GFXartist

Publish date:

03/23/08 @962

Editor:

Goals of the new Admin/Mod Team

With the announcement of my promotion to Admin, there’s been a surge in activity in regards to the questions of what is going to change (if anything). Below is a (long) list of our intentions with this new admin/mod team.

Team GFX page

This will be updated to remove those who are no longer active, and reflect those who are. Here you will get a brief rundown of who your admin/mod team is and quick links to contact them.

POTD (Picture of the Day)

Will not be returning in its original format. Choosing an artwork from an external source requires permission from the original artist. Choosing an artwork already posted at GFX does not (see Terms and Conditions). However, to scrounge the galleries daily, reformat some new thumbnails for the unique display size, write up something about the artist and gather relevant links is an arduous task for daily maintenance.

POTD will be hopefully be replaced by (POTW) Pic of the Week. Our goal is not to feature top 10 works, as they get enough exposure, but to feature those rare gems that may get overlooked, both past and present from all the categories. As always the POTD/W will be under scrutiny, there will always be someone to disagree or argue. We are prepared not to please everyone.

Again the POTW is tentative, not official.

Polls

Polls will be returning as soon as today. The polls will be geared more towards giving an opportunity to the members getting to know trends within the member base. From software, hardware…techniques anything. Occasionally there will be polls to garner feedback from the member base in regards to the functionality of GFX. That will be necessary empirical data used to help us push the programming guys to make certain changes, though nothing is guaranteed.

Vote System

The vote system is not currently under review as there are several smaller scale features that are on the list to be completed first. Any changes would require the programming team who currently does not have GFX as their top priority but their projects that pay the bills instead. What the hell do they do? Check http://www.brothersinart.com to see what keeps them busy.

Artwork Categories

Realize that any modification of the Art Categories will necessitate the movement of 6 years worth of submissions. That’s thousands of artworks to reallocate.

That does NOT mean it’s crossed off the list, but instead falls next to the Vote System in terms of priority.

In the meantime we can redefine the categories to help aid both the artists and mod teams keep some sense of order.

3-d, Painting, and Photography are pretty much self explanatory.
Drawing – will be redefined to minimize the subjectivity and make it clear when it used
Design – is too broad a term. A photomanip with added text at this point can also double down in Design. The Design category will be redefined again to ensure that was goes there belongs there…and vice versa.
Photomanipulation – Probably the most debated category. We are compiling all the threads, pm’s and bookmarked artworks that discuss this issue to try and come up with a definition that reflects the opinions of the current member base, but more importantly reflect on today’s technology.

With the advent of programs and functionality like ‘Camera Raw plugins’ HDR, LightRoom, Aperture etc., the ability to ‘tweak’ a photo (in relevance to colors/tones) leaves some photos walking the wire between Photo and Photomanip. The argument of when the tweaks take place (in camera, editing program, or darkroom) is a factor to be considered as well.

This will not be an easy task, and we will start a thread when appropriate to help define it in a manner that does it’s best to reflect the member base’s opinion. However, the moment you try to please everyone is the minute you piss off someone….We are prepared for that.

FAQs

Will be reviewed one by one looking for anything that has a typo, grammar issue, or information that is just OBE (outdated by event). I plan on adding FAQs on Thumbnail creation and hosting your images to ease the burden for newer members.

Submission Guidelines

Will be revised to reflect on trends that developed since the last revision. To be honest they are the most comprehensive and direct than they ever have been and are both stern and flexible. The revisions to take place will be near transparent to the artists.

The Submission guidelines will get one major revamp. The addition of visual examples for those who are just too lazy to read, that will further illustrate what is allowed and not allowed. The definitions of what is copied, referenced, and inspired will become more definitive in a visual format. These examples are pretty much done already and will probably be updated within the next few weeks.

Tutorials

Will be scrubbed looking for broken links, and some may be removed while others will be added. Normally, these tutorials will be external links to other artist’s websites, so this may take some time to gain permission to display them.

I want a broad base of tutorials….right now it’s all about digital painting. We want to include tutorials about 3d, photomanipulation, photography (including our favorite Mr. Mekis sharpening tut

), design and basic art principles.

This will be an ongoing WIP with news updates announcing the new additions as they arrive.

Interviews

This is not our highest priority right now. Though it is something we definitely what to make a priority once other items are crossed off the list. Most interviews are already found in the News Archive.

Articles

A long abandoned feature from 2002 will probably stay that way. We are going to coordinate to maybe eliminate this feature or link it directly to the News Archive.

Contests

We have one contest that I’ve been talking about for months. It will be implemented shortly after the GFX Wall is finished as that deserves some spotlight, and

kittyKat deserves some credit for putting it together. A 3rd year in a row makes it an official tradition in my eyes.

Future contests at this point will most likely just revolve with the winner getting plus memberships for free as I have the ability to do that now. The next contest on tap will have a bit more, but as Pam (

kittyKat) can attest, getting sponsors is a pain and we just don’t have time right now.

curlyhair tried starting an artist/face-off battle…but it got debated to death about the ins and outs and never got off to a start. We plan on contacting her to help set up a defined set of rules and perhaps make this a regular feature, with maybe a new theme each month.

New moderators

Currently I’m not looking to promote anyone to moderator, to get the site up to speed with the goals mentioned above would mitigate the need to have a larger mod team. All the mods we have now are pretty active, and have experience in moderating other web communities.

