How can I improve my site?

[43074]

Basically, I've received a number of abusive messages recently from the (now removed) comments section on the site so...

I'm now asking whether you have any ideas/suggestions on how I can improve the website. I'm in the process of a major re-organisation (see Locos and DMU section for how this will work) and not all photos have captions yet, but they will do.

The link is in my signature.

 

[Dennis]

get rid of pointless


(C) ****e

 

[455driver]

Agree with Dennis, other than that and the lack of captions it looks okay. Some nice pictures on there as well.

 

[43074]

get rid of pointless


(C) ****e

Can you expand on this? I am after constructive criticism.

What is this pointless ****e?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Agree with Dennis, other than that and the lack of captions it looks okay.

The captions are taking a while but I'm getting there.

Some nice pictures on there as well.

Thanks

 

[Shrub Hill]

Is it possible to link a search to the photographs?

Let's say I was interested in looking at photo's of trains at derby for example!

Typing in derby into a search box and seeing all available pictures linked to derby, as opposed to say having to trawl through the entire archive looking! People have various interests in the railway and as your collection grows, anyone paying an interest, or anyone doing any kind of research is more likely to visit on a regular basis if you make it easy for people to get to what they want to see.

It is something I personally would find useful. This is Just a thought though and in no way a criticism!

 

[harry42]

Nice photos!

Some train interiors?
Caption before you click on it?

 

[43074]

Is it possible to link a search to the photographs?

Let's say I was interested in looking at photo's of trains at derby for example!

Typing in derby into a search box and seeing all available pictures linked to derby, as opposed to say having to trawl through the entire archive looking! People have various interests in the railway and as your collection grows, anyone paying an interest, or anyone doing any kind of research is more likely to visit on a regular basis if you make it easy for people to get to what they want to see.

It is something I personally would find useful. This is Just a thought though and in no way a criticism!

Thanks for that, I can have a search facility on the site, however I would need to pay a subscription fee to upgrade the domain so I can use the feature. However, nice thought and it is something that I will do when I have the finances to upgrade the site.
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Nice photos!

Thanks!

Some train interiors?

Mmm, keep an eye out for something else I'm working on at the moment (and no, not a train interiors website but something a bit more general!)

 

[Track Basher]

On the whole it is not bad.

I agree with captions.

One thing to bear in mind this is your shop window. There are several from my quick look around that were out of focus. You need to lose these. You do not need to put everything out there for everyone to see. Keep any mistakes to yourself and only show the good stuff.

Have a look at a site like www.railpictures.net to give you ideas what to show. You have photos from around the world here but you can search for UK only if that is what interests you.

Hope this helps.

 

[richw]

Lose the copyright text that is right across the middle of some of your pictures and put somewhere more discreet. It ruins the pictures. If you are insistent of using the copyright text do it smaller and somewhere it doesn't obscure the main feature of the photo, also use an appropriate colour so it fades into the background. Have a look at this picture on Flickr to see a more discreet way of putting the copyright tag, doesn't ruin the image the way this person has done it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29197902@N06/10950146274/in/photostream/
I don't like the host layout and not great for navigation, but that is beyond your control.

 

[43074]

On the whole it is not bad.

I agree with captions.

One thing to bear in mind this is your shop window. There are several from my quick look around that were out of focus. You need to lose these. You do not need to put everything out there for everyone to see. Keep any mistakes to yourself and only show the good stuff.

Have a look at a site like www.railpictures.net to give you ideas what to show. You have photos from around the world here but you can search for UK only if that is what interests you.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for those comments - like I said above they captions are being added but are taking a long time to add, but any future uploads will have captions from the moment they are uploaded.

Shouldn't be too many out of focus now - several that were I've removed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Lose the copyright text that is right across the middle of some of your pictures and put somewhere more discreet. It ruins the pictures. If you are insistent of using the copyright text do it smaller and somewhere it doesn't obscure the main feature of the photo, also use an appropriate colour so it fades into the background. Have a look at this picture on Flickr to see a more discreet way of putting the copyright tag, doesn't ruin the image the way this person has done it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29197902@N06/10950146274/in/photostream/
I don't like the host layout and not great for navigation, but that is beyond your control.

I'm removing the ones with copyright across the middle and re-uploading them temporarily without copyright. I'm also adding captions to those I upload again.

 

[Bevan Price]

Some nice photos. but greyish text on a black background is not easy to read. A better contrast between text & background colours would improve clarity.

 

[Dennis]

I'm removing the ones with copyright across the middle and re-uploading them temporarily without copyright. I'm also adding captions to those I upload again.

Glad to here it One of my pet hates.

 

[Shrub Hill]

Watch this video on watermarks! He is a professional photographer but it will give you a good idea on what you can do

http://youtu.be/RmvJv463PA0

 

[43074]

Still improving the site:

The Recent Pictures are actually recent, showing images taken in this month (and I'll upload newer pics in January etc.).

The Locomotive page has been removed, and replaced with sub galleries showing individual classes. The same goes for the DMU page and (I'm doing the) EMU page. There should no longer be any photos on this section with irritating copyright watermarks.

Pictures in the 'HST' section are organised by TOC.

Heritage Pics I haven't changed for a while, but will do so when I've sorted out the above.

Captions are being added but it's a tedious process.

I've also added a few scans this morning - featuring GNER, Virgin HSTs, an Anglian 86 and MML HSTs in Teal & Tangerine.

This afternoon I've added a few cab shots.