ShipSpotting.com Forum

Shipspotters all over the world => Site related news, functions and modules => Topic started by: Pieter_Inpijn on February 26, 2020, 09:10:49 AM

Title: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Pieter_Inpijn on February 26, 2020, 09:10:49 AM
Suggestions for improvement of the website:
1)   Conversion of all vessel names of all the posted photo
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: jimmcquarrie on February 26, 2020, 08:01:16 PM
Hi Pieter-The late Ken Smith (Admin)-Sent me a PM saying not to use Caps a it was Overbearing-I used them all the time
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: P.F. KERR on February 26, 2020, 08:31:59 PM
I think it's time to remove the NEW! from "NEW! View the summary page for this ship"; but I would retain the red for emphasis.

Peter Kerr
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Pieter_Inpijn on February 27, 2020, 08:48:11 AM
For Jim McQuarrie: the reason for conversion to uppercase:
1) On the bow and stern of ships I see for 99.99 % only uppercase characters
2) The search-engine of the "Ship Photo Search" index table on the right hand top of the main screen has a problem with different entries like DEVONIA, Devonia and devonia.

Regards,  Pieter
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: lappino on February 27, 2020, 10:18:10 AM
Add the automatic reading of date when a photo was taken from Exif data, with an option of manual input.

Makes no sense for scanned photos upload, but would definitely save time for us geeks with digital cameras. :)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: teachers on February 27, 2020, 12:35:34 PM
I have 2 suggestions for improvement of website.

Firstly, due to the vast number of photos on the site, you could limit the numbers posted to a maximum of 2 per ship.

Secondly, many photos are posted by members who did not take the photo, could there be an option to add the photographers name to the photo if known or unknown.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Emmanuel.L on February 27, 2020, 02:12:35 PM
I have a lot of suggestions to make, but please I  bear in mind that this site is administrated  on voluntary basis by dedicated members  with photos being loaded on the site from world wide members at all hours.
Members are increasing daily as are the photos, so some suggestions are difficult to be attained.
Members could be of greater help in giving more information, as to date of building, flag, tonnage, dimensions, IMO numbers etc. on the photos sent.
Please use the site as form of making friends and not to cause friction in your comments.
We don't have the perfect site but we have the best one, so make the best use of it .
Thanks to all and regards to everyone
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Jens Boldt on February 27, 2020, 03:11:20 PM
A possibility to sort the photos of a member's album alphabetically, not only "newest" and "most viewed" would be nice.

And I explicitly support Pieter's suggestions concerning the ENI!

 :)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: smithy166 on February 27, 2020, 05:55:52 PM
Would it be possible for members to preview the changes, to give feedback on the re-design? Through say beta.shipspotting.com or something similar? Might be easier to give feedback if we can see what's changing!
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Allan RO on February 27, 2020, 06:12:21 PM
I do not consider using upper-case for names is the right option and would certainly not improve the site.  Stolt, for example do NOT use capitals and neither do the Mein Schiff vessels, just to mention 2 that spring to mind.

Allan
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Bj on February 27, 2020, 06:20:12 PM
The field in front of the URL www.shipsotting.co/ circle with an i
View site information
Be careful
The connection to this site is not encrypted.
This makes it easier to steal sensitive information such as passwords.
???
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: davidships on February 27, 2020, 09:42:55 PM
Just a few observations on some of the points raised - those where real discussion is desired will be moved into specific threads.

1) Capitalisation of ships' names
It is true that the vast majority of ships' names are in all-caps on ships themselves.  But this is just a matter of tradition and, in some places, national registration law.  There are indeed some exceptons where owners have themselved adopted something different for individual styling or branding preference - including cursive scripts, some miniscule words, misplaced full stops and hyphens etc.  None of this is directly relevant to what we do on here.

This has been discussed several times before; and the site's guidance was revised in the light of the last round to reflect the division of opinion
http://www.shipspotting.com/support/faq.php?category=How%20to%20Upload%20Photos#76 (http://www.shipspotting.com/support/faq.php?category=How%20to%20Upload%20Photos#76)

Whether a name has capitals or not makes no difference to a name search - devonia, Devonia, DEVONIA, DEVoniA etc all produce the same 35 photos.  But I agree that the drop-down lists are a pain as they are, and must be improved (at the very least to prevent the actual search button being hidden by the drop-downs).

