Messages

1

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: September 06, 2022, 09:11:07 AM »

Hello Pieter, hello everybody,

I am convinced that it never was about competition or a popularity race on this site, at least not for the vast majority of users. The number of clicks should ONLY be seen as a measure for the interest in a certain photo and serve as an additional motivation for the photographer. We are all human beings after all, aren't we ? I can speak only for myself - I have no interest in having more clicks than another person who is posting pics of inland vessels. Instead I really appreciate it when such pics of other members are of great interest to many persons. Popularity race ? Competition ? Are you serious, Pieter ? It's not about competition here but about the pleasure of presenting your own pictures to likeminded people and of course most of us appreciate a positive feedback by others rather than throwing the photographs into the "void"....

I never intended to "compete" or tried to be "popular" in the sector of inland vessels. I was, however, satisfied with the feedback for my pics on the previous site, which was much better than the new version is up to now (imho). The shown interest (clicks) gave me additional motivation to take the time for the uploads and I will therefore only upload a few photographs as long as I have the impression that - nearly -  nobody is interested in them. I have only limited time, it's as simple as that and I think it's the same with many other persons here.

From a pure photo blogger's view (upload and forget) this may be an apt website but there are many other people here who expect more from the "World's Central for Ship Photography and Information". We better leave it to the members themselves to determine how they want to shape this website. There should be room for different views and philosophies about this site.

We should all struggle to further improve this version and to revive the community spirit which is not doing well at the moment to put it mildly. This community spirit was one of the main ingredients of the previous site and really made a difference to similar websites.

Best wishes, Hans

2

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: September 05, 2022, 04:00:42 PM »

Hello Hugo, hello everybody,

many thanks for your detailed explanations, Hugo, this is much appreciated. Although not easy to understand for laymen your post gives a number of hints how things are related and how complicated this issue apparently is. As the click counting was working well with the old version it's one of the problems created by the current version.

Please inform the users of this site when the buffer has been refactored so we can take this change into account.

Further to that I agree with simonwp and others who suggested that the thumbnails are too large and it's thus not necessary to further enlarge a picture by opening it up. This could affect the click numbers considerably so I would propose to reduce the size of the thumbnails as they were with the previous version. A random multiplier of clicks would be too inaccurate and therefore not very helpful to solve the real problem in my opinion.

Regards, Hans

3

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: August 31, 2022, 07:02:09 PM »

Hello Simon, hello everybody,

let's hope that you are right and the dwindling click numbers have - mainly - a technical reason. That could be possible, but why wouldn't the IT-people finally fix this problem ? It shouldn't be too difficult because the old version had no problems of this kind. I'm afraid, however, that the low click numbers rather reflect a loss of patience of many members/guests because this new version is running for half a year now and it seems not possible to fix some basic problems.

Best wishes, Hans

4

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: What happened to Shipspotting.com ?

« on: August 31, 2022, 06:54:17 PM »

Hello everybody,

I'm afraid Cody and Owen are right, the interest in this site has become minimal and it's really sad what has happened to a once excellent site. IT-team and admins, don't you see this development ? Why don't we hear anything from you about the poor condition of this site ? Where is the spirit gone ? Don't give up the efforts to improve this site, it's still possible and worthwile but the time could be running out soon. Many people will resume their contributions if the necessary fixing of problems (e.g. correct counting of clicks) is being done by those responsible. If not, more and more persons will loose their remaining interest in this website and choose other options. But don't forget, the photo uploads from spirited people all over the world are the foundation of this site, which simply wouldn't exist without them....

Words like "World's Central for Ship Photography and Information" are not sufficient but rather a bit ridiculous, instead swift action is required.

Regards, Hans

5

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: August 01, 2022, 07:26:54 AM »

Hello everybody,
I would like to add a remark about the bug reported by Vlad (lappino) about counting of "Comments"  "Likes" and also of "Views". The indications of the former two are often coupled. For example, when I commented on the latest pic of inland tanker HUYGENS the indication of Comments changed from 2 to 9 (!) and likewise the indication of Likes changed also from 2 to 9. This has increased to 20 (!) being indicated for each on the thumbnail pic. When the picture is selected it then shows 5 comments (which is the true number) and five likes. This is really not acceptable and the issue should be addressed by the IT-team soon.

