Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

Did you want fries with that? (Feedback thread)

2»

Comments

  • #32
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    If amateur bakers on GBBO can follow an extremely scant recipe with no pictures at all, and still produce impressive complicated cakes, I'm sure people can manage to follow a clear cooking club recipe without dozens of pictures and videos ;).

    Personally, I have strong opinions on the picture rule. 1. The calibre of cooks that use the CC is typically intermediate upwards. They're well able to follow a recipe without needing to rely on pictures and videos. 2. Cookbooks explain recipes just fine with one or two pictures at most, and no videos. 3. Lots of large pictures distract the eye and often cause you to skip over small sections of text. 4. It ruins threads on mobile devices.

    There's lots more reasons that I feel less pictures is far best overall too. I'm personally confident that everyone here is capable of following clear written instructions, but this post is written strictly in a user capacity, not as a moderator, so everyone should debate this issue if it needs it.

    Oh, an personally, I'd always find written instructions much easier to refer back to when I get confused, rather than trying to move the cursor to the exact right point on a video on my laptop with doughy/dirty hands.


  • #33
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,744 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Personal bit: I agree wholeheartedly with Faith on the pics topic. Most of my cookbooks & also most online recipes that I would view have generally one pic of the finished dish. Yeah, some of the more complicated dishes may have a vid, or a couple of pics to help with a tricky technique, but that's it.

    I've seen instances of 5 image files being attached with the recipe but each image containing multiple pics - again, a lot of them not actually needed. I find that pointless to be honest. It can make the recipe seem overly 'involved' & off-putting. If I wanted an online tutorial in how to prepare something challenging - I'd hit YouTube or some of the more technical blogs. But I just want to have a recipe to follow...

    Mod bit: Personally, I think that the 5 pic limit is a good compromise. It offers a certain opportunity for the poster to show what is going on as they prepare the dish. However, it prevents a plethora of redundant pics (you know the sort - pics of chopped carrots, something simmering in a pot, etc - things that offer nothing to how the reader should interpret the recipe) clogging up what should be a relatively straightforward recipe.


  • #34
    Gloomtastic!
    Registered Users Posts: 8,304 ✭✭✭Gloomtastic!


    The Hill Billy wrote: »
    Personal bit: I agree wholeheartedly with Faith on the pics topic. Most of my cookbooks & also most online recipes that I would view have generally one pic of the finished dish. Yeah, some of the more complicated dishes may have a vid, or a couple of pics to help with a tricky technique, but that's it.

    I've seen instances of 5 image files being attached with the recipe but each image containing multiple pics - again, a lot of them not actually needed. I find that pointless to be honest. It can make the recipe seem overly 'involved' & off-putting. If I wanted an online tutorial in how to prepare something challenging - I'd hit YouTube or some of the more technical blogs. But I just want to have a recipe to follow...

    Mod bit: Personally, I think that the 5 pic limit is a good compromise. It offers a certain opportunity for the poster to show what is going on as they prepare the dish. However, it prevents a plethora of redundant pics (you know the sort - pics of chopped carrots, something simmering in a pot, etc - things that offer nothing to how the reader should interpret the recipe) clogging up what should be a relatively straightforward recipe.

    Can we not leave it up to the posters' discretion whether pics are needed or not. I'm intending to contribute a recipe next year and have taken the pics already. They are however, as tHB describes, just pics of chopped up vegetables and ingredients frying in a frying pan......


  • #35
    Oranage2
    Registered Users Posts: 11,131 ✭✭✭✭Oranage2


    As someone reading the recipes I just like seeing ingredients and quantities followed by a few steps and a picture of the finished dish.

    But if the cook has put a lot of effort in then they probably want to show show people Exactly how much effort the put in and what Exactly they did.


    As this is a club and not recipe resource, now Just a suggestion but how about first post is quick introduction followed by ingredients then steps, finally a picture of the finished dish. Second post can add pictures of the prep, tricky techniques, anecdotes and what not.


  • #36
    BaZmO*
    Registered Users Posts: 18,625 ✭✭✭✭BaZmO*


    Gloomtastic! wrote: »
    Can we not leave it up to the posters' discretion whether pics are needed or not. I'm intending to contribute a recipe next year and have taken the pics already. They are however, as tHB describes, just pics of chopped up vegetables and ingredients frying in a frying pan......

    Nobody is saying pics are not needed, there is just a limit to how many you can use. Once you don't exceed that figure you'll be fine. You also decide what pics you want to use, it's your recipe after all.

    Personally I like seeing the pics, but I also agree that putting up a clatter of pics can be distracting from the actual recipe. It's just a case of tying to find a happy medium.


