The Gallery

[Whitters]

Folks,
We were going to continue our discussion on how we wanted the Gallery to look... Any thoughts?

[ This Message was edited by: Whitters on 2002-12-07 12:59 ]

[Rick]

I'd like to see something like this:

The main OAS gallery page would have 20-30 of our "favorite" images on it, with "favorite" being biased towards recent ones, but allowing for some older ones that are particularly spectacular for some reason or other to be on the main page.

There would also be links on the gallery page to individual members' own pages. For those members who don't have their own websites we could have sub-pages in the OAS area, but for size reasons they might need to be kept fairly small, or to be served from my (slower) home server.

Members' own pages, linked from the gallery page, would showcase their own astro photos, and maybe use a similar format?

Any other comments, anyone?

[Mike]

I agree, with maybe the pics under sub-sections, i.e. Moon, Planets, Comets, Galaxies, Nebulae, etc. !?!?!

[Whitters]

I think that we are getting enough images of different subjects to be able to split the gallery into subject areas, that is if there is space available.

[Ian]

It might be useful to enlist the talents of Greg for the members sites, that way we could have a tidy common look.

btw Greg, I did get that html and am working on it. I'll let the forum know when I'll  be beta-ing the changes.

[Rick]

At the moment the OAS site takes about 8Mb of the 20Mb I have available on my ISP's webserver. 6Mb of that is images. Add the other stuff I want to put on that server, and there's not all that much space left. I could manage maybe a couple of Mb more, but that probably only allows for another couple of dozen gallery images.

I think having links to members' own galleries is a better way to go for a number of reasons:

1) We can give preference in my webspace for members who don't have their own websites.

2) Members who do have their own websites can get their images up at their convenience, and not have to wait for me.

3) It spreads the load around among different web servers.

4) ... whatever

I think that it would be a good idea to provide a template for members to use if they so wish, and maybe even to have the option of using an OAS frame to hold them.

An alternative, using the wonders of ADSL and virtual hosting, would be to shift (parts of) the gallery to my home machine, but the upload speed might be affected. The advantage of using an ISP's webserver is that they _should_ have enough bandwidth to allow folks to download images fast...

[ This Message was edited by: Rick on 2002-12-12 11:33 ]

[Greg]

I think that maybe this particular subject needs discussing min more detail at the next committee meeting. there certainly seems to be enough to talk about.

[Rick]

At the moment the easiest way for folks to tell others about new astrophotographs they've taken is to link to the new photos from the Astrophotography section of the forum. That works quite well, and it also generates discussion, but the images sink into the archive over time. I see the gallery as more a place for collecting a representative selection of the astrophotos members have taken. Having links to members' own websites would allow us to have a larger selection available.

[Greg]

I tend to agree with Rick. The gallery on the OAS site should just be, say, 30 - 50 of the best pics for perhaps 6 months. A new update could be announced in the news section or after a reaaly great observing opportunity.

Rick's idea of having the pictures then link further onto the member's own website would be a good idea as well as having a selection of text links at the top/bottom of the Gallery page, all with the usual caveates about the OAS not being responsible for outside content.

[Rick]

I've recently tidied up my home site, and it now has about 3 meg more space spare...

[Mike]

As i've said before, I have 55Mb web space, of which I will only use about half - so if the rest is of use to the society you can have it.

[Rick]

To summarise:

1) Main gallery page hosts 30 to 50 images (nearer 30 than 50 most of the time).

2) Main gallery page to have links to members own pages. (Just from names under photos, or a separate section for links? I'd think the latter, myself.)

3) Members' own gallery pages could use some OAS-standard layout (but don't have to). Greg or Rick to come up with templates.

4) Rick (and/or Mike) may host gallery pages for members who don't have their own websites.

How does that match folks' memories?

[Rick]

There's a test page at http://www.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/gallerynew.html
and I'll be experimenting in http://www.chocky.demon.co.uk/gallery/ too.

[Ian]

I like the new layout. Mike's been a bit short changed though?

As an aside, it's good to see pics from some others. Tony's got a couple of good ones there!

[Mike]

I don't mind. I've only produced one pic worthy of inclusion anyway, the others are ****

I've given up on pics with the present scope. Just going to be patient till I can afford a decent sturdy driven one and a good CCD.