MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Cutcaster => Topic started by: redfig on April 29, 2008, 12:27
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Hi
I have just found Cutcaster http://www.cutcaster.com/ (http://www.cutcaster.com/)
What do you think of this idea for stock
All the very best
Redfig
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Seems to me that given the prices (seemed photos were $20 for a full size) bargaining is just a way to sink a bunch of time into the process. Don't see how that makes sense unless you're looking for something to do.
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oh no, not another - dum dum dum
My vote: 3 LuckyOlivers against it :)
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Nice idea but I don't think it will ever work. Any idea about the rules there. If you're going to sell images for $20 wouldn't you need to only upload that image there and not on other micro sites?
I also looked at some of the images there and they seem to accept almost anything.....I mean ANYTHING!
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Hi
Here is a link
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/cutcaster-next-generation-creative-marketplace.html (http://www.microstockdiaries.com/cutcaster-next-generation-creative-marketplace.html)
From microstock diaries.
We we will see how it all goes ???
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I signed up 30min ago and am still waiting for the confirmation e-mail. Not a good sign if you ask me
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Looks like FeaturePics on steroids. And you know where that site is headed.
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Hey Guys,
I am John the founder and wanted to see if I could clarify up somethings but also thank you for the feedback. This will help us get better and I'm learning ;-). As you can probably tell, we just launched into beta on the first of this month so our doors have only been open for a month.
cshack's comment made me laugh but we are in beta. Cut me a little slack as I try to catch up to the bigger sites ;-) Our content has quadrupled since I left my job 4 months ago and we have our FTP almost ready to go but we have bulk upload through the site right now. I am hoping by next week we have the FTP ready for images.
As for setting your prices, you can set your own price, choose our Cutcaster algorithm as well as set the start price for where it begins trading or you can choose the algorithm and we will set the default start price at 20. To be totally honest, I don't want to tell you what to charge for your photos because you are the ones who took the time and expense to create them and how would I ever know how to price all the content that was uploaded to me. Id be lying as well if I said all content should be priced equally. That is what I always found funny about the other sites that they told you what to charge.
jsnover. That is a great question and i am really glad you brought up that concern. The bidding shouldn't be a time waster but a way for you to understand where the demand lies at different pricing levels. In addition, you don't have to respond to bids but you can now get hard data on where to price your content on other sites, your own site or what buyers are willing to pay. This isn't for Cutcaster. It's for any of the members so use it as you like. I am going to publish data on pricing trends, tell sellers and buyers about how people are pricing and detail pricing history in historical charts for people so they know better how to price and license their content. The idea was to create tools to help people sell more and still keep their prices high. Not participate in the race to the bottom where the prices for content are being set by the agencies and they are seeing how low they can go to attract more buyers which is hurting everyone.
Ichiro17 and snurder. hahahah. That's a good one. No comment on the steroids;-) I love it, snurder.
and wisent i emailed you earlier so you should have my email in your inbox. im not sure where it went wrong but check your spam folder maybe. i will always be there to help and respond if anyone has any questions or suggestions. I made that pledge when I started Cutcaster and only brought on people that would help live by that motto and philosophy. That is why I post my cell phone on the site 2156882751 ( you can call me whenever you like) or my email [email protected].
I'm new but I'm learning. Thanks for the feedback and keep it coming. And keep up the good jokes ichiro. hahaha
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This is funny, I was thinking about this idea myself :)
Are you going to have a mechanism for reducing prices for photos nobody bids on?
P.S. Your traffic puts you in 20th place among micros. Not bad for start :)
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yeah unclegene. the algorithm can move the price down based on the variables we have isolated in our research as affecting the prices negatively, for example no keywords or metadata ;-).
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yeah unclegene. the algorithm can move the price down based on the variables we have isolated in our research as affecting the prices negatively, for example no keywords or metadata ;-).
Let me re-word the question: is your algorithm run on upload phase, or is it also run later on some schedule? If yes, how often? E.g. if algorithm prices something at say $100, will the price change if nobody bids on it for a year?
