Lack of new features forces me elsewhere...

[joesimages]

(oops, I posted this on the wrong forum accidentally...it belongs here.

Lack of new features forces me elsewhere and any roadmap on which those features might be implemented has finally drove me to look somewhere else for my photo sharing needs. I'm not writing this message to whine or complain about pbase; however, to hopefully let slug know that while I was at pbase the last three years I appreciated the site but to let him know members can outgrow it as well. I have no problem paying more a year than I already do now so I'm not looking for a "free" site with unlimited storage. I evaluated many other services over the last few months and finally chose one based on my needs and I'm quite excited to start transitioning over to it this week. I have about another 10 months or so on my pbase account and I plan to check back in periodically to see if some of the feature requests are implemented. I really hope so...as I'd like to stay. Anyway, thanks for the three years of service slug. Good luck to you.

[455rocket]

Which features are lacking????

[joesimages]

Which features are lacking????

At first it was the simple things...like the ability to have your new images that you upload to a gallery appear first. Or the ability to visually depict a folder vs. a picture. Then, when I started investigating options out there, I found that there was things I hadn't thought of. Printing, custom prices that you can set for your gallery prints and be mailed a check of the profits, unlimited storage, integrated Windows XP UI uploading, better searching capabilities, detailed logging and statistics for your galleries, ability to allow others to upload pictures to a gallery. You get the idea.

[455rocket]

I think most people (my self included) just want to display their photos and aren't interested in trying to sell prints etc so for us pbase is perfect. If you are in the photographic business you may want more... I have noticed that several users have linked their pbase sites to various printing services in attempts to sell their work, so the lack of being able to order prints directly through pbase is probably not a problem.

[joesimages]

I think most people (my self included) just want to display their photos and aren't interested in trying to sell prints etc so for us pbase is perfect. If you are in the photographic business you may want more... I have noticed that several users have linked their pbase sites to various printing services in attempts to sell their work, so the lack of being able to order prints directly through pbase is probably not a problem.

Like I said, all of that stuff was secondary. Many of us have been asking for months and months just to have the ability to automatically add new photos to the top of an album instead of having to do it manually. Little things like that that never get addressed were the real reason.

[matiasasun]

When I started investigating options out there, I found that there was things I hadn't thought of. Printing, custom prices that you can set for your gallery prints and be mailed a check of the profits, unlimited storage, integrated Windows XP UI uploading, better searching capabilities, detailed logging and statistics for your galleries, ability to allow others to upload pictures to a gallery. You get the idea.

This is a very importante issue:

a) As anybody could expect some users will be changing sites while tha market of photography sites increased his size. But, as that happens the competitions force the developers to work harder right?. So, as I said before, the race is starting; more space, more bandwich, more features, less costs will be a necesary base in the future of this business. Look at GMail and the probable effect on the electronic mailing system. So, dear Slug (always you, but also Emily and the rest), you should consider add more personal to the PBase Team.

b) There are a lot of reasons to make the changes Joes describes. In particular the detailed LOG of the people/user that visit our pages. As I said before copyrights protection is probably the most important issue in the near future. Optional Watermark, Detailes Log of visitors (IP numbers) are good examples. And, as you can notice in the poll I started some weeks ago 84% of the voters think that getting the IP numbers would be helpful.

c) As far as I concern about the money/profits issue I would probably stay with Rocket; most PBase members just wanna share their pictures. But, the implementation of a business system does not harm that primary objective described in the first page of PBase. One of the most interesting things about PBase is the diversity of people that cohabited the same space. Some are great prothographers, other are not that good, some others play with their galeries (as you can see in the LEGO adventures os Mattias B.) and other just do what I do (closed their eyes and shoot the picture ). I would probably say that the implementation of a profits system woulkd be a good way to keep PBase as it is, in diversity.

d) I´m staying. Don´t want to move 104 megas. No way. I Like PBase. I´ve been meeting interesting people in this site and I´ve learn a lot. This is my site.

... Conclusion?

For the same reasons Joes want to change I want to stay, as those changes are made in the near future. Don´t take as a critic (au contrarie). But those issues are important and should be considered.

