Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 11, 2009 at 7:03 AM
I'm thinking it may be time to move the portfolios - which currently reside on www.photoportfolios.net - over to NPN. It would work the same, just be on NPN-style pages and not require a second registration. NPN gets far more traffic - most of the traffic to PhotoPortfolios comes through NPN. Maybe we'll do something about those small portfolio thumbnails while we're at it too.
Thoughts?
Posted by Wim Reyns on October 11, 2009 at 7:14 AM
I like the idea Jim,
as it is now i rarely update or visit photoportfolios, i'm quite sure it would get a lot more attention here on the main site!
I'd say go for it!
Wim
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 11, 2009 at 7:41 AM
Jim, I like the idea as well and I think the traffic to the portfolios would increase.
Posted by Kah Kit Yoong on October 11, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Sounds like a great idea to make them more visible.
I like this idea Jim. I rarely use the feature now, but would be much more inclined to use it straight from NPN, thanks for the consideration on this.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on October 11, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Great idea, Jim!!
Posted by Jim Bullard on October 11, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Funny, I was just considering if a link to a member's portfolio could be added to the galleries along with the link to all their gallery photos. If it was directly accessible from the gallery postings the portfolios might get viewed more often.
Jim Bullard
West Stockholm, NY
Posted by Greg Cope on October 11, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Posted by Julie Hatvany on October 11, 2009 at 1:21 PM
Great idea
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 11, 2009 at 2:17 PM
I think it's a terrific idea, and I'd have three other requests as well: the larger thumbs we have at NPN, the same 720px image size, instead of 690px, and the larger 1200px option.
And thanks again, for a terrific site and for the constant innovation.
Jim, this sounds excellent to me too. Not sure about the overall move logistics involved, but it would really be nice to have them all under one location. I do like the neutral background in the portfolio area, can that be retained?
Posted by Luke Ormand on October 11, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Another bright idea Jim
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on October 11, 2009 at 5:56 PM
I like the ideas of bigger thumbnails. I don't see the benefit of combining with NPN.
A separate Portfolios site gives buyer a place to visit - buyers who may not be interested in all the photo talk found on NPN. The two sites likely appeal to different users, and should be promoted differently - I think combining them can confuse and complicate this.
As far as gaining more visitors, I think everyone is going to be disappointed if they think that moving Portfolios to NPN will increase the visitor numbers. I think every page on NPN already has a link to the Portfolios site, so effectively, it is already integrated into NPN. Whether a visitor is taken to a page on NPN, or to a separate Portfolios page is irrelevant. It is like the debate - do you put a blog on your main domain, or a separate one - it really doesn't matter.
If the Portfolios site performing poorly, combining the sites will help disguise the situation, as the site will no longer have separate scores on Alexa and other services, but it doesn't improve the situation. Maybe a better discussion is what can be done to improve the visitor numbers to the site.
I think the biggest benefit to combining the sites maybe the cost savings in hosting services. If you are using a dedicated server, there may not even be any cost savings.
Just my thoughts - obviously in a very small minority. :)
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on October 11, 2009 at 6:19 PM
I have one more additional concern: I think some photographers may use the Portfolio site as their main on-line portfolio, and may have acquired links and advertised the url on business cards etc,, and now the url will be wrong. I supposed this could be addressed with redirects, but sounds like a lot of work.
A separate Portfolios site gives buyer a place to visit - buyers who may not be interested in all the photo talk found on NPN. The two sites likely appeal to different users, and should be promoted differently - I think combining them can confuse and complicate this.
Ron makes an excellent point, here. Now, as I recollect, Photoportfolios' orginal, and primary, intent was to provide a vehicle for NPN Members to sell their work. Therefore, I'll have to 'eat crow', and recommend that Photoportfolios remain a separate domain.
"Maybe a better discussion is what can be done to improve the visitor numbers to the site."
I agree. If the move does not happen, I am willing to participate in such a discussion. In the near term, I would like to see larger thumbnails and a larger maximum file size of uploaded images. Very detailed images really suffer from jpeg compression, so a buyer may skip over a great photo that appears to be lacking in detail. A larger maximum file size would be a great benefit, I believe.
-P
Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 11, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Great points by all and the reason I put this kind of idea up for discussion.
One thing is for certain - moved to NPN or not, PhotoPortfolios is due for an overhaul. Larger thumbs, larger photos and optional 1200 pixel versions are starting points.
If we leave PhotoPortfolios as a dedicated site, how about a member "nature photo portfolio" here on NPN?
