June 22, 2008
Update 3
We added an FAQ page and a contact form, which can be found on the About and FAQ page.
Update 2
We added "search by submitter" to the search function in the footer. Keyword search is the default search. We decided to keep keyword and submitter search results separated otherwise it can get convoluted.
The moderation queue is relatively small right now, so feel free to submit the best pictures from your archive.
Update 1
An archive of posts by submitter page has been added. You can access it by clicking the submitter name under each picture. Additionally, images in the RSS feed have been fixed to display the same image seen on the site.
A twitter status box has been added so you can get updates on moderation status and other site news.
The form on the "Your Submissions" page has been removed. Please use the form on the Submit page found in the header.
June 19, 2008
Update 2
We've improved our moderation process, so feel free to submit the best images from your archive. Also for submitters, if you haven't filled out your site's URL in your profile, please do so we can provide an additional link to your site on your post pages. Check out the "Posted By" link on this page.
Update 1
A timestamp is now included with your submissions (if submitted after 10:45 am PDT). If you go to your profile page and look at "Your Submissions" page, you'll see all your approved posts. Recently submitted posts will appear under "Your Submissions in the Moderation Queue." If you check back later and no longer see the timestamp, your submission was not selected to appear on the site.
June 18, 2008
We just added "My Favorites" functionality, which allows you to create a list of favorite posts. The page is currently empty if you are signed in and have not favorited any posts. We do plan on showing favorites similar to the homepage and we know that once you favorite a post, it refreshes the page and goes to the top (to be fixed soon). We also added your username in the header, which links to your profile page.
Since launching on Saturday evening, we've had 820+ submissions with 339 posted and we have a queue of 134+ submissions to review today. Regarding submissions, we'd really appreciate it if you don't submit multiple posts within a few minutes. We'll tend to pick the best of your bunch and not accept the others (unless its beautiful)... spread your best submissions throughout the day(s)!
We still have a lot of site enhancements that we plan on making. Here are a few...
BTW, did you know the search box is in the footer? It will be move to the header eventually.
Thanks for all your feedback and suggestions. We'd love to hear more. And thanks for spreading the word about us!
This site just keeps getting better. You must be working round the clock :) will have to change the link in my sidebar from TS to this site asap!
You're doing a great job! When are you sleeping???
If you goto "Your Submissions" page in your profile, you'll see a "" entry after you submit. If they no longer exist that means the entry was not approved. The reason why the "" is empty is because no title has been entered when you submit pictures (just the description).
If everyone wants to submit an extra field you can see the titles of your submission in moderation status. Let me know your thoughts.
I love your site... I am visiting everyday now. One suggestion... now that you're in the improvement phase, if you can manage to add a function to search by originator/poster... meaning I could have a page and see all my approved submissions. TS used to have it and I added a link to that in my blog and a lot of people clicked on it... so it can benefit your traffic as well. Thanks for listening.
You're doing an amazing job. Thank you!!!
Just wanted to know. Do I have to write the tittle in the Descripton coloumn.
You know I am not that handy with computers.
Thankyou
Chuck!!! You are doing a phenomenal job on this! You are such a *rock star*, sweetie. If you don't do ads, I'll gladly send you a check to help with server costs, etc. xxoo -jen yu
Chuck-- You've done a fantastic job here! Thanks for creating a space that provides us with everything we loved about Tastespotting!!
-Robin
I love, love, love this site. Thanks for taking time out of your life to dedicate to this!
I love this site - it is a great resource. But, what is your criteria for moderating posts? I've submitted 4 and none of them have gotten posted.
@scorpioscuba Thanks for submitting your pictures. We know it's frustrating to not get posted. Although we know it a subjective process, we are trying to stick to these general criteria...
- Enticing food
- Good presentation/composition
- Good lighting/exposure/color balance
Since we are new at this, we are still adjusting our criteria for posting everyone's images. We think the last several pages are a good representation of our posting standards. Hope this helps.
Love the new submissions page, Thanks! Oh, and the widget is great, just added it to my page!
Is there a way to tell if your picture will not be accepted? I don't want to keep submitting photos if none of them are good enough to post? I know you are overwhelmed with subbmissions but is there a certain time frame we should expect to see our pics and a certain time frame that we should give up not seeing them? (like if they are not up with in a week maybe not expect them?) Thanks and keep up the great work!
@chilicat Update 1 on June 19th above, explains how you determine if your post has been accepted or not. All submitted posts are moderated within 24 hours after submission and typically faster.
We plan on creating an FAQ in the next day to explain this and other things in more detail.
What about having a separate page for the people who didn't quite make the cut? All the submissions could be listed here with pictures and when the user clicks on a link, it displays their picture, etc.
Here are some other suggestions, you might be interested in.
1) iPhone support.
2) Upload an image and then allow the user to crop the image to their liking.
2) I noticed in the original tastespotting, people liked to add their reviews of restaurant, bakeries, etc.. Why not have two types of submissions, a recipe / food review. If it is a food review, they could fill in the address, etc. of the place where they went and then you could provide an icon similar to the favorites and pop up a map.
Sorry to spam, but here are some more suggestions.
Seeing as you are trying to build some revenue, why not have a premium membership. Where users could pay some monthly fee and then they will be allowed to upload images and by pass the whole moderation.
Allow users to tag images with keywords, this will allow you to eventually create a better filter system.
The submission form is GONE!
@connie The submission form should be there. Can you try logging in and out again? Thanks.
@OOO thanks for your suggestions.
Thanks for foodgawker!
I was also wondering about criteria for acceptance of photos. Are food photos from blogs the only ones permitted? Or are flickr photos also acceptable?
Hey there - just a quick heads-up: your RSS feed, after a a few dumps, seems to have stopped throwing things over to my feedreader. I'm using Bloglines, if that helps any.
Teething pains are to be expected with some this new and a project this big. But this site has been improving by leaps and bounds. Just to say keep up the good work!
@aptronym We missed your question until now. Check out the last question in the FAQ page.
@Melissa Are you still having issues? We verifed that the feed passes RSS validation and it did.
Unfortunately, it's still not picking anything up. RSS feeds can be the devil.
This site is odd. Absolutely agree with OOO's comment on June 20
@melissa I just checked my bloglines account and I can see the feed. Can you unsubscribe and re-subscribe to the feed? Or do you see "Display items within the last", can you pick your time frame and hit the display button?
@SND, thanks! I've un- and then re-subbed and will let you know how things flow through the feed for the next little while.
thanks for your job
Bloglines seems to be playing better with the RSS feed now!
WOW you guys are fantastic and so are those who subs you approve. I think stick to your guns...don't let the stuff in unless it meets your high criteria...gives us all something to aspire to!
Love it! I have my "fix" now. Thank you!
Thanks for adding the user archive page!!