Closed Can we breakup some zoos in Gallery into exhibits?
- Thread starter Jurek7
- Start date
I second to that.
I actually avoid browsing through certain galleries for this very reason. For instance, with Chester Zoo being the favourite zoo of so many British zoo enthusiasts, its gallery is chock-full. Same can be said about the London Zoo gallery. Certain zoos outside the UK (such as Taronga Zoo) are the same, and over in the US two galleries in particular, Seattle and Vancouver, are also chock-full, along with those of the Bronx, San Diego and Los Angeles. I name these just as examples, no offence please
I'm happy if Zoochat is going well and growing, but do we need hundreds of photos of the same exhibit, most or many maybe even taken from the same angle? With all due respect I doubt it. Even so, the last thing I would want to do would be to discourage anyone from taking their camera along. I never visit a zoo without a camera myself and chances are I would rather skip visiting than going without a camera.
Some galleries (e.g. Chester, London, Bronx, San Diego) have been filled up by rather few members who visit these zoos dozens of times each year (often because they work there, volunteer or live close by) and maybe bring a camera along on every occeasion. The galleries for those zoos are chock-full while many other galleries are virtually empty.
In essence: I love the Zoochat Gallery but it might need some structure. I would help in organising it but that would require being an administrator or moderator.
I actually avoid browsing through certain galleries for this very reason. For instance, with Chester Zoo being the favourite zoo of so many British zoo enthusiasts, its gallery is chock-full. Same can be said about the London Zoo gallery. Certain zoos outside the UK (such as Taronga Zoo) are the same, and over in the US two galleries in particular, Seattle and Vancouver, are also chock-full, along with those of the Bronx, San Diego and Los Angeles. I name these just as examples, no offence please
I'm happy if Zoochat is going well and growing, but do we need hundreds of photos of the same exhibit, most or many maybe even taken from the same angle? With all due respect I doubt it. Even so, the last thing I would want to do would be to discourage anyone from taking their camera along. I never visit a zoo without a camera myself and chances are I would rather skip visiting than going without a camera.
Some galleries (e.g. Chester, London, Bronx, San Diego) have been filled up by rather few members who visit these zoos dozens of times each year (often because they work there, volunteer or live close by) and maybe bring a camera along on every occeasion. The galleries for those zoos are chock-full while many other galleries are virtually empty.
In essence: I love the Zoochat Gallery but it might need some structure. I would help in organising it but that would require being an administrator or moderator.
I agree that some of the galleries are getting out of control.
I'm happy to consider suggestions for how we might re-arrange some of them to make it easier to manage.
Would it make more sense to arrange photos by exhibit, by species, by date taken, or by some other mechanism?
I was also considering making some of these galleries read-only now, or perhaps require a moderator to approve the photos that are uploaded before they become visible on these more popular galleries. That could be a lot of work.
Perhaps I could just archive some of the older photos into a separate (read-only) gallery?
I'll also look at providing an option to show more than 25 photos per page.
Please put forward your suggestions as to how we might better manage the larger photo galleries to make them more usable.
PS. I am considering completely restructuring the way the gallery works anyway, since there are some structural limitations we are beginning to face given the large number of photo galleries on the site - the software simply wasn't designed to handle this many photo galleries / forums!!
I'm happy to consider suggestions for how we might re-arrange some of them to make it easier to manage.
Would it make more sense to arrange photos by exhibit, by species, by date taken, or by some other mechanism?
I was also considering making some of these galleries read-only now, or perhaps require a moderator to approve the photos that are uploaded before they become visible on these more popular galleries. That could be a lot of work.
Perhaps I could just archive some of the older photos into a separate (read-only) gallery?
I'll also look at providing an option to show more than 25 photos per page.
Please put forward your suggestions as to how we might better manage the larger photo galleries to make them more usable.