Matias, Chile

PD: Ah!. I was forgetting the most important change; The thumbnail of the password galleries. My god, please, that thing destroys any gallery harmony and beauty.

[enigmawmn]

I am not leaving PBase, but am getting a little impatient with features like IP tracking and changing the picture on the pw-protected galleries not being implemented.

[jabraham]

No frames on pbase. No scripts. No Java. No ads. Full size images. Just simple functional html. I'm staying.

(That said, logging IP addresses of hits would be nice, as would the ability to add new photos to the beginning of a gallery automagically)

[joesimages]

No frames on pbase. No scripts. No Java. No ads. Full size images. Just simple functional html. I'm staying.

(That said, logging IP addresses of hits would be nice, as would the ability to add new photos to the beginning of a gallery automagically)

I'm glad your happy here, more power to you.

[enigmawmn]

Which photo storing sites offer IP logging?

[srijith]

I am one of those people who keep on bugging slug and emily again and again with feature requests. Not only do these guys at Pbase listen to us, they never loose their cool. Think about 100s of emails everyday from things as varying as credit card fraud, username changes, complains, feature requests, system stability, and you will get a picture of the madhouse that their email box will be! But still, every suggestion has been met with a positive reply.

Agreed that it takes some time for them to get the new features in place, but the slow response time is usually due to the fact that the pbase team values stability higher than new features. They try their level best to make sure that the addition of new things does not create any instability in the system.

The stability of the pbase system is a wonder. I have seen bigger, more famous systems bite the dust more frequently than Pbase.

Sometimes some feature takes time to add because the original system was just never meant to provide that function. I think password protection is an example. Though to the user all that was added was a new page asking for password (i'll pass on that ugly lock image;) ), I can image the work that would have gone into the system revamp to get the feature in.

I am staying because of the simplicity of the system, its robustness, the great community and not the least, a receptive team that listens to its clients!

BTW slug, the "Frequently Asked Feature Requests" list is growing

[matiasasun]

We want IP!


Matias

[kstuebin]

I am one of those people who keep on bugging slug and emily again and again with feature requests. Not only do these guys at Pbase listen to us, they never loose their cool. Think about 100s of emails everyday from things as varying as credit card fraud, username changes, complains, feature requests, system stability, and you will get a picture of the madhouse that their email box will be! But still, every suggestion has been met with a positive reply.

Must be because you're the moderator of the forums.

See my post on the search feature topic. I have been emailing Pbase for 3 weeks now including two messages directly to Emily. I realize they get a lot of emails. One of things I pointed out, as someone else mentioned in this thread, is that they need to hire people. A the very least to deal with their nonexistant customer service. Customer service can make or break a company. Especially in a competitive market as this has become.

We've got three people running what has become a huge site. It's just not doable. I'd be surprised if they even have any kind of business plan.

Look at the Ebay. It started out with one guy selling his girlfriends stuff. However, he had business sense and Ebay now dominates the market. I don't know the origins of Pbase. I've only been here a few years. I would guess it started out with a couple of photographers designing a site to post their galleries. But there isn't any vision thing going here.

I think all the suggestions were great. Is there a site that has all of them? I'd love to know where it is. While I plan on staying with Pbase since I'm paid up for two years and I do like many of my fellow photographers here, I'd be willing to pay more money for features like that.

In addition, I have another feature to add. When the site is down, why can't a message be posted stating that it's temporarily down with a timeframe for when it will back online. It speaks volumes about the site that I even have to suggest such a feature.

[ilanphoto]

In addition, I have another feature to add. When the site is down, why can't a message be posted stating that it's temporarily down with a timeframe for when it will back online. It speaks volumes about the site that I even have to suggest such a feature.

I have been here for almost a year I am happy to say that I have never come across a need for this feature.

[joesimages]

In addition, I have another feature to add. When the site is down, why can't a message be posted stating that it's temporarily down with a timeframe for when it will back online. It speaks volumes about the site that I even have to suggest such a feature.

I have been here for almost a year I am happy to say that I have never come across a need for this feature.

Because you've never noticed that the site was down? or because if it is down it wouldn't be helpful?