How to join this group?

[Gordon C]

I've spent way more than I should trying to work out subscribing to this group.
Yes i have read the FAQ'a
Yes I have repeatedly rerad member control setting area and on and on.
I am a subscriber to the Brisbane group and want to join the Canon group because I am a Canon user.
I make this observation, the controllers of this site are pretty intimidating and the site is difficult to navigate. If new members are wanted and recruitment of new members is an objective of this organisation then some thought might be given to intimidating appearance of information and advice to new members.

Additionally, I have no real idea how to upload an image even though I have read the instructions (no more than 150K and 800 pixels), but what file type? You want jpegs, raw, what?

I realise that I risk being attacked for these points, but I can always leave cant I?

[devilla101]

When you join you don't become exclusively a member of a particular group (eg Canon Corral) You contribute your thoughts/ideas/insights etc to the whole forum.

Thats the long and short of it. Others will answer

[Glen]

Gordon, I am a little unclear what you are asking? I assume you are new to computers and the internet so will answer fairly basically so please don't be offended if they seem too straightforward.

You have just posted in the Canon pages, meaning you can see them and post. This is not a mailing list or RRS feed, it is a web forum and you are in it.

No information here is designed to intimidate but I respect that is how you may feel.

The most common file type for the internet is jpg and that is what we would suggest if you wish you picture viewed. I am prepared to be corrected, but I do not believe any browser would support Raw and if they did whose would they support Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Fuji, etc. So I think posting in RAW would totally defeat the purpose of people trying to view your images. Have you ever posted in Raw to any site? I have never seen a site which accepts RAW posts ever, but would be interested to see if there was such an animal.

Hope this helps

Glen

[Yi-P]

What is that you don't really understand about the FAQ here?

The Canon group is just nothing but a name. I don't think people here belong to their camera group either way. It makes no difference being in the group or not. Everybody can accesss Nikon or Canon forum threads, without a problem.

We are no such organisation here and we are just a small community that shares the same interest and passion in photography. The site is ran, maintained, and supported by our admin here. They're ones who makes the call for the forum and its rules.

I believe the FAQ clearly states that "meaningful" posts are what will help out this forum community the most. I also believe out of the many active members here have no problem following this rule.

In order to upload an image, you must first have a web-based host. Either flickr, zenfolio, smugmug or even photobucket will do these tasks. They all have different costs (or free) involved.
Once you uploaded your image, simply attach the image the following manner:

Code: Select all

[img]http://www.imagehost.net/myimage.jpg[/img]

Just use the "IMG" button on the forum text editor and paste your link in. It is simple as it is.
We prefer JPG format, it can be compressed down and resized to fit our image size requirement.

If you have further questions, just feel free to post it up. I'm sure there are many members here who are willing to help you out.

[mark]

Hi Gordon,
Welcome!
To subscribe to this group, visit the board index, then click the Canon Corral, once you are in there down the bottom of the page left is a link to subscribe to this group, click it and your set.

Linking images is as simple as using the Img button above the box you type your post into which will give you this just cut and paste the url for the image you want to use. You can get this by right-click>properties on any of your images at flickr.
Here's one of yours from your flickr photostream (let me know if you want it removed)

and the code to embed an image in your post looks like this

Code: Select all

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/134/351225634_bc1ee9e896_o.jpg[/img]

Here's two posts that detail how to do it, they are stickys at the top of the image reviews and critique section should you need to find them again.

http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2789

http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10816

Hope that clears it up for you.
And I just noticed that Yip has beaten me to it.

[gstark]

Hi Gordon, and welcome.

I've spent way more than I should trying to work out subscribing to this group.

There is no group. This is the Canon section of the forum. This means that within this section you make posts that would probably have more relevance to a Canon shooter. Perhaps a question about Canon glass, for instance. Maybe news of a new Canon model.

Similar news about a Nikon model might be posed within the Nikon section.

Images for critique would be posted into the Image Critiques section.

Yes i have read the FAQ'a

Excellent.

I am a subscriber to the Brisbane group and want to join the Canon group because I am a Canon user.

There is a group for each capital city, but I'm thinking of killing those groups, because they serve no real purpose. When I created this site, I thought that geographical groupings might make sense. They do, but they are not used.

You cannot join any Canon group here simply because there is no such thing. As noted above, we have a Canon section, which is where Canon posts are made.