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 11, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Jim,
Ron Niebrugge amde some very good points about leaving the portfolios where they are, I recant my earlier opinion.
Another thing I have found with the photoportfolios is that the top 400 images stays pretty much the same because it is based on number of views for what seems to be since the beginning of photo portfolios. The newer images as it is set up now will not be in the top 400 because they are so far down on the list. Is there a way to reset those views of the top 400 images monthly without affecting the view count on the individual portfolios?
I think larger thumbs, larger photos and the optional 1200 pixel images would be great whether it stays on PhotoPortfolios or is moved to NPN
Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 11, 2009 at 7:44 PM
Lia, based on the comments in this thread, I will be making a list of updates and revisons for the site - so keep 'em coming!
I'm also thinking (off the top of my head at the moment) that through a bit of domain name "trickery" we can have our cake and eat it too - the portfolios can be made more a part of NPN but remain a separate site. Both sites reside on our own server and now that TPN has moved to another server, it greatly simplifies some technical aspects.
Keep the suggestions coming and I'll keep figuring out how we can have the best of both worlds.
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 11, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Jim,
I just know I don't even bother to look at the top 400 any more because they are always virtually the same, I think doing a monthly top 400 would keep that section fresher and would give people more incentive to become more active on PhotoPortfolios.
After I take off my chef's hat (I am starving) I will put on my thinking cap and see if I can come up with any more ideas.
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on October 11, 2009 at 8:47 PM
"One thing is for certain - moved to NPN or not, PhotoPortfolios is due for an overhaul. Larger thumbs, larger photos and optional 1200 pixel versions are starting points.
If we leave PhotoPortfolios as a dedicated site, how about a member "nature photo portfolio" here on NPN? "
I like these ideas!
Posted by Dan Borzynski on October 11, 2009 at 10:17 PM
I tend to agree with Ron's ideas, even though my first reaction was to bring it into NPN.
I would wonder if going to a monthly top 400 would accomplish part of its intent - bring up good new images. How hard would it be to program something along the lines of "This image has been in the top 100 for the last 3 month. Let's restart its count at 25% of its current total."
Obviously, the numbers are up for debate. There are more than enough truly good images where sinking these images isn't going to hurt the viewer experience. On the other hand, if there are sales coming from those image, you are pretty much killing that off.
Plan B might be to restart the counter every couple of months but that might cause a lot of viewer confusion.
Plan C - a rolling 30 day counter from the portfolio itself and excluding views coming from the top 400.
I'm not sure if there is a really good solution. Someone is going to lose no matter what is done but I'd like to see newcomers have a good shot at the top 400.
(Important note: I don't have a portfolio up yet so yeah, I have some personal interest in getting some of my photos up on the top viewed.)
Not read the whole thread, but with regard to the top 400...why not mix it up a bit...have a 'random images' option, a latest 100 images and a top 100 option.
That way your a click away from seeing the most popular images, the latest images and a random selection.
Posted by Nathan Buck on October 12, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Whenever I view photos on Flickr, I use the 'Random Photos from the last 7 days' feature. I can see a 'Random' option when viewing photos working well to get some exposure for all photogs with a portfolio on PhotoPortfolios.
Thanks Jim!
Nathan
Posted by Ron Bielefeld on October 12, 2009 at 1:20 PM
I like the idea of the overhaul. Would it be possible to have a check box added to the upload area of NPN critique forums that would automatically add the image the person's portfolio if it is checked? If it is left unchecked the image is not uploaded. Giving the person posting a choice. That might get more people to update the images in their portfolio more often. I realize that the image might change after the person receives commets on the image, but I believe a high enough proportion of images stay the way the are originally posted that I think this might be a nice feature. Just a thought.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on October 12, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Jim...can you change the portfolios so that new additions are automatically placed first and thus move the older images down the line? I was just adding new images to my portfolio and realized what a pain it is to re-order all of them. Having only about 60 images in mine, I can imagine how much more time consuming it is for those who have 120 images in their portfolio!
I also like Nathan's suggestion of a Random views feature!
"Jim...can you change the portfolios so that new additions are automatically placed first and thus move the older images down the line? I was just adding new images to my portfolio and realized what a pain it is to re-order all of them."
This is a great idea! Thanks for bringing this up, Toni!
-P
Posted by John Williams on October 12, 2009 at 8:44 PM
I hope I didn't miss it in the thread above, but my biggest complaint is having to prepare a 640px image for the portfolio, and a 720px image for NPN. I wish for simplicity they were the same; recently I've just been posting a 640 to NPN as well.
