Author Topic: Unveiling my new (unfinished) SYS website (Read 15454 times)

luissantos84 · « **Reply #25 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:33 »

Quote from: Nikd90 on July 20, 2013, 11:25

Martha/others, would you know if we can sell the images taken inside national park and/or zoo at royalty free or we need to sell them as editorial?

Asking in this thread because Martha has so many photos of birds

if we are talking about animals only that makes no sense unless dogs are signing releases these days

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #26 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:37 »

I do have releases for some dogs - they are property, especially the dogs that are breed champions

luissantos84 · « **Reply #27 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:40 »

Quote from: Tinny on July 20, 2013, 11:37

I do have releases for some dogs - they are property, especially the dogs that are breed champions

yep I know that, actually you reminded me of somebody

klsbear · « **Reply #28 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:50 »

Your site is shaping up nicely! Here are a few of my thoughts:

A sliders or a banner are a nice option to show some of your images. I did some composite images with text overlay in Photoshop. It took some time and was a little bit of a learning curve, adjusting sizing, getting the slider to work, etc.

A quicker way to get some images on the home page would be to utilize the Latest Images widget and the Featured Images widget. (you can work on adding a slider and playing with home page images later, once you get further along with SEO and adding more images.

Consider adding the Related Posts widget to your image pages. That will show other images with shared keywords when buyers view the image page. You'll need to activate the Related Posts by Taxonomy plugin (I think it shows up as part of the theme under plugins but needs to be activated.

As was previously noted, there is too much going on in the upper left menu. I would leave the "register / log in cart" link, Contact, and the EULA perhaps. There is no need for a Thank you for Registering link (I can't think of any reason someone would want to view that) an the Symbiostock links can go elsewhere. Consider using the footer area with text widgets to include the Symbiostock and other links.

My solution for the watermark was to go with a desaturated white with a light grey bevel that gives some two-tone coloring to the mark so portions of it show on light or dark images. The smaller text is also a desaturated white with a grey outline. It's a bit distracting on some shots but it does seem to show on both dark and light images. I figure that is something I can improve upon in the future. SEO and adding images are my focus right now.

One a side note, I have a few mushrooms, chives, etc. on my site and I researched and added the botanical name, ie: Amanita Rubscens on a Blusher mushroom and Allium Schoenoprasum on the chive blossoms. I have seen on other sites (those that list search terms) that these terms were used in searching. I've seen that on my own site here too. Adding scientific names and any other detail about the bird in your descriptions may help.

Good luck with your site!

marthamarks · « **Reply #29 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:51 »

Hi Luis. Good to hear from you!

This is my understanding of US laws.

You can take and sell images made in national parks, monuments, (and any public parks or other public land owned by states, counties, municipalities, etc) without permission. This includes bird/wildlife images, landscapes, etc. Not sure about modern buildings, because that's not what I'm interested in, but I have shot and sold images of dilapidated cabins and other old structures with no problem.

I don't photograph in zoos so I don't know with 100% confidence, but I believe that's a different matter. They may be privately owned, or owned by a non-profit, and in such cases you probably need a property release. Others here probably can tell you for sure.

Hope this helps.

klsbear · « **Reply #30 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:54 »

Quote from: Nikd90 on July 20, 2013, 11:25

Martha/others, would you know if we can sell the images taken inside national park and/or zoo at royalty free or we need to sell them as editorial?

Asking in this thread because Martha has so many photos of birds

I think many zoos have a policy regarding photography that you agree to when purchasing your entry ticket. I would guess that's not the same for state and national parks regarding wildlife photos since there seem to be a lot out there. It's probably something you can research online for individual parks. I think some do have regulations regarding use of tripods or formal shoots, ie: if you wanted to shoot mountain climbers and set up a team with lighting that would require permits.

cathyslife · « **Reply #31 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:58 »

@Martha...just tried a link again and all seems to be working. Must have just been a glitch in the matrix this morning. Great pics!

@Steve...those tomato hornworms are nasty little buggers. They can destroy tomato plants in a New York minute.

You got a great picture of it though.

marthamarks · « **Reply #32 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:03 »

Kisbear, those are all really good suggestions. Muchas gracias!

I've just cleaned out the upper right corner and moved some stuff to the footer. Also switched to the sidebar page layout for the home page and installed an image slider. Not sure how to make that work, however, so maybe I'll try one of those widgets. Today's leaning curve...

