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7276

Living Room / Tags for multiple users - problems (& solutions?)

« Last post by tomos on December 23, 2010, 03:33 AM »

I was querying what "Categories" to use for a new Q&A website and got this reply:

Re: categories, I'd be more in favor of tags. They're more flexible. Alternatively you could go with a system that allows suggesting new categories. With *either* solution you want an auto-complete of some kind or a "suggest" function so there is less chance for spelling-related miscategorization, etc.

-JavaJones (December 22, 2010, 03:32 PM)

I dont use tagging much. I dont use any programme that really successfully implements tagging IMO.

One big problem is that, even if you have auto-complete and some sort of auto-list where new tags get added to the list, you're going to have people using different words for the same "thing".

Another approach - that could be combined with auto-complete/auto-list - would be that, when you click on a tag to see entries for it, it would be like a fuzzy search, showing e.g. pigs piggy and pig etc.
In order to get around the problem of different words being used for the same thing e.g. pig & swine - these could be manually associated so if you search for one, you get both.

Anyone know of any implementation of tagging for multiple users that helps minimise these problems? (software or website)

7277

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Chip.de 2010 Advent Calendar

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 05:29 PM »

The time in Germany is now past midnight, (#23), and the program being offered is Ashampoo Burning Studio 10 Elements.

-Curt (December 22, 2010, 05:04 PM)

but just to point out that you can still get the UltraEdit one

7278

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Photo Q&A Site - askapic.com

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 04:15 PM »

Okay,
good tips there, thanks.

To make my job easier though - is there any basic T&C out there for public use that I could then modify?

7279

Living Room / Re: Why I Don't Want an iPad for Christmas

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 02:45 PM »

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

-tomos (December 22, 2010, 08:05 AM)

Just tell me where to send it

-4wd (December 22, 2010, 12:52 PM)

lol, that'd impress the rest ;-)

7280

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Photo Q&A Site - askapic.com

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 12:19 PM »

Anyone got any tips re "terms and conditions" [for] the site?


edit/ is there something generic out there I could use for the moment?

7281

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Photo Q&A Site - askapic.com

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 11:19 AM »

Start out with the smallest number of categories/sections you possible can, and expand only when things get busy enough to demand re-organization.
There is a big temptation to logically organize everything into tons of hierarchical categories, but when you start out with so many different isolated areas in the beginning, it just feels empty and pointless.

-mouser (December 22, 2010, 10:10 AM)

yeah,
the Q&A framework came with Categories and Topics(Tags) which I already find a bit confusing - I guess the idea of the categories is to have a more structured framework.
A problem with tags is that I mght call something one name and you another (and then there's spelling differences) which makes it difficult to track down stuff....

I'm starting to think that if you want to categorise stuff you would nearly have to make a different website for each category e.g.
TheNaturalWorld [.com - available for 1.5 grand ]
etc....

7282

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY 2011 Pledge: Photo Q&A Site - askapic.com

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 09:23 AM »

Another Plea for HELP (questions are numbered)

when you upload an image you have to choose a category and a sub-category
I dont want to have too many top-level categories so (1) I'm looking for help in what main categories to use. (2) Some names may have to be modified for the US
So far I have

• general
• the natural world
• film
• mechanical

off the top of my head, there's many possible canditates (with of course possibility of overlap):

art(y), sciences, people, computer related, food, [(3) should I say Movies instead of Film], politics (might just leave that out), sport,

General has only two sub-categories so far:

• general
• humour

I'm happy with the Natural sub-categories

Film has none yet, maybe film, actor, [(4) people dont say actress any more?], director, + +  ??

Mechanical has the following subs:
cameras
cars
computer [(5) or maybe make that a seperate main category?]
planes
trains/locomotives

7283

Living Room / Re: Why I Don't Want an iPad for Christmas

« Last post by tomos on December 22, 2010, 08:05 AM »

well now,
if you really want to buy me one I wouldnt say no :p

7284

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY PLEDGE [almost there] Photo Q&A Site

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 05:06 PM »

went for askapic -
thanks for all the help

7285

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY PLEDGE [almost there] Photo Q&A Site

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 04:39 PM »

askapic 

-adi_barb (December 20, 2010, 04:29 PM)

I like that too

7286

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY PLEDGE [almost there] Photo Q&A Site

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 03:45 PM »

Wossissden.com (you may have to say it out loud)

-timns (December 20, 2010, 03:31 PM)

I had similar ideas but was told someone has to be able to spell it on hearing it....