This may be off topic, but is there any way to know who has viewed your portfolio? Also if you move it will I have to redo my business cards so they incorporate a new address? Think acceptance of a larger image would be great.
Posted by Bret Edge on October 13, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Go for it!
Posted by Carl Donohue on October 13, 2009 at 10:50 PM
Hey Jim,
I'm with Ron - leave it as a stand alone site, if it's purpose is for buyers. Similarly, if so, I see no reason for the 'Top 400' photos page, or a 'random photos' page.
Maybe some helpful "solutions" might be generated if you articulate expressly what the "problem" is? There are folks like Ron around here who know plenty about web stuff, seo, etc, and are generous enough to share their knowledge. If you're trying to generate more traffic to portfolios.net, some kind of html tags would be helpful .. title tags, etc, for the various pages would be a good way to start, though it looks like this would require a bit of an overhaul of the template.
Another possibility might be to setup a blog-type page on it .. that's a useful tool to create some text rich pages that generate traffic. Maybe have some of the folks who utilize the site write some posts, etc, etc?
Is there any kind of proactive marketing of the site at all?
Thanks.
Cheers
Carl
Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 14, 2009 at 6:18 AM
Thanks to all for your comments!
As usual, I'm racing the clock this morning to get out the door for work. In the next few days, I will post the goals of updating the site in this thread. In the mean time, please keep your comments/suggestions coming!
Posted by Larry Fischer on October 14, 2009 at 9:23 AM
I'm having great difficulty in even getting registered at photoportfolios!!!
Tried numerous times. Seems to be in a circle. Won't accept my current NPN i.d. because "it's alread being used. Won't accept a new ID either. I know it's my computer fingers but lets move it....
the fisch
Posted by Jim Erhardt on October 14, 2009 at 8:14 PM
Larry, you have mail...
Posted by Jay Patel on October 16, 2009 at 8:08 PM
Sorry I am bit late to comment on this...but I think it is an excellent idea.
-Jay
Posted by Eric Vaughan on October 18, 2009 at 7:04 AM
That is a great idea, never understood why portfolio's were at different site. Also I think the thumbnails being enlarged is an outstanding idea, just like you did for the forums. That would be a huge help on the portfolios. That is one thing I really like about this site, you are always looking for ways to improve it and we do appreciate it Jim.
Carl Wrote, "...I see no reason for the 'Top 400' photos page, or a 'random photos' page."
I agree with you, Carl. I gave this some thought, and, quite honestly, I believe the 'Top 400' skews the marketing advantage toward the images with the most views, while there are many, many other images in the portfolios that are equally worthy.
Discussion
41 repliesThoughts?
as it is now i rarely update or visit photoportfolios, i'm quite sure it would get a lot more attention here on the main site!
I'd say go for it!
Wim
Jim Bullard
West Stockholm, NY
I like the idea, too. More traffic, and larger thumbnail images, would be a boon.
Will the other pages on that site (such as 'Photo Marketing Resources') be moved, as well?
-P
It sounds like a great idea.
Don
And thanks again, for a terrific site and for the constant innovation.
georg
A separate Portfolios site gives buyer a place to visit - buyers who may not be interested in all the photo talk found on NPN. The two sites likely appeal to different users, and should be promoted differently - I think combining them can confuse and complicate this.
As far as gaining more visitors, I think everyone is going to be disappointed if they think that moving Portfolios to NPN will increase the visitor numbers. I think every page on NPN already has a link to the Portfolios site, so effectively, it is already integrated into NPN. Whether a visitor is taken to a page on NPN, or to a separate Portfolios page is irrelevant. It is like the debate - do you put a blog on your main domain, or a separate one - it really doesn't matter.
If the Portfolios site performing poorly, combining the sites will help disguise the situation, as the site will no longer have separate scores on Alexa and other services, but it doesn't improve the situation. Maybe a better discussion is what can be done to improve the visitor numbers to the site.
I think the biggest benefit to combining the sites maybe the cost savings in hosting services. If you are using a dedicated server, there may not even be any cost savings.
Just my thoughts - obviously in a very small minority. :)
Ron makes an excellent point, here. Now, as I recollect, Photoportfolios' orginal, and primary, intent was to provide a vehicle for NPN Members to sell their work. Therefore, I'll have to 'eat crow', and recommend that Photoportfolios remain a separate domain.
"Maybe a better discussion is what can be done to improve the visitor numbers to the site."