  • Advertisement
  • #37
    mirrorwall14
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,751 ✭✭✭mirrorwall14


    Oranage2 wrote: »
    As someone reading the recipes I just like seeing ingredients and quantities followed by a few steps and a picture of the finished dish.

    But if the cook has put a lot of effort in then they probably want to show show people Exactly how much effort the put in and what Exactly they did.


    As this is a club and not recipe resource, now Just a suggestion but how about first post is quick introduction followed by ingredients then steps, finally a picture of the finished dish. Second post can add pictures of the prep, tricky techniques, anecdotes and what not.

    Sort of like a TLDR? That would be cool for posters who want to include more.

    Like I would read the second post in detail and then have the short and sweet version in post one for making it!


  • #38
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,744 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Gloomtastic! wrote: »
    Can we not leave it up to the posters' discretion whether pics are needed or not. I'm intending to contribute a recipe next year and have taken the pics already. They are however, as tHB describes, just pics of chopped up vegetables and ingredients frying in a frying pan......

    I am guilty of this myself. :o I think because I was going with the flow of earlier recipes posted with photos.

    But may I ask why? Is it that you want the other posters to see the level of effort made in the prep, highlight a certain aspect of the recipe, some other reason ("Hey, check out my cool kitchen decor in the background!" :pac:)?

    If we can understand posters' rationales for their pics it would really help us.


  • #39
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    I find a lot of photos irritating. I like the 5 picture rule because I'm usually following a recipe on my tablet and it's annoying if you have to keep scrolling through pics between the ingredient list and the method, especially if you have to wipe your hands each time!


  • #40
    Padraig Mor
    Registered Users Posts: 9,527 ✭✭✭Padraig Mor


    Love the sticky idea.

    On pics, bear in mind that you can always create an online album of as many pics as you like and link it from the recipe. I did this with my recipe a couple of years ago, for the side dishes.

    The Hill Billy wrote: »
    I've seen instances of 5 image files being attached with the recipe but each image containing multiple pics - again, a lot of them not actually needed..
    :o:o:pac:


  • #41
    Dizzyblonde
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 12,108 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dizzyblonde


    I often copy and paste recipes from the CC that I love into a Recipes folder on my laptop for handiness, and it's a laborious task when there are lots of photos with the ingredients list and instructions scattered between them.

    I personally feel that most recipes don't require more than two photos of the work in progress and one of the finished product - unless there's an unusual ingredient that people need to see in order to be able to find it. Lots of photos make a recipe way too cluttered for me.


  • Advertisement
  • #42
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    On the debbie downer side for including lots of photos in the recipe instead of typing out steps, after a while imgur & photobucket etc. routinely just delete stuff so if you've included a lot of detail in the photos instead of writing it out your recipe can sort of end up a bit lacking in ways people are able to make it.

    To see where this becomes an issue have a gander here

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056051558

    where most of the method for lining the tin etc. was in photos that imageshack got rid of


    I can probably chime in a bit on why people like to include LOADS of pictures seeing as how my recipe included shots of a) the butcher's window b) the table of herbs I bought my coriander off of and I still have about a million photos of the whole day in an album somewhere :) When I was writing my post I was telling a story a bit and when I'm reading a post in the Cooking Club I'm probably not reading the recipe to make it because, unfortunately, I rarely get round to that. I'm reading cooking club entries to get the story of the recipe, see nice pictures and hopefully get a good nose around someone's kitchen and a little nose into their life. So I'm after a nose and a bit of food envy rather than a dinner most of the time.

    I'm not sure what it is but maybe there a solution for the people who like to look at the pretty pictures & share rakes of pictures of what they've done versus the people who are actually making the recipe? A seperate food photos thread in the Cooking Club we can all splurge in?


  • #43
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,654 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I think the idea of linking to an imgur album or similar is a good one if you really feel that you want to include lots of pictures. Imgur allows you to have captions so you can still explain every picture. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of a second post with all of the extra pictures because that will still make the thread very slow to load for anyone on a 3G connection. A separate thread for all excess pictures could be an idea.

    As far as story telling goes, that's fine with me as long as it's easily skippable and not interspersed with the recipe, because that's also distracting.

    As the Hill Billy said, it would be interesting if posters could explain why they feel their recipe needs so many pictures :).


  • #44
    Oranage2
    Registered Users Posts: 11,131 ✭✭✭✭Oranage2


    Faith wrote: »
    I think the idea of linking to an imgur album or similar is a good one if you really feel that you want to include lots of pictures. Imgur allows you to have captions so you can still explain every picture. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of a second post with all of the extra pictures because that will still make the thread very slow to load for anyone on a 3G connection. A separate thread for all excess pictures could be an idea.

