Mudcat Profiles

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: John P
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 09:49 AM

One reason that more people don't post profiles or pictures is that there isn't a way to do it without bothering Pene Azul. If there were a form that could be filled out that would automatically put a profile up and allow edits I think a lot more people would do it.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:05 AM

Dave Bryant - you're already in there in this photo. A fine figure of a folkie in its natural environment.

And GUEST who's worried about lawyers, as suggested already, it really would be better to try on a stable pseudonym (eg GUEST, Bashful") to avoid getting confused with some of the other bods who post as GUEST (click on the GUEST at the head of your post and see why you woldnn't be want to be confused with some of them).

And you could post a photo with a false beard or a Lone Ranger mask - or a picture of a pet or an instrument. Just something to individualize yourself.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:06 AM

John, I'd commented on that one earlier, though not from the angle of bothering Jeff. If he (perhaps with good reason - I had that debate with him a couple of years back and it was an "agree to dissagree" one - there are good reasons not to go "open"...) chooses to operate that way, I don't see it being "bothering" him - though perhaps others might.

Personally, I see it more a matter of additional hassle if I have to email/ pm material to someone else saying "please can you put that up for me" or "please can you update this information". It's something that I'd rather do myself.

The forums I am responsible for the maintainence to (annexe and folk info) allow a profile without a picture and this do be done themselves. I can't convince myself that we get a higher % of people supplying info to this than Mudcat does with its system - therfore I am doubtful how much this really is a factor.

As for pictures, it's something that was talked about at the Annexe and something I'm still thinking about (months on). I'd like to go user updatable but do worry at ensuring size limits and that what got posted say as a jpeg was a genuine image file - I'm not really sure what games could be played with binary files if we did get someone malicious.

Jon

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:30 AM

If we had personally updatable photos, I'm sure we'd have all kinds of problems cropping up that we haven't even thought of. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:33 AM

I believe the only way to auto-upload a photo now is in the Auction. You'd have to be auctioning yourelf off, serially, to update a profile photo.

On the other hand, there are lots of free places to hang up a photo online. You can put a link to that, in your profile, without having to sell yourself off by lots.

:~)

~S~

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:38 AM

I think we understand each other here McGrath but, just in case, I certainly was not trying to suggest that MC should go user updatable on anything in the profile.

Jon

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: treewind
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 11:13 AM

It's the extra hassle of getting someone else to update it that's been the small psychological barrier to me putting up a profile so far. Especially updating it. I sometimes go though frenetic phases of "tinkering" with my web site, often for quite minor cosmetic reasons, and I'd hate to have to waste some worthy and overworked Mudcat maintainer's time just for my vanity :-)

As for overlarge images or anything else unacceptable in user-driven updates, surely the answer is for Pene (or whoever it is) to be alerted automatically when a profile or image is updated so they can do a quick check. These facilities are members-only so abuse is controllable.

Maybe I'll just send in a profile with a link to my web site...

Anahata

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 11:30 AM

Had one - had it removed - not interested now -

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 11:37 AM

Well a picture of GUEST wouldn't be much help anyway in connecting it with any post, would it?

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 11:46 AM

Thanks Anahata. I'm only looking at this from "my own" sites viewpoints... I do like the idea of having an admin notified - certainly on our scale that would be easy. On something like a graphic, I guess it would be quite feasible to say it doesn't go "live" until "approved"...

Jon

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,bbc at work
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 11:53 AM

When profiles were originally offered by me & my son, it was as a freely-offered service. When Jeff took it over, he kept much of the site as it had started, except that it was on the Mudcat server, rather than on my son's website. Things can certainly be changed/eliminated at any time. At this point, that's up to Jeff & Max, as far as I can see. I'm not sure why there seems to be such controversy about a completely optional service.

bbc

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 12:10 PM

bbc, I don't seem to be reading much in the way of controversy/criticism in the posts I've read in this thread.

Most of it seems to me to be a reasonable attempt at an anlysis as to why some may not chose to offer a profile and perhaps some discussion over relative merits and failings of alternative approaches.

I'm not under the impression any of us who have attempted to provide reasonable feedback are out to knock what you set up or the current system here. I know I'm not.

Jon

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 01:08 PM

As a system it seems to work admirably. The only thing is, is the reason why relatively few people take advantage of it because they choose not to, or because they didn't realise it was there to be used? And the value of this thread is that it draws their attention to it, and I suspect there are quite a lot like that.

That isn't a complaint about the existence of the photros and the profiles facility not being better signposted. One of the good things about the Mudcat, as I see it, is the fact that it's quite complicated. You can still find surprises about it after being a regular here for yonks. Like a neighbourhood, in fact, you go a different way one morning and notice a path you hadn't ever seen before.