PS. I am considering completely restructuring the way the gallery works anyway, since there are some structural limitations we are beginning to face given the large number of photo galleries on the site - the software simply wasn't designed to handle this many photo galleries / forums!!
ZooLeopard
Well-Known Member
I think sorting the photos into Exhibits and species for the larger photo galleries is a great idea but some such as london and chester have many archive photos which could be put into a seperate catergory.
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
My opinion is that some posters need to be more self-editing.
There are a number of people who post every single photograph they have taken on their zoo visit, so that the gallery is stuffed full with several near-identical shots taken on the same day, by the same person.
This does mean, for example, that scanning through the 'new photos' section can be frustrating - many, many pictures of the foliage in the orang utan enclosure in the Anytown Zoo, endlessly repeating each other. This means that the good stuff can be overwhelmed by dross - which is a problem!
There are a number of people who post every single photograph they have taken on their zoo visit, so that the gallery is stuffed full with several near-identical shots taken on the same day, by the same person.
This does mean, for example, that scanning through the 'new photos' section can be frustrating - many, many pictures of the foliage in the orang utan enclosure in the Anytown Zoo, endlessly repeating each other. This means that the good stuff can be overwhelmed by dross - which is a problem!
I've been bearing this in mind - I'm sure many members are tired of my many shots in the Marwell gallery every few weeks! 
Therefore I'm trying to limit myself, placing only the best and most unique shots in the gallery and those that I know will hold new interest for ZooChatters.
Therefore I'm trying to limit myself, placing only the best and most unique shots in the gallery and those that I know will hold new interest for ZooChatters.
I for one would support this thought, Ituri. Most of us have our favourite contributors/photographers here on Zoochat, as well as those we like less and some we can't even stand
Aided by the search option, this would be a good change. We could then compare photos from different people of the same exhibit.I have thought a lot about changes to the gallery in the past few days, noting down ideas as they have appeared in my head, and when I get on my week off, I intend to present those ideas to SIM and you the others here on this thread. Some may be radical but just wait and see
You can already ... if you click on someone's name at the top of their post, you'll see an option in the menu that pops up called "Find all gallery items uploaded by xxxxx"
eg: Gallery Sort Tool
It's not perfect, but it's something.
I think the whole thing can be made much more simple to access and use though.
The problem is that this doesn't actually solve the problem. There are two distinct activities - looking at photos uploaded by a specific user, and looking at photos uploaded about a specific zoo. We do need to have the ability to show both - which means that we still need to solve the problem of how to manage zoo galleries which have thousands of photos in them.
Thoughts and suggestions on how to improve the Zoochat Gallery
I have been thinking a lot lately about how to improve the Zoochat Gallery to make it even greater than it is at present. But it cannot be the work of one or two, it needs the work of the whole membership. Following are my thoughts and suggestions and I would love to discuss these:
Report stolen photos
We should inform SIM about photos that have been stolen from other websites. Sometimes they are marked but in other cases it is not so easy to spot. All photos in the Clacton Pier Dolphinarium gallery (United Kingdom) are stolen for instance.
Report photos or thumbnails that do not work
We should inform SIM about photos which will not display and thumbnails that do not work. Photos may not display because the file is corrupted or something went wrong in the upload process. Sometimes the photo works but not the thumbnail. If it is your photo, you can easily fix this; click on the photo, then click 'edit' under the photo and then 'rebuild thumbnail'. Notify the respective user if it is not yours.
Photos that are blurred or unclear
Should be deleted.
Multiple photos of the same
Multiple photos of the same animal a few seconds apart (e.g. playing, eating) can be cute, funny and interesting; but they don’t necessarily all belong here. If you take 20-30 photos of the same animal or exhibit, only share 1-5 of the very best.
Zoo Memorabilia
One user has been active in uploading old postcards and another one has uploaded a number of zoo guidebook covers. I'm a former zoo ephemera collector so I like their effort. Even so, they don't belong with our personal photos but in a special zoo memorabilia section. But we must be careful about respecting copyrights for printed material, although hardly any zoo would bother if someone scans their 100 year old postcards.
