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| Moderated by: chrisbet, | ||
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chrisbet
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I thought it might be useful to start a fresh thread on this subject...  As an "outsider" and having no real investment in the current structure I have a couple of observations. 1. You talk about 3 main things - the equipment features, the skills in using the equipment and the results. 2. Apart from the banter, comments in the results are generally related to specific images. I wonder if it would be useful to have some sort of linked gallery thread where, as well as having individual threads like "My visit to Wales", the images therein could sire an independent thread with comments on the image itself. This could then link into the gallery (the existing one or a new one) which showed the latest images and their comment threads. This might get round the issue of someone posting an image to illustrate a technical point or as part of a thread on a project etc. and the thread getting waylaid by comments on the image - these would be housed in the image comments thread. If this suggestion gets any support, I will start looking into the mechanics of achieving it. |
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jk
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If I understand you proposal in the penultimate paragraph, it would be having comment threads that were picture centric, rather than the current method of text centric threads with illustrative photos. Is this correct? |
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chrisbet
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In practice I was imagining a thread like the "My visit to Wales" to be as it is, but each image would have a link / button that would take you to a separate listing with the image at the head that allowed you to comment specifically on that image, general comments would continue as now within the original thread. That would open up the possibility for users to view and comment on images from an enhanced gallery without necessarily visiting the original thread, though their comments would be visible from within the original thread by using the "comments" button. If the concept is interesting, I can see if I can knock up a quick trial. |
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jk
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Are you familiar with Lotus Notes as a product? This has a similar concept where you form side branches to a discussion. |
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chrisbet
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No - never used Lotus Notes but I am glad my concept isn't totally off the wall ... |
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Eric
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chrisbet wrote:No - never used Lotus Notes but I am glad my concept isn't totally off the wall ...I used Lotus Notes for some years in its infancy and it worked very well. But I do wonder how far we need to go revamping the website given the very limited number of contributors? I am impressed with what's been done already but I feel it's time to consolidate and fine tune what you've created to date. I couldn't help but wonder if the extent of all this software 'live commissioning' (number of forum based threads as opposed to photographic threads on Recent topics page ) might put off some of the current visitors looking for photography subjects? Just my 2cents. |
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chrisbet
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I actually agree and was suggesting that this is for a later iteration of the software and something that might actually attract visitors to the site. Any site that is complex to use will put all but the most ardent off using it. Simplifying the presentation and making it easy to use should be the long term goal. If we can get more google search results for people it will help, a mobile friendly default theme ( the one Google sees as a not logged in user) will boost the ranking. A front page that carries meaningful content will do so also. Simple links off the front page with thread titles and descriptions using the key words that people search for makes it more likely that the forum will appear on the first page of searches - not many people go further than the first page! |
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chrisbet
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Just a few stats to think about - I put NDSLR onto Google search console about a month ago. In that time NDSLR appeared in search results over 3000 times but only got 162 clicks. Its average position was 21.6, so top of the 3rd page. It shows that there are only 120 valid pages that have been crawled and are available to the Google search engine.There is only one page that is considered mobile friendly. |
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Eric
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chrisbet wrote:Just a few stats to think about - I put NDSLR onto Google search console about a month ago.Is there not a case for having another / other domain(s) using potential google catch phrases, that could be pointed at this site? Eg nikon-knowhow.com, how-to-use-my-Nikon.com, nikonfaqs.com. Apologies if that's daft or just wouldn't work that way.  |
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chrisbet
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It might have worked once upon a time but Google are constantly changing their algorithms and these days, to get a decent ranking, you need mobile compatibility and content that matches the search terms. The old tricks of loading keywords into the meta data of the site no longer works - having multiple "phoney" sites would do the opposite to what you want because they would have low reputation and they would drag yours down. The trend is to get links on high reputation sites, so if you get a review on sites on digital photography eg https://www.dphotographer.co.uk/ you would "borrow" some of their credibility in searches. |
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jk
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Unfortunately searching for items in Lotus Notes used to be horrible but it might be better now it has a relational database driving it. |
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Robert
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jk wrote:Unfortunately searching for items in Lotus Notes used to be horrible but it might be better now it has a relational database driving it.Every forum I go on and there are quite a few, it takes me ages to find my way around. I like simple and straightforward. If it's too complicated I go look for the same info elsewhere. One feature I particularly do like is the text being saved as I type, many a time I have lost entire posts which have taken me ages to construct. Sometimes I just can't raise the energy or enthusiasm to type it all in again. Now if I have a long post, I save it to my notepad first, before uploading it, I did that with the Wales thread. Only recently I made a post which was a technical question, I can't remember the details but I think the browser crashed, I was delighted to discover when I re-started the computer that my post was almost entirely still there, minus a couple of words. I wasn't aware of the autosave, it just happened in the background. |
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jk
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I think that you have hit upon a situation that is not uncommon. All applications can crash, but they should also have an autosave mechanism. |
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chrisbet
