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Image categories

1. micromoth15 March 2015, 9:38 GMT +01:00

I know we've touched on this before, but would it be possible for the categories on RGB Stock to be improved? I find it strange that although the categories discriminate so readily between forests/trees, they don't discriminate between water/snow/ice or between mountains/hills. What is the rationale here? There's also no category called Science. And although there are categories for each of the continents on Earth, there's nothing at all for outer space! Is there any chance of some improvements in the near future, particularly for the addition of the latter?

2. xymonau15 March 2015, 12:20 GMT +01:00

I agree. We haven't put a lot of effort into this because according to stats people use keywords to search rather than the categories. I have been thinking of this for a long time, but real life has taken over for now. I do think it makes it easier for the uploaders to have clearer categories. It wouldn't be very hard to create a better list, but I don't know how that would affect the current categories or how difficult it might be to make the change.

3. ColinBrough15 March 2015, 14:17 GMT +01:00

There may be a bit of a chicken and egg in how people search - I don't think its possible to browse all images in a category. I don't think its even possible to see what categories someone put an image in when you view the image page.... Unless I'm missing something? Are "categories" just folded in to "keywords"?

4. xymonau15 March 2015, 14:41 GMT +01:00

The categories is a separate search. They pull up those images nominated with the categories selected by the person posting the image. Colin, there is no point in seeing a category after the image is opened. The point is to use it to find the image.

However, this has brought something to my attention. The only place I can currently see searching by categories is the front page. I'll ask Jay about it.

5. micromoth15 March 2015, 18:18 GMT +01:00

That's interesting Dez, because I've just checked the categories on the home page and they are not the same (at least, at present) as the categories one fills in when uploading an image. So does this mean that the latter categories are redundant?
Also, please bring to Jay's attention when you speak to him that categories is misspelled as "catagories" on the home page.

6. ColinBrough15 March 2015, 22:15 GMT +01:00

Agree with micromoth, don't think the categories on the front page are the same as the categories we enter when uploading - and there's no limit on the available "categories", no drop done like when uploading, so it feels more like a keyword search.

Dez, fair enough on the "you've already opened the image" point -- I think I've had occasion to get to an image on way (keyword search, browsing a category) and then wanted to see other images that match one of the other categories someone chose at upload time.... And I don't think you can do that. (So image has categories AA, BB and CC; you browse through category AA and find an interesting image; you want to get some more ideas, and see that this image has also been given category BB; so you browse that... You can't do the "you see that this image has also been given category BB" step.)

7. jazza16 March 2015, 9:49 GMT +01:00

I am afraid that the categories (with an E ) are a "child that is left behind".
That is a Dutch saying. It needs some real attention soon. Lets see what we can do. If there are any good ideas please don't be afraid to let me know.

But first thing first: I have the flue and I need to get better first :(

8. xymonau16 March 2015, 14:56 GMT +01:00

Glad you brought it up, Kevin. That completely escaped me previously. Jay is very unwell at present, though, so be patient for a bit and hopefully it can be sorted soon.

9. Ayla8717 March 2015, 8:08 GMT +01:00

A first quick step would be to offer the complete current drop down list of available categories on the front page as a more-link to browse and search in all those categories to find the photos sorted in all the categories we have already. This will certainly improve the attention the categories get, because it makes all the categories easily available for the first time.

The second step should be to add additional categories to our list. I fully support Kevins suggestions, this is the way all subjects should be fleshed out. Migration from old (rough) to new (finer) categories should be left as a manual task for the photographers to do whenever they wish. You can change the categories of your photos already at any time in the photo management. I don't think this process can be further automated with reasonable effort.

Get well soon, Jay.

In the meantime, perhaps we should start to collect our ideas for new categories somewhere?
--Michael

10. xymonau17 March 2015, 10:57 GMT +01:00

Feel free to start compiling, Michael. However, I would change the list entirely. I would remove some and add others. I think we can all suggest changes and then sort out what seems appropriate. Maybe add "graphics" and some sub sets of those as well.

11. Ayla8717 March 2015, 12:46 GMT +01:00

I must admit I'm no good compiler.

To remove categories might make some photos homeless. I'm quite sure there are at least some photos in every category.

Does anybody know a good platform where we can commonly work on a list of categories and subcategories (starting from what is there)?

Maybe it would be interesting as a start not only to list all the categories like this
http://www.rgbstock.com/images/leisure
but also the number of photos in it (702)?

