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mud4fun

New suggestions for the site. (renamed)

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Guys,

I just read re-read the Club rules and noticed it states that a model can only appear once in the showroom. I've got some projects where I have created many different entries as the project progressed - are these OK?

They do contain different pictures and they are added as extra details. I keep one of them (the latest) marked as the actual model rather than extra info. Also in the rules it states that showroom entires marked as models should contain 25-50% of the parts. That is quite tricky on a build sequence where the first build pictures contain say a chassis and little else - even worse if that chassis is home made and not part of the original model!

Just checking, didn't want to break the rules after finally reading them after re-reading them.

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I think you contribute enough to the club to be allowed a bit of leeway (IMPO)...

Not that it's down to me of course! [:I]

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I'll take a re-read myself, but the general idea was that we didn't want people adding the same model lots of times so it looked like had 27 wild daggers etc. Originally it was a drain on the resource we have here (6 pics was meant to limit what people could upload) and on top of that it threw the stats we kept about the number of each model on the club.

The 'extra info' check box was a comprimise we came up with later once the resource issue had gone away. So ideally now what you do is you can upload as many items of the same car as you like as long as all but one of them is marked as 'extra info'

The 'parts' rule was again stats related. We had a few people uploading a picture of every tree they had but classifying it as a whole car, this obvious threw the stats completely. So we came up with the idea of the 'parts' classification and we had to give it a definition.

Build sequences is a tricky one I've not really thought about before. I guess what I would do here is

1. If I had one or two parts of a model with no idea when I might get more, I would class it as parts.

2. If I had the majority of the parts and just wanted to document the build process then, class it as the model. using 'extra info' for the following entries.

He all we are trying to do is prevent people taking pictures of every screw going in and ending up with 50 showroom items each with 6 pictures in. Likewise people getting a random bag of spares with partial trees etc from lots of different kits then photographing each part and listing each one as a complete model or 'project'

Its a grey area, none of it is ideal and relies heavyily on 'common sense' - but unfortunately things needed to be spelt out for some people.

The rules have evloved and been added to over times (sometimes without deleting previous versions) They all need a bit of an overhaul, which is on my to do list.

Footnote on 'Leeway':

Sorry but we have to be even handed to all members, so the same rules apply to everyone, otherwise I have to spend countless emails explaining to some members why they can't do something when others do. We've tried it a long time a go and it still returns to be a pain in myside even now. The immediate respone when we moderate 95% of people is they trawl the site looking for someone that has done the same thing in their eyes (no matter how long ago). Then follows a long email debate...

cheers

chris

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Cheers Guys, I'll keep it the way it is then. I have a good tidy up and clearout every few months anyway so my showroom doesn't get too cluttered. May be due for another tidy up.

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quote:Footnote on 'Leeway'
id="quote">id="quote">

I've been on here too long - Somehow I knew that would be your response! You're way to sensible Chris [:P]

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LOL - you got me. Sometimes I'm so predictable I scare myself.

Its sad but true in order to keep admin/arguements etc to a minimum, bland/safe is always the option to go for. If everyone just said "You are right, I'll change my post now, no problem" we could all have so much more fun :) You would not believe some of the inane arguements some people try and get me bogged down in just to 'prove their point' after I've tried to offer them some friendly advice on changing something they have done.

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Another means of increasing the number of photos in a showroom, would be to make each picture a montage of 4 smaller shots? This would be especially useful in Build ups, where there is usually a small area of detail required in each shot.

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Chris, would it be possible that the number of pictures per entry be increased to 10? that way you could have 4 build up pics and 6 finished pics.

Jim

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Jim's idea is a good one - would be very handy for the odd how-to as well.

The option in a how-to type entry of maybe having a different format with picture to the left and an associated text area to the right (as in the current how-tos) would also be nice [:)]

Cheers,

Chris

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Couldn't the "extra-info" category be used to show the build-up & then use the regular model numbered entry for the *finished* vehicle pics? I was under the impression that was the purpose of that particular category.

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Personally thats how I do things at the moment, but 6 pictures is often not enough to describe the steps I need [:)]. By increasing the photos to 10 and maybe allowing the descriptions to appear alongside it would probably reduce the number of showroom entries and keep things "together" a bit more imho.

