submitted by CrazyJ on Sunday, March 30 2003 at 6:47 PM
The long awaited updates to the Photo Gallery are finally nearing completion. The updates should be applied by the end of the week!
The updates mostly address performance and other boring stuff, but there are some new features as well. Captions can be added to photos! Folders will be available for premium users!
The updates aren't going to benefit everyone. Normal users will be limited to 50 pictures in their gallery. We will preserve all current pictures, but any user with over 50 will not be able to add until they delete pictures to drop below 50. Premium users will be also be limited to 50 pictures in their main gallery, but as mentioned before, will have the option to create unlimited folders with unlimited pictures!
We recommend anyone remotely interested to invest in a premium subscription. It is pretty cheap now, and you can be locked in forever at the rate at which you initially subscribe. Prices could go up at anytime. Don't say I didn't warn you!
UPDATE : The "My Gallery" and "Add Photos" section of the photo gallery are down so that we can apply the new updates!
posted by JAllen1127 on Sunday, March 30 2003 at 6:55 PM
If premium member goes back to regular, do they maintain the folders and photos, but just can't add anymore? Also, if they have all pics in a folder and none in the main gallery, does that give them 50 pics to add? I don't think that makes any sense
if premium goes back to regular, they get all photos out of the folders dumped back into main gallery. if the number of photos is more than 50, they'll have to get rid of some before they can add
A 50 picture limit? That's insane. I have 286 now, all of which will be preserved. If I want to add some, do I have to delete them down to below 50 before I can add, or will I have to delete one for every one I want to add?
I think this will result in a few more premiums to begin with but it will eventually reduce TWW to a small message board only visited by the small group of hardcore members that are probably already premium. People that actually post, or regularly post anyway, are a tiny tiny percentage of TWW members, the vast majority just use it as a place to store pics and with a 50 picture limit people will move elsewhere for their picture storage and eventually there will be no reason for anyone except the tiny percentage of members that actually post to visit TWW anymore. I know that I, for example, only found out about TWW through a link to a friend's TWW photo gallery in their AIM profile.
i've thought about that. we will evaluate it as we go.
currently the gallery is approaching being unmanageable just because of the size, concurrency, and bandwidth requirements. we have obviously had some problems with it . hopefully the new policies will cut down on the problem and give us a little more cash to deal with fixing the remains of the problem.
obviously, i don't want to alienate users. i think 50 pictures is a reasonable limit. if it turns out other people don't agree, they will leave, and I will have to rethink it.
"it will eventually reduce TWW to a small message board only visited by the small group of hardcore members that are probably already premium. People that actually post, or regularly post anyway, are a tiny tiny percentage of TWW members,"
I see nothing at all wrong with this. I would love it. I'm sick of the overcrowding.
we have no problem that people that rarely post and have a lot of pictures, as long as they don't have hundreds of pictures. probably most of the posts on TWW today would be better left unsaid .
the users taking advantage of us are the ones with thousands of posts that give nothing back. but who cares anyway, TWW is supposed to be *FUN*, not a huge debate over who is getting the better deal from a mostly free service
at least people have the CHOICE of whether to pay for our services.
anyway, no one will be able to add to the photo gallery for a while. I locked it for the migration to the new gallery. assuming all goes well, it should be done in a few hours.
i generally like the idea and i mean if u aren't will to give up a few dollars to help support the site then ahy shoudl they give you space for more than 50 pictues?
I guess my thing with premium is if I could actually pay $3 a month/ per month or something, I'd drive it to a drop box or whatever. Its rare that I actually have a lump sum at the same time...and then I always talk myself out of it. Perhaps a month to month basis is too much to deal with, but thats my ideal, especially where Pay Pal wouldn't automatically take it out...or you get that option.
I don't see what would be bad about people who just store pictures leaving? I mean, there account won't be erased until a mass cleaning, which I don't see happening anytime soon. Its not like anyone would notice or really know they "left"
I have a few photo's in my gallery now that don't belong...It's cool and all - just funny. Now I have to start trimming these down below 50 if I want to add any more...
I totally agree with the fact that people will be limited to 50 pictures if they have a FREE membership. Okay, so maybe 100 would be a better number, I don't know. But it's pretty fair if you're not paying any money for it! If you want to post hundreds of pictures, it should cost you a little bit of money.
plus this thread is getting answered much faster than any of the ones in the feedback forum (some of which may not be worth replying to ^_^) so dont' take for granted the fact that he's answering so quickly.
have i said i love my new gallery yet? i love my new gallery
I signed up just recently (as a member) and I gotta ask: Before this photo gallery update/upgrade was there a limit of 50 pictures for regular members?
Well, it looks like you got plenty of pictures up there before the picture limit went into effect. I'm in the dorm and it took about a full minute for all the pictures to download.
A. They are slow and have massive problems. B. When you upload your pictures they usually have VERY large URLs on them. C. The setup only allows you to upload one or two pictures at once. D. Awful limits. and most of all... E. The images will not load if you post the URLs within (HTML) code on message boards, websites, etc.
The last reason is really what I use picture hosts for and why I wanted one. There are many out there that will allow you to create free photo albums, but I want something I can use to store my pics for show in other locations.
