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10/21/2021 08:10:58 AM · #276 |
Hi Mark. It's been awhile (almost 4 years since your last post). About 5 years ago you posted the following ...
October 6th, 2016
Originally posted by Simms:
I doubt I would ever enter another challenge on here (although I do have a shot for the "best of 2016" that I would love to enter), but I do read the forums on here a lot, I rarely comment anymore.
I understand what MAK says about losing one's mojo. My advice is, f**k dpchallenge, f**k paying clients. Just take photos for yourself, even if they end up languishing on a hard drive or cloud storage for all eternity, just shoot when and what you want for yourself. Or even take a break for a year. Even if they are total crap - don't take to impress, just enjoy taking photos again. I shoot ONLY for myself now and love it. |
... so are you saying now that if DPChallenge had changed (I'd ask at what point it would have mattered) you would still be here entering challenges and contributing to the site? |
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10/21/2021 08:55:26 AM · #277 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Hi Mark. It's been awhile (almost 4 years since your last post). About 5 years ago you posted the following ...
October 6th, 2016
Originally posted by Simms:
I doubt I would ever enter another challenge on here (although I do have a shot for the "best of 2016" that I would love to enter), but I do read the forums on here a lot, I rarely comment anymore.
I understand what MAK says about losing one's mojo. My advice is, f**k dpchallenge, f**k paying clients. Just take photos for yourself, even if they end up languishing on a hard drive or cloud storage for all eternity, just shoot when and what you want for yourself. Or even take a break for a year. Even if they are total crap - don't take to impress, just enjoy taking photos again. I shoot ONLY for myself now and love it. |
... so are you saying now that if DPChallenge had changed (I'd ask at what point it would have mattered) you would still be here entering challenges and contributing to the site? |
When I started getting into photography I found a young vibrant, modern site called DPChallenge, and it really helped me learn fast, it really was the golden age of the site. Eventually I turned pro and I stopped shooting so much for DPC, any posts were residual photos that I shot that I could manage to shoehorn into a challenge. Then I quit professional photography as doing it for a living killed the enjoyment for me. I had a few years out then started shooting solely for myself again and the enjoyment, not worrying about getting a photo that fit a challenge. But when I did come back the place had changed and turned into a photoshop contest and there were plenty of Photoshop contest sites on the web by that time, the majority of which did it far better. So I lost interest in the site once again and went away.. Admittedly the way the site had only marginally changed, that is, the ruleset changed, not the backend architecture, led to boredom as I found a lot of other photography sites out there that were being maintained and adopting the new UIs and platforms such as mobile. That and social media I guess.
I think the most frustrating thing is the massively missed opportunity, the site owners didn't care, but people kept paying their monthly subs hoping that changes would happen which never materialised. The constant ass-kissing to the site council members was cringeworthy and the way Langdon was held up as a demi-god was laughable. I guess I was hoping that when I saw new owners had taken over there would be real change, the site would regain some of it's former glory and it would be a good place for photographers of all ages and abilities. But it seems to be a case of the same old, absolutely nothing has changed.
Do you know what, for $300 they could attract a lot of new users to the site using Facebook advertising, seriously, I've been using targeted adverts on Facebook recently for another project of mine and they are by, pound for pound, the best way of advertising to a particularly market. With a well designed and targeted advert the return on investment is astounding. The site owner needs to look at that, it will bring members in, it will increase revenue that can then be used to hire real coders, not fly by night guys offering their services for free (you get what you pay for) to rejuvenate the site. But sadly, the same inactivity and short-sightedness is still in evidence. I think that is what annoys me most about this site, the total failure to understand and capitalise on its true potential. If this all changed then yes, it would rejuvenate my interest in the site... I mean, I still come back to see if it has changed don't I?
EDIT - just gone in and read that post you linked to. Interesting read. I may have mellowed a bit since then, but the stuff about shooting for a living and killing the enjoyment is/was totally on-point.