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yeah there is a definite time element to it. if it just sits around for a year inactive, the price will come down over time. did that help?
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did that help?
yep. thanks
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As John mentioned in his post I was personally contacted by him and the problem was resolved very quickly! :)
Thanks again
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Thanks Wisent. Yeah I am working on what that was but we are always learning and that feedback is great. I hope you like the site.
I'm still laughing about the FeaturePics on steroids. I might have to change our tagline for a few days to that ;-)
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It seems that this large preview with watermark like this is giving web-size images for free. Definitely not good solution for my taste.
http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/711711775
http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/709691398
http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/718953404
etc
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Hi
I joined up and it was all very quick,the return confirmation e-mail was back with in seconds.I uploaded a image which was easy to do even for me.I am going to give it ago.
all the very best
redfig
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I like this idea!
As a provider i don't think all photos are worth the same!
In fact have you ever heard of a fixed price for cars? Are all cars worth the same because they have 4 wheels and engine? Don't think so.
Design, quality and brand are just 3 parameters you have to pay for. That is what i like about this site, its maybe not going to beat the big 6, but as an alternative way of Stockphoto its refreshing.
I will give it a try because i like the spirit and creative approach to the market. God luck!
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Improve the watermark and I will give it a try! :)
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Clivia,
Good call and I have been tinkering with a few watermarks. Which sites do you think have the best watermark. I was thinking of making it much more opaque and then putting a watermark in all four corners and then the middle so its protected but I am open to any suggestions as to best protect it. Many thanks.
@lizard, I will work on that and let you know. I will be done with the new watermark tonight. thanks
@windmill, that is what we thought as well.
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johngriffin:
I agree that a good watermark is essential.
Some sites have watermarks that only work well with lighter images, other watermarks only work with darker images (night). For example, the IS watermark only works well on darker images. Compare the following two images:
(http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2047237/2/istockphoto_2047237_wreath_series_with_pine_cones_copyspace.jpg)
(http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/115292/2/istockphoto_115292_airbrushed_sky_at_night_filled_with_stars.jpg)
The watermark in the darker image is obvious, but the watermark on the lighter image is barely visible.
I would suggest creating a watermark that has both light areas, neutral areas, and dark areas. This way it will work with any type of image.
I like your suggestion of putting the watermark in multiple areas. Some watermarks are only placed in one area, and don't work with specific images. For example, the watermark on the following image is all but useless:
(http://69.90.174.250/photos/display_pic_with_logo/85690/85690,1208335968,2.jpg)
One idea that I really like, is how 123RF has created a watermark that can be placed by the contributor. This way, if the watermark doesn't cover the appropriate area, it can be moved. But if you use watermarks in multiple areas, I don't think that would be a problem.
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It seems that this large preview with watermark like this is giving web-size images for free. Definitely not good solution for my taste.
[url]http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/711711775[/url]
[url]http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/709691398[/url]
[url]http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/718953404[/url]
etc
The images with no watermark and at that size needs to change as well. I can see folks copying 100's of web sized images for free! NOT GOOD!!!
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@ cshack, Clivia and Geopappas... we messed around with the watermark after your feedback, which I thank you for and came up with this one which I think doesn't distract but protects the image in all corners and the middle. Let me know what you think. I picked the image as a symbol for would be thiefs. hahaha
http://www.cutcaster.com/viewmedia/index/728167265
But seriously thanks for the help so I can improve and make the site better. I'm listening to any and all advice. Please let me know what else we can do or need.
Cheers
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I think you have to make the watermark translucent instead of opaque. If that were an image of several faces, the buyer wouldn't have a clue if they were smiling or yelling or....
It is hard, but if you make it to secure, buyers can't see enough to know if it's what they want.
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Interesting. I'll try another style that is more translucent.