Anyway, I'll put this subject in a separate thread so that others can give their views.

2 Auto-logout
That certainly should be improved - I assume that it is common issue (I don't experience it at all, but that may be an Admin thing).  I've put this on my list for IT.

3 Use of ENI numbers
Will take this up - it's attractive in principle, but there might be some technical issues (eg where ships have both IMO and ENI numbers) - and it is only relatively recently that ENI numbers became "unique for life" like IMO numbers.

4 (New) Summary page
More importantly this needs improvement so that each name the ship has had can be selected individually

5 Auto-reading Captured date
Interesting idea.  A definite help if technically feasible.  It's on the list!

6 Limits on numbers of photos
This subject actually has many facets and has always proved highly contentious.  Frankly I'd like to park this one for a little while (but won't forget!).  But in the meantime I will check with IT whether there are underlying bandwidth issues for the new site

7 Identifying photographers
I assume that this is effectively adding a discreet watermark.  The site at present does not favour watermarks, but does allow subject to limitations.  A tool to be able to add them in the circumstances described could be considered

8 Upgrading project
Dealing with the various security issues that have arisen over the last year or too is one of the fundamental reasons for the upgrade.  The intention is to bring it fully up to modern standards.
We are only at the beginning of the process and my expectation is that it will be some months before a parallel site will be ready for trials.  I will keep you informed.

If you want to comment further on any of these points, please open a specific Subject thread - I can copy over what has already been said here. All discussions here will be evaluated by the Admin team in liaison with the site development managers (IT)
Meanwhile, thanks for your wise advice, Emmanuel - now just waiting for your list!

David
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Emmanuel.L on February 28, 2020, 10:40:18 AM
I like to say something on the number of photos for warships, 4 in number is already a bit low, take for example , if you get to photograph a Russian vessel ,she will be bristling with armaments,, a flight deck , the ship crest, so 4 will be not be sufficient for sure ,unless you return on the morrow to further photograph her  (if she is still available)
on  the other hand some categories could be done with, say ships interior (a lot of cabins etc.) lifeboats, etc,
Also please provide  more up to the minute info on the vessel.
This is my humble suggestions.
regards
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: ventuari on February 28, 2020, 06:14:04 PM
What about adding more ports to the drop down menu port list.
From time to time a lot of comments and questions about it in the forum.
A lot of ports in different areas and countries around the world not covered, including countries without sea but with big river ports ( a bunch in Europe ) and of course big ports and new ones not covered, for example, in Canary Islands.
Well, think about it...
Regards.
ventuari
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: davidships on February 29, 2020, 04:51:59 PM
1.  The port list has already been put on the agenda

2.  Warships.  I think that there may be some misunderstanding: for the  main "whole ship" category (frigate, submarine etc) the limit is indeed four, with significantly changes of angle. Interiors/ship's decks/bridge/engine rooms are additional and have a combined limit of six - and flight decks are included with these; ships crests are one per crest, and for fixed armaments one photo per type.  (Zero for side views of planes and helicopters, I'm afraid)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Dеnis on March 01, 2020, 12:17:28 AM
I kept repeating it from time to time ever since the redesign in 2010, will say again:

Site needs a part of the home page or photo page for several (more than one) random photos which would be different every time the page has loaded.

Why?  Would you like to stare at the same top photos (you may or may not find interesting) every time you come or you would like to see what the site randomly picked for you to see?
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Emmanuel.L on March 01, 2020, 02:52:16 AM
As to warships photos, some while ago, must have been years, I loaded 4 photos of a particular Russian warship and then loaded some 3 photos of her weapons (these Russian vessels are bristling with weapons) the weapons I titled them (after researching them on Google)as to their respective names such 75mmm ..... etd...,then Administration amended these titles to the ships name, and later deleted ,saying there are more than 4 photos on the same day, later I took the same weapon subjects on a later day with the ships name as the title and they were accepted because of the later date.
How about putting the vessel's name and the type/name of weapon on the same title such as HMS NEWSHIP D999/ 50mm AA main gun (fiction names) and classified as weapons.?
As to casualties , can the members put more info as to what happened, where, when, has it been recovered and repaired , scrapped etc.  a bit of Googling helps wonders.
Very frustrating is when I take a photo of a ship showing her stern, port of registry and flag very much in evidence and then find that the info provided by the site is total out of date, please try to keep the info provided up to date  as much as possible, members can help by inserting as much info as possible ,even with photo evidence such as stern shots.
Thanks for the efforts.
regards
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Robert J Smith on March 15, 2020, 11:44:30 AM
Why not add a link at the bottom of "Latest Photo Comments" to take you to another page that lists comments for the last 24 hours so that members who don't log on every few hours can see all comments, maybe add thumbnails to that page to reduce multiple hits on the same photo.