7287

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY PLEDGE [almost there] Photo Q&A Site

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 03:35 PM »

what do you think of the name imagenamer.com ?

-Tomos

Quizapick (has more than one deliberate ambiguity).

-cranioscopical (December 20, 2010, 02:36 PM)

I should have asked you a long time ago Chris
have to get the opinion of my advisor though (yes, mouser)

Nice!

What about AskMyPhoto?

-adi_barb (December 20, 2010, 03:27 PM)

I like this one too... Quizapick is more catchy I think, but this one is more straightforward

7288

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: we want to enter a small nany web service app, coded in php... any suggestions?

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 03:26 PM »

we're working hardly on this project and hope to launch it as soon as possible 

-adi_barb (December 20, 2010, 03:22 PM)

NANY PLEDGE [almost there] Photo Q&A Site

7289

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / NANY 2011 Release: askapic.com - Photo Q&A Site

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 02:28 PM »

NANY 2011

Application Name	askapic.com
Version	let's just call it Beta
Short Description	Photo Question & Answer Site
Supported OSes	N/A
Web Page	http://www.askapic.com/
System Requirements	a browser
Authors	tomos & adi_barb with lots of help from mouser

Well, lets call this a release There wont be any structural changes made to the site till Monday (Jan 3rd) or later

First I'll say -
if you go to the site and have problems, have a look at Current Problems below and see if that helps you - if the problem isnt listed please post about it - thanks!


Description

The idea is very simple

• upload an image and ask a question
• Answers can be chosen by the OP or by a moderator
• The pictures can be tagged and answers could be added as tags - so over time a database of tagged images would build up
• Pictures/Questions can be browsed via slideshow, randomly or related to topic of interest

Background
I was working on this idea for a while with mouser. Then we were both busy and it just sat there for a while. Recently adi started two threads: we want to enter a small nany web service app, coded in php... any suggestions? and FamousWhy Software : Famous Questions CMS. So I suggested the idea to him.
Basically adi & co. have been working for the last week customising their Q&A "CMS" while I've been saying I want this and I want that and generally pestering them

Evolution of Idea
initially I was thinking of it as a very practical, an 'identification' site - what is this - this is an oak tree. Now it's much more open - we wont really know what the site will be like until it gets going. Which makes it interesting, and means that you can mould it to however you would like it to be...

Features

• Implemented so far:
• home/indexpage showing list of questions and "editor's choice" image/question with ability to ask a question on the same page (shot #1 below)
• click on question or thumbnail to go to full question page  (shot #2 below)
• ask/answer - with immediate regristration via a small popup, or via Facebook
• categories/topics pages
• member pages

Current Problems (mainly the big ones :p)

1) You have to tag an image before it will be accepted:

• you have to add a comma "," after the tag word for it to be accepted
• the status of your selected file is not indicated - e.g. if you forget to add a tag to an image, you will get an error message and the site will 'forget' the selected file's details so you'll have to srat from scratch (your question is remembered though).

2) Facebook login works a treat - but I'm not sure what shows up on your Facebook homepage (nothing in my case) - do let me know! [seems to be showing okay on FB]
3) Currently you are UNABLE to change any details on your Profile page
4) Categories are not properly associated with the questions i.e. on Categories page they all show as having zero related questions.
5) "Unanswered" tab on the homepage shows all questions
6) if you ask a question and then login using name & password, you may get an error message but the login should still be successful
7) Some emails take a long time (I get emails instantly in my gmail a/c but have had to wait hours with other email accounts. But note that you can post instantly - without having gotten your regristration email. I dont know why this is - some problem with the godaddy email accounts maybe.


Planned Features

• slideshow - random or related to chosen category (pre-defined tag) or topic (free-tag)

Screenshots



home/indexpage



full question page


HOW YOU CAN HELP (!)

Feedback

• Report any problems, preferably here.
• design comments
• Feedback in general
• Any advice in general about "this kind of thing" - I'm sortof out of my depth here!
• first what do you think of the name imagenamer.com ? It has been a struggle trying to get a name that is available and suitable. If you have any other suggestions throw them out (preferably available as a dot com name - but I can check!) name now askapic

7290

General Software Discussion / Re: Dirpy is dead. What else is there?

