Hey all,

I'm looking for ideas. The new site is launched, new art is flowing in, and that's great. However, one of the reasons people post their artwork to a site is exposure and commentary. Exposure is great, but the commentary on Side 7 is lacking.

So, I'm looking for ideas on how you think we could change things to help commentary pick up again. What would you like to see that you think would increase interest in leaving comments on artwork? What do you think we could do better, or do that we're not doing currently?

Thanks in advance for your input.

-- BK

Well.. taps chin There are a FEW ideas... that I could toss around I guess.

Uhm, Folders would help. Having the ability to put out artwork into folders for example, Casper, Dragon Hunters ............of our choosing like that! I mean to make it easier for folks to browse through our gallery. That way they can look at the subject they like or may take interest in, see something easier and comment! Instead of looking through let's say 20 pages of everything, and chance missing up on possibly 5 of the subject they hoped to find.

Hrmn, Also, I KNOW the site needs money and that's a given, but perhaps, if you set a higher goal for "Account Credits" like 1000 or.......1500 or something for perhaps a "Free" 5 star account or something along those lines, maybe folks will start commenting more? I mean, I'm already motivated to comment for the 3 Star!

I'm flat broke,a s many others are as well... so the idea of a free 5 star, would get me commenting on everything and even looking at things I normally wouldn't. Which could ultimately broaden the horizon for me and such as to what I'd like, and even others could like!

I just know that t here are -3- things that people love on art sites and sites in general.

1. Is Free Stuff...~!
2. Is Organization/Customs
3. Contests ........with big prizes! XD

People eat that stuff up.

Very good point. That's what the Custom Portfolios are designed to be (they will be coming in version 4.1). Although, I think they're slated for 5 Star, but could be re-done to be 3 Star. Honestly, I think that would be a good change.

Hm. There's an idea. The whole point of the 5 Star, though, was that for those who helped the site financially, they would receive the most benefit. By giving a free version of that, the motivation for the financial support is gone.

Quote:

I just know that t here are -3- things that people love on art sites and sites in general. 1. Is Free Stuff...~! 2. Is Organization/Customs 3. Contests ........with big prizes! XD People eat that stuff up.

This is very true. However, free costs money. Somewhere, someone has to pay for it, which is what I volunteer to do. It's a known responsibility of running a site like this. However, as such, that causes limitation in what we can do, especially in the current economic climate. And that's a shame.

Once version 4.1 is launched, we plan to bring back big contests to the site. Not all of them will include high-dollar prizes, but some of them will include prizes like art supplies and the like. We've given 64-count Prismacolor pencil sets in the past, and those were darn near $75.00 US each. We tried promoting a v4.0 launch party contest a while ago, but no one seemed interested in it, even after we advertised the grand prize being either a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PS3. Not sure why that failed; perhaps we didn't advertise it enough.

Thanks for the input. Definitely food for thought. The unfortunate part is the funding, which is currently non-existent, for a couple of the ideas. Unlike sites like DeviantArt, we're not corporately funded, and haven't been awarded investments of $4,000,000.00 for development of new features. But, we can hope, right? Anyone know of a rich cousin or uncle who wants to donate vast amounts of money to a grass-roots art gallery?

-- BK

I agree, beside just putting my artwork up here for fun, I look forward for someone to take interest in commenting and give helpful criticizing. I'm always at times incouraging one to visit my gallery, but there ways of helping.

Again, the new "star reward" is good but the one who is commenting gets just "one" credit. I still think that the "grading comments" should come back, but somehow make it "more clear" that one gets "account credits". I'm still not so sure that some artist know how the "new star reward" works, knowing that one does get a "credit" added to account. I also agree with on some of the things Melle said, I know it's probaby not easy to run an excelent web gallery like this one, and having to come up with ideas.

Uh?! Maybe there could a feature where say if an artist wanted another artist to do a "art trade/commission, maybe there could be another feature where you also a give a number of "account credits", like maybe around 10 through 50 credits or just 10 to 20. Just instead of money, because not everyone is brave to hand out money, it seem one HAS to be careful where it goes now days. (Especial with the economic down fall).

Commenting alone garners credits, but yes, you're correct. There should be more awareness to the credits received for commenting. Currently the Bronze/Silver/Gold stars are simply a commenter's way of giving a little extra recognition to the artist. However, perhaps there should be a reward to the artist for such a reception.

The grading of comments is coming back in v4.1. However, instead of being a 1-10 scale, it'll be a Not Helpful <-> Very Helpful scale, and will similarly reward the commenter for their effort.

Hehe, you've hit the nail on the head for a v4.2 feature: Commissions Wishlists and Exchanges. This is a two-fold feature where a member can build a wishlist of other site members they'd love a commission or art trade from. Secondly, it'll give the member a way of listing descriptions of images they'd love for someone to draw for them. Then, any other member could view the descriptions, and gift the member with one of the images (no charge will be allowed for this feature), kind of like an Amazon wishlist. The hope here is to build an exchange of images, and provide an idea base for artists who are looking for image ideas.

It's a shame that I can't get this stuff out sooner. Ugh.

