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i like looking at pictures here on DakkaDakka. pictures are what drew me onto the site (some of you may know Wazzoo2000's work scratch-building and modding ork vehicles) and into the community here. but as i have spent more time on the website, i have also spent more time looking at people's galleries, and not just their threads. somewhere along the line, i learned you can vote on pictures.

and shortly after that, i learned how many pictures didn't need votes. (i thought about saying they didn't *deserve* votes, but that's probably a bit on the harsh side.)

when i started uploading pictures, i disabled voting, because the majority of what i upload is WIP pictures. but i've been thinking: wouldn't it make more sense to have to check a box if i *want* people to vote on a picture?

i PM'd Kid Kyoto, the mod who seems to cover the gallery and its environs, and asked them why the system was the way it is, and how hard it would be to change it. i won't quote the PM directly, but basically it boils down to this: all pictures go through the gallery system, so that the clunkers sink and the cream rises to the top via voting, because the search algorithm for pictures uses vote scores to return results.

Now, i understand this thinking, but it is flawed, IMHO, in at least two ways:

1) 'clunkers' are usually pictures that are either hastily-taken, out of focus, poorly lit, poorly painted or modded (or a combination thereof)...and i would think the vast majority of people who post said pictures know they are not studio-quality shots, and don't necessarily care what people think of them, per se, on a 1 picture basis. i would imagine that most dakkanauts upload pictures here on dakka for use in dakka forums/threads, to share with other dakkanauts who read those threads.

I said earlier, i post a lot of WIP shots. i don't need votes or input on those shots, because they all go in one of my threads or someone else's thread. if someone wants to see what my work looks like, they are probably going to end up on my thread at some point. they can tell me there if the paint/mod is good/cool...i haven't left a comment on a picture yet, AFAIK, and don't intend to. if i want to talk about it, i'll find the thread and talk there, or just send the user a PM.

i think defaulting pictures uploaded here to dakka to "voting disabled" would a) cut down on the amount of 'clunkers' to wade through to get to the good stuff, and b) put the onus on a user who *wants* votes to do the work checking a box, as people who want something are generally more inclined to work towards it that the average poster, who either doesn't know how to disable voting or doesn't care enough to do it.

2)if the search algorithm uses picture votes to return results for anything other than listing results based on ratings, something seems wrong. i understand and agree that if you only want to look at pictures other people think are well painted or "cool", there needs to be a way to do that. but that gets back to my previous point: if people want input on their paint job / mod / coolness, they will probably ask for it...asking should generate responses (in the form of voting)...responses are therefore restricted to those that *want* it, saving user's time and allowing them to give even more feedback to those who want it. the clunkers--those things that the average user doesn't care to look at or wade through to get to the good stuff, the things people can't be bothered or don't know how to disable voting on--aren't there anymore. problem solved.

i realize that this potential change might negatively effect users who do want votes, but wouldn't know how to enable voting...but even if you can't find an answer searching the forums, it's not terribly difficult to figure out, really. or you could ask just about anyone. i've noticed that almost everyone on Dakka is friendly and knowledgeable. the Mods are approachable and care enough to answer questions. it just seems to me, having perused the random gallery selections for hours on end, that defaulting uploads to "voting disabled" would be a change for the better.

am i overboard with this thinking? does anyone agree? disagree? think i should shut up and quit ranting?

I agree, it'll maybe be a slight annoyance to some but I feel it'll be better for the gallery overall. Not to mention it saves time if you upload a lot of WIP shots that shouldn't have votes enabled to start with.

Just to add to what Gawdam said, I do delete any out of focus, too dark, upside down and otherwise useless images.

I also disable voting when there's no model to rate (ie a pile of bitz)

But other than that I never change people's preference. Some incredible models have voting disabled, many, many mediocre ones have it on.

For me I think the more useful thing is tags, tags, tags. I've probably added more tags than anyone but there's so many interesting conversions and models out tehre no one will ever, ever, ever find because there's no tags or title to search for.

if there was a way to ad tags in the "turbo voting", i would be all over it. i have been adding some tags recently, thanks to a pop-up when i rate images from the front page and get the next random image...and the next...and the next...but usually, gallery voting like that takes too long. there are times when i can spend an hour or more voting that way...but for some reason, i felt more productive turbo voting.

my internet service at home is pretty terribly slow. turbo voting is really the only option i have if i want to vote on more than 20 pictures an hour...would be even better to have the option to add tags while doing so.

Stuff like this should have voting disabled by default in my opinion, as nine times out of ten it isn't something the uploader created in the first place: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-42058-25634_Stuff%20I%20found%20on%20the%20Internet.html

 BrookM wrote:
Stuff like this should have voting disabled by default in my opinion, as nine times out of ten it isn't something the uploader created in the first place: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-42058-25634_Stuff%20I%20found%20on%20the%20Internet.html

Except scores are not rewards for the poster, I mean yeah it feels great to get a good score from your peers, but they are there as a sorting tool.

So if someone goes searching for say 'IG humor' we want them to find the best ones first, whether the poster created them or yoinked them.

Same with people posting pictures of other's work as reference or whatever.

only 5 votes in the poll so far, but all of them are "yes"...

when does bandwidth become a factor? i upload all my dakka pictures here because you have free picture hosting, but i also have a photobucket and flickr account, so i could easily add them there...uploading here just removes the extra step of being on another website to upload/host/get URLs for pictures...

any way to get tagging on turbo voting? seems like it's a popup, so it shouldn't be terribly hard...

7-2 in favor of the "ayes"...but no one aside from Kid Kyoto has any arguments for why voting should be automatically enabled.

 GawdamSumbish wrote:
no one aside from Kid Kyoto

Perhaps because his arguments are pretty compelling and the topic isn't complex enough to warrant any further arguments.

the votes don't show them to be that compelling...

unless, of course, what you are saying is that there IS no other argument for why the default is enabled, and that he explained that side of the issue in such gratifying language that nothing else can--or needs to be-- added.