I make this observation, the controllers of this site are pretty intimidating and the site is difficult to navigate.

With all due respect, no way in hell!

First of, the site: we use phpbb3, one of the more popular forum software packages available. It's used around the world, in thousands of sites, by millions of users. While I don't ascribe to the popular maxim that millions of users can't be wrong, I'd like to suggest to you that millions of users can't be wrong.

As to the site controllers being "intimidating" ... give me a bloody break! We have lots of small issues to deal with, often caused by the failure of users to do simple things - simple things that you have done, such as reading the FAQ. We have lives. Real lives. Nobody here does this for money: each of the mods here are volunteers, and donate their time, their efforts, their knowledge, freely, and in good will. Again, they have lives. Jobs. Families. Their privacy, and their right to enjoy their lives, as they see fit, needs to be respected by all.

Further, this is a website. A private website. In order to make things comfortable for all people who visit, we have certain rules that we expect people to follow. When people fail to follow those rules, that has the potential to cause issues. Posting too large an image can make things difficult for those with slower dial-up connections, for instance. Posting of spam is not permitted. Breaching of copyright is stealing, and we don't accept that sort of behaviour as a core value within this community: would you like people to steal your photos?

We have nearly 3000 members. Not all are active, but of those who are, some occasionally forget some of the rules, and others never bother to even make themselves aware of them.

How would you suggest that a small group of unpaid volunteer helpers deal with these on their own time?

In all honesty, I think that the mods here are the best possible team of mods any site owner could hope to have helping him. They provide excellent counsel when asked, they act in a retrained and conservative and helpful manner, and they contribute, actively, to the wellbeing of this community.

That just leaves me. I'm a grumpy old man. Deal with it

I think it's fair to say that those who know me know me to be a fair and reasonable individual. I listen, and I have a slow fuse. Until you piss me off.

If new members are wanted and recruitment of new members is an objective of this organisation then some thought might be given to intimidating appearance of information and advice to new members.

Ok ... you need to slow down a bit here. You're making way too many assumptions. And they're just plain wrong.

What organisation? There's no organisation. This is merely a website. A private website. You visit. You read. You contribute. Hopefully you come to minimeets, meet with others, and enjoy their companionship. Many have made new and lasting friendships directly as a result of their involvement here.

Who says we want new members? Who says we are recruiting? Where have you seen our ads looking for members? The fact is that none of this is the case. We attract members directly as a result of the fact that we have some useful content here, along with what many seem to perceive as good management policies, such as no pissing contests, and no personal attacks.

I freely accept that some might actually like pissing contests, or that they can flame others. That's fine, but they may not do that here. There are plenty of sites that permit that behaviour, and they are welcome to visit those sites. I care not.

That we attract members, without any sort of effort at all, should present, to you, a message. We do no recruiting, but people join us. I have no interest in owning a large site. I wish to have a site that has quality members, and quality content. We have the latter, but it is far larger than I ever dreamed it might have been. Such is life. I'm sure I'll get over it.

As to information and advice to new members ... what would you say about the message headed, and I quote, "Important Stuff" "New to DSLRUsers.com?" ? It's right there, at the very top of the front page. How might you describe that message? Would you not agree that this is "advice to new members" ? How else might you describe it?

Additionally, I have no real idea how to upload an image even though I have read the instructions (no more than 150K and 800 pixels), but what file type? You want jpegs, raw, what?

Well, you do not upload images. Not here. We provide no facilities for the storage of images.

As others have said, you arrange for your own hosting. That can be at a commercial hosting site, such as pbase or smugmug, or it can be within your own webspace. You upload and display your images there. You then post, here, a link to those images.

Not to the pages that hold those images, but to the actual images. That is a trap for some.

As you prepare your images for upload you need to pay attention to the image size (maximum of any side of the image should not exceed 800 pixels) and the actual filesize, which should not exceed, as a guide, abotu 150KB. jpg is the best option for this, as all browsers support jpg.

I realise that I risk being attacked for these points, but I can always leave cant I?

Yes you can, or you can ask questions, and learn about ... I'd say pretty well almost anything at all, such is the depth of knowledge and experience and spirit of our membership base.

That choice is your's, but calling the operators here "intimidating" is not going to endear you to too many people. Certainly not me.

Hopefully I have cleared up some confusion on your part. Genuine questions are always welcome.