The Best of the Rest

[gstark]

If you've entered any of the challenges

You will be interested to know that we have added a few extra prizes to the challenges that have already been completed!

How so?

Through the good graces of Birddog, a select group of hardy members are currently wading through the submitted challenge entries, looking at those that did not win a prize, to try to find those that we consider to be the "best of the rest".

Birddog has generously donated the following prizes:

- Epson R800
- Transcend 2Gb card
- Transcend 1Gb card

with eligibility only for Australian resident members.

Winners will, of course, be announced at ...


Our Christmas Dinner

As I've already mentioned, we have a whole host of great ideas and surprises planned for this event. The Challenge 7 prize-giving, the "Best Of The Rest", the ..... and the ...., to mention but a few,

And that's not even taking into account the sumptuous banquet that you're going to be enjoying. And, of course, the fun and camerarderie of meeting and mixing with fellow DSLRUsSers.com members.

It's on December 9 and you should review this thread and make your bookings before we're all filled up.


Graphical Signatures

When was the last time you looked at our FAQ?

When was the first time you looked at our FAQ?

The FAQ exists for a purpose, as do our rules. Specifically, and of late, some of our members have been referencing graphic images in their signature lines, despite the fact that this is specifically banned.

FYI, signature lines may NOT contain any graphic content whatsoever, and should not exceed 4 lines of text content only.

As of November 1 2005 (that's tomorrow, for the calender challenged amongst us ) I'm going to be strictly enforcing this rule, and any signature lines wich do not meet these rules will be forcibly ejected by our team of robust bouncers.

Should any member be found to break this rule for a second time, banning, with no further notice or wrning, will be considered.

FWIW, graphic signature lines add nothing - not a single damn thing - to the value of your post, and only detract from other members' experience here. Don't do it!

DSLR Users Photography Wiki

Our photography Wiki can now be found here. Many thanx to Leek for suggesting that we start this project, and for all of his hard work in getting it going.

Please be sure to read the Community Portal page, as well as the Rules.

[owen]

Again, amazing generosity. Thanks Gary and the admins, as well as Birddog and Poon for your efforts in providing for this terrific community.

I really enjoy being a part of it even though I haven't had the chance to attend any meets yet.

[Manta]

Thanks Gary for this most comprehensive update of the "state of play".

Thanks also to the legendary Birddog for his irrepressible generosity and to Leek and others for their efforts in getting the Wiki up and functional. What a fabulous resource!

Once again, I'm kicking myself that I can't make the Christmas meet.

[gstark]

Once again, I'm kicking myself that I can't make the Christmas meet.

Can I get in the line for this?

Actually, there's more than just a few here who could do with a good kicking.

[Manta]

Once again, I'm kicking myself that I can't make the Christmas meet.

Can I get in the line for this?

Actually, there's more than just a few here who could do with a good kicking.

It's a bloody long line Gary!!!

[leek]

Birddog has generously donated the following prizes:
- Epson R800
- Transcend 2Gb card
- Transcend 1Gb card

Very generous, once again, Birddog...

Our photography Wiki can now be found here. Many thanx to Leek for suggesting that we start this project, and for all of his hard work in getting it going.

I should point out that MHD did an awful lot more work than I did in setting up the Wiki... I look forward to seeing contributions from as many different members as possible - many hands make light work

[thaddeus]

I've just started to recieve spam on the dinner booking address, and I am now not a happy camper.

I think I recall seeing the dinner address on the front page of this website. Address harvesting robots crawl sites all the time and probably picked it up from there. If you are concerned about picking up spam, I suggest you use web forms rather than publish email addresses on the web.

I think the wiki is a great idea, however, it raises issues about the URL architecture and the name of the site. It used to be quite simple: d70users.com. However, now when I type in (a) d70users.com, it redirects me to (b) dslrusers.net. This would be fine, but the logo on (b) dslrusers.net says (c) dslrusers.com. So I typed in (c) dslrusers.com and it redirects me back to (b) dslrusers.net with a (c) dslrusers.com logo.

I had a look at the wiki and it suffers some of the same issues: the wiki is called wiki.dslrusers.net but the logo says dslrusers.com. If I type in wiki.dslrusers.com it says "no such domain."

It would be a lot simpler and be stronger branding to choose a particular name and align all the URLs and banners to the same thing.

Also, the old dslrusers.com forum doesn't seem to be dead. For example, http://www.dslrusers.com/viewforum.php?f=29 goes to a working forum. Sure, it says "Don't register here," but why not just turn this off completely to save people getting confused?

[gstark]

I've just started to recieve spam on the dinner booking address, and I am now not a happy camper.

I think I recall seeing the dinner address on the front page of this website. Address harvesting robots crawl sites all the time and probably picked it up from there.

Yes, but no. The robots.txt file should be denying access to any and all crawlers.

And if it was a crawler, I'd have been recieving much more of this crap, and I'd have been recieving it for about six weeks already. That version of the front page has been dead for that long!

So, no, I doubt very much that it was a crawler trawling the site.

I think the wiki is a great idea, however, it raises issues about the URL architecture and the name of the site.

This was raised last week. Please read this thread.. When I have time, I'll take care of the problem.

It would be a lot simpler and be stronger branding to choose a particular name and align all the URLs and banners to the same thing.

Why? Of what significance is this? It's not as if this is a commercial site and I'm going to start losing money because of some "branding" issues, is it?

While I'm not disagreeing with your underlying point, my point is that this is a non-critical, non-business site, and none of this, atg the end of the day, matters.

So, please remember that this is a fun site, and just get back to enjoying it, warts and all.

Also, the old dslrusers.com forum doesn't seem to be dead.

Quite correct. It's my test site, and you may go there at your peril.

It's running a different codebase, and a different version of the database, which I'm currently testing before installing it here.

Sure, it says "Don't register here," but why not just turn this off completely to save people getting confused?

I'm not the one who's confused, and it really doesn't bother me all that much if or when others go there erroneously. If they have an issue comprehending the "don't register here" message - as many seem to do - is that my concern?


Sorry if I sound grumpy, but I am.

[gstark]

One other point:

So I typed in (c) dslrusers.com and it redirects me back to (b) dslrusers.net with a (c) dslrusers.com logo.

Why are you typing?

They're links, and as far as I can tell, the links work. You use your mouse, you click, and you go to the resolved link.

If you're telling me that some links are inoperative, then fine, please do so, and please let me know precisely how I find them.

But beyond that, I'm sorry, but I really don't see a major issue here.

[thaddeus]

I was providing you with feedback trying to be helpful.

It sounds as if you are planning to fix the URL architecture, so that's good.

The robots.txt file gives you zero protection from harvesters because it is completely voluntary. Spammers will just ignore it in an attempt to capture as many email addresses as possible.