Regards

Bob
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Bob Scott on March 19, 2020, 03:49:43 PM
Normally I only ever post one shot of each passing ship at a time but would not advocate that it should be the rule for everyone. However, I would like to see the limit reduced to THREE and the long-standing rule of minimum 30 degrees difference between each shot properly enforced by admins.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: MattB on March 21, 2020, 07:50:04 PM
How about a link that allows you to compare vessels? Like when you're looking on a car website they allow you to compare different models.

Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on March 22, 2020, 09:46:31 AM
How about a link that allows you to compare vessels? Like when you're looking on a car website they allow you to compare different models.



For comparison purposes, you need data, and that is what is lacking since the demise of Gross Tonnage. There is no short term outlook to see any improvement in this area.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: itsfoto on March 23, 2020, 04:49:27 PM
High on my wishlist is this:
The character encoding standard should be extended to full UTF-8, at least (or whatever else it takes to send poor old ASCII into retirement). Correct French, Scandinavian, German etc. spelling should be possible and allowed. Encouraged, in fact. The current system is discriminatory and tends to lead to confusion.
Uwe

Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: itsfoto on March 23, 2020, 04:51:54 PM
Also to be desired seems to be this:
Sorting options (now: newest or popular) should be augmented to include sorting alphabetically by name, and possibly by capture date, too, if that can be made to work sensibly.
Uwe
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Dеnis on March 26, 2020, 09:22:15 AM
1) Make a room for several random photos which would be new every time the page is loaded/refreshed.  Whether this to be on home page or in main photo page.

2) Be able to receive notifications (via site/email) like on Youtube if a new comment is added to a certain photo.

3) When browsing ship photos be able to see on which photos you commented & which you have in your bookmarks.

4) Make bookmarked photos not as a bland list of ship names but as a gallery!

5) Improve the "Bookmarked photos" by making it as collection of favourite photos & this collection to be seen by other members when visiting someone's profile page.  Also when adding a photo to favourites, make something like "Other random photos you might like" suggesting more photos based on stats of what a member usually favourites.

6) Remove the "Like" cause it's pointles as is or make it in a way that if clicked on Like the photo gets added to a collection of Liked photos & thus see 5).

7) Have "See more" in recent comments, clicking on which would open page with full version of recent comments (incl. who, where, when posted it) so it'd be possible to also moderate them or spot spam.

8 ) Remove number of views/hits on photos for public but make them be visible only to who uploaded a photo.

That's for now.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: davidships on March 26, 2020, 10:12:39 AM
Thanks to all for their suggestions so far.
All are being reviewed by the Admin and we are asking IT whether about the feasibility of some.  
Some of these are directly related to the problem with the ship technical descriptions.  That is certainly on the agenda, though to be honest there is no easy solution in sight. I recognise that this is probably the members' most widespread frustration with the site at present.

Additional suggestions continue to be welcome (there is no need to repeat something that has already been added)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: ChasB46 on April 01, 2020, 11:01:48 AM
Is it possible .. after adding a comment and finding subsequent info .. rather than having to delete the original and then re-post revised info just permit editing the original?
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Dеnis on April 01, 2020, 12:25:38 PM
Would be nice if it was possible to search photo comments same how you search for stuff on forum, whether search in comments I posted or search in anyone's comments.
Right now if I want to find a certain photo on which I commented something I barely remember, I have to do Google search by "shipspotting" + my username + keyword & if lucky then I might find that photo/comment in results.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on April 01, 2020, 06:33:13 PM
Denis, that is an easy one. If you click on "my photos" you get two buttons relating comments.
The first one is Comments to my photos and the second one is "comments made by me" , so Google is not needed at all.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Dеnis on April 01, 2020, 07:21:18 PM
Denis, that is an easy one. If you click on "my photos" you get two buttons relating comments.
The first one is Comments to my photos and the second one is "comments made by me" , so Google is not needed at all.