This is the main reason I paid for an account here: Unlimited photo storage for photos that would load in other locations. I also like the layout, the site isn't slow and there aren't a ton of ads. You can also load a ton of pictures at once.
The photo hosting isn't the only reason I paid to be a member here. The community atmosphere also was a reason, but, without the unlimited photo hosting promised with an account a few weks ago when I signed up, I probably wouldn't have had enough reason to pay the fee and sign up.
If you you of any FREE photo storage sites that match up with the specifications I outlined above, please tell me.
do you guys think bandwidth and storage space fucking grows on trees? talk about losing money -- why don't you take a geuss at how much money and time CrazyJ and Joe have sunk into this money pit called TWW, and see if you don't think they deserve a little bit in return. Keep in mind that every picture you put on their server costs money just to hold it, and everytime someone accesses that picture through a link or if you post the URL on another site/message board, it costs money to actually send the picture from the server to another computer.
TWW is not about making people pay, but take a look at you two - pharterBDB and UNCriminals - judging from your post counts, you have contributed virtually nothing to the TWW community, and I would venture to geuss that you have never clicked on an ad. If you want free picture hosting, there are plenty of sites out there where you will find slow loading, size restrictions, tons of ads, big watermarks, etc. but you can't expect to get something for nothing all the time...
Wow, I had no idea that spending hours and hours on end posting on the forum and having a hundred, or even thousand rating was a requirement.
I see where THEWOLFWEB is coming from. I KNOW bandwidth and storage are expensive. My problem is that I JUST signed up for an account for the reasons I have already outlined and now they out a limit on pictures? I feel ripped off.
If I had delayed in making my choice to pay the fee and sign up here and this limit had been assigned before I had the change to sign up--I wouldn't have.
I have already said that the main reason I paid the fee and joined was because of the photo hosting--not the forum.
If you had read, AgentLion, the main reason I signed up here was because the photo hosting met the requirements I've been looking for. The reason I DON'T use photo sites is because of all the problems you just listed, which if you had looked above, you would have seen I already went through.
Pharter: There is no reason to apologize to this guy in anyway, shape or form. Amount of MESSAGE BOARD posts has nothing to do with anything.
Bobby: Thanks for the advice. I might PM that guy.
[Edited on April 8, 2003 at 4:56 AM. Reason : Misread What Bobby said.]
i knew you were going to comment on the post count thing -- obviously spending hours on here is not some kind of "requirement." my only point is, what good is it for you to host pictures here and just post the URLs on other pages for them to steal TWWs B/W. That does not increase TWWs exposure at all. and i read your demands for a photo hosting site, and i'm just saying, you're not going to find one like that because of the simple fact that there is no money in it. Maybe 3-4 years ago you would have found some good deals where you got something for nothing, but those times are over - people/companies on the internet are actually trying to make a profit now.
I geuss you are not an NCSU student if you had to pay for registration for this site. What is it - $5? Yeah, that's too bad the rules were changed right after you signed up, but come one.... 5 freakin' dollars. You signed up about 24 days ago and now hold 370 pictures in your gallery. So you have paid about 1.3 cents per picture or .0005 cents/picture/day. big loss... it's also worth pointing out that the only reason you have to pay $5 to sign up w/o an NCSU email address is to discourage people from creating new accounts if, for example, they have been suspended from the message boards. The $5 is not supposed to be a money maker.
i would also encourage you to contact hassell about web space, but if you won't pay $25 for premium membership here, you probably won't pay $35 for web space from him. He offers students (at least NCSU students, i don't know about other schools) 150MB of storage plus 50 email addresses for $35/year, which is one hell of a web hosting deal - you'd be lucky to find other services for $35/month (i host 3 sites with him). You will have an IP address, but you will have to buy a domain name for ~$8/year (from godaddy.com) if you want an easy to remember address for your pictures. Plus you will have to create your own webpages and such, or download some database code for photo galleries, which requires knowledge html, databases, scripts, etc.
So your options are now pay $25 for premium membership and get unlimited picture hosting here, pay $35+$8+development time and effort for your own webpage and gallery, or go somewhere else for crappy (but free) picture hosting.
It isn't "stealing" their bandwidth if they allow pictures to be loaded from other locations. I also wouldn't say it doesn't increase their "exposure." Afterall, "The Wolf Web" is clearly stamped at the buttom corner of every picture. The reason I paid the fee and signed up here was because I had actually found something here like I wanted.
I would have been more than glad to pay more than $5.00 for the unlimited photo storage offered before. It's pointless that I have 370 pictures in my gallery seeing as I'll have to delete well over half of those if I ever want to add anymore. I wouldn't mind paying the $25.00 premium membership fee if it wasn't just for a year. Yes, that's still very cheap, but it's the principle that I signed up for unlimited photo hosting in the gallery for $5.00 and now I'll have to be $25.00 to get what I got along with my $5.00 just a few weeks ago. I may end up paying the $25.00. I haven't decided yet.
Yes, but who give a crap about "exposure" when that's not your goal. The point is, this is a community-oriented message board that had the added benefit of having a photo-gallery. This used to be unlimited, but in order to be able to pay the bills, only users who actually have an interest in the site get unlimited benefits. I don't host many pictures here because that's not the intent of the site. I have a hosting service (the aformentioned deal) and use it. I come here when I want to post text messages for thousands of random people to see.