What about a new TBCS gallery?

[Commando]

The one thing I like about some of the other forums I've seen is a gallery. Now, not just any gallery. I like the idea of a gallery catorigized by type. Like Case, mouses(or mice), etc...

This is the one on my site.
http://www.commandosystems.com/gallery/

These type galleries are where I get my ideas for paint jobs and stuff.

I would love to see all of everyone's work here in one easy to browse place.

I have a gallery on my website, but duh I've already seen all my stuff. I like the categories options that the gallery I use has. It's called 4images I think. Some of the other key things I like is the ability for anybody to view but only registered guys to post.

I think some basic rules would help also. Like one pic per project. This way you could quickly browse all new projects.

Now, I don't mean to bring on any extra work on anyone. Setting one of these up takes an hour or 2 but I think it would rock.

Just an idea.

[Drew]

:up:

Vote me on yes.

[Maz]

I've wanted that for a while
so this will be an AYE! :up:

[Crimson Sky]

Considering the ammount of traffic here with the links to all my pics around the web, I am already using a tremendous ammount of bandwidth. It would have to be safe and secure software, not some crap written by a scriptkiddy looking for a $5 donation. If you're up to it, do some research and we'll consider it. PhotoPost Pro is possible and it integrates with vBulletin, if you folks want to chip in for the $129 pricetag ;)

[Drew]

Is there a way TBCS members can donate to the upkeep of the site?

It's only fair... I spend an unreasonable amount of time here....

[Crimson Sky]

We don't really have enough members to ask for donations at this point--it would be generous, but wouldnt even make a dent in the monthly costs. Now if you folks want to chip in a small amount for upgrades such as Photo Gallery, I'm all for it.

[sirkillalot617]

How many members do you need I would have thought 6000 was enough more than most sites.:D

[Crimson Sky]

How many members do you need I would have thought 6000 was enough more than most sites.:D


when was the last time you saw 6000 ACTIVE users here :neutral:

[Drew]

6000 x $5 = ermmmm.......

about $30k..

minus tight asses @ say 50% and your at.... enough....

:edit: so, just out of interest, how many active users would you say there are, Crimson?

And did you see the 2nd sig I made up?

The first was ****e.

[Crimson Sky]

well I've seen as much as 60 signed on at once. I believe out of that about 35 are regulars who come daily.

[Drew]

Soooo.... $130 divided by 35 issssss............about $3.20 each...

Minus, say, 10 tight asses....

Gives us $130 divided by 25........ approx $5.20 each.

I think I can stretch to that. Will a UK postal order be OK, or a UK cheque?

[DaJe]

About how much bandwidth does this site use up currently?

[Crimson Sky]

Average data transferred per day: 63.83 gigabytes

Perhaps we can make a paypal donate system for upgrades such as the photo gallery. My only concern like I said is security and reliability.

[DaJe]

Hmm. What's your bandwidth limit?

[Crimson Sky]

bandwidth is unlimited on our dedicated server. However the point is how much will a photogallery slow down the performance of the site?

[DaJe]

Yeah, I figured it was unlimited. So I guess you'd need to pay for a better conenction to the server, right? Well, I've got plenty of room on my server (shared server). I could add your domain to it and host a gallery there, or something. Not sure how you feel about that, just trying to come up with ideas here.

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

< daily :)

[Commando]

Crimson,

I'm glad I brought it up. I didn't think about the bandwidth considerations.

I'm totally about a 5$ donation, but is that the solution? If the add on to your site is gonna slow it down, that doesn't sound like the answer. I guess an outside server would be great. But then again, you start to talk about monthly fees and stuff.

I'll do a little research.

[DaJe]

Well either I could let you use my own shared server, or you could get your own with 300GB of space and 3,000GB of monthly bandwidth for $7.77 a month.

[Bucko]

Would a simpler way to be to set up a new sub section of the forum and have different threads for each type of thing you are looking for, eg paint, completed cases, mouse mods etc?
All pics are hosted elsewhere then and it shouldn't slow the place down too much.

Have rules that no text only posts or comments allowed and any found will be deleted.
The person who posts up say a limit of 2 pics, can also put a link to their worklog in the post so you can click and see the rest of it if it's what you are searching for.

It's a cheap, simple and easy to implement set up that way.