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If I can make a suggestion - switch the default board theme to ndslr - everyone already a member would be unaffected as the current theme they are using is stored on the db - but new members and guests (including Google) would see the mobile friendly version. |
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jk
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I will give the Ndslr theme a test run. I will change my preferences to this once I have posted here. |
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jk
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For me on my iPad I find Ndslr is confusing and visually unappealing. Sorry. The columns do not currently align so present a jagged feel. Attachment: 6ECD9445-56FB-4C9D-890E-3634DF79813A.png (Downloaded 119 times) |
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jk
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Buttons are half in/out of frame. I cant post a picture as it says screen shot is too large. |
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jk
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Back to ModernEditor theme. See if I can post last screenshot without resizing. Yes I can...... Why?  |
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jk
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Back to Ndslr. Retest of posting a screenshot on ipad.  |
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jk
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Strange that seems to work now. The cursor seems to go awol after an image upload. I wanted to add a comment in the last posting but it wouldnt allow me to do it as the cursor was invisible. |
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jk
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The Ndslr works very nicely on my iphone7+ but the buttons on right are still half in/out of frame. I am a bit flimmoxed as to which Reply button too use as it is on every post. But all of them work. Need to consider simplifying maybe. |
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Robert
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Posting this from my iPhone 6, don't see any issues at the moment. Editing seems normal. It took me a long time to find the preferences page but I got it in the end. I don't intend to make a habit of using an iPhone to post. |
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jk
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Robert wrote:Posting this from my iPhone 6, don't see any issues at the moment.Nor me. I guess it must be an age related or generational thing! |
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jk
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Got to say that for me (on my ipad) that if I was to score the themes it would be as follows: ModernEditor 10 Ultra 7 Ndslr 5 This may be due to lack of familiarity with Ndslr theme. |
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chrisbet
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It seems the ipad (presumably in portrait mode) falls just above the switch to phone layout and where some of the columns on recent topics get too narrow to contain the text - I have tweaked the column widths a little and I think that has fixed the "jagged" issue. The buttons creeping outside the column was the same issue, but I have now set the button width as a percentage of screen width so that should also be fixed. Give it another try and see if it works OK now. PS - the one mobile friendly page on the website is the new splash page! |
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chrisbet
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jk wrote:I am a bit flimmoxed as to which Reply button too use as it is on every post. But all of them work. Need to consider simplifying maybe.It is the same on ME & Ultra - every post has a reply button. Plus on the other two there are additional reply buttons. It means that wherever you are on the topic there is a reply button available - think of it as replying to THAT post - just as you would quote from THAT post or edit THAT post  |
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chrisbet
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jk wrote:The cursor seems to go awol after an image upload. I wanted to add a comment in the last posting but it wouldnt allow me to do it as the cursor was invisible.It is lurking at the end of the image, just hit enter and it will move below the image. |
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chrisbet
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I have modified the code to insert a break at the end of the image so the cursor is visible and a gap between image & text is created. |
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jk
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Thanks. Just sent you a PM about and Urgent bug that needs a fix. |
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Bob Bowen
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One oddity I have noticed since all the recent tinkering is that if I view the Forum without logging in images display oversized and too big to be viewed on my monitor. Log in and all is fine. |
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jk
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Thanks for reporting Bob. Please could you upload a screenshot for the pre-login state. Chris please can you check this. |
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chrisbet
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I can't replicate the issue - logged in or out, the images are contained within the post boundaries. Logically the only difference between logged in and logged out is that a different menu is used and permissions are different - the style sheet and template are the same. I wonder if there are cached pages on Bob's machine that are showing instead of current ones. |
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Bob Bowen
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Here is a pre log in screen shot JK. |
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chrisbet
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This is a real puzzle and I wonder if this is another Safari / Apple quirk. Can you please change your logged in theme back to Ultra and see if the distortion still goes away when you log in. |
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chrisbet
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I have had a good look at the original forum coding and have found a couple of inconsistencies in the table structure of the post rows - spanning 2 columns when there was only one. The original forum design was all done with tables - not the most reliable way of setting out the forum! Please recheck the logged out display. |
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Bob Bowen
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Odd display of pics I reported the other day still there. It seems to be Eric's pics today in the Birds page. Jeff's fine but Eric's oversize. |
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Bob Bowen
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Now some of Roberts. Maybe it is a Mac/Safari thing. I'm running Mojave on a Mac mini with 27 inch Apple display. Only seem to get a problem on the Forum. |
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Current theme is Blue
| A small amount of member data is captured and held in an attempt to reduce spammers and to manage users. This site also uses cookies to ensure ease of use. In order to comply with new DPR regulations you are required to agree/disagree with this process. If you do not agree then please email the Admins using info@nikondsl.uk Thank you. |