« Last post by tomos on December 20, 2010, 10:45 AM »

Yeah, Dirpy was really nice, great interface - helped correct names and tags easily (apply tag to filename & vice-versa; swap artist and song names ...)
I'll miss it.

7291

Living Room / Re: can u recommend Computer Beginner's book(s)

« Last post by tomos on December 19, 2010, 12:51 PM »

yeah, I went for the dummies book.

That is really odd about amazon "look inside" thing - if I had a seen one page of the actual book (as opposed to just TOC & index) I would have been able to make a decision based on that.
I found a chapter excerpt on the dummies store site (link first post, missed it first time round). First chapter may be a bit too basic but as they have yet to discover windows explorer (and file management in general) I think the book will suit

7292

Living Room / Re: can u recommend Computer Beginner's book(s)

« Last post by tomos on December 19, 2010, 10:37 AM »

thanks for the tips folks

7293

Living Room / Re: Show us a photo of your mutt or other creatures..

« Last post by tomos on December 19, 2010, 09:05 AM »

timns and Shades
I'm lost for words hang in there

7294

Found Deals and Discounts / 60% off all Ashampoo apps till Dec 24

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 01:58 PM »

60% off all Ashampoo products till Dec 24

Simply enter the following coupon code in our online shop: "christmas10"
[...]
Only for digital Ashampoo software products on www.ashampoo.com, which aren't reduced already.

7295

Living Room / Re: can u recommend Computer Beginner's book(s)

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 12:20 PM »

I always think those For Dummies books are okay to buy for myself (you can guess why!) but a little insulting to give to others.

-cranioscopical (December 18, 2010, 11:55 AM)

yes, I know what you mean but in this case I think no offence would be taken!


also edited original post

Another edit/ it's for a couple, she's very mouse centric but he prefers using the keyboard - I suspect a lot of beginner books might ignore this aspect (extensive use of keyboard shortcuts)

-tomos (December 18, 2010, 11:47 AM)

7296

Living Room / can u recommend Computer Beginner's book(s)

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 11:47 AM »

getting in late on the christmas pressies:

no access to a book shop till it's too late for xmas - can anyone recommend a book or series of books for absolute-beginners/basic-users on the PC (Windows 7). It is for a 'senior' but doesnt have to have big text but I suppose it's no harm - I was thinking of the Windows 7 For Seniors For Dummies

Another edit/ it's for a couple, she's very mouse centric but he prefers using the keyboard - I suspect a lot of beginner books might ignore this aspect (extensive use of keyboard shortcuts)

thanks in advance


[edit] on Amazon I get to look in the book - and see the table of contents and index - super, I've no idea what the thing is really like... [/edit]

7297

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder.com NEW SERVER ACTIVATED Dec 17, 2010

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 09:43 AM »

getting a much better speed now

7298

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: we want to enter a small nany web service app, coded in php... any suggestions?

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 03:39 AM »

I'm waiting for some more details about it and can't wait to start as soon as possible

-adi_barb (December 14, 2010, 10:55 AM)

well, my idea is taking shape thanks to Adi & Co's very hard work

I think it's okay to describe at this stage, the idea is quite simple (the implementation not, I think!):

You upload an image and ask a question about it i.e.
a question and answer site with the questions being related to an image that you upload.

My (very) original idea was for a specific field but we're leaving it wide open (wth with categories and tags) and seeing what happens.
Another aspect of the idea is that a tagged searchable database of images/info would build up over time.

7299

Official Announcements / Re: DonationCoder.com NEW SERVER ACTIVATED Dec 17, 2010

« Last post by tomos on December 18, 2010, 03:28 AM »

congrats

IMPORTANT:

We are still experiencing some packet loss leading to pages hanging.. if you experience this please let us know, and we hope to have it fixed.  seems like a network problem of some sort.

Also, there are things we may need to tweak over the next 24-48 hours, so buckle up!

-mouser (December 17, 2010, 04:01 PM)

most pages are taking up to half a minute to load here at the mo - but they are loading

7300

General Software Discussion / Re: Learn how to donate without paying!!

« Last post by tomos on December 16, 2010, 01:53 AM »

I cannot help feeling that these companies are using our charitable motivations to build a cheap marketing list for later on.

-timns (December 15, 2010, 04:40 PM)

Yes, I'm sure that is the case.
I mean there's not much point in downloading this unless you actually have use for it -
but if you do, it's a good app