Hi, recently Papchap and I wrote to Expertrating to ask different things which could make the site better. We got no reply, and wrote again but to Rajan.
Here is what I wrote:

"Hi Rajan,
Few days ago Papchap and I decided, after a discussion with other members, to write an email to Expertrating about PSC, but unfortunately we got no reply.
Here is what I wrote :

"Hi,
I'm a member of a website you own, Photoshopcontest.com.
Several of us wish to find a way to make the site better, with more participation, new members, and also make the ancient ones come back.
We try to find ideas to make the site more friendly and more attractive.
Is there somebody in your team who would be willing to help?
Please help, send us a reply before the website dies 😵
Zizounaï"

I was told you would reply to our requests, hope you do!
Take care Rajan, all the best from...
Zizounaï"

Here is the reply I got today from Rajan:

== Thanks for your concern. I have talked to management before and will share your concern with them. it is the management who used to take final decision. Will try to get back to you.

Can you please send me list of work which is required at PSC?

Thanks
Rajan

Could you help me to prepare a reply to Rajan with our different requests please???

Hi Zizounaï,

It would be nice if PSC offered $10 per win/day, instead of $50 for a single day.
Same costs for the site.
Free entry on weekends, for the fun.

Some here may legitimately think they can win 5 times/week = 50$
At least there would be more participation per day, more new friendly contacts.
Btw, I dont' see friendly votes, but I don't believe in anonymity.

My very humble little penny in the constructive project.
Very friendly,
PL

Are you getting email notifications for topics you are "watching"? I don't! Can be related to my account but in case this is broken, it should be fixed, as the forum was and will always be a big reason for people to keep coming back.

A lot of ideas:

Make site navigation easier

--remove some menu options that aren't used: Prizes, News, Tutorials (nobody has made a PSC tutorial in years, and everybody uses YouTube)

Make the site prettier/adapt to be a bit more modern

--increase image resolutions to look nicer adapting faster loading speeds: PSC logo, all thumbnails and avatar size limits (! this is important I think)

--remove the slogan underneath "PhotoshopContest.com" and make
"PhotoshopContest.com" bigger. (Not really necissary at all but I think it would make
more sense)

--add more colors or theme options such as "Dark Mode"

Give the site better security, so that it shows "Secure" in the search bar

This would just be good for new members because it makes it easier to trust that the website is not bad for them. Right now, it shows "Not Secure"

Add flexible vote limits

...flexible vote limits, where the maximum amount of votes people get to spend is determined by the amount of entries in the contest. For example, there could be a flexible vote limit where spendable-votes = number-of-entries ÷ 3 × 2.

or something like spendable-votes = number-of-entries - 2

Advertise for PSC again

a lot of new members are missing, and advertising would help attract new people


Maybe I'll think of more later, thats what I have for now.

Thaks PL and Papchap.
I wish other members would add their ideas.
My wishes are :

Anonymous votes 1 to 10 or 1 to 100, and all anonymous entries until the votes are final should be more appropriate.

It would be nice to receive a notification when you get a comment or a reply to yours on someone else's entry

Possibility of vertical (portrait) format.

I'd like to be able to give longer titles to my chops.

I'd like to be able to post longer messages on the entries.

It would be a good idea to propose theme contests as well.

Gif and JPG chops should be in separate contests.

OK, here's my two cents worth.
1. Make ALL contests ANONYMOUS, that will help with the "I like you so I'll vote for you", "I don't like you so I won't vote for you." mentality.
2. Divide prize contest $50 prize; 1st gets $25, second gets $15, third gets $10. This way more people will share the cash.
I have more, but this is a good start, and being a pessimist I don't think anything is going to get done.
But Good Luck with it.

Z, I used to think the 1-10, or 1-100 scale was the best idea ever, but looking at the other site, (you know which one), it'll just bring the votes down, way down.

Do you guys realize how much "Code" would have to be written to do the things you mention, and what the cost to the site would be, it doe$n't come cheap.

The biggest frequentation happened while advantage did not exist but some advertising a job opportunities need to happen otherwise we are talking of a ghost I could not recognize after a ten years pause
Frequentation and job opportunities are the key

dude, work needs to be done. if they need money for it they can skip a few tuesday contests. If they cant do everything, its better than nothing.

rajan asked us for ideas, but hes not obligated to do everything we ask. Pessimism is not helpful for getting things done. thanks tho for your ideas

Hi, realy would be interesting if you get email notifications for posts you are following/watching?

Honestly: I dont care. Do want you want with this site. The whole point about this site is the images. Nothing else. If you want to chat. Do it. It works. Doesn't it? The whole point about this site is to make images.

Its lack of members that is chopping and the mods maybe dont have that much money to fix this site, soooo IMO keep it as it is. I really dont think making the site better will make people come to this site.

Maybe I am getting old, but this is my opinion about this.

Perspective from one who was here when it was crazy good:

The site used to be all about photoshop excellence. It doesn't seem that way anymore.

There were always entries that were whimsical where the photoshop rules were relaxed a bit, but generally it was about realism.

If you put up an entry that had a major flaw (bad cutout, different resolution, etc...) it was brought up and discussed. If you were lucky a friendly member would guide you to a solution. Since I have returned I have commented on images where I thought there was a flaw, but it didn't lead to a discussion...and I somehow felt like a bad guy.

You must decide what kind of site you want; a place to post kinda funny, cute images where realism takes a back seat, or a place to use the photoshop program and appreciate it's wondrous ability. Neither way is right or wrong, but serious choppers will tire of the first.

thanks so much gort, that was really well written.
I for one, want the old PSC you described. achieving that is more important than making the site look nice. But at the same time it is the reason we should make PSC look better… because otherwise new people wont come to it.



This probably is the huge difference between the modern PSC and the old golden age of PSC: Not that there are necissarily more mediocre chops, but more that its less focused on the art and skill of Photoshop. There isnt really any focus. some people try to win competitively, some people post chops but never talk to other members... nobodys setting an example.

I kind of felt like something was missing from our bits of answers for rajan, i think this is it. I dont want these superficial cosmetic fixes. I want PSC to feel like its full of people who are learning and helping and having fun. Cosmetic fixes to the site will help, but I think that probably what we really need is for PSC to feel like a really positive experience for everyone. I bet it would really help if the old members and everyone on facebook* would pitch in for a month or two, to set an example again. We probably cant expect too much from facebook alone. But if enough members came it could jump start the site and inspire new people. I would certainly be motivated to make more chops in those months. We could invite everyone we know - with every member doing their own unofficial advertising - and work harder than ever in the time period. And it could "jump start" PSC. ...Thats just an idea.

Not to say that cosmetic enhancements wouldnt matter. I can imagine that most members of my particular generation would call this website "old" and not join, but Its definitely still "cool" to have photoshop skills. If it didnt look outdated, more younger people would stay here. Thats the only reason why cosmetics are important

I really think its possible to help psc. We just gotta make the right decisions. If it doesnt work, after we've truly tried our best, then we can give up, but in the meantime please dont go around getting peoples hopes down making prophesies that nothing can change. This feels like a very important project for me. I hope we can manage to keep each other motivated.


I think we should make it clear to rajan and the bosses what we want out of psc. clearer than what zizounaï and i wrote before, like gort said.


i think this sums it up pretty well for me:
I want "PSC to feel like its full of people who are learning and helping and having fun"

is that good enough?


also, buglover: I get email notifications. are they not in your spam folder?

*No, not EVERYONE on facebook

I vote NO on the numeric rating system. A simple vote or no vote works and presents no resolution issues with existing records. Anonymity for all contests works for me.

It would be nice to see a GIF category in the galleries.


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