12. xymonau18 March 2015, 4:14 GMT +01:00

I think that we can fix the categories in our own images over time. I'm still fixing mine after losing titles and categories on the shift here in 2009! LOL I fix as many as I have the energy to do when I encounter them. I don't think too many would be changed dramatically. Maybe there could be code to channel existing images into a larger general area - e.g. - trees and shrubs into nature (that's not a suggestion, just an example).

13. coolhewitt2318 March 2015, 8:58 GMT +01:00

I'd like to see new features to the website such as a contributor chat room. I contributor must have at least 500 photo's online before they are given the privilege of using the chat room. I would like to see a few more categories added to the current list. I might suggest Chinese New Year. Thanks for the software suggestion Xymonau, I will research it before I buy it.

14. ColinBrough18 March 2015, 11:16 GMT +01:00

Additional categories suggestions:

Places -> Garden
Abstract -> Colours

There have been times when I couldn't quite place a Concept -> ??? and an Object -> ???, but I can't remember what I would have liked to have been present just now!

15. xymonau18 March 2015, 14:58 GMT +01:00

I think the concepts need expanding. Definitely (at least for me! LOL) borders and frames, and paper. Graphics and illustrations. Celebrations can be extended as a few are missing.

Re Messiah - it is animation but also still editing, and it is a very powerful and complex program, so it isn't for everyone. I tried to get on their site the other day but wasn't able to access it. Not sure what's going on there.

16. coolhewitt2318 March 2015, 15:35 GMT +01:00

Xymonau; The Messiah website is offline. Lately, I've been working with a 2D software called Crazytalk Animator 2 pro. Its a very quick way to create cartoons but the software has a shortage of characters. I've been busy uploading props and background to their online store. I give them a none exclusive license so I always still own my content. I haven't uploaded much to RGB because I've been busy with animation. I have about 25gb of photo's to sort. I will be uploading soon. Easter is around the corner so I will do a couple pieces of artwork for Easter. I hope you recover from the flu soon Jazza. The flu has been very serious in China this year.

17. Ayla8719 March 2015, 8:19 GMT +01:00

Yes, Colin, I'm all for the Garden and as far as the colours are concerned Ihad even thought of subcategories for the main colours.

http://en.fotolia.com has a wide range of categories and subcategories we can have a look at as an example.

18. Ayla8720 March 2015, 12:00 GMT +01:00

I have now finished a document with our current List of Categories including the number of photos currently in each category. The links can be clicked on to show you the content of each category, you need to press your control key while clicking on them. We can now commonly work on this list to improve it. This is the reason why I have put it in the cloud. The use of this facility is free.

Here is where you find it:

http://1drv.ms/1BWeOT2

--Michael

19. xymonau22 March 2015, 6:31 GMT +01:00

Thank you, Michael! I'll get to that soon.

20. Ayla8722 March 2015, 10:56 GMT +01:00

I've now inserted all our first thoughts and ideas which we have collected so far. I hope nothing has slipped my attention.

21. micromoth22 March 2015, 22:08 GMT +01:00

@20 Hi Michael, you don't seem to have included my suggestions which started off this thread. As well as these, there could be room for inclusion of some negative emotions. We already have love, peace, etc., but what about sadness, grief, anger, and so on?

22. Ayla8723 March 2015, 6:36 GMT +01:00

@21 You are right, Kevin, sorry. I'm back at work right now. Now, since I can't access the cloud here from my office for security reasons - would you mind to add them yourself? I'd love so see this grow as a common work. Your suggestions are all great.

23. xymonau23 March 2015, 9:57 GMT +01:00

I still haven't done anything. I have to be in the right frame of mind. Keep the suggestions coming.

24. Ayla8723 March 2015, 11:53 GMT +01:00

I'm still pondering a bit about how fine the selection of categories should become. The more you have to choose from, the better they fit on the one hand, but it is also more effort to find the right category then. I also wonder if it would be helpful to offer more than three possible categories per image if we have so many choices? I'm not sure if our users see - and understand - the difference between well cared for category selections and the always present search by keywords (which lead to a different result).

25. xymonau23 March 2015, 13:31 GMT +01:00

My personal choice is the fewer the better, except in cases like flowers - which need their own category, with maybe a sub category of roses, since those are the most prolific. Specificity is good for people searching, but I think keywords, plus the sensitivity of the keyword search is equally important. People looking for specific things will always use keywords. People browsing to see what is here will use the categories.

I think three is sufficient for most - although four is better, but I wouldn't have too many. A better thing would be to link to three or more other images in the person's gallery on the same subject. You may notice I put a couple of choices under most of my images, but there is only room for that. On sxc, we could link the new image to others in our own galleries, and they would appear in tiny thumbnails.

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