[Crimson Sky]

Well either I could let you use my own shared server, or you could get your own with 300GB of space and 3,000GB of monthly bandwidth for $7.77 a month.

Why would I need a shared server when I have a dedicated dual P4 server and a fast pipe? It's plenty fast, and I don't plan on hosting anything outside of it.

[DaJe]

I just got a little confused when others started talking about you using and outside shared server.

[Commando]

Crimson,

If your willing to host it, I don't think you'll have any trouble getting some donations to buy some good software. I thought you were worried about the bandwidth thing though.

[DaJe]

He doesn't need any money for software for a gallery. There are plenty of free galleries out there that work great that he could easily install.

[Indybird]

Im all for the gallery idea, plus it could be payed for by all members: If 26 members donate $5, we could get that plugin. $5 from 26 people is very reasonable in my opinion.

[Crimson Sky]

He doesn't need any money for software for a gallery. There are plenty of free galleries out there that work great that he could easily install.


no way...Like everything else, you get what you pay for.

[Commando]

no way...Like everything else, you get what you pay for.

I'm pretty damn stingy and even I agree with this. I'm all in for donating some bucks for a good gallery.

I like the idea of kinda setting some very basic ground rules for this. Of course I like the idea of exposure of my projects on this board because it gets like 1000 times the traffic as my small site. But of course I don't want to piss off Crimson by looking like I'm advertising. This is his site and his best interest.

That's why I think it would be great to have like only one or 2 pics per project and only like one small link to an outside source. Kinda like our sigs. That way it's easy to browse and easy for folks to find more stuff out about that project with an outside link.

1 more idea is if bandwith or anything else is a problem financially; you could use like google ads on the gallery to pay for itself.

I totally support Crimson whatever he wants to do. It is his site we get to hang out at. I just think it's a cool next step for TBCS which looks to me to be growing pretty fast.

[xRyokenx]

I'm a more than daily user, and would be glad to donate. I'd just need to save up a little more cash than the $40 in my account right now, and I'll chip in. I think I get a check soon, and will deposit it, so if you set up PayPal on here, I'd be more than happy to donate a few bucks.

[DaJe]

Oh come on. A gallery isn't something that needs to be payed for. Even something like Coppermine would work just fine for this. I can't even think of any galleries that you'd need to pay for.

[OvRiDe]

Oh come on. A gallery isn't something that needs to be payed for. Even something like Coppermine would work just fine for this. I can't even think of any galleries that you'd need to pay for.

I am all about the open source.. but when it comes to someones livelyhood, free is not always the right solution. Remember this is not just a fun hobby site for Paul, its business, that he graciously allows us to be part of. Software has vulnerabilities.. period. When it comes to said softwares, its up to the developers to find and fix them. In the open source world, those people are doing it for free, in most cases. So they don't always just jump on it. Plus they are required to give the source code away, which allows anyone that feels like it to actively search the code for any vulnerability. Then on top of that they have no legal liability if they don't. When a company sells software they take a vested interest that the software is debugged and as secure as the can make it, and when there is a vulnerability, they are paid to jump on it to make the appropriate fixes. I run a small hosting server on the side, and manage about 6 linux servers in our enterprise at work. Let me tell you, it is not fun getting compromised because of some php vulnerability. The clean up on some scripkiddie payload can be a royal pain in the butt. Not to mention some the results from those payload can lead to blacklisting, which could take the whole site off the grid.

I agree Coppermine is a great gallery, for the hobby site or for someone that is willing to take the risk. Unfortunately there have been several vulnerabilities along the way..

http://secunia.com/advisories/18941/
http://secunia.com/advisories/20465/
http://www.frsirt.com/english/advisories/2005/2698
http://www.frsirt.com/english/advisories/2006/0669
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/10253/exploit
http://www.totalchoicehosting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22189
http://www.securiteam.com/unixfocus/5NP0K0A9QA.html
http://archive.cert.uni-stuttgart.de/bugtraq/2006/03/msg00253.html

[DaJe]

I suppose you're right about how Paul needs to look professional about this. Once I start to realise how big he really is with this, it kind of seems overwhelming in a way. Kind of like I don't belong here. Makes me feel small. (don't take that too seriously, I'm not upset or anything, just not fully in reality right now). I suppose that's also why he uses VBulletin too. You know, I fogot what I was just about to say. But you get the point, and I get the point as well. Let's all hug each other now.