The Latin names for my critters and plants are in the keywords already, but I do think I should add them to the descriptions. Maybe not until later though. Gotta get the overall site shaped up first.

At present, there are 172 bird photo pages up. (I mispoke in my note last night. There are 7 "species pages" pointing to 172 different image.) Only some 600+ to go........... and then I'll start work on my beasts, bugs, plants, places.

Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?

quailrunphoto · « **Reply #33 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:25 »

Quote from: cclapper on July 20, 2013, 11:58

@Martha...just tried a link again and all seems to be working. Must have just been a glitch in the matrix this morning. Great pics!

@Steve...those tomato hornworms are nasty little buggers. They can destroy tomato plants in a New York minute. You got a great picture of it though.

@Martha: I agree that you have some great pictures and I am impressed with the number you have uploaded. I just passed 100 this week so I have a long way to go.

@Steve and cclapper... Destructive they are but they become this:
http://quailrunphoto.com/image/moth-under-magnifying-glass/
Sometimes I mistake them for humming birds.

marthamarks · « **Reply #34 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:30 »

Quote from: quailrunphoto on July 20, 2013, 12:25

@Martha: I agree that you have some great pictures and I am impressed with the number you have uploaded. I just passed 100 this week so I have a long way to go.

@Steve and cclapper... Destructive they are but they become this:
http://quailrunphoto.com/image/moth-under-magnifying-glass/
Sometimes I mistake them for humming birds.

Yep, getting enough images up to make an impression is quite a trick. But fun too! My problem is... I'm also in the middle of writing my 2nd novel and am "borrowing" time from that project to do this one. Once I've got a respectable presence on my SYS site, I'll start alternating between book and bugs. :-)

Your site looks like a natural for me to network with, QuailRun. I love your work!

marthamarks · « **Reply #35 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:34 »

Quote from: Leo on July 20, 2013, 01:05

Quote from: marthamarks on July 20, 2013, 00:33
I welcome any suggestions you (and others) may have on any aspect of my fledgling site.

Pun intended?

Kinda, sorta, half-way intended. :-)

I'm working my way through suggestions, Leo. Yours and others. There's a lot to do but I love this stuff so am not minding the work at all. You've set up a really fine system.

Big project at the moment: getting a few colorful images on the right-hand side of the home page. Any tips about that??

quailrunphoto · « **Reply #36 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:46 »

Quote from: marthamarks on July 20, 2013, 12:34

Quote from: Leo on July 20, 2013, 01:05
Quote from: marthamarks on July 20, 2013, 00:33
I welcome any suggestions you (and others) may have on any aspect of my fledgling site.

Pun intended?

Kinda, sorta, half-way intended. :-)

I'm working my way through suggestions, Leo. Yours and others. There's a lot to do but I love this stuff so am not minding the work at all. You've set up a really fine system.

Big project at the moment: getting a few colorful images on the right-hand side of the home page. Any tips about that??

Set up your best shows with a category of "Symbiostock Featured Images" Then you can use the widget to place this group anywhere you want. By going to the widgets section of appearance you will see the widgets on the left and the potential locations on the right.

Have fun.

cascoly · « **Reply #37 on:** July 20, 2013, 13:37 »

great start.... please take all of the following as positive critiques:

I did notice that 'birds a - m ' jumps to the comments page, probably because this is a post.

I wondered why you didn't use categories? you could have
birds
robins
tanagers
swans

beasts

bugs

places
Arizona
new mexico
santa fe
California

etc

this would avoid the problem that occurs now, where many of the pages have no images. using categories, sym only shows categories for which there are images. you could still use the line across to link to particular categories

------------------
remove the 'under construction' statement -- all sites are under construction but it's a sign of web-newcomer to state it

-------------------
the link 'we are a group' on http://bestnaturestock.com/symbiostock-network/ points right back to itself. you can remove the link, or use it to point to one of the lists of sym network sites like http://cascoly.com/symbio/list.asp?list=25

-----
http://bestnaturestock.com/birds/swallows-swans-tanagers-thrashers-titmice/

first row, 2nd image just jumps to a minipic, not the image page

------------------ on the ome page
>>>>So if you happen to be “hunting” for great royalty-free images of wild birds and beasts, plus bugs, plants, and natural/historic places, this is the place to be.

add hyperlinks to your pages for beasts, etc

marthamarks · « **Reply #38 on:** July 20, 2013, 13:43 »

Quote from: quailrunphoto on July 20, 2013, 12:46

Set up your best shows with a category of "Symbiostock Featured Images" Then you can use the widget to place this group anywhere you want. By going to the widgets section of appearance you will see the widgets on the left and the potential locations on the right.