Cheers,

Chris

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Personally I'd really *like* to see a reorganisation of the whole showroom area, but I've never gone so far as suggesting it because it's a lot of work for our Chris (who's got a long enough to-don't list as it is! :), weighed up with how many of the site features people are already using (people not turning comments on in their showrooms, people not using the favourites sections etc).

In essence (ignoring any complexities for now :) I'd like to be able to enter one model, say a 58210 Scooby, with say one main picture. This would be what would be displayed when you are looking through the model lists as well, together with some text info.

Then for that showroom entry, we'd have categories such as "Action Pics", "Chassis Pics", "Build Process", "Modifications", "Alternate Bodies" or whatever makes sense. Then I could add pictures under all those categories for that one model (without the 6-pic limits). Viewers could then click on the "action pics (17 pics)" heading, and see thumbs of the available action pics.

This would help keep the model stats more accurate, give the users flexibility to use (or not use) their showrooms according to their needs, and give more powerful search facilities ("show me TA03 chassis pics", "show me Mounty action shots" etc)

Maybe something like that for TC 2014 :)

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wow - that given me food for thought! Some stuff there I like, I think...

I guess though play devils adovocate you are basing your suggestions on common sense and order :)

In light of experience I'm not sure thats how people work though, because in effect what you are expecting people to do is go off and find cars entered previously and then add the new pics to the appropriate section of that model. Bearing in mind some people still have difficulty even entering a car it sounds a bit much I love the idea of loverly well organised showrooms, but I'm thinking that of our userbase how many would use it? On top of that I think the people that get confused now might get even more confused and lead to even more mess??- just my knee jerk feeling, I'll give it some serious thought though, as I accept the whole area is in need of some overhaul. up to now I'd been toying with the simple ieda of just letting people 'join' showroom items into groups, so you look at one item and at the bottom it gives you links to other items the owner things are related.

Chris

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Yeah I agree with everything you say Chris, but you know what I'm like - If try to cover all the details and arguments I end up waffling on for 12 pages :)

(And no-one wants that hehe)

That's why I said that this is in essence what *I'd* like, whether it is appropriate for the club at large is a more complex matter, which is why I've resisted the urge to say anything in the past. I totally agree on complexity issues and so on, and if it was done it would have to be done in such a way that makes sense and is simple to understand and use - otherwise you are right, it simply wouldn't be used by the vast majority of people.

I like to keep my stuff organised and tidy, it makes sense to me - I realise I'm probably a rather atypical TC member anyway :)

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NO probs - its great to constructive suggestions.

what about my 'joining' idea - any legs

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Some good ideas coming out of the woodwork. I can understand that some people find even the existing showroom entry creation a little bit daunting, especially if you are not familiar with digital pictures and resizing / uploading them.

Would it be possible to come up with a single generic showroom entry implementation that is made up from a configurable set of basic building blocks? So maybe you have:

- 1 or more main description text blocks.

- 1 or more category selections (model type, model status)

- 0 or more comment text block entries

- 0 or more photo / text entries where

- each photo / text entry consists of a single image and associated text block, maybe a category selection also.

Perhaps the photo text entries could have basic formatting options (photo left & text right, text left & photo right).

This way maybe there could be a "basic" showroom config with a description area, default category selections and say 6 photo / text blocks? For more advanced users you could then have an alternative showroom entry process that allows variable configurations of the above components? To make formatting easier and coding less tricky you could restrict the possible order of the elements (so description always first, then categories, then one or more photo/test blocks, then comments...

Apologies if this is way off beam and sounds like too much work - just thinking aloud really :-). I guess essentially what you have with TC is a kind of custom content management system, geared around forums, showrooms and articles - some are more configuarable than others, and of course if you wrote it yourself then you can do pretty much what you want with it [:)]

Cheers,

Chris

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I did think of the different layouts but gave up on the text to the right but we are really pushed for width, thats why it appears on top. Putting it at the side pushing lots of content of the side for most 1024x 768 monitor users. Will look some different options though.

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quote:Originally posted by Admin

what about my 'joining' idea - any legs


id="quote">id="quote">

Hmm, need to have a think and get my head around that, how it would work and what it would let me as a subscriber do.

