Closed Missing Photos

Having now slept on it, I have come up with at least two names I'd like to see as Gallery Moderators: yours (NZ Jeremy) and then Toddy.

Any other suggestions?

 

I know this is slightly tangential, but whilst moderators are being discussed, I would strongly recommend the appointment of one or two general (ie, forum) moderators from North America. This would result in moderators who are likely to be able to respond to any issues in all three of the regions that have lots of Zoochat members. That means that no matter what time it is, there's a reasonable chance that there'll be a moderator who can respond to it at a convenient time for them.

 

I agree to that - one suitable US moderator would have been Okapipr if he was still here, short posts but to the point and no extreme views as I recall it.

 

I heartily agree
To think that we may have five views of the many moods of some antelope (all close up!), while entire zoo galleries are being purged is too awful

 

This will probally be my last post here so please be gentle with me
On the subject of photographs in the galleries why don't we have a moderator for each country this mod would then be able to concentrate on there countries photographs only.
On an appeals mod this person must be someone who as NO prefferable zoo or country and be able to command the respect of ALL this sites members and for this I would like to put forward Gentle Lemur as I think everyone on here respects his photography skills and his impartiality on many debates.

Anymore nominations

 

Ituri, Arizona Docent, mstickmanp, Meaghan Edwards, jbns99b - there are plenty of suitable candidates. There are very few trouble-makers on this forum, which should make the job relatively straightforward. At least compared to the pains in the back passage that I've dealt with in past stints as a forum moderator!

I'd like to echo, also, the problem of page views being used to determine which photos survive and which don't. I would prefer that the rating tool already available be used. It shouldn't be too hard to establish rating photos as an almost automatic action when looking at photos. Of course, it's open to abuse in that some people will see fit to rate all their own photos as 5 stars... but effective moderation will nip that in the bud.

 

Thanks Baldur but I cannot invest the time needed...

Chlidonias would be excellent... Anyone but Sun Wukong (if that guy still posts)...

I think a criteria based deletion and moderation programme with an appeals process is the fairest way of administering such a wonderful resource and to ensure it's ongoing quality... There seems to be more than enough responsible daily members to achieve such a goal...

Another idea would be to limit an individual zoo's photos to a maximum of, say, two thousand, maybe with an article link page, youtube, flickr, photobucket, home webpage and wikipedia links all within the zoo's gallery as a method of compensation... Server space cannot expand exponentially without an increase of member numbers, an increase in advertising or content charges - that's just the reality...

I remember one Saturday a few years ago I decided I was going to view the whole gallery (it was about 5,800 photos at that time) and I could do it in half a day... I remember at the time thinking a few things:

- There are some crap photos here and some very repetitive ones
- This Snowleopard character is going to catch up to me in posts and photos soon (hey it was years ago)
- A system of acceptance of photos by criteria and a formal moderation system is going to be needed soon (to be perfectly honest I'm suprised it took so long and my personal opinion is that it should have been pre-announced)

To be honest I think the loss of 50,000 photos, many of which are irreplacible, while some popular individual animals in major zoos have dozens of poor photos of them still remaining is a tradegy and must be fixed - it has cost the site passionate members...

Ultimately it is up to Sim, it is his site and he can run it however he likes, I cannot write code worth a damn so I have no idea how hard it would be to introduce what is proposed... At the end of the day, this ain't no democracy...

 

Indeed.

The beauty of using the star rating tool is that it's already there, ready-made. It requires no code. It's intuitive to use - everybody is familiar with star ratings. It's stratified - so depending on how much space we have we can keep photos rated 2 and up, 3 and up, 4 and up or only keep those worth the full 5 stars. And finally, it's inclusive. There's no need to rely on subjective opinions by moderators with a time-consuming appeals process. The more people who use the system, the more reflective it becomes of general Zoochat opinion.

 

Just my two cents:
Because there is a problem of storage of the photos, and due to some very poor and duplicate photographs, could they just be deleted by the person who posted them? I realize for a moderator, that might be difficult considering the amount of photos. But if each person could do that to their own photographs, that might clear some space. For me personally, accidentally add some zoo photographs that I did not necessarily want in the galleries.

Another point, if every member made a conscious effort to think before adding every single photograph from their trip and ask "Is this photo worthy of being put in the gallery?" "Does ZooChat really need ANOTHER shot of this exhibit?" This would certainly clear up hundreds, if not thousands, of duplicate and blurry photographs and put an end any "photo competitions" between users.

Thanks