I agree. If the move does not happen, I am willing to participate in such a discussion. In the near term, I would like to see larger thumbnails and a larger maximum file size of uploaded images. Very detailed images really suffer from jpeg compression, so a buyer may skip over a great photo that appears to be lacking in detail. A larger maximum file size would be a great benefit, I believe.
-P
One thing is for certain - moved to NPN or not, PhotoPortfolios is due for an overhaul. Larger thumbs, larger photos and optional 1200 pixel versions are starting points.
If we leave PhotoPortfolios as a dedicated site, how about a member "nature photo portfolio" here on NPN?
Ron Niebrugge amde some very good points about leaving the portfolios where they are, I recant my earlier opinion.
Another thing I have found with the photoportfolios is that the top 400 images stays pretty much the same because it is based on number of views for what seems to be since the beginning of photo portfolios. The newer images as it is set up now will not be in the top 400 because they are so far down on the list. Is there a way to reset those views of the top 400 images monthly without affecting the view count on the individual portfolios?
I think larger thumbs, larger photos and the optional 1200 pixel images would be great whether it stays on PhotoPortfolios or is moved to NPN
I'm also thinking (off the top of my head at the moment) that through a bit of domain name "trickery" we can have our cake and eat it too - the portfolios can be made more a part of NPN but remain a separate site. Both sites reside on our own server and now that TPN has moved to another server, it greatly simplifies some technical aspects.
Keep the suggestions coming and I'll keep figuring out how we can have the best of both worlds.
I just know I don't even bother to look at the top 400 any more because they are always virtually the same, I think doing a monthly top 400 would keep that section fresher and would give people more incentive to become more active on PhotoPortfolios.
After I take off my chef's hat (I am starving) I will put on my thinking cap and see if I can come up with any more ideas.
If we leave PhotoPortfolios as a dedicated site, how about a member "nature photo portfolio" here on NPN? "
I like these ideas!
I would wonder if going to a monthly top 400 would accomplish part of its intent - bring up good new images. How hard would it be to program something along the lines of "This image has been in the top 100 for the last 3 month. Let's restart its count at 25% of its current total."
Obviously, the numbers are up for debate. There are more than enough truly good images where sinking these images isn't going to hurt the viewer experience. On the other hand, if there are sales coming from those image, you are pretty much killing that off.
Plan B might be to restart the counter every couple of months but that might cause a lot of viewer confusion.
Plan C - a rolling 30 day counter from the portfolio itself and excluding views coming from the top 400.
I'm not sure if there is a really good solution. Someone is going to lose no matter what is done but I'd like to see newcomers have a good shot at the top 400.
(Important note: I don't have a portfolio up yet so yeah, I have some personal interest in getting some of my photos up on the top viewed.)
Not read the whole thread, but with regard to the top 400...why not mix it up a bit...have a 'random images' option, a latest 100 images and a top 100 option.
That way your a click away from seeing the most popular images, the latest images and a random selection.
Thanks Jim!
Nathan
I also like Nathan's suggestion of a Random views feature!
This is a great idea! Thanks for bringing this up, Toni!
-P
I'm with Ron - leave it as a stand alone site, if it's purpose is for buyers. Similarly, if so, I see no reason for the 'Top 400' photos page, or a 'random photos' page.
Maybe some helpful "solutions" might be generated if you articulate expressly what the "problem" is? There are folks like Ron around here who know plenty about web stuff, seo, etc, and are generous enough to share their knowledge. If you're trying to generate more traffic to portfolios.net, some kind of html tags would be helpful .. title tags, etc, for the various pages would be a good way to start, though it looks like this would require a bit of an overhaul of the template.
Another possibility might be to setup a blog-type page on it .. that's a useful tool to create some text rich pages that generate traffic. Maybe have some of the folks who utilize the site write some posts, etc, etc?
Is there any kind of proactive marketing of the site at all?
Thanks.
Cheers
Carl
As usual, I'm racing the clock this morning to get out the door for work. In the next few days, I will post the goals of updating the site in this thread. In the mean time, please keep your comments/suggestions coming!
Tried numerous times. Seems to be in a circle. Won't accept my current NPN i.d. because "it's alread being used. Won't accept a new ID either. I know it's my computer fingers but lets move it....
the fisch
-Jay
I agree with you, Carl. I gave this some thought, and, quite honestly, I believe the 'Top 400' skews the marketing advantage toward the images with the most views, while there are many, many other images in the portfolios that are equally worthy.
Just my .02,
-P
Just curious, but where are we with the proposed changes to Photo Portfolios?
As always, thanks for all that you do four us!
-P