Yes, among nearly 15000 comments I made (430 pages of "Comments made by me") how would I find a certain ship/photo all I remember of is that I commented that a Stuelcken derrick of higher capacity was only on the Tog Mor.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on April 01, 2020, 08:28:34 PM
Then you search for the Tog Mor...
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Pieter_Inpijn on April 02, 2020, 01:51:39 PM
From an other suggestion:
Correct French, Scandinavian, German etc. spelling should be possible and allowed. Encouraged, in fact. The current system is discriminatory and tends to lead to confusion.

In my opinion not a good idea. All registers and databases are now working on the "simple" spelling of the vessel names: not using
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on April 03, 2020, 07:42:36 AM
Let alone correct Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai or Russian spelling... are we discriminating too when we change those to the "register book" spelling?
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: L Brown on April 21, 2020, 10:36:22 AM
As a new member on here with extensive shipping knowledge, I have been looking through the 'Mystery Ships' category, quite a few Mysteries have been solved but are still in the Mystery Ship's category, is it down to the photographer or an Admin to put them into the correct category once identified ? This would eliminate solved mysteries and leave the remaining ones for all to see ? Sorry if I have added this to the wrong topic / forum.

L. Brown.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Emmanuel.L on April 21, 2020, 08:56:28 PM
I have been noting this discrepancy for a long time, anyone who post such photos as "mystery" and in time  their name is discovered by some member in a comment, the owner and poster of the photo should monitor his photos especially such "mystery" ones and amend the title and allocate in the proper category.
I think Administration should either contact the poster or amend the title etc themselves.
Thanks for the positive comment my friend, a very worthwhile one.
regards to all
Keep safe and positive...better times will soon be here.
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: davidships on April 22, 2020, 02:09:15 AM
Yes, Emmanuel
I have already be in touch with member L Brown, and am taking this forward in conjunction with Admin colleagues. 

David
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: L Brown on April 22, 2020, 09:26:04 AM
I have been noting this discrepancy for a long time, anyone who post such photos as "mystery" and in time  their name is discovered by some member in a comment, the owner and poster of the photo should monitor his photos especially such "mystery" ones and amend the title and allocate in the proper category.
I think Administration should either contact the poster or amend the title etc themselves.
Thanks for the positive comment my friend, a very worthwhile one.
regards to all
Keep safe and positive...better times will soon be here.
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)

Thank you for your kind words, I have also noticed in the 'support' information for Mystery Ships it states ; If identification is not achieved within 12 months of uploading, photographs will be transferred to the Consider for deletion category . The description will be noted
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on April 23, 2020, 09:56:30 AM
I have another one.

When you upload, you can include a description of the photo. And while the size of the description itself seems not to be limited, it is during the writing process that you only get to see three lines at a time, which makes editing a bit awkward. Only when the photo has been uploaded you really have chance to see what you wrote, and I often find that I made typos and other mistakes.

So the question is, can the the of the decription block in the upload page be significantly increased.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: ChasB46 on April 23, 2020, 10:49:03 AM
Drag the bottom right corner and box will open to whatever size you want.
Also makes it easier to read your total message for typos etc.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on April 23, 2020, 11:00:41 AM
Thank you, I am never good at understanding signs, other than alfanumerical...
But at least my request proved to be not necessary.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: ChasB46 on April 23, 2020, 11:15:06 AM
Hi Pieter, question was necessary, so all know now. I only found it by accident a few weeks ago, after many years of typing in the small box! A bit of help returned, thank you .Chas
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: L Brown on April 25, 2020, 04:04:19 PM
Yes, Emmanuel
I have already be in touch with member L Brown, and am taking this forward in conjunction with Admin colleagues. 

David

Any updates David ?

L. Brown.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: foggy on April 26, 2020, 07:05:28 AM
Hello all,

Here are my suggestions/hopes for improvement:

1) As someone who  don
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: sommer500 on April 26, 2020, 09:22:46 AM
How about a Photo of the Year category or competition?
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: L Brown on April 26, 2020, 02:54:35 PM
Yes, Emmanuel
I have already be in touch with member L Brown, and am taking this forward in conjunction with Admin colleagues. 