To quote Tolkien, which seems particularly timely this week with the new film out:

"Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun."

One facility which perhaps might be added, in the light of the way the Internet has developed, would be to have, alongside the photos and the profiles and such under Members' Photos and Info, a section of links to "Members' Websites", subject to them requesting such a link to be included. And of course people can edit and amend their own website, or a profile page within it, as much as they choose.

But I think signing up to the Rogues Gallery of photos is the most important thing - it's a way of being friendly towards other Mudcatters.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: Little Robyn
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 01:30 PM

OK, OK, I'll get onto it when I get a break - maybe after Christmas. I want to give it a bit of thought first and find a decent photo to scan.
See ya soon (or vice versa)
Robyn

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: PoppaGator
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 01:30 PM

If you're disappointed at not finding a profile for a given individual, by all means check the member-photo section before giving up.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have sent in a photo or two without having written a profile. And, of course, there must be others who have provided profiles (with or without accompanying pictures) but not contributed to the photos-only section.

This thread has, hopefully, served the purpose of encouraging greater participation on the part of more members -- and there's nothing controversial about that! If it also prompts greater ease and efficiency in the way profiles, pictures, etc. are handled, so much the better!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 03:29 PM

I haven't put up a profile because of privacy/security concerns, nor a photo because I need to lose weight! (Actually I'm in there somewhere from when Bill Sables & Alan visited the West)

What I've always thought would be neat - although I know technically it's probably impossible - is to have a little photo of the posting Mudcatter appear just near the Subject, From, Date header at the top of each message. Then you could get a feeling you were actually conversing with a person (wouldn't really need the profile).

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 05:46 PM

I'd have thought that techncally Les B's suggestion would be quite possible. Discussion forums often have an option to have a "avatar" icon selected by a member appear in that way, and I can't see why using a small photo-image need be much different.

But I think I'd be against it - I think it'd be likely to tip over the balance a bit far towards putting the emphasis on the poster rather than what they posted. A compromise would be to have some indication next to the name of the person posting that would indicate if they'd got a picture on file.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 07:12 PM

Would it be feasible to have an icon appear with a post, next to the poster's name, which pops up the photo of the posting member if clicked?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 07:25 PM

On a technical line - downloading lots of piccies - even thumbnails - would just cause me to turn off graphics loads on web pages. On a dial up - which has to go across the ocean anyway - often the download speed nearly kills Mudcat for me as it is.

I'm even annoyed with the fact that each web page contains hundreds, even thousands of padding "blank lines and spaces" and lots of wasted space - but that's the way the pages are served ... If I save the page and edit it I can often "sqeeeze" it by a considerable percentage... but that's all off the discussion topic and one of my personal HTML bugbears...

I recently PM'ed to put up my birthday - not year - and am getting something else together - but want to think about it so as not to keep bothering teh workers, and have something reasonably explanatory, without rabbiting on too much.

Robin

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: bbc
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 09:26 PM

Thanks for your post, Jon. I didn't mean to sound defensive. It just seems like a lot of fuss over a pretty simple thing. If people want to put information up, the option is there. If they don't, that's fine, too. Some people would like more people to be represented, but it's only up to the individual. Seems to me that most of the opinions have already been expressed. I can't believe the number of postings on this thread has gone so high. I guess I've said my piece now & will bow out.

Thanks,

Barbara

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:36 PM

HELLO...Hello...hello...Mr. GUEST Leadfingers....

Gone, disappeared, lurking the web...for guilty souls that have not responded to the collection data-base of the MC>?

Folk and and folies....PLEASE guard your personal data on the web...as closely as you guard/watch your credit-card information.

There are a lot "creeps" out there...out here....out anywhere,

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 10:47 PM

Ya....Know....I'm pretty D--ned proud to find that most MC=ers are not intimidated by this callosed attempt to "mine personal information>" (Good Lord knows, this sort of e-mail information that once gained be close to ten-cents for a connected address...now yields less than one-hundreth that.

Well Done ... Bally Hu .... Kudus to You....The MudCat few.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Dec 03 - 08:12 AM

OK, I've sent off some info and a photo of The Fooles Troupe, as well as a photo of me and my Goddaughter obeying her mother's instructions to me to "tire her out for bed"... -

I dare say it'll get put up when the Gnomes get A Round TUIT...

Robin

Subject: RE: Mudcat Profiles
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 12:18 AM

Well,
Jeff put it up (thanks - I think!), but I had sent a humourous pic for "The Fooles Troupe", and instead of using that, he carefully cut out from the real pic of me and my Goddaughter obeying her mother's instructions for me to "tire her out for bed", just a "head and shoulders" - unfortunately that segment in isolation makes me look half-pissed....

:-)

Robin