I think it's a great idea to have non-registered users being able to see where their tendencies lie. You would probably get a very different opinion from the general public than you would from a group of choppers.

I like the idea of giving non-members a rating option, but I don't think this option should have any bearing at all on the contest. Maybe you could have two separate images featured on the homepage, one is the contest winner and the other is the "People's choice" winner (a smaller image than the conest winner, of course).

I'd keep everything as it is as far as users having to enter 10 chops, etc.

Hi Members,

I was the author of the usability study that jmh132 is referring to in this topic. I thought it might be helpful to give some insight.

The predominant reason that some 'would-be' members are hesitant to register is because they are concerned about receiving spam. Privacy seems to be an issue.

Someone mentioned advantage earlier, and the desire for more people to join advantage. I big problem here is that people without inside information do not know what Advantage is. They don't even click the link to find out, because they do not know where 'Advantage' will take them.

I think what is key here is not necessarily to allow public to vote without registering, rather to explian to them in an obivous place why the should register. This information is burried in the FAQ. Further to that, it should be made clear that the registered user needs to submit 10 images before being able to vote. I regîstered and couldn't vote but had no idea why.

Nothing needs to be changed, and your integrity can be maintained, but give visitors some obvious links to the information they are looking for.

Maybe there could be a more minamilist registration available for these users. Why not autofill some of the registration fields (as hidden fields) and let a new user submit just an e-mail address and password. The rest can be defaulted until they decide to get more involved.

Also, someone commented that it is good to have regsitered voters only, after 10 images, because this means that you only get quality voters that understand your work. This may be so, but you are also limiting other qualified voters. I have worked in the photography and design industry for over 9 years. I also manipulate images on a daily basis (note that 'Photoshopping' is a trademark infringemtnet on Adobe, and they frown upon the term). I simply do not have time to enter the competitions on PSC but would otherwise love to vote for some of the superb work that I see here. Crumbs... some of you could even be suitable employees for myself or one of my colleagues.

Lastly, I think that patre made some good points in his posts. Using some simple PHP session variables, it would be easy to give a limited number of votes to unregsitered visitors, or to have different levels of member.
I also agree that the average user if not going to be dishonest about this. You may still consider the idea of keeping prize contets for members only... that will allow integrity to remain strong.

Overall, I love the site and it is worth noting that our study investigated 5 sites of a similar nature, and PSC definitely came out on top. Keep up the good work!

Greg Scowen
University of Otago - New Zealand

But of course!

if it aint broke, dont fix it

as a complete newbie to this site i thought that the 10 image limit was about right as it made me want to get to that limit so i could at least vote on some of the great stuff i hads seen. the idea that some will be scared away because of the limit means either.

A: they don't think they will meet the grade
B: they arent really interested in producing work and getting their own voted upon.


i think opening up the vote to people before they have produced the request (at the moment) 10 will and can open it up to abuse either vote rigging or plain abuse about some peoples work.

I knew that when i posted my first image here that i wasnt going to ridiculed because everyone of the voters had been thru the same proceedure, if you open it up to all and sundry you will get people dissing peoples work without ever having to post their own work so we would have nothing to judge it aganist or to see how good they are.

also because none posting image you get messages like this

******* *********
Blade, I know she (you) is (are) miserable. I hope she recovers, soon. When I was young, my brother had a puppy dog that looked like this. His name was Bo-Weevil, after the insect that devestates cotton boles. We called him Bo.

******* *******
Teletubbies: For what are the Hobbits holding them? FREE THE TELETUBBIES! Everyone, buy bumper stickers and T-Shirts. Support the cause. "FREE THE TELETUBBIES!"


now i dont know about the rest of you but how can these comments help me to imporve my work.

i think if we open voting up to people that dontr do their time then you can end up with more of these comments, how many others have seen a comment come up when they log into the site only to find its something like above????

do we want more of it????


sorry for rambling but for me the way it is now is just fine you do your 10 and you progress thru and take the non-votes/comments on the chin and keep working and one day you get 25 votes(or more) on one piece of work, now that made me happy as i knew i had made a good peice of work.

ramble over

Regards

A Complete newbie


PS i have just gone advantage (arrives 15th i hope) because this is the one place i have found that can and does help.