Correct counting of the clicks is essentiel to indicate the true interest in a shown picture. When selecting a photo the additional click is mostly counted after a short time, but in some cases the indication is delayed and in some cases it is not counted at all. I have checked this with many older pictures (not mine) and I have seen that around 30 % of the selected pictures had NOT counted the additional view after some days or later.

This is strange considering that the new version is running for five months now. IT-team, please fix this distorting issue as soon as possible to see the true number of views, comments and likes to show the interest in a certain photography correctly. It does matter a lot for the community of this site in my opinion because these entries are the tools for interactions for members and guests.

Many thanks in advance to Hugo Vieira and his team for their efforts to make this website better.

Regards, Hans

6

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: June 22, 2022, 09:36:14 AM »

Hello Pieter,

I think we all know the problem with disturbing shipping when taking photographs, let's take it as a challenge and don't curse on them (except on motor yachts...) :-)

To answer your question concerning locations in countries like China, well, that should be quite simple. IF there are regular contributions from a certain location, e.g. in China, it would THEN make totally sense to include this location in the list of that country. Why not ? But without pictures from a specific location it would not make sense, especially in such a huge country like China. So it could easily be decided wether a port should be added to the list or not.

Let's hope that the IMO and location issues are being solved soon. There are more bugs waiting to be addressed by the IT-team. I'm willing to have patience, Rome wasn't built in a day....

Cheers, Hans

7

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: June 21, 2022, 06:47:52 PM »

Hello everybody,

@ Pieter Melissen : You really missed the point, Pieter. It is about equal standards for all kinds of ships. Inland ships are definitely interesting and fascinating vessels, they are (mostly) just smaller than the bigger seagoing vessels. It is a complete mystery why it should not be possible to include some additional locations for them. For example, I have uploaded far more than 1000 images from Maasbracht (NL) but can't search for this small but very busy inland harbour. It's simply not included in the listing of Dutch locations. I can however search for all images taken at the Dutch city of Middelburg/Province of Zeeland and I will find just 11 (!) images of which 8 pictures are showing seagoing vessels. Why does this double standard exist ?

Shipping does not end in ports like Rotterdam or Hamburg. The smaller ships are indispensable and this shipping segment should by no means be underestimated. Inland shipping is widely respected from all people who see the whole transport sector. It's not about competition between these kinds of shipping and ships, it's about cooperation between them. And the same equality should apply for the photographs of the many different kinds of ships on this site...

Regards, Hans

8

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: June 16, 2022, 02:14:37 PM »

Hello everybody,
I have similar problems with uploading photos since yesterday. Uploading was unsuccessful with entering "irrelevant" at the IMO and location boxes. I only managed to upload the picture by entering a fake IMO (for a vessel which does not have a IMO number) and false location which I deleted as soon as the picture was uploaded successfully. Also all slashes in the description were replaced by a combination of several characters which had to be corrected by me. Annoying and time consuming.....

Cheers, Hans

9

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: May 17, 2022, 10:47:46 AM »

Hello everybody,

since a few days all pictures are shown at nearly full screen size when selected. The former default size has been abandoned with the photo details incl. description now repositioned below.

In my opinion it's neither necessary nor desirable to view every picture at (nearly) full screen size or bigger ALL THE TIME. It also distracts from the ship's details including the photo description. So an imbalance is created between the photograph and all other details concerning this vessel. Far too much scrolling is needed to get an overall impression of a certain vessel from the picture down to the details, etc., other photos and eventually reaching the comments section.

Just my opinion, it would be interesting to hear what other members think of these most recent changes.

