@shelma
I think this may be happening to you. It is actually registering your vote but because it isn't telling you it appears to keep redirecting to the same page. I can see how confusing this might be. Hopefully we can come up with a clearer way to communicate on this.

Quote from: chromaco on June 19, 2014, 20:33

Strange. Which browser are you using? I've been looking at the site for almost 4 weeks straight and haven't experienced what you are describing. Anyone else having these issues? If so please let me know and we will try to diagnose the cause. Shelma if you could add a bit of detail. The text at the top is small but the rest should be quite large.

I've looked at it both on my MacBook Air and my iPad. Safari.

I use the same platforms. Leo was doing some upgrades about the time you posted. Have you visited the site multiple times with the same results? Maybe you can PM me so we can figure this out without sidetracking the thread. Thanks

@ Mantis, That is a great idea. We will try to adjust the phrasing so it is clearer what is good and bad.

Also, the Stocksy, Istock problem is now resolved so you can vote with confidence that you are indeed rating the correct agency.

Two new voting initiatives for you to chime in on:
One regarding "image exclusivity" and the other about "whether agencies should delete old unsold images"
You can find them here: www.symbiostock.org/collective/microstock_init/

Thanks all. I will look into these issues and do what I can to resolve them. About the avatar pics I'll see what i can do. I'm not sure this feature is even necessary. The only person that can see them is yourself. You do need to register so complete anonymity is impossible but as far a how you voted or your agency ratings none of that is publicly viewable (only privately by yourself).

Hi all, due to all of the recent upheaval and changes in the market and the amount of negativity in the forums Leo (with a bit of help from me) has created a new alternative to the way contributors can choose to voice their opinions. The "Microstock Collective" which can be found here:
www.symbiostock.org/collective

What it is-
A way for contributors to come together to help create a consensus about what is currently happening in the industry.
A way for contributors to share their opinions in a completely anonymous manner.
A way to rate the agencies based on a much larger number of criteria than just sales.
A way to vote on current issues without having to actually make a post.

What it is not-
A Forum- discussions need to be kept on the current forums because there is not actually any place for comments on the collective.
A Soapbox- just like above, personal opinions are not really given a platform here.
A place with an agenda - Voting is the only way to show your support or displeasure for an agency or an idea.
Perfect- We know this has a long way to go but it is a step in the right direction. Additional functionality and polishing will happen on a regular basis. Also the ranking system while pretty good will probably undergo some tweaking. So be nice- its not done but it is started.

What the Collective currently offers-
A way to rate agencies on a much larger number of categories important to contributors
A way to vote on current hot topics
A way to see how many images are associated with the voting results.

What the Collective will offer in the future-
A way to break down the information into many different sorting categories.
A way for contributors to create their own voting initiatives and news items.
A way to view agency reviews by portfolio type and other cool breakdowns.

Important things you need to know about the "Microstock Collective"
1) You must be logged in as a user to vote and rate agencies- this is free and easy to do and your information will not show to anyone but yourself.
2) You do not need to offer your image library size but if you do it will help add to the credibility of the voting and overall power of the Collective
3) Portfolio Size is "Total # of images you have for sale on at least one agency" In other words how many images do you have that are represented by at least one agency - this includes self hosted. If you have 2000 images in your portfolio that is the size of your portfolio even if you only have 1000 uploaded to Shutterstock, 500 to Istock etc. It is not total images uploaded, it is individual images uploaded and accepted at least once.
4) The collective is open to anyone who is a micro stock contributor.Even though it is hosted on the Symbiostock server it is for everyone and you do not need to have anything to do with Symbiostock (other than registering as a user) to use the Collective.

I am happy to answer any questions you might have- we realize this is nowhere near perfect so please be constructive and professional in your criticism and we will do our best to fix/solve/adjust any issues that you might have. In the meantime please- check it out, vote, add your image count and just participate.

Thanks
Dennis

I like DT too but for me it's about the word "FREE". This is a slow grind to contributors eventually earning nothing for their hard work. I intend to be selling my images 20 years from now. This is just a very small step towards making "FREE" acceptable. If you accept this one then the next one will be just slightly worse and the argument will be "It's not much different than the DT trial and we were OK with that so what's the difference." 3-5 years down the road the line has gotten so muddy that "FREE" is fairly normal.