-- BK

unfortunately I cant think of any ideas myself. But I liked the ideas I read above well hmm ok lemme think I like flickr's mapping ability of your photographs... maybe something like that... I also enjoy clubs... eeeehm maybe special club accounts? And the folder idea mentioned above is something I would most definitely be happy to see

That's sounds pretty good with the new grading comment system for later version...

Excelent for the "Commission/Art Trade that will great to have, I can't wait! ^_^

-Miss D. (Debra)

posesimo:

unfortunately I cant think of any ideas myself. But I liked the ideas I read above well hmm ok lemme think I like flickr's mapping ability of your photographs... maybe something like that... I also enjoy clubs... eeeehm maybe special club accounts? And the folder idea mentioned above is something I would most definitely be happy to see

Mapping ability? Can you explain more? Is that where people can put highlights on the images and so that when you mouse-over certain areas, it shows small comments and the like?

And what do you mean by clubs?

I hope it's something everyone will like.

-- BK

Oh! Very cool!! I look forward to the new stuff!

Also, I like the idea of "clubs"! Allowing Mini accounts where everyone can come together who likes that show!

Example: DBZ club..... everyone can join it and talk about DBZ and post their artworks for it in the club or...something like that.. @_@; Or the DBZ club could hold a contest (the maintainer of it) and whoever wins would get a prize from there... and that could increase artist knowledge.

Though, if this were acquired, I'd love it if you could do something in a way like what...sheezy art does? As an example.... the picture gets posted in the club, but it stays linked to the Original Artists main-gallery... So all of the favs/comments would go directly to them. (Unlike at DA.... where you've gotta pray people look for it)

Melle:

Oh! Very cool!! I look forward to the new stuff! Also, I like the idea of "clubs"! Allowing Mini accounts where everyone can come together who likes that show! Example: DBZ club..... everyone can join it and talk about DBZ and post their artworks for it in the club or...something like that.. @_@; Or the DBZ club could hold a contest (the maintainer of it) and whoever wins would get a prize from there... and that could increase artist knowledge. Though, if this were acquired, I'd love it if you could do something in a way like what...sheezy art does? As an example.... the picture gets posted in the club, but it stays linked to the Original Artists main-gallery... So all of the favs/comments would go directly to them. (Unlike at DA.... where you've gotta pray people look for it)

So, essentially, what you're saying is something like a user group where people who have accounts on the site could join up and share a common interest. Another reference would be something like LiveJournal communities? However, any post that you make to the club would also show up in your personal gallery.

-- BK

Oh, I like the idea of the commission wishlist. Will the artists who are on someone's wishlist be able to see in some way that they are? As in, will there be something on an artist's profile or elsewhere that says, "On the following commissions wishlists"?

As for garnering more comments, what if there was something on the main page mentioning the top commenters for the week? It's a little more even playing ground than just the top commenter of all time.

I'm not 100% sure, yet, how that would be handled, but yes, the intention is there to let members know if they're on someone's wishlist.

Hm... that's a very interesting idea. Now, here's the $64,000 question: would that be a week as in "So far, from Sunday to Saturday, the top commenter is..." or "In the last 7 days, the top commenter is..."?

-- BK

I would sooooo have been in on this if only I knew about it! In the old version, though, I noticed there wasn't a lot of correlation between gallery activity and forum activity, so if something was announced just on the forums, odds are it wouldn't reach a lot of people. With integration of the forums into the main page, though, I think that'll change now in v.4.

I'm still seeing that same disconnect between the main site and the oekaki, incidentally. I feel like they're two separate sites; they don't even look much the same, and there's not a lot of overlap between the oekaki community and the site at large (most oekaki artists don't post much to their galleries, and most heavy gallery-posters don't oekaki). To run slightly off-topic, any way we could integrate the oekaki more into the rest of the site? At least make it skinned the same, and maybe allow an option to auto-post a finished oekaki drawing to one's gallery?

ahem anyway...

I like this idea. ^^ Better yet, let the users create the categories / group themes, so we don't run the risk of having groups that are so large as to be pointless (e.g. an Anthro Art group or an Anime Style group would contain, oh, everybody on the site; but a Fox Furries group or a Haruhi Fanart group would be a little more useful).

I think this is the best idea proposed so far to increase commenting; of course, people will comment on what they're interested in. Other than that, just don't be so shy, guys! Rifle through the Recent Uploads and speak your mind about something you notice in any of the pictures. No matter what you say (as long as it's tasteful, of course), the artist will appreciate it, so don't worry about your comments being "useless" or "wrong." ^^

Also, I think being able to award more than one medal per day for one-star accounts would encourage more one-star account holders (which is most people) to comment more. At least I get the feeling that I don't want to use up my one daily medal because I might see something later that I'll wish I had saved it for, so I'll hesitate to comment at all.

I'm... not sure how I feel about having artists as wishlist items. There are a few really great and prolific artists on here, and I can just see that either they get so swamped with wishes that they never have time for their own work, or that they gain a reputation as that jerk who never answers commissions. I think it'd be a little better to have styles, themes, and subject matter as things to put on your wishlist, then contact artists individually if you want them to do something for you. I had the thought of a "Preferred Artist" trait to add to wishlist items, but that seems like it would discourage other artists from offering to take up the task.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. ^^;

It was announced on the S7Radio station, on the forums, and in the site news. But, I think people started ignoring the site news, honestly.