Best wishes to all, Hans

10

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: May 06, 2022, 09:26:36 AM »

Hello everybody,

although many problems have been solved with the new version it is a bit disappointing that hits and comments are now at a lower level than with the previous version. Let's hope that this will change for the better again gradually. After more than two months there is still the problem of logging in for some, which excludes these people from active participation here. To name but one person - nothing is heard any more from our fellow member Emmanuel L from Malta who was very active on the site hitherto. Many items have been solved by the IT-team (many thanks to them) but the new version has not - yet - reached the same level of acceptance as the replaced version. Some changes are affecting the community which is the core of this shipspotting site in my opinion and which meant a difference to other sites. I believe that for most of the members showing their photographs here it's not about "upload and forget". The feedback of likeminded persons makes such a site more attractive giving motivation and inspiration. So don't run away, stay with the site and make contributions like uploading pictures, comments and so on. Although I liked the old version more than this one we have to get along with what we have now. I'm convinced that we can have a vibrant community again if we have sufficient patience and perseverance.

Best wishes, Hans

11

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: April 26, 2022, 07:11:35 AM »

Hello everybody, there are indications that only a part of the clicks on a certain picture is registrated and if so the number of indicated hits would be too low. This may lead to frustration by many and also give a wrong impression of the interest in this site.

Please IT-team address and check this important item as soon as possible to exclude a  technical error with the indicated hits.

And, once again, please increase communication with the community, that's also very important for all involved. Many thanks in advance for your efforts.

Cheers, Hans

12

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: April 15, 2022, 11:04:28 AM »

Hello, many thanks to the IT-team for expanding the comments section, that's a very good thing for the community !

Cheers, Hans

13

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: April 11, 2022, 02:12:55 PM »

Hello, I agree with both of you, Pieter and victor radio 74. The contributions of the members uploading photographs have made this site so succesful and patience of all involved is certainly needed. I have really no problem with that and appreciate the work of the IT-team a lot. But in the end - like victor radio 74 said - the result should logically be equally good or better than the replaced version which was excellent indeed.

Cheers, Hans

14

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: April 11, 2022, 09:51:00 AM »

Hello Pieter, the comparison of a book page with a computer screen  in respect of eye fatigue is not appropriate in my opinion. Please ask a doctor about the very different impact of both media....

However this is not one of the bigger problems of the new site but it does add to the impression that several changes on the site are not for the better. Of course we all hope that many issues will be adressed by the IT-team in the nearer future and everybody should have enough patience to wait for that and stay with this site.

Best wishes, Hans

15

Site related news, functions and modules / Re: Soon - New website design

« on: April 10, 2022, 04:46:25 PM »

Hello to all of you, firstly I want to say, that I`m very glad about the changes concerning ENI numbers, many thanks to IT for this improvement !

What I am really concerned about, however, is the dwindling number of visits to this site. Many things work well meanwhile but I have the impression that many important items could not yet be adressed by the IT-Team. Just one example, the background colour is mainly white which is very unpleasant and fatiguing for the eyes. Is this recognized ?

One point which is very annoying in my opinion, is that when selecting the main page of a vessel the default picture is shown in a lower quality. So you have to select "Full Screen" all the time. Does this make sense for a website which describes itself as the site with "The Best  Ship Information and Ship Photos" ? This is neither acceptable nor comprehensible for me.

Another point : Why are still only seven comments shown ? These comments are vital for the community of this site, please IT-team, consider the importance of this section. Additionally the comments should be shown much closer to the photograph without scrolling too much.

Next point : The presentation of the "Most Viewed Last 7 Days" on the front page is boring and useless in my opinion, better change this to "Most Viewed Last 24 Hours".

If I search an older picture of my collection I have to scroll endlessly. This was done much better on the old website with counting numbers of pages, simple and effective. Why was this changed ? It seems that the new site will require much more work to be done before eventually getting as excellent as the old one was. I'm not complaining though but  concerned that many members will possibly not have the patience to wait for a long time. And IT-team, please increase the communication with the members, they are certainly eager to hear from you more often.

In any case many thanks to the whole IT-team for the excellent work up to now, it's much appreciated.

Best wishes, Hans