You are right about it being tricky to find the right level of security. I know that at one point we had a watermark that was too white and it was hard to see through it so we changed that and then we had a colored one at another point and that screwed up with the overall color of the image. So it is definitely a balance that we will get. Good stuff though and getting better I think.
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I guess i'm a glutton for punishment! LOL I signed up.
Am i the first to post a referral link? Gosh, i don't see any others...
http://www.cutcaster.com/ref/728402429
Sent a note to john with some comments about the site as well... always good to have participation from ownership here! Thanks!
Mitch
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Dam you beat me to it!
Cutcaster (http://www.cutcaster.com/ref/684059189)
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*...You beat me to it as well.
http://www.cutcaster.com/ref/582007626
Jusstttttt Kiddddiiinnnnngggg
And Mitch, like I said, I will be involved as much as you need me. Hence my number and email right out in the open ;-)
Cheers
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i'm not kidding. i'm not signing up. I have better things to do than waste my time signing up to random sites
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I respect that Ichiro and don't want to waste your time at all.
I hope that you will at least check it out again in 2 months and reconsider then once you see what we will do but I fully understand that we might not be for everyone.
I thought that the smiley face you used meant you were kidding with me.
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Just what we need. Another beta micro site w/macro prices. You newbies out there, take a look on the right side of your screen. See the Big 6 section? If you're not there you are nowhere. If you even think about new sites before they have any track record you've got way too much time on your hands. Just my opinion.
Please excuse me while I wash Lucky Oliver blood from my hands. Someday I will take my own advice.
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Hi John
will you be making payment to contributors by moneybookers possible
thanks
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Hey Tommroch,
Yes, we will be making payments via PayPal, Moneybookers and check.
Louoates. I understand your sentiment and frustrations and will work to prove myself as a partner and as a new model. Everyone has to start somewhere and the Big 6 did as well. I hope soon I can prove to you that the return on investment for signing up and putting your hard work onto our site was well worth it.
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I'm in, without LO I need another way to fill time.
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johngriffin,
So what makes you think this is going to work. There are so many small sites that have little or no sales. What is going to separate your site from the rest? How are going to market the site to clients?
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That is a great and fair question Cshack. I've left my job trading stocks about 4 months back and invested a good chunk of my money so I've put a lot of faith into believing I can build something different and unique that will make me stand out from the other sites. I also work day and night and weekends to make sure I am there if people have questions and don't hide myself, as the CEO, behind a PO box or some 800 number. I'm there for everyone and anyone and you can ask people who have emailed the site how fast the responses are and how we want to treat people.
On the marketing front and I don't want to give away too much on a public forum but anyone is free to email me any questions or thoughts they might have....
I have a large percentage of my overall budget dedicated to marketing efforts and getting buying traffic. Structurally - we have broken down our customer categories by segment: ad agency, publisher (mag, news, web, book), printing, corporation (marketing), new media (wireless, tech, gaming), and TV/Broadcast and have built up a huge database of buyers as well as brought in people to help us build new relationships with the buying community..
In addition we just launched our Affiliate program and reward people for sending us buyers (10% of sales for 2 years) and sellers (5% of sales for 2 years), we have joined an affiliate network to drive traffic, built out a massive plan for using Google Adwords, been tinkering with our pages to optimize them better for Google (work in progress ;-)), gotten organic traffic with our blog at www.cutcaster.com/blog and other blog articles written about us which you can find online under a simple Google search using Cutcaster, press releases and lastly designing books we will send out to clients and emails with our contributors work.. This is a slice of some of the things we are doing and are acutely aware of how important it is to have sales on the site. If anyone wants to chat further about it or have suggestions I am all ears.
Thanks.
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Didn't LO place all it's bets on Google and other passive marketing?
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I'm not sure if that is all LO did as I can't speak for them but I can assure you I have never been characterized by being passive and won't let my efforts or sales team be the same.
I'd definitely like to hear how others failed so I won't make the same mistake. Do you have other suggestions you think are very important to focus on? I'd never try to think I know everything but I have a few good people around me that teach me and help me out everyday.