I have kids in school and we teach our boys that Bullying isn't Ok... ever! Not "well he just punched him in the arm but it really didn't hurt.. so thats OK, but if he had hit a little bit harder it's not OK." Bullying is bullying regardless of the degree and should not be tolerated.

Free is free regardless of the degree and should not be tolerated!

Leo took a well deserved break from development for about four months. He is back now but some site owners were frustrated that some smaller bugs were not resolved right away. Leo is back and actively developing an updated and streamlined version for release sometime later this year. I believe most of these issues have gone away. The easiest way to determine if it is going to work for you is to invest in a small hosting plan and start building with the free version. There is lots of tech support at symbiostock.org.

How many RC for these?

I can't quite figure it out but I'm not really the guy at MSG you want researching things.
Just guessing but at 52% the best I would get would be $.46 for an eps or XXL unless it comes in as a sub sale.

I know we are all frustrated with DPC, but .. er.. isn't this good news?

Fotolia are making it more lucrative to be part of DPC.  Isn't that what we want/wanted?

just asking.....  (goes and hides behind the tomato shield)

Not really. If someone wants one of my images they can buy it from my symbio-site at $14.75 or via subs at SS for a $250 commitment... or 10 of my images for a $10 commitment at DPC. I need 59 sales at DPC to match just one on my own site. Still look good to you?

That's a terrible gauge. The smaller exclusives, the ones who have less to lose are going to be the first to go. This is going to expand the gap not lessen it. The earnings rating for exclusives is actually likely to improve but not because people are earning more money. It is because only those making a lot of money are left and that is improving the average. It's a false positive.

Hi all, Leo seems to be somewhat rested and is now dedicating some time to an updated version of Symbiostock. He is balancing paid work with this new version so progress will probably be slower than before. In keeping with the nature of Symbiostock it will remain open source and free in its present form but now there will also be some paid applications which will be optional for anyone interested in supercharging their sites. He has mentioned some sort of cloud based offerings and some interesting other concepts. Also for those of you in the EU there has been a good amount of attention paid to VAT.
No confirmed date on the release of these new products but I am hopefully optimistic that it will happen before the end of the year. (My timeline not Leo's and not based on anything other than wishful thinking)

Finally the nature of the program has changed just a bit. Leo is leaning more towards a business structure that can actually compete and really change the industry. It is time and the project really needed this more mature approach but be aware that the entirely "free" nature of the previous Symbiostock will probably not exist in the more elite versions that are coming down the pipe. This will not affect anyone who currently has a site or wants to build their own site based on the open-source themes but offers some exciting options for those of us who are ready for the next step and are willing to pay a small amount for it.

There is a "wish list" thread you can contribute to if you would like to see something that isn't currently offered.
http://www.symbiostock.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1485

Quote from: stockastic on May 01, 2014, 16:03

I'd say no.   Or at least not for a very long time.

There's currently a vast oversupply of images, and they don't age very rapidly, or go bad sitting on the shelf, which would create demand for new work.  It would take years for that stock of images to become significantly obsolete in some way (technical standards, clothing and hair styles...).   Until then that oversupply will hold down prices because you can never get more than a tiny percentage of producers to cooperate in actions that weaken the position of the middlemen.

Current web technology and copyright law don't facilitate direct sales.   Buyers still expect to go to a single "web site" to shop for images of known quality and guaranteed usage rights.  A new market model has to evolve before the grip of today's middlemen can be broken.

If portfolios are being pulled then the images are no longer there on the agency. At some point demand will be bigger than supply. Unless everyone moves on and let their port sit on the agencies. The trick is to lower the supply for the prices to rise again.

I think the agencies are counting on the fact that they have so many images that they are invincible to mass deletions. However, if they continue to lower prices and they aren't getting quality new content the low prices and reduced customers are going to cause them serious problems. One day I am going to wake up and read here on MSG that one of the big guys is just gone. The current ownership is bankrupt and nobody wants to salvage the pieces. That will be a very interesting day.

I think that is exactly what is coming. It will start in the niches and maybe illustration first. At some point it won't make any sense to upload to the big guys. Then as it progresses deleting from the sub sites will follow as people start seeing them as stealing sales from better paying sites. Eventually the better product will be somewhere else and the customers will follow. With millions and millions of images it might take a while though. Seems to me like we are approaching the tipping point where contributors are about to not take it anymore. It's not worth it for new guys and the established guys are starting to get fed up and are looking for alternatives. Eventually those alternatives will start appearing more and more frequently.