[Drew]

I reckon it's a great idea, and for one wouldn't mind paying for it.

And I'm a top tight ass ;)

Would contributors get a cool graphic too? I love cool graphics....

[Crimson Sky]

OvRiDe has spoken truth better than I could have said it! I've tried "premium shared hosting" and "free software" for TBCS in the past and it was not a pleasant experience. The reason we enjoy very good uptime with the forum here is because of vBulletin's great service, community and support.

Can you guys even recall more than a few times when this server was down and you got a page not found? That's because my experience with shared hosting was dismal. Just get one dos attack on some person's vegetarian diet blog or dirt bike racing website and we would be toast. This happened more times than I can count a few years back before we had a dedicated server. it sucked. bigtime. I know we arent invincible, but we are pretty darn reliable.

That's all I meant by "you get what you pay for". And I appreciate the offers to help make the site more modder friendly. pitching in is what puts commune in community. Now..has anyone looked at PHPpost (http://www.photopost.com/) yet? Any suggestions on it?

[Crimson Sky]

I reckon it's a great idea, and for one wouldn't mind paying for it.

And I'm a top tight ass ;)

Would contributors get a cool graphic too? I love cool graphics....

You'll get soup with buffet.

[Drew]

Sonds good... did I mention I'm a 19stone tight ass... ;)

[Canadian Eh?]

I would definitely want a gallery...i'm always looking for some good worklogs but it's very time consuming. Thumbs Up!

[gaz_the_chav]

Just to sum-up the money thing:


You Pay Peanuts
You Get Monkeys!

-gaz

[Drew]

Agreed.

If you don't wanna pay, then you don't get the buffet.

If Crimson decides he wants to use commercial, bug free and supported software, it's his decision.

It's his baby, and I'm sure he doesn't want the site, which I've never found to be down, to start going ****-shaped because of easily exploited software.

At the end of the day, it's with him the buck stops, and to him the whinging messages will be addressed when the site ever goes down.

If you don't wanna chip in, then don't.

Just don't keep on about free software because it eases your conscience, at the expense of a stable site.

I'm not having a go at anyone in particular, but no-one suggested a compulsory fee - I think a contribution was mentioned.

I'm skint, but I'd happily donate to TBCS, it's provided me with hours of entertainment, and loads of info. But I don't expect anyone else to donate. I just can't afford $130 for the mentioned software.

Rant over.

[Guardian]

It seems that Gideontech.com and alot of other modding sites all have galleries or picture gallery, which ever you'd prefer. However there are alot of idiots who sign up, stick up some naked chicks and **** on they're galleries. We'd get an enourmes amount of spam on that, So even if we where to get a gallery they'd have to be checked someone. Or atleast put a report system in place. I'll gladley pay the $5 or w/e it is.

[Crimson Sky]

All new members have to be approved by me before they can post, and as it is we get about 5-8 members a day. Only a few have been flagged and canned. If we get the gallery together, I'll do my best to police it.

[Slug Toy]

id be on board for this too. that means i have to make a paypal account, but im sure i can do it. hell, for 130 some odd bucks, id flip the whole cost. ive got nothing better to do with my money, so i might as well put it to "charity".


All new members have to be approved by me before they can post, and as it is we get about 5-8 members a day. Only a few have been flagged and canned. If we get the gallery together, I'll do my best to police it.

im sure there are plenty of people here who would help with policing by bringing things to your attention.

[Crimson Sky]

I'll discuss it with Dave and see what we can come up with. I think if everyone pitches in a little bit we can all feel like we're helping our own little community. Although your offer is very generous Slug now I'm gonna cry.

[OvRiDe]

Would each member get their own gallery space? I figured it would either be awarded by an Admin or by post count. Seems like that could cut down on the amount of "hit and run" users. Just a thought, hope it helps.

[Commando]

Would each member get their own gallery space? I figured it would either be awarded by an Admin or by post count. Seems like that could cut down on the amount of "hit and run" users.

That's why categories are so cool. You can browse by type of project. i.e. Cases, Mice, Whatever..... and then if you like someone's work you can just search their name.

As for moderators, most gallery programs have that also. You wouldn't have to appoint very many, just enough to keep the place a little tidy.