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FTP.... please!!
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It seems that all the sites that do well advertise in design magazines. The sites that don't have extremely low sales or have closed.
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John, where are you with ftp? A site without ftp or some other means to quickly and easily upload multiple images is not going to work.
I tried the standard form to upload. It took 2 minutes to upload one image.
I was then going to try the multiple uploads and/or the iptc upload option, but halfway through, I got a useful error message that said, 'Something Went Wrong' followed by a screen that said the upload was succesful. I don't know which of these two mutually exclusive statements is true as I don't know how or where to look to see if my image made it onto the site.
Let us know when you are ready for prime time. Meanwhile, you might want to stop sending out email inviting people to upload there. First impressions and all.
Also, if you are going to sell photographs, the site needs to make that clear. Everthing about the site makes it look as if it is selling video clips only. If I were looking to buy photos and landed on the site, I would assume I had made a mistake and go somewhere else.
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I'm gonna be shot for saying this, but I like the site. I like the look and feel of it and I like a lot of the content; with one exception that is; do a search using "model" and some blonde comes up on page 2 and 3 with more bags than Terminal 5 Heathrow on a bank holiday weekend. Not good when I look at the amount of space she's taking up and virtually identical images all over the shop.
Obviously reaching critical mass is going to be your biggest challenge but I think if your reviewers don't get it right from get go it's going to be very hard to convince the pros to come on board.
Photoshelter is a prime example of what I'm talking about. Great GUI and very slick interface but shite content. They've basically shot themselves in the foot by rejecting perfectly adequate content and seem to be running the site on one individuals personal preferences and not what I would regard as commercially viable stock.
So that's my tuppence worth John, good luck with it, you look like you've burnt a few dollars and let's hope you make a fortune.
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@ dbvirago...You are absolutely right and I am working double-time to test and de-bug the last of the little issues with our FTP and new bulk uploader which will have 5 steps so a contributor will know where their files are in the process. Upload, Describe, Submit, Pending, Reject. In addition I will work on the message on the homepage as well so it is less confusing for a potential image buyer. Do you have any specifics you think will really work besides some of the obvious? I am all ears.
@Contakt. loved that hilarious analogy. I've never heard that one but I'm going to use it with your permission. hahahah. Thanks and we are still not done with making all the changes and rolling out some new features. But dbvirago is right about the FTP and being a serious site. I am going to have that de-bugged and put on the live site immediately.
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As we can set higher prices with cutcaster, I hope to see more images that are not on the micro sites. Having the exact same images as all the other sites might be one reason why no new site has made an impact in the past 2 years.
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As we can set higher prices with cutcaster, I hope to see more images that are not on the micro sites. Having the exact same images as all the other sites might be one reason why no new site has made an impact in the past 2 years.
They do offer a higher commission rate with exclusives too, so will be sending them at least a few. Exclusive is selectable per image, like at DT.
For a preview of the new uploader, see this blog post
http://niagarashooter.blogspot.com/2008/05/preview-of-cutcaster-uploader.html (http://niagarashooter.blogspot.com/2008/05/preview-of-cutcaster-uploader.html)
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First impressions:
1. No secure login. No-no for any site. My advise to everybody: do not register until secure login is implemented. If you are already registered - do not log in until it is done, and change your password immediately after.
2. Communication. No way to contact on site. Mail server blocking ip's/domains (e.g. rejects gmail messages) - i.e. no way to contact them if your mail server is not lucky.
3. FTP. Very professional - "Ask us, and we will say if this is possible".
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2. Communication. No way to contact on site. Mail server blocking ip's/domains (e.g. rejects gmail messages) - i.e. no way to contact them if your mail server is not lucky.
i was able to contact them - but agree my first emails were rejected as spam - i removed any urls in the email (my signature has them) and then emails went thru.
