Photo Gallery Approval

[brandon184]

I don't think members should have to wait to have their photos approved.

*shrug*... Yeah, that's it. I just don't see the problem with trusting members to upload decent pictures.

Using the calculator built into my brain, I figure I'd be 75% more likely to upload pictures if I didn't have to sit back and wait for someone to mosey along and approve them. I also figure that I'd be a lot more likely to upload a few pictures every now and then as opposed to batch uploading.

Preliminary Question Answering:

Now Brandon, what about new members? You can just go along trusting everyone!

Set a point where members can begin to upload pictures without approval. 500 or 1000 posts seems suitable.

But what if someone uploads pr0n?

Then it gets deleted and that person loses their photo posting privledges or something.

You're only thinking about yourself, you beautiful bastard.

No, I'm also thinking about Whir. Ever since he got his prosthetic toe, he's been down in the dumps. And I know that people like me bugging him to approve pictures is probably a stressor that he could live without.

[paul9]

Good idea, Brandon.

[The Real Bingo]

Yes. It's easier to delete inappropriate photos than it is to approve the appropriate ones. It's like posting...when you post, you don't wait for the post to be approved. If it's bad, it's reported and hence edited.

[erhan28]

The person has to be aprove though, 500 is a good mark but depends on the person.
I only uploaded 3 pictures. lol so i post more on my spare time

[The Real Bingo]

500 seems a bit steep. People have been here for 3 years and barely have 250 posts, so that's no fair.

Maybe it could apply to members who have been here for a certain amount of time? Three months maybe?

[Atomic Rooster]

Awww... Poor brandon has to wait for a bit while his pics are approved. BFD.

I don't mind having to wait. If I were so darn anxious to have an all important picture posted on the web that everyone just has to see, I'd use a purpose built site such as ImageShack.

[Beemer]

Approval does seem to be a waste of voluntary resources.

[brandon184]

Awww... Poor brandon has to wait for a bit while his pics are approved. BFD.

I don't mind having to wait. If I were so darn anxious to have an all important picture posted on the web that everyone just has to see, I'd use a purpose built site such as ImageShack.

See, now you're just disagreeing with me for the sake of doing so.

It's not an issue of having "important" pictures that "need" to be seen. PhotoPost is kind of an important site feature and I bet those who administrate the site would like to see it used. Not having photos approved is a practical way to increase usage and exposure. I have gigabytes upon gigabytes of storage space online. I could easily upload my pictures and then post them in the forum. However, we have a photo gallery for a reason. No?

If the photo gallery has no point, why not just have a member-run photo gallery off-site? Yeah. We could use Coppermine and then they could just change the "photos" link up top to redirect to our server. Actually, that idea would probably go over for a lead balloon -- and rightfully so. Why? Because the photo gallery here serves an important purpose.

[Atomic Rooster]

I've never seen PhotoPost as an "important" feature of TechIMO, IMO. It's more of a nice perk. Not too many other "tech" forums have a photo feature. I just don't see what the big deal is having to wait for a mod to approve my pics. What's the hurry?

[The Real Bingo]

I don't think it's about being in a hurry. I just think B is being extra considerate of the mods and admin who need not bother to approve pictures when pictures can be automatically approved.

[brandon184]

No, it's mostly about me. I figure that if the mods really had that much of a problem with it, it would no longer be done. With that said, I just don't see how it's a useful feature.

I've never seen PhotoPost as an "important" feature of TechIMO, IMO. It's more of a nice perk. Not too many other "tech" forums have a photo feature. I just don't see what the big deal is having to wait for a mod to approve my pics. What's the hurry?

You've never seen it as that? Have you ever seen it as something that generates revenue to help this website run? Or that this website is featured on the PhotoPost site as a site for potential customers to view in case they're interested in purchasing a Photopost license? Or that the same people responsible for bringing you this site (that you use for free) put sweat and blood into PhotoPost?

[Atomic Rooster]

Ok. Lets look at it from the other side. Let's a say we can just upload any pic we want and have it instantly viewable. Now, you say that it's easy enough to delete the "bad" pics. Fair enough. But considering how long it takes for a mod to look through and approve the pics currently, how long do you think the innapropriate pics will be viewable for all to see before the mods can get to them?

[Atomic Rooster]

Yes brandon, I see the "value" of PhotoPost as a business venture. I understand that much of it. What I meant was I don't come to TechIMO because it has this feature. I come here for the help and members such as yourself.

[phenious]

Hmmm insteresting... granted I remember at least one of the larger photo problems comming from trusted members : shug : something to think about

[brandon184]

Ok. Lets look at it from the other side. Let's a say we can just upload any pic we want and have it instantly viewable. Now, you say that it's easy enough to delete the "bad" pics. Fair enough. But considering how long it takes for a mod to look through and approve the pics currently, how long do you think the innapropriate pics will be viewable for all to see before the mods can get to them?

Probably not very long, given that the workload of approving photos would be reduced to almost nothing.

Are you assuming that there's going to be a lot of inappropriate photos uploaded that need to be deleted? I'm not.

Hmmm insteresting... granted I remember at least one of the larger photo problems comming from trusted members : shug : something to think about

Yeah. I'm not saying that a "trusted" member will NEVER upload an inappropriate photo.

My argument is simply this;

It's probably a smarter idea to allow people to upload without approval and delete any inappropriate photos should they come as opposed to moderating every single photo submission regardless of who submits it.

[Atomic Rooster]

So you're saying it would be smarter to go through every single photo that is posted and delete the inappropriate ones than it would be to "moderate" every single photo submitted for approval as they do now? How so?

[Bizkitkid2001]

I'm sure that if the mods were in such a bind over the current way of approving pictures, they would have come up with a better idea along time ago.

[surreal]

Why should the mods have to deal with inappropriate pictures in order to give members instant gratification?
After all, the gallery is a nice perk Scott is giving for free.

[vass0922]

While I think its a relevant request a few things concern me.

1. It seems like approval is irrelevant for people that 100% of the time see the allowed pics. We have no idea how many pics they really deny posting to understand how important the approval is.

2. One of the things mods do sometimes is they throttle the approval rate of photo's so it doesn't flood the front page with one person.

3. Members know the pictures require approval so they're not as likely to put pictures highly likely to be denied. With that process out of the way more members maybe more willing to put more racey pictures up.


I like the idea, I just have reservations of it.

[Bizkitkid2001]

What I wish they would do is contact you if they denie a photo. I sent in a picture that was denied approval, yet they never sent me a message saying why. Even after I asked multiple times, none of the mods knew why it wasn't approved.

The picture was a scan of my hand on a flat bed scanner with my palm facing down. Written on my hand was "Hello TIMO!"