Forum Changes - New Pro Forum, etc.

Hey Everyone,

(1) Chanthee and I created a new Pro Forum (formerly the Shop Talk Forum). It is a completely walled off community for professional talk. If you are interested in applying for membership, please contact me.

James at nwpphotoforum dot com

(2) We are thinking about adding a couple of new forums to the system:

a. A Tech Forum
b. A "Human Nature" Forum - allowing for cityscapes and other things created by the human animal.


Sincerely,
James

Yeah - Today we got the front page up and running. It is cool because it allows us to pull feed off of the different forums, which means that there will be more dynamic content on the front page.

I may limit it down to just the articles in the coming weeks as I start to get them all posted again. It took a chunk of time to get Thom Hogan's interview up today - nothing difficult, just the brain numbing job of stripping scripts. :P

James

OK - do we like or hate the fact that feed is coming in from the different forums? It sounds like some folks are finding it confusing.

James

I hate to say it James, but I am not a big fan of it. If it was just one post, it would be ok, but to have 3 separate threads posted as the front page is a tad confusing.

Hey Penny,

Thanks for the feedback. That is important. Tonight, I will change the settings so that we pull the feed only off of the articles and the interviews section. I am kind of 'stuck' at the moment because we have nothing in our archives at this moment due to the move. LOL, life is tough.

Again - thanks. Getting the flavor right on the website may take a bit, but I think it is a good process. I just hope everyone stays for the ride. :P

James

James, I'd like to see the "Human Nature" section. Although they are not shots I go out for all the time, some of my favorites have been of that variety and I always feel guilty for sneaking them in other posts, like I'm cheating on a test. Plus I believe there are many times where man made things fit in rather seamlessly with the natural world they reside in.

Hey Tyler,

Thanks. Anyone else on this? I know that here in the City, I have tons of Cityscapes. My problem is that I don't always think of them as being 'nature photography.' I wonder if it muddies the water (so to speak).

James

I see nothing wrong with a "hand of man" in nature section.

While I'll miss following you guys' careers and benefiting from the advice you give each other, I certainly understand the need to have a place where you can speak freely with each other about important issues or problems without the fear of possibly offending customers or driving away potential clients.

With respect to the tech forum and possible Human Nature forum I would enjoy seeing both with the hope that the tech forum not be allowed to devolve into "Fanboy Wars".

Since most of the pictures I take lately would fall into the Cityscapes/Travel category, perhaps I would be able to post images more often if you create the Human Nature forum.

But, be careful James. Too many forums to choose from could diffuse interest and actually drive away activity.

Jim

I don't think anyone will be vanishing from the open forums.

I like the idea of the "Human Nature" forum. I would like to get into cityscape/ city photography. It would be nice to have a place to ask questions.

We will definitely be adding a forum. I am going through the debate of whether or not I need to consolidate forums or not...for example, consolidating National Parks and Nature/Wildlife since they are very similar in content.

I have been discussing this with the moderators and I get anxious about having too many forums and having slow/non-moving forums. I go back and forth with the idea that it is better to have full forums and fewer of them and too many forums that do not move at all.

James