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Yikes,
I will fix that tonight. Didn't realize the emails were being treated as spam and I put my personal email up on the site so you can always contact me. I'm not sure where the exact problem was but will have our programmers look at it. Let me know if you have anything specific Uncle Gene at [email protected].
John
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i think i'm with John.
as for all those comments about comparing his company to another site, it's not only unfair, it's irrelevant. you cannot compare apples with oranges
anyone with business sense know that there are more reasons to a business failure than what meets the eye.
communication is yet another thing.
how many of your Big 6 actually took the trouble to come on this site to chat with you?
ok, John's new, but that's what they used to say about Bill Gates ...
but Bill was always there with communication ...
now, we don't ask "Bill who???" ;D
so maybe for now John who is where Bill used to be.
Give him a break, Cutcaster is new. isn't this what you wanted in the first place. a company who listens to you and tries to get you better money for your works?
and as far as the comment about "they accept anything".
well, how many times have i read here about you ppl complaining of how certain Big 6 rejected one of your "great shot".
now you're complaining John accepts anything.
well, it's up to you. you can upload garbage and John will put it there.
but unless your garbage sells, you're only wasting time.
i like the idea of us watching what we send to John. i just hate the idea of someone telling me "this is a snapshot."
well, if John hasn't told me what is a snapshot. i think we will go for him
and see how well his project goes.
as for not being in the Big 6. ;D ;D ;D ;D
that is the most irrelevant comment i have ever read.
where is your head, duh????
John is new. how can he be in the Big 6.
tells me that you've never been in business before, or if you have...
you forgot we all started from scratch.
good luck John. 8)
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BTW, congrats to John - CC moved to position 15 (by US traffic) in April
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BTW, congrats to John - CC moved to position 15 (by US traffic) in April
way 2 go John . congrats!
axis bold as love... ;)
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@ Uncle Gene. I added the secure check-in right now so it is now https when you log in and you are secure. So rest assured the signing in is totally secured and I have checked the logs to make sure we had no breaches and we haven't.
As for communications I will work on that but please just email me if you have any issues and put in the subject line your inquiry. I will respond quickly.
As for the FTP I will be up all night putting the finishing touches on it and rubbing out the bugs but it is really almost done. I am not sure where you found that quote about the FTP on the site but it doesn't even make sense to me so I see why you are confused. hahaha.
Thanks Joma st for the kind words and I really do appreciate any and all criticism about the site so I can make it better. I am here to learn and make it better for everyone so I want to work together. I can only wish to be a small part as successful with my vision as Bill Gates was but you are right that we all have to start somewhere ;-)
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Hmm... Do not see any secure login yet... As for other issues - I really like John's reaction time :) Comparable only with Zym's one :)
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@ Uncle Gene...right now you are logging into a secure page the first time you log in and are taken to the studio page. check out the url and the https in the address which you are taken to once you log in so you know it is secure. It is secure if you log in via https. We don't save CC information anyway at this point.
The transactions all occur via https as well so you have no worries there..
if you know any other ways to make it more secure let me know and we will add it tonight.
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I do not see what are you talking about.
On unsecure top page you have:
<form id="loginform" name="login" method="POST" action="http://www.cutcaster.com/login">
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To be able to see https you have to be a member
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To be able to see https you have to be a member
Jack, this is really strange statement. I am a member, and I want to log in securely. How can I do it?
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I might be a bit confused. Once you are logged in for the first time and taken to your studio page you see the HTTPS so you logged in securely.
I've looked at how other sites do it and no sites have a secure login. Check out SS or SV for example. Not throwing them under the bus ;-) You log in on a http url.
What I think you could mean and something I will change tonight is the registering for an account on a HTTPS page. is that what you are talking about? The register process? Most sites don't do this but if you think this will protect everyone better, I have no problem doing it. Its a minor change.
John
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I've looked at how other sites do it and no sites have a secure login. Check out SS or SV for example. Not throwing them under the bus ;-) You log in on a http url.
