. And people now have other means to connect. If RC were to go down right now, I would still like macherry's picture of a giant cat on Facebook, laugh at adateseman's backhoe accident, comment on drivel's blog, ask curt for trip beta, watch camhead's video, follow chossmonkey's competition circuit, and so on.
awww, I miss you too.
^^^community.
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