Nicer to hold I suspect but he s[pec is not much better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOmk5WFdf9c
REGULAR FAVOURITES needed
There is a proposal, from the Curator, that a Monthly Home Page Item, perhaps called Observations or Photos of the Month, begins end of January in 2024, with maybe up to four photos/observations (taken or made in the specific month each time) A January trial then.
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There are no specific suggestions yet as to how the item will be chosen but the idea involves a small team of monthly volunteers who, between them, propose photos or Observations, All get shown in a separate panel on the home page, perhaps, with reasons for the choice given, if it is not immediately apparent!
What to you think?
And will you volunteer to be one of say THREE judges for January.
I will be glad to coordinate the first choice team but not as a judge (first time)
So three volunteers needed for the first month
I really like this idea but would suggest the selection criteria be as open as possible so that anyone could be in with a chance of being nominated - including new users. I had even thought could we have something like ānew user of the monthā like they do with the forum? That might give people an incentive to stay.
I too like the idea of an Observation of the Month and keeping the home page relevant. Just keep the process as simple as possible. Anyone could nominate their choice in this thread.
yes but someone will have to make ātheā decision. In the Southern African (iSpotza) version, it was voting in a Forum Item, led by the Curator. Submission were made before a date and voted for by users. That became Observation of the Month - it was driven from the Forum and the Observation of the Month was a bold home page Item
Iād MUCH prefer to be just a user. It has to be run by the Curator who sets up the voting system.
there are far less users of the Forum than the the main site
Not many are adding a Favourite to this thread but I guess, that is how it might work
Add your nominations for December (must be a December Observation) before 31st.
If the three judges idea does not work (because not enough people volunteer to do it) then another option would be for anyone to nominate anything and send it to me via ācontact usā button and I would decide which to use.
There are two competing things here first wanting to be completely open and suggesting that the nominations are put in the forum for everyone to see but set against that is the āsurpriseā element of having the nominations sent to curator and everyone wanting to read the monthly front page item to see which observations were chosen.
In reality even when the ZA version was running I think there was often a shortage of nominations so often had to encourage people to take part.
Anyway lets try as dejay suggests to start off with and can always modify things as we go along.
Many years ago I won a wildlife photo competition a couple of times so was then encouraged to be a judge instead, might do this kind of thing here so those who produce the interesting observations may be encouraged to be the the ones selecting next months observations of the month and particularly look out for new people.
Soā¦ can we have a New Thread Mike OBSERVATION of the MONTH (Mike?)
Also it MIGHT be worth tagging the āchosenā ones so that all can be brought together next Christmas. Iāll devise a tag in time.
Here are all the December Observations 159 so far - new ones are added automatically
Iāve been hesitant about the idea of Obs of the Month but not because I donāt like it in principle. Iām absolutely for a Home Page revamp that would give a much ābolderā impression.
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My qualms are related to what Mike has just written and come from something similar I was involved with on a now defunct gardening site. This wasnāt just gardening per se but also with groups like āwildlife in the gardenā, for example. It ran monthly and there was much enthusiasm to start with.
The āJanuary winnerā would then choose the next monthās āwinnerā out of all the new photo submissions and so it carried on - until it didnāt because ultimately people stopped submitting photos or the āwinnerā didnāt want to judge the next one.
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Now submissions to iSpot arenāt going to stop but it will need a team to keep on top of the whole commitment. Will it mean votes or someone just picking one out of the monthās new obs? Not everyone is a Forum user and quite honestly, I think the way to the Forum itself should be made more of a priority on the Home Page before OBSERVATION of the MONTH begins. The Forum is far too hidden away for my liking.
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This will sound like Iām not keen on the idea but it seems apparent at the moment that iSpotters have various priorities to attend to. Iām not going to volunteer as yet and I apologise for the above being somewhat negative and a bit garbled.
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I think northernteacher makes some very valid points and indeed, I myself have not been very active on iSpot lately as Iāve got lots going on. Iād therefore be happy to judge on occasion but not on an ongoing basis. How about instead trialling it by doing nominations for the best obs related to one of the special days that iSpot seems to do - eg Christmas Day and the equinoxes? That way there would fewer occasions so less of a commitment but also the observations would be more ācontainedā so easier to look through and nominate - just an idea.