Wow, that seems to be the tip I was looking for! Thanks, Quail Run. I'll see how it goes and report back.

marthamarks · « **Reply #39 on:** July 20, 2013, 13:47 »

Great tips, Cascoly. Especially about the posts/categories problem. I was wondering how to get rid of the comments section on those pages.

I'm just back from lunch (gotta keep the brain awake, ya'know), ready to tackle the next learning curve. Thank you very much and... stay tuned!

marthamarks · « **Reply #40 on:** July 20, 2013, 18:42 »

Well, I've been at this all day and am about to close up shop for the night. Sure did get a lot accomplished since this morning... thanks to the great suggestions on this Forum. You guys are WONDERFUL!!!

I changed the header and colors of my site, moved menu stuff around, condensed my 2 "Bird" categories into one (we'll see how looooong that drop-down menu gets by the time it's done... may have to go back to two), added the first "Beasts" page and a batch of photos there, and managed to get the words "Featured Images" to show up on the bottom of my home page.

And actually, I thought I was getting a few images into that category, but they don't show up on the home page. Not sure why, so I guess that will be the next learning curve.

I also can't figure out why my Category pages (and they ARE pages!) show up like posts... with Comment sections. I didn't intend that and would like to get rid of them but don't know how. Hmmmmm.

Hasta mañana!

klsbear · « **Reply #41 on:** July 20, 2013, 20:44 »

Quote from: marthamarks on July 20, 2013, 18:42

Well, I've been at this all day and am about to close up shop for the night. Sure did get a lot accomplished since this morning... thanks to the great suggestions on this Forum. You guys are WONDERFUL!!!

I changed the header and colors of my site, moved menu stuff around, condensed my 2 "Bird" categories into one (we'll see how looooong that drop-down menu gets by the time it's done... may have to go back to two), added the first "Beasts" page and a batch of photos there, and managed to get the words "Featured Images" to show up on the bottom of my home page.

And actually, I thought I was getting a few images into that category, but they don't show up on the home page. Not sure why, so I guess that will be the next learning curve.

I also can't figure out why my Category pages (and they ARE pages!) show up like posts... with Comment sections. I didn't intend that and would like to get rid of them but don't know how. Hmmmmm.

Hasta mañana!

Re: Comments on Category pages: Go to Dashboard / Pages / All Pages. Hover over the page title and you'll see options for Edit and Quick Edit - select the Quick Edit option and un-check the "allow comments" section. I think that will remove the comments option.

Imagenomad · « **Reply #42 on:** July 21, 2013, 04:36 »

Sorry, late to this as I've been working on my own site. Addictive isn't it?

As a fellow bird and beasts type, I have to say that some of your images are spectacular, Martha.

You've done a great job so far. I love the colour scheme and understated appearance.

I know it's a work in progress and you may already be dealing with this but you have two login links above the header, both of which allow login and registration.

Russell

And a PS for klsbear - if you're using Linnean taxonomies (Latin names, in other words), genus is capitalised and species is lowercase. So for instance, your mushroom example should be Amanita rubescens and not Amanita Rubescens.

GeoPappas · « **Reply #43 on:** July 21, 2013, 05:11 »

Quote from: Nikd90 on July 20, 2013, 11:25

...would you know if we can sell the images taken inside national park and/or zoo at royalty free or we need to sell them as editorial?

"Officially", zoos own copyright on their animals.

For example, here is a blurb from the San Diego Zoo:

"We encourage guests to take photos at both the Zoo and the Safari Park. As a not-for-profit organization, commercial use of photos taken at our facilities is strictly prohibited." (see here for more details: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/faq/faq_general)

Here is a quote from the Detroit Zoo:

"For all film, video and still photography produced on Detroit Zoo grounds for commercial purposes, a written agreement must be entered into with the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) and a fee paid per the current fee guidelines. Two weeks advance notice is required." See here for more details: http://www.detroitzoo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138:photo-policy&catid=28:legal

Contact the zoo if you have any questions.

marthamarks · « **Reply #44 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:28 »

Quote from: klsbear on July 20, 2013, 20:44

Re: Comments on Category pages: Go to Dashboard / Pages / All Pages. Hover over the page title and you'll see options for Edit and Quick Edit - select the Quick Edit option and un-check the "allow comments" section. I think that will remove the comments option.

