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1 November 2024 - Club News
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Dear members and friends of ipernity,

1) Additional viewing size option.
When viewing group contributions, the 'Small' option displayed the 100px images. Everywhere else, the display used the cropped 75px squares.

Beside the existing icon for this option, now labeled 'Square', there is a new icon for the 100px option, labeled 'Small'. The view of group contributions gains the 'Square' option, which provides a larger overview of the content. The Explore->Gallery and Explore->Noteworthy displays continue to only provide the 'Medium' 240px images and the Lightbox.

For club members, the 240px image that pops up when you mouse-over a 75px square, is also provided for 100px thumbnails, meaning group contributions gain this feature.

2) Help us make groups more appealing and enjoyable for all.

Recently, group clean-up has been getting some much needed support from a few volunteers.
Question: But what can a member without much time do to help?
Answer: Look in your own backyard!

It's easy to find the list of groups one belongs to on your groups page.
1) Do you see any groups that have lots of images that don't match the group's theme?
2) Are there any that you've suggested a photo for but it's been over a week and nothing has happened?
3) Could the group icon or banner image be better?

Copy the url for such a group and send it to the moderator.

It should be noted that while the group clean-up task is large and ongoing (ongoing because we are not a stagnant website), progress is being made. When we began in earnest the clean up project a few years ago, we had 10,548 groups. We now have significantly less: 6,297. We don't have a previous count of groups that had been inactive for more than a year, but we can assume that number has decreased as well. This drop has been thanks to team and volunteer deletion efforts, but also due to the now required search for a similar topic when creating a new group. It's significant to note that only 35 new groups have been created so far this year.

The point is that this isn't a hopeless task and that things are getting better thanks to many individual member's efforts. Thank you to all who have worked towards the goal of making groups something to enjoy.

Your ima team.

34 comments

Jaap van 't Veen said:

Thank you for the news.
Miss an update of New Club members !!
2 weeks ago

raingirl replied to Jaap van 't Veen:

Thanks for the reminder - it's updated now.
2 weeks ago

Daniela said:

Smile and thanks for the Team .❤️
2 weeks ago

ROL/Photo said:

Ok YES ..
Thank you for the news.
It is necessary to make groups have something pleasant and attractive

Kind regards to all
2 weeks ago

StoneRoad2013 said:

Thanks to the Team for their hard work to implement all these improvements.
2 weeks ago

Gary Schotel said:

Thank you team!
2 weeks ago

Heidiho said:

zu Punkt 2:
ich bin jetzt doch ein wenig verärgert !
Über die Club News (Oktober 2024, Pkt 1 ebenda ... www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4744780) habe ich erstmals Kenntnis bekommen, dass es eine Gruppe "Happy Chairy Saturday" als sogenannte " Wochentagsgruppe" gibt. Nun schmückt Ihr auch DIESEN Beitrag hier wieder mit einem entsprechenden Stühle-Bild.
Tatsächlich handelt es sich um eine (fast) "tote" Gruppe, die keinerlei Breitenwirkung entwickelt hat (wie z.B. HFF, HBM, HWW). Lediglich 11 Mitglieder, seit Wochen keine
Sonnabend-Beiträge, ... das kann der Sinn einer "Wochentags-Gruppe" wohl nicht sein.
Ich denke, Jedem/Jeder der/die hier eine neue Gruppe ins Leben ruft, sollte klar sein, dass man damit eine Verpflichtung gegenüber unserer Gemeinschaft eingeht. Gruppe gründen und sich dann nicht kümmern, ist das selbe, wie Bäume pflanzen und nicht wässern. Die gehen ein. Genau wie Gruppen, die ohne Leben bleiben. Die können dann nämlich wieder weg ...
2 weeks ago ( translate )

Team replied to Heidiho:

I'm so sorry you are annoyed by the image. The image is only meant to be a representation of a "group of something" to decorate the information about groups. I chose this image of a group of empty chairs to match the concept of cleaning up groups which may be fairly empty or unused. Since I joined the team in the responsibility of creating the Club News, I've tried to include a photograph along with the text. Except for explanatory images, my intent is to simply make the reading of Club News more pleasant. I feel it is more engaging to use photographs and not just stock images.
---------------
In terms of groups having a place on ipernity or not , not every group will have the impact or broad appeal that HFF etc have. But that doesn't mean such groups don't necessarily have a place on ipernity. There are many factors to be taken into consideration before deleting a group. Because we give members a lot of freedom (a good thing) in creating and running groups, the way things look aren't always to our personal preferences.

The basic goal for groups at this point is to have them be varied, visually interesting, and on topic for our members and outside visitors. We have already put in place a requirement to search for duplicate subjects for groups, before being able to create a new group.

As to how often and when an administrator monitors their groups, we can wish for a certain level of administrative attention to their groups, but what we can actually do about it, and are doing about it, is evaluate groups that are brought to our attention and then replace administrators or delete groups as needed.

That said, we can certainly attempt to make the desire for how groups should be cared for known. You mention that everyone who starts a new group should be aware that they are making a commitment to our community. We could consider placing an additional message on the create a new group page. What wording would you suggest?

Note that we already point people to our Group Guidelines when they are creating a new group and that those guidelines are being reconsidered (see group www.ipernity.com/group/2632968 Group Guidlines). Perhaps you would like to join that group and help revise those guidelines.

If you feel a group isn't getting enough attention, as noted in a prior Club News, we would be happy to help groups that don't see many contributions get some recognition through a mention in the Club News. This has already helped one group. Feel free to suggest such a group to the team through an ipermail to moderator.

-laura
2 weeks ago

Typo93 said:

The main problem with many groups is that they are “free”, without going through the administrator's filter. As a result, you can find anything and everything in them.
2 weeks ago

* ઇઉ * replied to Typo93:

I agree with you.
However, if administrators/moderators reserve the right to review posts, they are subject to discrimination by some members who don't like that.
2 weeks ago

Jaap van 't Veen replied to Typo93:

Always moderate the pictures for my groups.
2 weeks ago

Typo93 replied to :

If they propose photos that have nothing to do with the group, I have no mercy (even if the photos are excellent)!
I sometimes wait a week before refusing, so they don't have to think about it any more. :-)))
2 weeks ago

Heidiho replied to :

+1 !!!
2 weeks ago ( translate )

Eric Desjours replied to :

+1 ;-)
2 weeks ago ( translate )

Eric Desjours said:

A penalty system should be introduced for members who do not respect the rules of a group. With the threat of permanent exclusion from ipernity after a certain number of ‘violations’! :-)))

More seriously, I'd like to thank the Team and the volunteers who have taken on this colossal task of cleaning up the groups, which is salutary but never finished, as you point out.
I'm doing my best to try and help in this area, which I'm not so familiar with.
Since subjectivity remains prevalent - and necessary - in this area, there will always be disagreements about the choices made. That's the normal friction inherent in any social relationship...
Happy November to you!
2 weeks ago