Me too
i was hoping someone might say something like that. I was beginning to think I might be the only one who might have reservations (excuse my apparent keenness shown above).
I have said all along that ADMIN should revamps the whole HOME PAGE, properly and perhaps put up an Observation of the week (or longer but NOT so the item becomes stale). I have asked for that innumerable times and may have made myself unpopular (with Admin) in the process.
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So I agree, another form Favouriting probably wonāt work. the one we have at the moment only just working and the concept of Exemplars may well be a step too far Very few people are supporting either.
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Nowā¦ I am not unhappy to help it along and will if there is some groundswell. Whatever happens it should be to ENHANCE the home page and suggest it should be read by newly-registered. as well as the older hands
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Possibly the difference here is that if the community runs out of steam there is still the curator to choose the next one but it would be good to let others have a go partly so they see that they can be involved if they want to.
Iām sorry but some of this will sound very pointed.
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The community provide the observations. Some in the community provide more observations than others. On occasion, the Admin team and the Curator in particular also add observations. This is how it should be.
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The community canāt action the Home Page and yes, it probably should be left to Admin to post the āObservation of the Monthā on this page which is under their control. However, I for one wouldnāt be surprised to find it all soon falling apart as the Home Page just doesnāt get updated in a timely manner.
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At the minute I can see reference to ā2nd April, 2023. Wild Islesā as well as " UK Fungus Day October 7", all highly depressing in December. When I go to a site I donāt know, I look for the date of the latest offering and if itās months ago, I move on as it certainly seems like nobody is caring about it.
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I donāt have anything else to say about it at the minute.
One of the reasons the observation of the month idea arose was to make sure there was at least one new item per month in addition to any of the other items that appear.
Oh unfair. Are you saying that Admin (there appears to be six) have nothing to say about site difficulties and recent solutions; where they have been recently (Edinburgh Conference say); dictionary progress, funding problems; links to AI providers; new ideas; promoting projects monthly (like Focus); the need for user help with the Dictionary, Browser and lost Observations; using the forum more effectively; first Organism-records in iSpot (2 this week) etc.
I think you need help with the Home Page and if asked, users would contribute to Home Page items. Goodness it needs to be lit up with a few recent Observation photos - they do not have to be anyoneās FAVOURITE or voted for, just nice to look at. Itās CHRISTMAS honestā¦
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Is D88 your prospective Christmas dinner?
Because I rarely visit the Home Page - and generally only to quickly access the āAdd Observationā button - this would probably not affect me much and I might well not see it unless it were put above the carousels. That said, I am neutral on the idea but would be happy to help in the selection on an occasional basis. One suggestion, though: make the selection process simple. The more complicated it is, the less likely it is that the idea will survive let alone thrive. Perhaps allow anyone to nominate a post/photo of the month, either as a comment or in this forum, and a committee of one decides on the winner which may or may not be one of the nominees. A new ācommitteeā to volunteer or be nominated / press-ganged every 1 / 3 / 6 / 12 months.
Okay, how about:
Someone/anyone volunteer (or be invited) to propose the observation of the month. This could be done via the Forum. The observation could then be emailed to Miked thus keeping the surprise element.
In the event no one volunteers to nominate an observation, the curation team could choose one.
Iād prefer to steer away from winners and losers.
I like the idea of having a note on the home page pointing people towards the forums.
A while back I did send in a couple of āhow to get the most out of iSpotā articles with a view to luring newcomers in. Not sure if they have been forgotten or rejected! (And Iām happy to leave that to othersā judgement.)
My feeling is that more people visit iSpot in the wamer months simply because they are making more observations - certainly true for me. But retaining new visitors is the only way that the site is going to stay viable. When I look at old observations, I realise quite how many (pretty clued-up) observers have gone quiet. It remains to be seen whether an āobservationā of the month/season/year/decade will encourage more participation or not. But I cannot see any harm in giving it a try.
Observationof the month.
Great idea. I volunteer to trawl the January posts and send one to Miked with reasons for my choice.
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So we need a December volunteer, someone(s). It ought not be submitted until 1st Jan and published as soon as possible after that, Could this be a one-person job via the Curator (JoC? I think it should, as it would save a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. I volunteer for February but would be happy to be one of a low number.