What I think you could mean and something I will change tonight is the registering for an account on a HTTPS page. is that what you are talking about? The register process? Most sites don't do this but if you think this will protect everyone better, I have no problem doing it. Its a minor change.
John
John, i believe shutterstock is indeed using ssl (https) if you look at their code, you'll see that the "action" referral on the login button does point to https:
<form method="post" action="https://submit.shutterstock.com/login.mhtml">
tho after that, all urls seem to be http
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This is common misconception - site owners think that redirecting login to https is safe (SS,FL, etc.). In reality it is on the same level of safety as not having ssl at all.
To be safe the place that _takes_ password has to be also secure. For now only Zymmetrical got it right.
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This is common misconception - site owners think that redirecting login to https is safe (SS,FL, etc.). In reality it is on the same level of safety as not having ssl at all.
To be safe the place that _takes_ password has to be also secure. For now only Zymmetrical got it right.
UncleGene, i've always wondered about that but never taken the time to learn... seems to me that the http page passing data to the https page is still sending it unsecured to secured, but since the start is unsecured, then the data passed to the secure page isn't secure until it gets there and therefore isn't very secure... am i right?
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Not exactly. And sending request to https is secure even if it is sent from non-secure page. The problem is that unsecure page can be spoofed itself, you as user are not going to check where the form sends your data every time before you submit :)
Granted, this hack is not trivial (requires a router takeover) and nobody will do it for #15 site, but if John is planning to go eventually on top - it make sense to be prepared :)
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So Uncle Gene, I see what you mean now with Zymm. Should i just make it to the user has to log in on a separate log in page and not be able to log in through the UN and PW field on the homepage or other pages on the site. That way I can make sure the person is logging in via https.
Thanks for the help and I will work on this. First thing is th FTP which is almost done.
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Great to see the way John gets things done. I hope he is as good at getting buyers to cutcaster. My portfolio will be on there when the FTP is sorted out.
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I've just noticed that FTP is now working. An unusual folder system but it works!
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Is this site already working? What about sales here?
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Cutcaster (http://www.cutcaster.com/ref/692026169) upgraded their upload system. It makes the upload much more streamlined. It also added lists for pending and rejected photos. FTP works fine too. If a file has IPTC data it skips the description step and you can go right to the submit step. Here you can still edit the information individually or in bulk. I think the Cutcaster team did a very nice job.
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Nice. Checked cutcaster - and found that all my images but one had disappeared....
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I think they are moving to a new server, maybe it is temporary. Contact John or their support. John is usually quick with the fix or answer.
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Nice. Checked cutcaster - and found that all my images but one had disappeared....
They just put in community voting to compete with MP. And your photos were voted off the island. 8)
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Hey Uncle Gene,
Yeah Oboy is right and we are moving to new servers I spent all weekend migrating the image files because it is a better place to store data. Your images are definitely not deleted, rejected, lost or voted off the island but we have them on the new S3 servers. Its a service provided by Amazon. This is just temporary that they are gone as we move all the files off and redirect our feeds to pick up the files from amazon.
I didn't want to take the site offline, send out an email or contact all the contributors individually so I just blogged about it at www.blog.cutcaster.com (http://www.blog.cutcaster.com). I think I learned a lesson that I have to find new ways to get out that info bc I think some people were confused and others found the info. If you have any thoughts on the best way to notify users of a change on the site let me know. I'm still learning ;-)
John
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Has anyone else had images vanish from their cutcaster studio?
I uploaded a handful several weeks back before they added their new upload system. they were approved and listed there, now my 'studio' is empty. they are not listed in the rejected images either. Apart from my profile details and avatar there is no sign that I ever uploaded anything!?
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Has anyone else had images vanish from their cutcaster studio?
I uploaded a handful several weeks back before they added their new upload system. they were approved and listed there, now my 'studio' is empty. they are not listed in the rejected images either. Apart from my profile details and avatar there is no sign that I ever uploaded anything!?
