What kind of changes do you think are needed around here to increase participation and breathe new life into this site? I hope this doesn't turn out to be a bunch of complaints. Instead, if you have any creative ideas or solutions, let's here them.

I had an idea, and still have
But... still thinking about it. You hear from me soon.

And now: sshhhh... I'm thinking!



Edit: Btw... a big giffy tournament each year will be nice. Not, that I do gifs, lol.

I sure don't do gifs, but I'd hang around for a tournament. We have some talented artists that get shelved for their use of gifs... wouldn't hurt to shine a spotlight once in a while.

(....a small spotlight. I can't do gifs, and I don't like what I don't understand. Heathens.)

If I owned this site I would probably take all your ideas into account and probably give care about making changes. But also if I owned this site I would do art school promotions, and way much more to get more participation to increase revenue.

But as is I like to hang out here and this would be a bad investment.

GIF tournaments and art school promotions = great ideas! (Original and unexpected)

Let's hear some more! ....

Yes! Gifs!
And schoolers doing wild and sometimes awesome chops!

Maybe more frequent tutorial updates? Those alone might generate a lot of traffic and interest (for members as well as new comers).

I would definately take a look back to the old days when jmh was still owning the place.

First of all I would get rid of money prices or at least reduce the frequency of money contests. Instead I would look for sponsors and ask them to donate prices of their software, hardware or other things they produce. In return offer ads.
I once won a nice software and another won an ipod. Such prizes would definately encourage new visitors to the site to join. When googled this site pops up with "Photoshop Contests, Win Real Prizes "... Real prizes are for me something else than just throwing money on my Paypal account.

Second.... Advertise!
The owners should get in contact with magazines spezialised in Photoshop and such and start promoting the site... Big prize contest or whatever.
Advertise in Google! When searching for Photoshop we should be listed as Advertisement and not first pop up on the second page. Let some spezialist dive into Search Engine Optimization and get things improved.
Work together with other sites: Banner exchange!

Third: Freshen up the site and change it now and then. During the holidays the logo could have said.. merry xmas or happy new year. A little santa hat on top.. something.
The web changes and unfortunately the design of PSC does not. It always is the same. A long time ago it was modern to have pages white and clean... but now they should be colorful and much more interaktive. Add widgets and movement in it. Little fun Icons, Life Chat and more to do here. Or maybe a little drawing board where people can play something like Isketch/Pictionary.

If you read the above it all comes to this: The owners should really start to care about this site and let us know they are there. Such a pity you did not even wish us happy holidays! Or what about a "thank you for another year of being a member". At least I did not see it. A little note in the news section would have been ok. I hope the owners will read this thread and start to do something with the site. Otherwise I'm afraid one day it will not exist anymore.

Invest some of the money you get from us back into the site and please put some effort in it... in the end we both will win. We will have more fun and get more value for our money. and you will earn more by getting new payed members. And this is not hard to do. It just needs a bit of your attention and time.

Well said fempie! I gotta agree with you on this one. Hope something happens too.

It is obvious that the owner of this site is a lousy manager. I just hope that human lives are not depending on him/her. Who is the owner and how much this site costs anyway?

Fempie - Very well said! Good solutions

JeanValjean - Valid complaint. What's your solution?

I don't think we've been out of ideas- what we need, is for people to step up and take charge of them! We had a nice last couple of months- choosing out particular contests and advertising for everyone to try and enter that one. Even if that sort of thing doesn't generate a whole lot of new, outside participation- I felt it promoted more activity and community.

New socks flopped, but it was fun for a few- which is more than nothing.

Christmas was fun!- a lot of options and good spirits for participation.

A lot of people have great ideas, but if it's your idea, then don't wait for everyone to be on board. Get in the forum, advertise it, and get it going. All of us can be responsible for something small, even if it's not something that can be done site wide (things like redesigns, overhauls on main contests, etc). Anyone who looks down on you for a new idea/project is just holding EVERYONE back. It doesn't matter if you've been here for 5 days or 10 years- If it's something that CAN be done, then DO IT!

Play forum games! Chat with someone. Start your own personal contest. Anything.


Thanks for this thread, and constructing it in a POSITIVE manner.

Yeah, I know that ideas have been tossed around here before but they always seem to self-destruct or result in no action being taken by the owners. I figured if we had a solid, positive bunch of ideas in one thread, someone could eventually send it to the owner of the site. Hopefully, they would be open to implementing some of the great ideas. I agree that we can do our own individual parts to play in generating side contests. Those ideas usually bring some veterans back for a short time but I feel what this site may be lacking is fresh blood. With new members comes new ideas and increased contest participation. So far, there have been a lot of great ideas posted. Keep 'em coming!...

Good idea. There's been a lot of negativity toward the non-existent management- but I'm not sure how many constructive items have ACTUALLY been sent his way.

I have an idea for voting, but I'm not sure about it myself yet.
I know that some people feel like it's a waste to enter because of the lack of solid feedback one way or another.
I say, possibly, that if you vote for someone- there should be a MINIMUM character limit for a comment with the vote. If there's something that you think should win a contest, then maybe there should be an explanation to why it's worth it. If it's not worth a comment, perhaps it's not worth your vote.

I think constructive feedback for images your not voting for would be a great thing, but I FULLY understand why it's touchy and not always easy to carry out when trying to build a friendly community. However, maybe by getting people to explain their POSITIVE votes, it will make them able to be more vocal when someone asks them for feedback. Practicing communicating ideas.

Edit: I'm just as guilty as anyone else at the vote and run, so I hope no one takes this the wrong way.