Eskie Board Photo Album

[Lexi's Mom]

OK - Michael, let me preface -- I'm not trying to be a pest and think up new and creative ways to generate more work for you on the board....honest!  I seem to be a "pot-stirrer" on occasion with some of my ideas - but this one is a biggie that I think everybody might be interested in.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who checks the Photo section at least a zillion times a day to see if there are any new photos of our Eskie friends.  I'm addicted, I admit it - a confirmed Eskieholic.  And I believe this possibility has been discussed previously on the board, but I don't remember why it got dropped.

What are the possibilities of our creating a section on the board where all the Eskie owners could have a spot to post photos of their Eskies with a caption describing the photo and date.  Maybe have the album divided up by the owner's name or Eskie board handle (since there are multiple Eskie families), then a sub-directory for each dog, so we can see all the photos of one Eskie in one place.  If they were in chronological order, we would all have an easy way to watch them "grow up" before our eyes.  It might be possible to incorporate a Memorial section in the album (within the section for that pet).

I know there are times when I pull up a photo thread multiple times, because I'm afraid I'll miss somebody posting some extra photos later within that thread.

A photo album section might also solve the problem of those adorable siggy pics disappearing from the board whenever we change to a new siggy picture.

So....just some food for thought.  Not being a web-designer or familiar with what is entailed in doing something like this, I have no clue how big of a project this might be - and if it is, please forgive me!  It was just an idea I thought might be worth considering if it was feasible.

Thanks for listening!

[Michael]

No problem, Betty.....ideas are good! That's one thing this particular section is for...suggestions, complaints, ideas, whatever.

Anyway....yes, the idea of a member or board connected/related photo album section *has* been brought up in the past, and I'll bring the topic up to date, as it has been mostly on the backburner for some time.

I have been wanting to add a photo section, for members, with some options. The main reason I want to add one is so members have a stock way of storing/using signature images, and possibly some other photos to share now and then. This way we can have one simple explanation of how to post a sig/post pic, and should allow new members to get the hang of that right off. Plus, a member photo section will just be handy for members and guests to view as well.

And therein is one of the rubs. Photos take up space and bandwidth, and I'm able to allot a certain about with the boards, but if I opened it up to allow any amount of photos/space to be used, it could get pretty ugly fast....for me at least! Thus, I'm thinking a structued setup, so that at least all members will have a section of space for sig pics and a bit more, but not necessarily unlimited. However, I may be able to do some options above that as well, but that will be brought up later. My main concern is to section off enough for members to at least have the basic needs connected.

And therein is another rub. There are a number of canned photo albums/galleries available that I could setup. Unfortunately, none are perfect, and need some tweaking to fit our needs best. If I just wanted to slap something up, using one of the canned scripts, I could probably do one in a half hour or so. BUT......I'd rather have some basics ironed out and do my best to fit things in so they work for our needs as well as possible before going live with one of these. I have tested some, and will be testing a newer one here soon again. Currently, I'm spending more time on the Poodle site, trying to get that ready to roll.

And that is yet another rub. See, the current board format is getting old and I've long wanted to update it. I've mentioned some issues and detours I've had with that, and so hadn't updated things here yet. I will be using a newer/different board format with the poodle site, and if that all goes well, I may consider updating the boards here to that format as well. There still isn't a connected photo album to it, though I can bridge one more easily. I am still thinking I may keep the board and photo albums separate, but "pseudo-bridged"...meaning they aren't formally connected, but are linked smoothly between, for easy navigation between.

So, the bottom line is......I'm looking at all kinds of logistics in all of this. Just adding a photo album is easy, but the ramifications and organization of everything takes a bit more to make things fit well. This is something that IS on my mind, and on the "to do" list......though I have no exact timeframe of when things may be implemented here.  So, I don't mind another suggestion along these lines, and now you may realize more of why it's not been discussed lately...older members know I've mentioned this as a plan to do, but I just haven't been able to keep at it enough to iron everything out. Many of the canned scripts out there are frustrating in ways, and I hate modding scripts to have them updated and then a mess to update with a mod. I'm finally getting to a point of accepting that things may work even if they aren't "perfect" to my liking! In ways that may be better, because updates go more smoothly. But this is something I do have on the list of things to do and add here. Likely the whole site will be getting a revamp before long as well. But, first, the poodle site and related features(similar to here) and then duping what works there to update things here more. The overall site, the boards, the chat, etc. all will be getting some updates/improvements....hopefully very soon. And a photo album for members *is* on that list of things to add here. Just need to get everything hashed out on it that I feel is necessary before going live with it.

Hope that at least fills you in some. I do appreciate ideas and suggestions....so don't hesitate when you do think of something!

[Lexi's Mom]

Thanks a bunch, Michael. I really appreciate your desire to give us the best possible set-up, and I believe whatever you come up with will be well worth the wait.  Kudos to you for all that you do for us, oh "Wizard of the Web".  <*bowing repeatedly with awe and admiration*>

[Hoosier_Eskie]

I'd hate to imagine the amount of space that would be needed to store all the photos from all the members of the board, especially with how the board is growing.  Some of us on the board (including myself) are photo fanatics.  For Michael to have the storage space needed, it would cost a lot of money.  

Another idea is maybe some mini-photo albums.  That would allow the members to upload some "Best Of" photos.  Sorta like Dogster?  This way everyone can post some photos of their dog and make it easy to use as signatures.  Then we'll could just link off to a bigger album site that has free storage space paid for by advertising sponsors.

As Michael mentioned.  The bigger the website, the faster things can get ugly.

[Eskie Papa]

I'm looking into developing a photo site for members of this board to post pics. I have gone so far as to register a domain name.

I have installed the latest version of Coppermine (1.4.3) on a couple of client sites, and the performance of this particular "canned script" has been better than expected.

I hear ya, Michael - bandwidth and disk space is a big concern for this type of undertaking. You've obviously done a lot to create and maintain this board, and my hat goes off to you for that - thank you; I'm really enjoying my time here.

I've noticed a lot of members are using various websites for their pictures, like Photo Bucket and Webshots (all of which I don't personally care for). So, I thought about creating a photo gallery site for members of this board.

Just a heads-up that I may be offering an alternative to other sites like Photo Bucket, and would cater to members of this board only - for free, and without annoying ads.

Stay tuned...