They are migrating data to new servers. Check you stuff on Friday. I have a number of images missing as well, but I am told they shoukd reappear when the server work is done by week's end.
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yep thanks snurder. if you guys have any questions my email is john @ cutcaster.com.
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And what about sales??
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whoops missed this paulo. sales are starting but we haven't started our marketing push yet which i outlined above. we are still getting more images into the marketplace and reaching out to buyers to tell them about the site and what we are doing with it. so far so good though. i'd love to have you join and sign up.
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I just saw this thread - still new here - and wanted to take a look....I got a 404 error - is cutcaster already gone?
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I just saw this thread - still new here - and wanted to take a look....I got a 404 error - is cutcaster already gone?
Still alive and well as far as I know, but they have been doing some major server work there. Give it a try at a later time.
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Cutcaster Update:
"Something hit the site at 1:20 PM today and I am looking into why it went down. I will have it back up as soon as I can. I'm getting in contact with our hosting provider and also checking our servers and will let you know. Thanks.
Update. The site is down due to database issues...Ugh... We had a few issues with the tables in our database and we ran out of room on our hard drive space on the server which we are fixing so it is back offline now and will get it back up as soon as we can. I will continue to keep you posted.
John"
Remember, the site is still in Beta ;-) JUst some growing pains.
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Thanks snurder for posting the update. it's been a long night but i think we tamed that database beast. hahaha. now for a quick nap.
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I can give it a try
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@Trebuchet
What did you think? Do you have any feedback for us to make it better? Would love to hear it.
John
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Hi John.
Im waiting you make smart ftp work :P
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Ahhhhhhh it's been working. I am sorry.
Try these instructions.
SmartFTP
1. Create an account for the Cutcaster FTP. Go to File > New Remote Browser.
2. On the New Remote Browser dialog box, put in www.cutcaster.com as the host and enter login information as Username: anonymous and leave the password field blank.
3. Set the folder path by putting on the Path field: <your Cutcaster FTP folder ID>. (Your Cutcaster FTP Folder ID is shown on the upload start page of the site).
4. After reviewing the account details, click OK to connect to the Cutcaster FTP account .
5. Transfer/upload your files to your Cutcaster FTP folder . Once you have finished uploading ALL the files, go back to the site and click the refresh button on the upload start page and your files will be processed.
NOTE: Do not click the refresh button while some files are still being uploaded through FTP. Click only the refresh button after ALL the files have been successfully transferred.
6. After clicking the refresh button, you will now be able to see your files on the site and process them.
NOTE: For files that have IPTC data, they will be automatically placed on the Submit page of the upload system.
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Now working ;)
Thanks John
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awesome stuff. glad i could help. let me know what else could use some tinkering and i will try my best. john
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John - you're in Syracuse?!
[email protected]
Let's hook up & talk over lunch or something.
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we definitely will when i am up in syracuse again visiting my parents. i have a hard time getting up there and live down in nyc year round. love the cuse though.
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Guys, I have a problem when I try to login to Cutcaster in firefox it doesn't open my profile and I can't see the link to it, but all other functions work well. Other way, if I use internet explorer 6, I hardly can log in and in most cases it just send me again to write my login information. In better case it openes my portfolio and profile and if I click some other link it says that I am not logged in and I have to login again. Anyone experienced something simillar?
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That is really strange. Make sure you type in your username case sensitve so like this Whitechild
Also i would try clearing out your cookies and cache and see if that helps.
Let me know if that helps and you can always email me at john AT cutcaster dot com.
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I logged out, and logged in again. In the mean time I cleared cash and now everything works fine. Thank you!
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Perfecto and welcome. You have my email if you have any problems.
John
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Hmm... Similar issue here. I can't login using Firefox, but I can log in using IE6.
I cleared my cache in FF and still can't login.
Btw, why are user names case sensitive? I don't know of any other site that does this and it's annoying. :)
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Try to log out first, in both browsers.
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Can't log out in FF because I can't log in. I'll log in and back out in IE and see what happens.