If you wish you can pm me, and I’ll put your name on the backburner, but realize we are trying to make life easier for the mod team, you might want to wait until the changes are put into place

In closing

If you read closely you’ll notice that the word ‘I’ is instead written as ‘We’ quite often. This is a team effort between,

MePhIstoZoR,

TheNeverman,

Raphael and myself. None of these proposed changes will take place without their help, so please give them some credit for the community you enjoy so much now. I have every faith in the moderator team and will do all I can to accommodate them. They are your first line of communication, let them do their job. If you feel they are doing something ‘un mod-like’ then let me know.

Do not harass the mod team, as they have my full support for doing a job that no one else would to ensure you have a GFXartist to go to in the first place.

I had made mention that ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint.’ That phrase still holds true. While I am all gung-ho to get these changes implemented, I still have responsibilities outside GFX. This is the 3rd online community I’m an administrator of currently now, plus I have my duties as a soldier, and 2 civilian jobs as well. Somewhere in there I’m a husband and father…so bear with me if these changes take a little while.

The important thing to know is that I am here, and don’t plan on being an absentee landlord. I plan to be swift with both reward and punishment. For those who know me know I don’t mince words….and I don’t play favorites. I’m a blunt guy that calls it as I see it, but I also listen. Come to me with a mature argument and you’ll always have my ear. Go off on a rant with a lack of professionalism and I have no qualms about showing you the door.

I hope this answers a lot of the questions that may have arisen lately, feel free to discuss this in the forums , and just post general comments here.

-Brett aka Wysiwyg
Team GFX

Forum Thread Link --> http://www.gfxartist.com/community/forum/164672

05/20/2007 @849 Guidelines and moderation (65)

07/17/2006 @448 Guidelines and moderation (154)

04/26/2006 @824 Artwork Submission Guidelines Revised (28)

09/22/2004 @178 New artwork quality guidelines (69)

09/30/2003 @103 Mythical Women T-Shirt Contest Submission... (21)

Gods-Mistake

03/23/08 @971

Nice, thx for the input.
You could add

pyrokids contest:
You what?

Wysiwyg

03/23/08 @974

As it seems like an ongoing competition, without an end there is no judging or prize to be awarded. But if it were refined as such I would seriously think about helping support it.

EideticImage

03/23/08 @977

Go Brett !! XD

Wallace

03/23/08 @990

Thanks Brett for this extensive update

Two points stick out for me:

The first is the implementation of the Picture of the Week
I fully agree that this should feature artworks that get unnoticed but deserve much more attention. Of course this being a subjective decision there will always be some friction by those whose artworks are not chosen.
However, the pro's outweigh the con's much more, can't wait to see this feature being implemented. I wish there were even more means to give unnoticed artworks (and artists) more exposure

Secondly, I think the contest feature is a necessassity: artists do like some friendly competition, especially when something can be won (yes we are greedy

). Also it is a way to attract both sponsers and new members, two elements that give this community the much needed life-energy.

The infamous Scion skin contest at DA last year is a good example how a contest can give a tremendous pulse to an art-community, even now people are still talking about it (this being an extreme example though as winning a complete pimp my ride car is not your everyday art contest prize hehe)

Lastly, I and many others respect and appreciate the input you and the mods give to this community, I hope, by implementing these goals, would give gfx the needed boost. I thank you

LiddleLarsen

03/24/08 @006

Good work!

Wysiwyg

03/24/08 @048

Thanks for the input Wallace...much appreciated.

My biggest goal of all of this is to be active both in action and in letting you know when those actions take place.

Sharkh20

03/24/08 @118

Good work admins and mods, cant wait for this stuff!

Gods-Mistake

03/24/08 @755

Could you add a feature that forces people who vote 4 and below to make a comment to verify the vote?

Wysiwyg

03/24/08 @776

4 isn't a bad vote if their max is 5

deandude

03/24/08 @798

good stuff, brett...thanks for the info!

Gods-Mistake

03/24/08 @848

haha, righty.
convinced. got used to the 10.
But 1 and below... come ooooon...

Raphael

03/25/08 @649

I think that'd come under the heading of "Needing programming input" G-M, sorry. Personally, I'd like to see the Vote drop down attached to the comment box so that you can't vote without comment and vice versa. Unfortunately, I imagine it'd mean much more "wow"ing.

GoldPaw

04/03/08 @171

I'm glad to see someone trying to breathe a little life back into this site. I just wish it were more in the way of new projects and activities rather than revamping the rules and guidelines and tweaking a few features. I don't think this site suffers from a lack of opportunity or understanding of the rules as much as from a lack of passion, inspiration, and direction.

Gods-Mistake: I give out 3 and 4 pt votes because if the work was interesting enough for me to click on the link, I'd rather throw a few points someone's way than not vote at all. Is getting 7 votes of 3 not better than getting no votes? Most of the time I comment, but on occasion I don't because I have trouble identifying the one or two points that are the weakest or would be the most helpful to the artist without discouraging them.

artop

05/04/08 @308

nice work

http://directory.ar-top.com
http://forums.ar-top.com/f11
http://forums.ar-top.com
http://forums.ar-top.com/f2
http://forums.ar-top.com/f38
http://forums.ar-top.com/f36
http://chat.ar-top.com/
http://www.ar-top.com/
http://vb.lm3a.net
http://www.lm3a.net
http://directory.lm3a.net

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Category:

GFXartist

Publish date:

03/23/08 @962

Editor:

Wysiwyg

Comments:

14

Related link

www.gfxartist.com

Goals of the new Admin/Mod Team

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05/20/2007 @849 Guidelines and moderation (65)

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