David

Any updates David ?

L. Brown.

Personal message received, thank you David.

L. Brown.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: csaba on April 30, 2020, 03:43:02 AM
How about a Photo of the Year category or competition?

I wouldn't make a hobby into a competition. We already have "number of views" which brings the photo to the front page and "most viewed in 24 hrs/ year etc"
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Pilot Frans on April 30, 2020, 05:53:19 PM
The forum topic can only be found on the main page.
Perhaps also to put in the Forum page.

regards
Frans
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Emmanuel.L on May 01, 2020, 10:59:09 AM
I am with you on this 100% Pieter, no competition please ,let us leave this site to relax and make friends, not adversaries ,Even the "likes" on the site is to my thinking is already a kind of competitive means, which thank God did not catch up and should be discarded.
Please make your comments more informative on the  ship and less negative towards the poster of the picture.
Even information on the harbour or incidents re the vessel or site are more than welcomed (at least by me).
I have been more than 9 years since I joined up, and have had such a wonderful time with few negatives but more positivity. I made lots of unseen friends from all over the world, some of these dear friends have since passed away, and their exit from this life has left me as if I have lost one of the family.
Think and act positive my friends, we have enough problems in the world, let us not add others.
Keep calm and stay healthy, think positive and enjoy life.
regards
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Bj on May 01, 2020, 04:01:54 PM
Search in News and information
I can remember a time back all tried to find the names of Siem LNG new Vehicle Carriers
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: ftakma on May 01, 2020, 08:51:09 PM
Loading pictures is sometimes too hard because of the size. How can we make it easier to downloand? Is there any program that converts the size automatically when we download the picture in any size?
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on May 02, 2020, 07:59:52 AM
Loading pictures is sometimes too hard because of the size. How can we make it easier to downloand? Is there any program that converts the size automatically when we download the picture in any size?

There is enough public software that allows you to resize pictures to any given dimension.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: simonwp on May 02, 2020, 08:24:26 AM
I am with you on this 100% Pieter, no competition please ,let us leave this site to relax and make friends, not adversaries ,Even the "likes" on the site is to my thinking is already a kind of competitive means, which thank God did not catch up and should be discarded.
Please make your comments more informative on the  ship and less negative towards the poster of the picture.
Even information on the harbour or incidents re the vessel or site are more than welcomed (at least by me).
I have been more than 9 years since I joined up, and have had such a wonderful time with few negatives but more positivity. I made lots of unseen friends from all over the world, some of these dear friends have since passed away, and their exit from this life has left me as if I have lost one of the family.
Think and act positive my friends, we have enough problems in the world, let us not add others.
Keep calm and stay healthy, think positive and enjoy life.
regards
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)


Agree with this. The most viewed should be removed, and the latest photographs on the home page expanded to show the latest three. It becomes a bit irrelevant when hit can be recorded via links to other sites such as Facebook. Sometimes it looks too much like a competition, and that's not the way it should be.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: L Brown on May 02, 2020, 10:11:31 AM
I think my suggestion has been forgotten about.

L. Brown.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Robert J Smith on May 02, 2020, 12:10:07 PM


Agree with this. The most viewed should be removed, and the latest photographs on the home page expanded to show the latest three. It becomes a bit irrelevant when hit can be recorded via links to other sites such as Facebook. Sometimes it looks too much like a competition, and that's not the way it should be.


I suggested in the past that if the "most viewed" was to stay then the hit counter should only be active when the "viewer" is logged on to this site thus eliminating any hits from guests and links. "Most viewed" will then be driven by members only.
Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: Delship on May 04, 2020, 07:39:31 PM
Also, put a stop to obnoxious comments like canberra's on this photo:

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3148187

People are entitled to their opinions, but we don't need chavs harassing other members for those opinions. This is how you kill a site.

Title: Re: Members suggestions for improvement of the website
Post by: pieter melissen on May 06, 2020, 11:42:58 AM
I have a totally different issue. The function to show the pictures on full screen works fine, even on the largest screens, (I use a 27 inch monitor) but the resolutions allowed here on this site are low enough to not fully fill the screen at all times, resulting in oversized pictures that give a poor impression.

My suggestion would be to rearrange the function in such a way that as soon as the full screen size will exceed the resolution of the shot, only the original size will be shown. (Show original size already exists as a function)