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i can change that case sensitive issue. its more for security reasons we did it. just adds a layer.
let me know if you are still having problems. we might have to clean up something on our side but it looks like whitechild got in after clearing his cache and using a capital W
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"NOTE: For files that have IPTC data, they will be automatically placed on the Submit page of the upload system. "
I submitted some vectors. The thumbnails have metadata descriptions, titles, keywords. But my submissions are not placed on the Submit page but rather the page requesting that data be entered by hand.
Does the metadata have to be entered by hand for vectors?
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yeah we parse out IPTC data for images right now no problems but vectors we just added to the site so we are going to parse the metadata out of the jpeg so its easier like you said.
it will not have to be done by hand. we are just still working on it bc vectors are new. thanks
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fixed that for you michael.
Added function to read the IPTC data from the uploaded JPEG of ZIPPED files of vectors so that vectors that are uploaded and have IPTC data are moved to the submit page. thanks for the heads up Michael and let us know what else we can do.
also at Navarro. I updated the login functionality and added a script for login/username so that it isnt case sensitive.
John
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also at Navarro. I updated the login functionality and added a script for login/username so that it isnt case sensitive.
Thanks, logging in fine now.
I also noticed a few changes in photos on the front page. Better, but I still think you should rotate random pictures from each section.
Also, that dog is "winking" because it stares at you which is annoying, so someone poked it in the eye. :)
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fixed that for you michael.
Added function to read the IPTC data from the uploaded JPEG of ZIPPED files of vectors so that vectors that are uploaded and have IPTC data are moved to the submit page. thanks for the heads up Michael and let us know what else we can do.
John
Thanks John!!! Cutcaster looks great & I am excited about submitting.
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navarro,
that is hilarious about the winking dog. i bet we would have a good time over a beer. i like your sense of humor. i thought the dog was a classic shot and the photographer must have poked his dog in the eye right before. hahahah.
i'm glad you are able to login now and you noticed the changes that we made. there are more to come and i like the ideas of generating random photos so they get dredged up from the backend and dont get lost in the abyss. i am all for getting more views and promotion for anyones photos so we all make money at the end of the day.
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I don't know anything about websites, but I came up with two suggestions:
1. Can there be a "search by photographer" option? Sometimes it's nice to see someone's entire portfolio, especially if you like their work.
2. I'd like to be able to see the larger version of the photo just by putting my mouse over top of it, instead of clicking on it. Is that possible?
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2. I'd like to be able to see the larger version of the photo just by putting my mouse over top of it, instead of clicking on it. Is that possible?
Yeah, I noticed the missing popups as well and thought it was odd...
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yep. we just removed the pop ups temporarily because it was slowing down our page load. this is going to be updated and put back up very soon. its an easy change and something that saves a lot of time.
also at TreeofLife there is a search by photographer option in the search area. let me know if you can't see it. click that option and then put in the users name or username on the cc site.
thanks
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I clicked on the "Advance Search" (should that say "Advanced?")and I still don't see a search by photographer button. Am I looking on the correct page?
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its actually a search by members which will show you different people on the site. try that.
i will change that to advanced. my old eyes. it all sounded right when i read it. hahahaha
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OK, I got it to work, but there's a minor glitch:
In order to click on "members" you first have to unclick "photos." It would be better if you could just click on "members" and the check mark would move from "photos" on it's own, with out having to uncheck the "photos."
I'm also going to have to agree with a previous poster (sorry I forget who) who suggested that you raise your quality standards for submissions. I'm not a great photographer, but even I would not have submitted some of the photos I saw (big time white balance and focus issues, not to mention photo titles spelled wrong). If you want buyers to have a look around, you're going to have to give them quality to choose from. Otherwise I think they're going give up and go elsewhere.
*trying to be helpful, not critical*
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thanks and please be critical. i need to hear it before buyers get on there and could use all the help and education you can give me.
i am going over the database and weeding stuff out and getting the metadata all in order.