Message edited by author 2021-10-21 09:03:51. |
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10/21/2021 09:35:57 AM · #278 |
Mark - Fair enough. Thank you for the response.
Question: what is the draw to making DPC "mobile" friendly?
- What are other sites doing that you can do on your phone (talking Photo contest sites here) that DPC should / could be doing?
- It's been discussed here that people don't want voting to take place on a mobile platform because of the screen size.
- Would you upload photos for a challenge entry directly from your phone? I'd think there would still be processing done on a PC, yes? I get that a handful of challenge entries may come directly from a phone, but I wouldn't say it would be many.
So ... again, what is missing?
- The ability to comment easier, via your phone?
- The desire to like / thumbs-up a forum thread or image in general?
Personally, I feel like the core of DPChallenge, as far as usage for challenge entries and voting, is still solid enough. Yes, the pages could be "prettied" up some I guess ...
I do get the desire to increase the community size via some outside advertising / visibility via Facebook (other social media, etc.).
Point of clarification regarding the flow of $$$ here. Currently there are approximately 280 'Members' - the number from the quote you pulled in earlier had been corrected. I don't know that this site ever brought in enough cash flow to make anyone quit their day job. :-) |
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10/21/2021 10:45:46 AM · #279 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Mark - Fair enough. Thank you for the response.
Question: what is the draw to making DPC "mobile" friendly?
- What are other sites doing that you can do on your phone (talking Photo contest sites here) that DPC should / could be doing?
- It's been discussed here that people don't want voting to take place on a mobile platform because of the screen size.
- Would you upload photos for a challenge entry directly from your phone? I'd think there would still be processing done on a PC, yes? I get that a handful of challenge entries may come directly from a phone, but I wouldn't say it would be many.
So ... again, what is missing?
- The ability to comment easier, via your phone?
- The desire to like / thumbs-up a forum thread or image in general?
Personally, I feel like the core of DPChallenge, as far as usage for challenge entries and voting, is still solid enough. Yes, the pages could be "prettied" up some I guess ...
I do get the desire to increase the community size via some outside advertising / visibility via Facebook (other social media, etc.).
Point of clarification regarding the flow of $$$ here. Currently there are approximately 280 'Members' - the number from the quote you pulled in earlier had been corrected. I don't know that this site ever brought in enough cash flow to make anyone quit their day job. :-) |
Not Mark but..
- The draw is that most people use phones, I'm at work right now and commenting using my phone. I think if this site wants to attract more users, certainly younger ones. It would help keep this site relevant.
- I'll be away for work all weekend, I like browsing here, voting and commenting using my phone. Screen quality is amazing, in fact I always double check my edits using my phone.
But there is untapped potential too, this site could become a huge area of interest for people with an interest in photography in general, like a social media site catering to photographers.
I've set up contests all my life, offered huge prizes from local businesses that would donate items or gift certificates for sponsorship. Why not have a bi yearly contest as such here? Offer a camera rig to the winner. Promote that on social media. Create a nice ad to explain what the site is so you avoid people you don't want and target photography interest alone so you get people who would contribute to the community?
I'm also part of organizations and we have guests that come and offer talks, I'm organizing a bookfair now in one city and off to another one tomorrow, I know how much these authors draw people in and create interest which helps booksellers. That is something else this site could do, host podcasts with famous photographers.
I offer workshops with my non profit which caters to bridging the gap between visual artists. Why not have a part of the site here dedicated to tutorial, ask members to write content. Etc.. etc..
Potential..
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10/21/2021 11:21:13 AM · #280 |
Originally posted by MarioPierre:
... Why not have a part of the site here dedicated to tutorial, ask members to write content. Etc.. etc..
Potential.. |
Thanks Mario.
I think it's a bit of a catch-22. Need interest to get views, need views to have people interested enough to feel like they've not wasted their time and effort ...
These have been here for a while, but kind of dead on the vine, and when something does get posted interest falls off pretty quick.