Please only upload your own photos
Please only upload your own photos, never ones you have scanned from publications like zoo guidebooks (not even old guidebooks, although covers would be OK in my view). It is breaking copyright and could mean legal trouble for SIM.
But there's another thing to it and let us take Chester Zoo as an example. The Chester Zoo gallery has now 2900 photos and keeps growing. Due to size it is unfeasible to pleasantly browse through, unless you have all the time in the world. It would be too much if users would be scanning photos from Chester guides too. While guidebook photos are usually wonderful, it is because they are taken by professionals in corner and locations often not accessible to the public, and assisted by keepers who feed or hold the animals to keep them still. The reason they are printed is that the director or someone else accepted them as they show the zoo as they like it to be shown. Personal photos show the real deal, what the public will see, and sometimes what the zoo management doesn't want you to see.
Does your photo have a date?
Most users put a year or month in the title or description, some are even so accurate that they put the exact date, but some don't bother with any of this. While a zoo photo can be enjoyed in its own right without a date, it is virtually useless as a source without knowing something about when it was taken.
Please tell us a bit about your photo
Your photo may be amazing but always try to tell us a bit about it, even just the title plus 1-2 lines in the description space. If you have no time or interest in writing so little, maybe you should think twice about uploading the photo in the first place. For instance: the Bronx gallery has a great photo of a male gorilla. The photo title is 'P1090138' and nothing else. The description space has nothing. In this case I know what is on the photo (male gorilla) but if it was of an exhibit, I would have to guess, comment on the photo or send a message to the owner. I may have the time, but not everyone does.
Finally here is a controversial point: should administrator/moderators accept all photos before they appear online? Let me explicate!
Here on Zoochat we often say things, disguised under our aliases, which we would never be brave enough to say face to face with someone. Some get a kick out of that and would leave the forum if the moderators would want to filter all posts and threads. But they would never want that. Not only would it be too much work, also I don't think anyone wants Zoochat to become a censored Big Brother thing.
But the gallery is different from the forum; it needs to be controlled and organised. Some galleries are empty or virtually empty while others are growing beyond control. It costs money to maintain, which comes down on SIM while not more are willing to pay to become supporters. If more would become supporters, then maybe we could have fewer ads!
Report spam and advertising messages
We should be active in reporting spam and advertising messages to SIM.
For instance have the Singapore Zoo and Jurong Bird Park marketing departments discovered Zoochat. Singapore Zoo's marketing department recently started a thread advertising a new behind-the-scenes program, a part of which is hand-feeding a rhino, claimed to be a once-in-a lifetime experience. I don't doubt that, but the advertisement featured a photo of a Black Rhinoceros (the zoo has Whites) which also was probably taken in Africa.
And Jurong Bird Park gives us a good deal of spam; every now and then they advertise events where the element of attraction is a free beer or a free ice cream. I'm sure every Zoochat member who hasn't would like to visit the Singapore animal attractions (I'm one of the lucky ones who has) but would a free beer or ice cream be your enticement?
It would be the easiest thing in the world to ignore all this and just carry on, but Zoochat means more to me than that.
I have been thinking a lot lately about how to improve the Zoochat Gallery to make it even greater than it is at present. But it cannot be the work of one or two, it needs the work of the whole membership. Following are my thoughts and suggestions and I would love to discuss these:
Report stolen photos
We should inform SIM about photos that have been stolen from other websites. Sometimes they are marked but in other cases it is not so easy to spot. All photos in the Clacton Pier Dolphinarium gallery (United Kingdom) are stolen for instance.
Report photos or thumbnails that do not work
We should inform SIM about photos which will not display and thumbnails that do not work. Photos may not display because the file is corrupted or something went wrong in the upload process. Sometimes the photo works but not the thumbnail. If it is your photo, you can easily fix this; click on the photo, then click 'edit' under the photo and then 'rebuild thumbnail'. Notify the respective user if it is not yours.