Yesssss!!!! That's it! Klsbear, you are a genius. Thank you so much. I've just taken your advice and quickly/easily scrubbed the annoying Comment sections from the bottom of those pages. Without help, I don't think I would ever have found that teensy-weensy little check-box in the Quick Edit section.

I appreciate your help in this very much, and I look forward to helping others as they build their own sites down the road.

Kerioak~Christine · « **Reply #45 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:33 »

Am I the only one who leaves the comment box switched on for images? When looking around other people's sites I would quite often like to leave a comment on a picture but there is never an option, I thought they helped with seo?

klsbear · « **Reply #46 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:34 »

Quote from: Imagenomad on July 21, 2013, 04:36

And a PS for klsbear - if you're using Linnean taxonomies (Latin names, in other words), genus is capitalised and species is lowercase. So for instance, your mushroom example should be Amanita rubescens and not Amanita Rubescens.

Thank you for the info Russell. I'll make the correction. I'm not the scientific type so my knowledge was gleaned from other websites and I must have overlooked that nuance.

marthamarks · « **Reply #47 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:36 »

Quote from: Imagenomad on July 21, 2013, 04:36

Sorry, late to this as I've been working on my own site. Addictive isn't it?

As a fellow bird and beasts type, I have to say that some of your images are spectacular, Martha.

You've done a great job so far. I love the colour scheme and understated appearance.

I know it's a work in progress and you may already be dealing with this but you have two login links above the header, both of which allow login and registration.

Thank you, Russell! I appreciate the thumbs-up on my "fledgling" :-) site and my images. Labors of love, both of 'em.

And I appreciate the tip about those login links. Haven't really looked at that stuff very carefully. Been procrastinating on that this weekend. It's just sooooooooooo much more fun to post new images and build more pages! But the other has to get done too.

I checked out your site and really like it too. Looks like you and I for sure should link to one another. That's something else I gotta do today or tomorrow.

klsbear · « **Reply #48 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:37 »

Quote from: marthamarks on July 21, 2013, 09:28

Quote from: klsbear on July 20, 2013, 20:44
Re: Comments on Category pages: Go to Dashboard / Pages / All Pages. Hover over the page title and you'll see options for Edit and Quick Edit - select the Quick Edit option and un-check the "allow comments" section. I think that will remove the comments option.

Yesssss!!!! That's it! Klsbear, you are a genius. Thank you so much. I've just taken your advice and quickly/easily scrubbed the annoying Comment sections from the bottom of those pages. Without help, I don't think I would ever have found that teensy-weensy little check-box in the Quick Edit section.

I appreciate your help in this very much, and I look forward to helping others as they build their own sites down the road.

LOL - not a genius by far. It took me about an hour to find that location for the dominant check box when I was trying to turn ON the comments for my blog. I had the option activated in the Discussion areas but it wasn't visible, and the full edit section doesn't override it either. I finally found it hidden in the Quick Edit area after searching all options.

marthamarks · « **Reply #49 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:38 »

Quote from: Kerioak~Christine on July 21, 2013, 09:33

Am I the only one who leaves the comment box switched on for images? When looking around other people's sites I would quite often like to leave a comment on a picture but there is never an option, I thought they helped with seo?

I don't know about the SEO. Maybe somebody else who knows a lot about that can tell us both. But I just don't care for the look of on the page.

Maybe later, if I get feedback that people want to be able to comment on specific images, I'll put that back. But to my mind the pages really do look much cleaner without it.

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Author Topic: Unveiling my new (unfinished) SYS website (Read 15454 times)

luissantos84

Kerioak~Christine

luissantos84

klsbear

marthamarks

klsbear

cathyslife

marthamarks

quailrunphoto

marthamarks

marthamarks

quailrunphoto

cascoly

marthamarks

marthamarks

marthamarks

klsbear

Imagenomad

GeoPappas

marthamarks

Kerioak~Christine

klsbear

marthamarks

klsbear

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