Tutorials
How'd they do that?
p.s. - I'm a lousy advocate when it comes to using a phone and wanting more from it from DPC. I absolutely HATE typing comments using a phone and will avoid it as much as I can (if I have a laptop or PC nearby and see something on here I want to respond to I'll put the phone down and type on a keyboard. If I'm on the road I'll just wait until I get home. :-P)
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10/21/2021 11:36:45 AM · #281 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by MarioPierre:
... Why not have a part of the site here dedicated to tutorial, ask members to write content. Etc.. etc..
Potential.. |
Thanks Mario.
I think it's a bit of a catch-22. Need interest to get views, need views to have people interested enough to feel like they've not wasted their time and effort ...
These have been here for a while, but kind of dead on the vine, and when something does get posted interest falls off pretty quick.
Tutorials
How'd they do that?
p.s. - I'm a lousy advocate when it comes to using a phone and wanting more from it from DPC. I absolutely HATE typing comments using a phone and will avoid it as much as I can (if I have a laptop or PC nearby and see something on here I want to respond to I'll put the phone down and type on a keyboard. If I'm on the road I'll just wait until I get home. :-P) |
I think those are great but how much SEO is done in regards to pushing those pages out? I think a blog format while pushing the SEO could propel the site into top search result and end up attracting more users that way too.
Don't make it just for us, make it for those searching the web. Make it for the regular users who wish to join, make the website an experience, not just a contest site. |
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10/21/2021 12:08:00 PM · #282 |
Originally posted by MarioPierre:
I think those are great but how much SEO is done in regards to pushing those pages out? I think a blog format while pushing the SEO could propel the site into top search result and end up attracting more users that way too. |
I'd say not much. Took a quick peek under the hood and see the old meta tags. :-)
Did a quick Google search using this tutorial and came up with nothing regarding DPChallenge.
Search Term: "Portrait Processing"
Search Term: "photography tutorials"
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10/21/2021 01:01:54 PM · #283 |
| It is true that no matter what search terms I enter for photography contests/competitions/challenges, I do not find DPC anywhere in the first page. |
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10/21/2021 02:01:22 PM · #284 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
It is true that no matter what search terms I enter for photography contests/competitions/challenges, I do not find DPC anywhere in the first page. |
I'm told that one criterion Google uses to prioritize pages is how often a page is updated. Perhaps those pages can get a periodic pro-forma modification just so each page's date-stamp updates.
Also, maybe people (current members) can every so often search for us rather than going to the bookmarked login page ... |
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10/21/2021 09:51:49 PM · #285 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by MarioPierre:
I think those are great but how much SEO is done in regards to pushing those pages out? I think a blog format while pushing the SEO could propel the site into top search result and end up attracting more users that way too. |
I'd say not much. Took a quick peek under the hood and see the old meta tags. :-)
Did a quick Google search using this tutorial and came up with nothing regarding DPChallenge.
Search Term: "Portrait Processing"
Search Term: "photography tutorials" |
Yeah it takes more than putting up keywords for sure nowadays. Updating the site to meet Search Engine Optimization standards would really boost it in the rankings. SEO services typically arent cheap though. We offer it to our clients as a one time service or for continual support. Most only do the one time, but even that is a great help. |
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10/23/2021 08:57:28 AM · #286 |
Well, it doesn't matter what suggestions are offered, it is all talk and no action. And that has nothing to do with members, non members or any of the Council.
At this point, it is blatantly obvious that nothing is going to change.
There is just simply no budget for anything.
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10/28/2021 12:38:00 AM · #287 |
Originally posted by JulietNN:
Well, it doesn't matter what suggestions are offered, it is all talk and no action. And that has nothing to do with members, non members or any of the Council.
At this point, it is blatantly obvious that nothing is going to change.
There is just simply no budget for anything. |
I'd be willing to contribute financially to the site .. if enough of us gave a bit would that help get some stuff done .. ?? ..
just being able to tag ppl I feel would be a great improvement ..
not sure if the contribution suggestion has been brought up before .. ?? ..
