Some housekeeping

Calina

Hi guys,

over the coming weeks I want to do some work on the stickies and stuff.

One of the things I was going to do, for example, is group links to all the random photo threads, tidy up the FAQs, clean out the stickies (some of the book stuff will be going).

I'd like it if people just commented on any ideas they had to make that stuff more useful for newbies, any useful links that people have (dpreview, for example, manufacturer specific fora of which I only know the canon one, links to the manufacturers, specific sites for photography styles like strobist and luminous landscape), key posts here, for example.

I might also have a look at the charter again as well.

Morrisseeee

Just some food for thought :
Probably the most common Q from newbies (me incl) is 'Give me suggestions for a D-SLR' ! Maybe this could be factored into your 'CleanUp'. ie. nearly all answers to this Q are the same.

smelltheglove

Agree with above, also quite a few questions come up in relastion to photo books so maybe a sticky about this, include the likes of blurc photobox my[ix and more.

For a minute there I thought you were offering to do some housework, ah well.....

Thoie

smelltheglove wrote: »

For a minute there I thought you were offering to do some housework, ah well.....

I'm nearly finished mine, I can come around and do yours when I'm done? Just €100 an hour

Calina, I agree there should be a "What camera should I buy" with a beginners guide to compacts, bridge and DSLRs, and possibly something on extra kit as well (extra lenses, tripods, cases, flashguns). Maybe have links to the flickr "camera search" in the camera area as well. I'll take a look tonight at various links and text that might be helpful and PM you.

Maybe the photobook area should cover "Where can I get prints/books/canvases done?"

nilhg

I don't think that there is much wrong, or missing from the FAQ, its just that sticky seems to equal invisible to lots of folks...

I'll dig out some Olympus specific links later on and stick them in here later if thats OK.

Calina

That would be cool.

We try to generalise the answers to the "which camera should I buy" because the cam manufacturers change their product lines mega often. I realise that it's not a lot of help to the average punter who doesn't know where to start.

Daithi McGee

Calina wrote: »

Hi guys,

over the coming weeks I want to do some work on the stickies and stuff.

One of the things I was going to do, for example, is group links to all the random photo threads, tidy up the FAQs, clean out the stickies (some of the book stuff will be going).

I'd like it if people just commented on any ideas they had to make that stuff more useful for newbies <snip>.

Hi Calina,

What about a stickie "New to Photography?-Ask anything in here (Newbie Friendly!) Thread?

Some people might be too shy to ask a simple stupid beginners questions by starting their own thread in the main forum.

More experienced posters/Photo peeps et al could just pop in and help newbies out and what not. They have them on some forums and they work very well.

/pets EOS450D that he bought for his birthday prezzie

Calina

I like that idea a lot. I think we'll run with it.

nilhg

Olympus Ireland

Olympus SLR talk on DPReview

Wrotniak.net Olympus pages. A great resource for anyone new to Oly.

Four Thirds Photo

Four Thirds User

Olympus Digital School

My Olympus

Morrisseeee

Also on Olympus: Extensive material: http://www.biofos.com/
Zuiko lenses: http://www.geocities.com/maitani_fan/zuiko_catalog_3.html

AnCatDubh

I think there is a wealth of info in the FAQ's and stickies - the only problem is that although at the top of the forum, the stickies appear to get lost on people. There are so many questions that are answered in there if users explored them a little.

The following are highlighted from the last stickie check as items for members to contribute a HOW-TO guide but no takers in a long time. There are a few existing threads which are ideal candidates for some (for example; the canvas thread is pretty comprehensive at this stage).

* "Is there any way to recover images i deleted?"
* "Someone has taken and used my image on their site, what can I do/copyright laws?"
* "Best/Most affordable tripod?"
* "Aperture, Lightroom or Photoshop?"
* "What rights do I hold with my photograph(s), and regards selling them?"
* "I'd like to sell stock photos, what sites are there?"
* "How can i get my shots printed in X paper?"
* "Where can i get my photos printed / put on canvas?"

AnCatDubh

I do like the idea of the newbie thread as i think it may help to break the ice for new members. The only issue is that multiple questions from multiple users may get lost in a single thread and i'm not sure that a whole subforum would be appropriate.

Calina

It might be worth giving a shot though; particularly around now as we tend to get a lot of new arrivals around the Christmas mark, which does occasionally cause aggro.

I'll set it up at the weekend when I am doing some other stuff.

Hugh_C

Not sure about stickies, don't really use them myself and on my machine, I have to scroll down about half the length of the page to get past announcements, sub fora and no less than 7 stickies. too much information for me.

Also I think that the random photo threads have had their day. more themed threads already ...

HC

AnCatDubh

Hugh_C wrote: »

Also I think that the random photo threads have had their day. more themed threads already ...

Not sure I agree - the Random Thread is probably one of the most viewed and participated in threads that we have. I think that people will want to display their work somewhere and may not specifically wish to have a dedicated thread for their single photo - there is comfort in throwing their image up in a thread that doesn't particularly have any purpose other than to display their images. A lot of new users pluck up the courage to pop an image into this thread before being brave enough to look for C&C etc..

The only thing i find with the random thread is that it has turned into a quasi-discussion thread - you can end up with a whole page of comment / general discussion of the 'good shot old boy' type. Ach - sure if thats what the masses want then thats what they should get maybe.

The themed threads can be interesting too and probably have their place. Even though you've probably already seen the image that will be posted in the "best of" thread, it is nice to see them all together.