In the spring I had a marketing and usability report done by a local firm. The two questions I saw the most were: "What do you win?" and "How do you vote?" This most recent audit (UserGuru's), asked the second as well.

I have addressed the first question/issue with the prize contests.

I plan to address the second with one of these voting options. I do not plan to turn the site upside down, but rather enhance the experience for a broader audience.

After reading UserGuru's post it seems to me that the usability study didn't really point the Joe Q. Public wanting to vote immediately but rather wanting to know what they had to do in order to be able to vote.

This seems to boil down to interface and navigation issues and not core functionality/design. The bit about people not clicking on Advantage is a prime example. If people don't know what it is they don't look.

Maybe some of the navigation needs a bit more tweaking and rewording is all? So instead of the "Advantage" link have a "Why Register?" link. From there you can explain the registration benefits, the privacy policy and advertise the Advantage account benefits. Also put a link out on every page for the privacy policy so people know up front that they won't get spam from PSC selling their email address.

Among graphics sites.You have been extremely successful at creating something that is a leader of the pack. The way it generally operates and the community that it has created
is not only unique, but has seriously strong feelings of loyalty by it's members.
You are talking about the king pin. The king pin is that one little piece in a structure that if you remove it..the whole structure falls.
This is the last most prominent piece of PSC uniqueness in it's interface structure that if changed makes PSC just another site.
You may indeed invite some good talent. A lot of us know these guys..the good talent that's out there......the ones that want a rating system,a chance to effect contests without investing in becoming a part of the community,a chance to effect the personality of a community without putting in the investment that our tenchopstovotevoters have put in..
A lot of us already know these guys.................
and what PSC would become with them here.
I apologize if my opine seems critical...I think this is the wrong part of PSC to be changing around.

Spam is Predominant???
So we're gonna shoot the horse cause ice-cream has no bones.
Got it.
*Edit* oh sorry..
PS. One last thing...I think EVERY detail that these other five sites have that make them not so attractive has already been
dealt with here to the best that it can possibly be done anywhere.
Navigation...this place is intuitive..none of them are.
They have rankings..newbs to master..whooh..
here yer an equal from the get-go..
i can go on all nite.

ScionShade nailed it....put in your 10 chops and you're an equal

And I'd hate to see votes with a comment similar to "I like the pretty colors"

Agree with Splodge!

hmmmmm

things are slowly growing beyond proportion here. Let me clear a few things up.

I do not want to change the core of the site competition.

The most recent usability report was not the sole reason for this discussion today. One that I had done for earlier this year was, as it was for the prizes. The report I received today nudged me to bring this up.

I am leaning towards the second option: the public can rate an image (1-10), these ratings would be a new sorting option, and used to break a tie

This gives new users ability to interact more.

This does not change anything for the regulars, aside from having a new tie breaker and another way to sort the entries.

Yes, I know there are other usability issues on the site, more tweaks than issues, but none the less, they will be addressed in some way, just not in this topic.

Very good thoughts every one. I just wanted to pull this conversation back to the ground.

*SLAPS SELF*

ok back to basics, your right J.

The 1 - 10 option for all is a good idea thinking about it, as like you say it will have little impact on the current way of things, yet it will involve the average joe alot more, instead of scaring the ass of them when they first arrive. Saying do 10 of these to get this, and join this to get that etc etc..

It will involve people straight away, and hopefully make them feel welcomed, and not pressured. So in turn they may join up and start being an active full member of our community.

This can only benefit PSC, and with the only outcome being the much needed tie breaker, that will impact an actual competition, I can't see this being anything but a success.

So basically, I say yes indeed to this idea, let them have the 1 - 10 system, and watch PSC grow

letting non posters vote? HA! you'll be letting woman vote next,
it'll be a case of who has the most freinds with coumputers instead of who has the most friends inside PSC, and if the are not registered, how do you stop multiple voting,
if it aint broke dont fix it