    As far as story telling goes, that's fine with me as long as it's easily skippable and not interspersed with the recipe, because that's also distracting.

    As the Hill Billy said, it would be interesting if posters could explain why they feel their recipe needs so many pictures :).

    When I'm on my 3g I turn off photos in my phone browser, maybe as a mod you need to see the photos though I don't know.

    I myself like the photos and the stories, I think they add to the club feel, I just don't like it when I'm trying to follow a recipe and there's a lot of photos and stories cutting into the steps. Another thread might work for them but it could take away from the fun of the 'this is my recipe' feel.

    I think these recipes are similar to people's babies, people stick loads of photos of their kids up but Nobody else really cares. Same with recipes, people are proud of them and want to show them off. Also as the cooking club has a lot of people wanting to make recipes, so people might only get the chance to cook once or twice a year, so the load of pictures is their way of showing off and showing their personality whether that's quirky prep work or funny plates (to everyone else it's just chopped carrots and a plate with a cat on it)

    I think that's the motive for the many pictures, not saying it's right or wrong but I do think it does add to the community otherwise I could just Google a random recipe.


    Ps I'm not saying my idea about the two posts is right, it was just a brain storming idea or something to work off.


  • #45
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,744 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Thanks to each & every one of you for your feedback. We're going to wrap this thread up soon, then go away & cogitate & digest the feedback given. We'll then see what, if any, changes we'll make for next year.

    I'll leave the thread open until later tonight, so get any further comments in if you have some.

    Thanks again!

    tHB


  • #46
    Sparks
    Registered Users Posts: 40,055 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Oranage2 wrote: »
    As someone reading the recipes I just like seeing ingredients and quantities followed by a few steps and a picture of the finished dish.
    To offer late counter-argument, I've seen a few recipes in various places that go down this road a bit too far and you wind up looking at twelve ingredients and the words "prep" and "mix" and "bake until done in a hot oven" and the picture is something that a four-star Michelin pastry chef would baulk at. Plus, as others have said, "club" and "recipe book" are a bit different (though honestly, for me, that's a secondary thing).

    Personally I prefer Alton Brown's style to Michelle Roux's, ie. Please explain and show everything you're doing in as much detail as you can because I'm not a professionally trained chef, I'm an amateur home cook and I don't know how to do it and if you tell me everything, it's a darn sight easier to filter out the few bits I do know than it is to add in the many new bits I've never heard of before...


    (Also, I may be biased because I kept putting up recipes for things we - at the time, this was a few years ago now and these days they're terribly fashionable - didn't really cook in Ireland much, like pulled pork or proper real chilli)


  • #47
    BaZmO*
    Registered Users Posts: 18,625 ✭✭✭✭BaZmO*


    Sparks wrote: »
    (Also, I may be biased because I kept putting up recipes for things we - at the time, this was a few years ago now and these days they're terribly fashionable - didn't really cook in Ireland much, like pulled pork or proper real chilli)
    In fairness though, for your chilli recipe you had lots of photos but no list of ingredients. I find that more confusing than anything else.

    All we're trying to do here is make it easy for everybody involved.


  • #48
    The Black Oil
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,196 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    Photos help with the community feeling. The 5 pic rules is sensible. Additional pics could be added as links.

    Is it necessary to wind down this thread now? Not being argumentative. If so, could it be re-opened at some point in Feb to see how any tweaks are being received?

    This might be very labourious, but how about another post here breaking recipes into sections soups/starters, mains, breads and desserts/treats?

    Moderator: Television, Psychology and Dublin County North.

    CMod: Entertainment



  • #49
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,744 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    It is necessary to wind down the thread as we do not want to be taking an ongoing stream of feedback & then making changes to how the forum works on the fly.

    This is a fairly straightforward forum & we want to plan now for next year & not be making changes again throughout the year. That said, if someone has an issue or wants to make a suggestion, they can PM the mods at any time.

    Regarding a thread splitting the recipes into Starters, Mains & Dessert - good idea. I will look to take care of this over the coming days.

    tHB


  • #50
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,744 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Ladies & Gents of The Cooking Club - thanks for your feedback. Based on what you have told us we shall maintain the 5-pic guideline - it seems to be suitable for the majority.

    We shall now sticky the current & past week to hopefully get as much feedback as possible. We would also encourage all members to provide as much feedback (pics & commentary) as possible. The Club is nothing without you. Your feedback is the lifeblood of the forum.

    Again, for 2015 we shall have three tranches of recipes. In 2014 it helped limit the 'no-shows' & maintained continuity for the Club for all.

    We shall open up a thread for 2015 participants soon. We also hope to have a few surprises for you this year. So, sign up & give it your best, whether as a poster or someone giving feedback.

    Bon appetit,

    tHB


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement