Update: beta bugs, fixes and requests

[Marcus Hawkins]

(Update: 10.00am 15th September - we're deploying some updates to the beta site today so some elements may not work straight away but we will be making further fixes later in the day, thanks for your patience.)


Hello there

First, we'd like to say a huge thank you for the ongoing feedback you're providing during this PhotoRadar beta period. We really do appreciate the time and effort you're putting in. Your constructive criticism has been extremely beneficial, and you'll start to see improvements based on this soon.

Currently we're working through a list of bugs and requests. Many changes won't be noticeable immediately - we have to test changes implemented by the development team on a separate server before making them live in the beta code. However, we'd like to outline where we are with some of the issues you've highlighted. We'll update this list regularly, so you know exactly where we're at.

Kind regards

Marcus


Picture uploading: red cross
Q. I have just uploaded two photos - but one is now showing as a box with a red x in it. What does this mean?
A. Because the site is held on a password-protected server, occasionally a newly-uploaded image won't display until the server has been refreshed. This problem will go away once we move out of beta. Also, a new picture uploading process has been implemented which we are currently testing before making it live on the beta site.


Picture upload: soft/sharp/flat shots
Q. A picture I have uploaded doesn't reflect the quality of the original - when will this problem be rectified?
A. This is a priority fix for us. PR will now use ImageMagick to compress images. This has been installed on our test site and will be rolled out on the beta once we've approved it.


Picture upload: batch uploading
Q. Will you be adding batch upload functionality?
A. There are no plans right now. We have considered the many arguments both for and against batch upload and currently feel that it would be better to encourage photographers to be more selective in the work they display on PR. If you feel strongly about this, let us know.


Point size
Q. Some users have an issue with the size of the text in the forums - what are you doing about it?
A. Some users find the text size too small, others seem happy with it. We are currently trying out variations before making a decision about changing it.


Forum: smilies
Q. Are clickable smilies on the cards?
A. They are, although at this stage it's not a priority for the development team.


Rendering problems
Q. Have the problems with the site not displaying correctly in different browsers been resolved?
A. While the site rendering is unproblematic for many users, not all issues have been resolved yet. We do have a fix currently being tested, and will deploy this once we're happy with it.


Video problems
Q. The videos don't play for everyone - why not?
A. There are some issues with different configurations of OS, browser and adblocker. We are looking into this. We have already tested and conformed the videos work with IE6 and IE7 (PC, Windows XP), IE8 (PC, Windows Vista), Firefox 3 (PC, Windows XP & Mac), Safari 3 (PC & Mac) and Opera 9 (Windows XP).


Tag problems
Q. With everyone able to create tags, aren't they are going to become too subjective?
A. We have logged this issue and will be looking to enhance the tagging system as a priority.


Page loading
Q. Will you be making the scroll bar permanent to prevent the page jumping when loading?
A. Yes, this is something we are doing.


Log in: losing the page
Q. When I log in to the site, I lose the page I was looking at - will this be sorted out?
A. Yes, we know how frustrating this is. The developers are working on resolving this as a priority.


Log in: different user photos when logged in/out
Q. If I've not logged in, the only user photos I can see are those that were uploaded when I last logged in. Is this a bug?
A. Yes, it is a bug connected with the site cache. This is being resolved.


Annoying message box
Q. Will the annoying 'Human verification' box be disappearing from the site - it's annoying having to fill it in when I want to comment on a shot?
A. Yes, it will be removed once we're through the beta stage.


Galleries: Next button
Q. Can we have a next/previous button so that I can view large shots in a gallery without having to go back to the gallery thumbnails each time?
A. This functionality is already built into the site, although it's not working correctly yet. The developers are resolving this.


Galleries: Number of views/visits
Q. Can we have a 'number of views' count on our galleries?
A. Yes. This feature will be implemented soon.


Galleries: switching off ratings
Q. Can you allow members to turn off the ratings, so they can use the site just to share their work?
A. Currently we are unable to offer this service. We have logged this request for further development consideration.


Galleries: ads
Q. Will we be able to remove the ads on our gallery pages?
A. Again, we are currently unable to offer this service. PR is a commercial site and as a result has to carry advertising to enable us to reinvest in new functionality and features. A comfortable gallery viewing experience is paramount though, and we will certainly look at ways of ensuring this.


Galleries: screenshots
Q. Will screenshots in galleries be allowed once the site goes live?
A. We know some of you want this feature. We are enhancing the picture upload process and plan to include a screenshot filter. This will enable you to include screenshots in galleries, but prevent a screenshot being used to represent your work in other areas of the site.


Galleries: changing album names
Q. I want to change the name of one of my albums, but can't seem to do that - is this a bug?
A. No. The only way you can currently do it is to create a new album, copy the images across to it and delete the old one. We have added the ability to edit album names and change usernames to the development schedule.


Galleries: links from avatars
Q. When you're viewing a picture in someone's gallery, why can't you navigate to their profile page by clicking on their name or their Avatar?
A. You definitely should be able to do this. We have logged this bug with the development team.


Galleries: deleting photos and info
Q. There are problems deleting photos and the info that goes with them - you can remove a photograph, but cannot remove the title. Why?
A. You should be able to now, as this bug has been fixed.


Galleries: square thumbnails and cropped feature photo
Q. Thumbnails in the galleries are cropped square and the featured picture is cropped to landscape, even if you upload a portrait or square picture. Will this change?
A. Yes. This is unlikely to be resolved at beta stage though.


Missing countries
Q. I couldn't find Curacao (or Netherlands Antilles) in your list, nor Aruba?
A. These are being added. If we've missed any more, do let us know.


RSS Feeds
Q. Will you be adding RSS feeds to each relevant section, rather than having them all in one place?
A. This is not something we have planned.