Photos that are blurred or unclear
Should be deleted.
Multiple photos of the same
Multiple photos of the same animal a few seconds apart (e.g. playing, eating) can be cute, funny and interesting; but they don’t necessarily all belong here. If you take 20-30 photos of the same animal or exhibit, only share 1-5 of the very best.
Zoo Memorabilia
One user has been active in uploading old postcards and another one has uploaded a number of zoo guidebook covers. I'm a former zoo ephemera collector so I like their effort. Even so, they don't belong with our personal photos but in a special zoo memorabilia section. But we must be careful about respecting copyrights for printed material, although hardly any zoo would bother if someone scans their 100 year old postcards.
Please only upload your own photos
Please only upload your own photos, never ones you have scanned from publications like zoo guidebooks (not even old guidebooks, although covers would be OK in my view). It is breaking copyright and could mean legal trouble for SIM.
But there's another thing to it and let us take Chester Zoo as an example. The Chester Zoo gallery has now 2900 photos and keeps growing. Due to size it is unfeasible to pleasantly browse through, unless you have all the time in the world. It would be too much if users would be scanning photos from Chester guides too. While guidebook photos are usually wonderful, it is because they are taken by professionals in corner and locations often not accessible to the public, and assisted by keepers who feed or hold the animals to keep them still. The reason they are printed is that the director or someone else accepted them as they show the zoo as they like it to be shown. Personal photos show the real deal, what the public will see, and sometimes what the zoo management doesn't want you to see.
Does your photo have a date?
Most users put a year or month in the title or description, some are even so accurate that they put the exact date, but some don't bother with any of this. While a zoo photo can be enjoyed in its own right without a date, it is virtually useless as a source without knowing something about when it was taken.
Please tell us a bit about your photo
Your photo may be amazing but always try to tell us a bit about it, even just the title plus 1-2 lines in the description space. If you have no time or interest in writing so little, maybe you should think twice about uploading the photo in the first place. For instance: the Bronx gallery has a great photo of a male gorilla. The photo title is 'P1090138' and nothing else. The description space has nothing. In this case I know what is on the photo (male gorilla) but if it was of an exhibit, I would have to guess, comment on the photo or send a message to the owner. I may have the time, but not everyone does.
Finally here is a controversial point: should administrator/moderators accept all photos before they appear online? Let me explicate!
Here on Zoochat we often say things, disguised under our aliases, which we would never be brave enough to say face to face with someone. Some get a kick out of that and would leave the forum if the moderators would want to filter all posts and threads. But they would never want that. Not only would it be too much work, also I don't think anyone wants Zoochat to become a censored Big Brother thing.
But the gallery is different from the forum; it needs to be controlled and organised. Some galleries are empty or virtually empty while others are growing beyond control. It costs money to maintain, which comes down on SIM while not more are willing to pay to become supporters. If more would become supporters, then maybe we could have fewer ads!
Report spam and advertising messages
We should be active in reporting spam and advertising messages to SIM.
For instance have the Singapore Zoo and Jurong Bird Park marketing departments discovered Zoochat. Singapore Zoo's marketing department recently started a thread advertising a new behind-the-scenes program, a part of which is hand-feeding a rhino, claimed to be a once-in-a lifetime experience. I don't doubt that, but the advertisement featured a photo of a Black Rhinoceros (the zoo has Whites) which also was probably taken in Africa.
And Jurong Bird Park gives us a good deal of spam; every now and then they advertise events where the element of attraction is a free beer or a free ice cream. I'm sure every Zoochat member who hasn't would like to visit the Singapore animal attractions (I'm one of the lucky ones who has) but would a free beer or ice cream be your enticement?
It would be the easiest thing in the world to ignore all this and just carry on, but Zoochat means more to me than that.