My web/DB design faculties point me to get the underlying architecture correct to get a simple, powerful, flexible, maintainable, consistent and organisable foundation, rather than just tacking on extra fixes :)

But I'm not volunteering, or anything! [:D][:P]

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quote:Originally posted by ChrisB

This way maybe there could be a "basic" showroom config with a description area, default category selections and say 6 photo / text blocks? For more advanced users you could then have an alternative showroom entry process that allows variable configurations of the above components?


id="quote">id="quote">

Everything is *possible* :)

Yes, TC is a content management system however you implement user-contributed content. One of the problems with the way you suggest is it generates a lot of inconsistency - people get confused as to why one persons' showroom looks one way, and another person's looks different. Then they don't know how to make theirs look the same, and it generates confusion.

In order to create a workable site model to cater for a range of user-types, TC has to be consistent, and it has to be largely obvious, so users don't need to struggle to create a mental understanding of what each TC function represents.

Like I say, it's possible, but there is a Chris-centric equation based around the development cost versus the return on that investment, and any large-ish architecture change has a high development cost, both in terms of developing it, and in terms of migrating existing content to the new form, and educating the users.

Whether that cost is worth paying is down to Chris. I suspect not, as largely the site is doing well, growing and is a valuable resource. If the site was much better, would it generate more subscribers? More interest from R/C related companies. I don't know.

Hmm. Seems we are back to that old "acceptable compromise" chestnut.

I hate those things [:(!]

[:)]

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Bens right, I used to allow html in showroom descriptions but it made browing through the forums a nightmare, bold red text in capitals, millions of animated gifs and bad javascript etc. So in the end I turned it off.

I'm always for pushing the site forward, spent last christmas implementing new skin and the whole movies section, which seems to have gone down well. And around October time is the time the majority of subscribers get their renewal reminders (as October is when subscriptions started) so it would be nice to introduce something new just a bit before then, just as an added incentive.

In the past I've been very guilty of adding new features rather than tidying up or refining exisiting ones. Two reason, one is they are new features which people like and two they are generally more fun to do :)

What I'd really like to do is work on a new killer feature, which makes people think 'how did i live without this for all these years' - so ideas are welcome. Tweaks to what we have are also welcome.

I've been kicking an idea around for a while now, which might be interests to mainly the modellers and restorers on the site and thats a personal parts database. Might sound boring at first but here me out, I see it working like this.

You decide you want to restore a Rough Rider, so create a new project associated to this model.

First thing the system does is checks online to see if any one has already created that project, if it has it downloads all the required parts from there. If not you can create your own, making a list of the items you want (this is then uploaded for possibly others to use later) As you complete your model you tick off the items as you find them. Thats part 1.

Part two is for people that just want to keep a DB of their parts, they can simple enter them into their own online area, each part they can add a picture and a price if they wish. Great way to keep track and much easier than entering every single nut and bolt you have in the showroom.

Going back to the project man, when he has listed all the items he wants for his project it simple they cross references the gaps with those parts that people have listed for sale and tells him where he can find them, and also shows price options for each part.

Club gets payback from the fact that both the sellers and project people are actually building a huge database of what parts go to what kit and where you can get them from. With possible pictures of the items.

Visually I agree it wouldn't be the most exiciting thing, but I'm sure some people would find it useful, eg me (seem to remember saying that when I started setting up the club - lol)

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That sounds like a great idea, Chris.

Stimluates projects, sharing, generates data for the site, helps organise people, stimulates trade on parts, is a unique feature - seems to have a lot of payoffs for the development cost.

You could also *cough* revamp the wallpapers area *cough*

[;)][:D]

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lol - yes its about time I did something there... (just hope my email goes back that far!)

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quote:Originally posted by Admin

What I'd really like to do is work on a new killer feature...


id="quote">id="quote">

How about a routine in my showroom that opens the database of Tamiya HQ's logistics system over HTTP and redirects 1% of all new kits to my house [;)][;)][;)]

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I've had a think and the only thing I can think of is a return to higher resolution showroom pics. Nothing too huge, but perhaps a nudge up to 1024x768 would be nice. Besides, 800x600 is sooo 1992 [;)]

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