I haven't read thru this thread much
. |
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10/28/2021 01:53:48 AM · #288 |
I think before talking about extra contributions/donations we need to know how it works now and who is paid for doing what? Who owns this site? How the money from our subscriptions is used? Could it be redirected to the improvements of the current site? Or a development of a clever overlay with the added functionality?
I always admired Henk-Jan's ( Hajeka) work on the ribbons race and his version of the DPL, I find his approach very user friendly and very clever. Maybe Henk-Jan would be interested in resurrecting his work on DPL and adding it to the current site? DPL would surely bring some life back to DPC. |
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10/28/2021 02:21:00 AM · #289 |
Can't someone tell us what is going on? Has Mita left? Does he own the site? Who collects the (meager) registration fees
when they are paid?
Does anyone have an estimate on what it would cost to have the site professionally coded and designed?
I am repeating Margaret's questions because no one seems willing to answer and it is getting very weird, |
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10/28/2021 02:29:17 AM · #290 |
Originally posted by MeMex2:
Does anyone have an estimate on what it would cost to have the site professionally coded and designed? |
Personally I don't think that our subscriptions and even reasonable donations would be enough for a professional redevelopment of this site from scratch (i.e. total replacement). I believe that Mita found that the hard way and this is why it petered out. I think that the only chance for any changes is to add functionality like Henk-Jan has done (for free I have to add). |
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10/28/2021 09:20:36 AM · #291 |
Originally posted by MargaretNet:
Originally posted by MeMex2:
Does anyone have an estimate on what it would cost to have the site professionally coded and designed? |
Personally I don't think that our subscriptions and even reasonable donations would be enough for a professional redevelopment of this site from scratch (i.e. total replacement). I believe that Mita found that the hard way and this is why it petered out. I think that the only chance for any changes is to add functionality like Henk-Jan has done (for free I have to add). |
It would be nice to know where our $25 goes. |
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10/28/2021 10:03:53 AM · #292 |
Originally posted by Elaine:
It would be nice to know where our $25 goes. |
Keeping the lights on ...
Web Hosting, Storage, Messaging, Email (services) / Domain Registration / AWS Backup Storage
Just speculating.
Currently have 238 paying members, which at $25 each, comes to $5,950 revenue to cover above operating expenses. |
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10/28/2021 10:06:18 AM · #293 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by Elaine:
It would be nice to know where our $25 goes. |
Keeping the lights on ...
Web Hosting, Storage, Messaging, Email (services) / Domain Registration / AWS Backup Storage
Just speculating.
Currently have 238 paying members, which at $25 each, comes to $5,950 revenue to cover above operating expenses. |
Does that cover those expenses? If not, who pays the difference? If it does, where does the extra go? |
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10/28/2021 10:22:57 AM · #294 |
Originally posted by Elaine:
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by Elaine:
It would be nice to know where our $25 goes. |
Keeping the lights on ...
Web Hosting, Storage, Messaging, Email (services) / Domain Registration / AWS Backup Storage
Just speculating.
Currently have 238 paying members, which at $25 each, comes to $5,950 revenue to cover above operating expenses. |
Does that cover those expenses? If not, who pays the difference? If it does, where does the extra go? |
Don't know. I figure $25 a year is worth it and don't really worry about the where/how/why's, etc. |
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10/28/2021 11:03:14 AM · #295 |
Is Mita the owner of this site? What are his plans?
We are kept in the dark so how could we know how we could help. |
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10/28/2021 11:51:11 AM · #296 |
| I'm curious ... do any of you pay a membership fee for any other website, if so, which one(s)? |
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10/28/2021 12:14:08 PM · #297 |
| I subscribe to a couple of websites, but I only pay for one (other than DPC), and that's Strava. Otherwise I use the other websites' free options. |
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10/28/2021 12:48:26 PM · #298 |
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10/28/2021 01:18:05 PM · #299 |
| I do not pay for memberships on any other photo contest/sharing sites. |
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10/28/2021 01:21:01 PM · #300 |
| I don't think $25 per year is an issue here. |
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