There is a disconnect, yes. The oekaki has not yet had its facelift to match the new site. Eventually, the plan is to bring the actual drawing applications, and the display of new oekaki images, directly into the site so there isn't much separation. The problem is, because there were two separate user systems between the main site, and the oekaki software, we're going to have issues merging the two user bases. I'm still working on how to handle that. However, the goal is to bring the oekaki into the site like the forums were. When that stage will happen has not yet been decided.

Oh, the users would be able to create the clubs/communities. That's definitely the idea. There's no way we could know every club that would be desired.

Hm. You should be able to give more than one star per day. You should only be restricted to one star per image (to prevent people from artificially stacking star scores). If you're only being allowed one per day... that's a bug that needs fixing.

The intention of being able to list another member on a commission wishlist is not to obligate said member, but rather to just put it out there that, gee, if there was anyone you'd like a commission from, it's that person. The feature would display with heavy caveats stating that by adding someone to your wishlist, it does not obligate them to actually do anything for you, or for free. Likewise, any notification to the artist that they've been added to someone's wishlist would have similar caveats.

But, you make a good point. In the online artist community, there seems to be a pervading opinion that if you ask someone to do some artwork for you, that person is beholden to you to produce top-of-the-line artwork at the drop of a hat, for free, and right now. I could see this feature becoming a source for drama. In that case, perhaps it would be wise to add a user privacy preference that prevents people from adding you to their wishlists, much like you can prevent being added to a museum, or your images from being favourited.

-- BK

Looking at how the comment grading goes I think more stars should be rewarded to those who take the time to write a viable critique on pieces that ACTUALLY enjoy most and not just for the sake of star awards...given a good deal of comments is the latter of "Oh wow this is great work" have a set up you can give that allows people who really want to help out others and get rewarded for their efforts by making a sort of standard style critique that if used would garner more points.

EI-

-Opening comments on piece or artworks. -Pros -Cons -closing comments -Final score based on how many stars given out of 5

Then award the person a good hefty 15 points just for taking the time to comment which allows them to not only upgrade their accounts but will also allow more incentive to leave comments.

Also I thought that having private comments defeats the purpose of commenting all together because no one can read the comment or even see what was written given the community too much along the lines of being private...its like coming to a closed door everywhere you look....you can still keep the comment private but make a sort of award system for members who wish to be more open. 2 points for open comments instead of private...and that allows private comments to remain but gives more incentive for members to be more open with the community instead of closed up and phobic like they already are.

Encouraging more members to be more open allows a more vibrant looking community instead of its current shell like status is has right now.

The best thing to do would be to take off the private comments but that is my opinion entirely.

Finally last but not least add a clubs option (although knowing you you probibly thought this one up already as well)

I have been brainstorming lately to think of ways to bring the community more life and so far I have only managed to find things that are already apparent with members who ARE intrested in building up this site.

I guess them words are my final say on everything the rest is up to you bro.

Hmm! What ShoDarkhorn said sounds pretty good... maybe? But know there's something that kinda bugs me is that when I make a comment, and someone replies back to that comment. I don't get a e-mail saying that the artist has replied to your comment that you made.

I kinda think that should be fixed or put back.

~Miss D. (Debra)

There's a commenting guide that explains a lot of how to give good critiques VS giving comments. Not sure that many people paid attention to it. I fear building a critique submission form, honestly. The database set up for having two different forms of commentary would be a nightmare to maintain, for one. Additionally, people would still abuse the critique form just to get the extra Account Credits for giving a "critique" over giving a "comment."

Now, giving people bonus Account Credits for highly rated and helpful comments (once the comment rating system is back in place) is a good idea. Set milestones that, once a person has reached a certain amount of "helpful" comments, they get a bonus with each new comment. And, the more they become listed as "helpful", the larger to bonus (to a point).

I like the idea.

I disagree with the defeating the purpose of comments. Having the option for private comments gives a commenter the ability to send their comment or critique to the member, alone. Some people do not feel comfortable posting publicly, and this gives them the option to do so. Additionally, (and I've seen this happen) it gives people the ability to give stern critique of artwork without fear of backlash from that artist's fan-boys and -girls.

I don't see how having the ability to make your comments private (or for the recipient of those comments to set them private) would decrease people's desire to comment.

Yeah, this one came up earlier in this thread, and it's going to be in an upcoming release.

-- BK

Hm. Yes, that should be happening. If it's not, that's a bug that needs fixing.

-- BK

I just want to put my ditto in for what Weasel_Silver24 said. I meant to mention it before, but it must have slipped my mind, but yes, I have not been receiving notifications of comment replies.

Rats. And double rats. That needs to be remedied.

-- BK

Oh, so you mean a geographic map, to display the location at which the photo was taken?

-- BK

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7153266

Not Flickr, but I think this gallery has an example of what Poseidon's talking about. Is this correct?

exactelation

Sweet. I'll look into what it would take to do something like that.

-- BK