I just think you could easily come up with an allowed poster list by just having a minimum rep power from here. Something easy like one green box would keep most boobs out.

Crimson, no hurry. Just like I said, I totally didn't mean to give you another project.

[Crimson Sky]

I do like the vBulletin integration with PhotoPost. It makes a nice seamless addition to the boards.

[DaveW]

Are you interested in member galleries, so it's a part of your profile, or are you looking for the ability to create gallery threads/add galleries to threads?

Someone mentioned coppermine. I think coppermine actually has some conflicts with one of the VBulletin modifications that we have installed-but i'll take a look into it for you guys. ;)

-Dave

[Ticien]

Ill pitch in for that. Im no expert on anything, but this is a great place to be, and I plan to be here for a long time. If you do decide to accept donations for this stuff, Paul, let me know as well.

[Crimson Sky]

Just say NO to Coppermine. nightmares. hacked boards.

[DaveW]

Gotcha Paul. I only recognized the name because I'm sure it was flagged up somewhere on something i installed...

-Dave

[Crimson Sky]

It's actually an option to install on our cPanel using Fantastico.

On another note, how about a chat app or mIRC server?

[Airbozo]

I'm up for a contribution too.

BTW, I use the cpanel/fantastico thing too from my hosting company, just not really played with anything yet.

[onelegout]

Hey, just to throw in my support for a photopost gallery!
See www.stencilrevolution.com for a great example of a photopost gallery with member galleries using the same users as the forum.
Its good because you don't have to upload the file to EITHER a public gallery OR a member gallery, it automaticly goes in your gallery and in whatever public gallery you choose!

H

[Drew]

So far it doesn't appear that dosh is going to be a problem, just the application.

A chat applet sounds good... does that mean that the n00bs mIRC tutorial would be going bye byes?

[XcOM]

i am more than willing to donate &#163;10 (about $18) for the software, and i think the policein wouldn't be a problem with the regs here, within a min of something being posted it would be noticed and deleted.

I've seen what photopost can do, its one of the best gallery software apps out there.

Anyway, Let me know when you want my donation and where to send it.

P.S i can make a sig for donators if you like, just upgraded my photoshop to CS2, weeeee, hours of fun using an app that looks near enough the same.

[Bucko]

Isn't there a java-based chat avaialble to Vbulletin, that's already built-in?

I have seen it on a vBulletin motorcycle site I sometimes visit.
Just be aware it can turn into a flame fest pretty quick and is another thing to look after.

[Drew]

Anyway, Let me know when you want my donation and where to send it.



Seconded.

[xRyokenx]

Thirded-ed.

[Slug Toy]

fourthed so hard, i went back in time and did it again.

[DaveW]

A TBCS Chat Channel?

Tell you what, i'll take a wee look for you...see what i can't throw together.

-Dave

[intergalacticman]

hey umm don't mind the lowly intergalacticman here, but dont we have a forum section called "My Mods" where you can post all the cases you can dream of. i think that a gallery would be redundant and useless

[Commando]

hey umm don't mind the lowly intergalacticman here, but dont we have a forum section called "My Mods" where you can post all the cases you can dream of. i think that a gallery would be redundant and useless

Dude, galleries are great. It's the easiest way to browse tons of specifically what your looking for. Say your looking for just mouse mods. Bam... 30 mouse mod thumbnails. Then you can click the thumbnail and get more info and links to the work log or tutorial.

Other sites have galleries, not that I surf other modding sites now that I've kinda found a place to hang out, but they're terrible. They're hard to browse or are always down.

That's why I'm all for Crimsons' idea of a good gallery like:
http://www.photopost.com/

[intergalacticman]

Dude, galleries are great. It's the easiest way to browse tons of specifically what your looking for. Say your looking for just mouse mods. Bam... 30 mouse mod thumbnails. Then you can click the thumbnail and get more info and links to the work log or tutorial.

Other sites have galleries, not that I surf other modding sites now that I've kinda found a place to hang out, but they're terrible. They're hard to browse or are always down.

That's why I'm all for Crimsons' idea of a good gallery like:
http://www.photopost.com/

oooh i like:D

[Drew]

Looks good.

Just a thought, with the amount of images that this would generate, wouldn't that batter the bandwidth? I mean I don't know who or how this would affect... just a thought...