New B&W 'Zine...? & Updates..

[vickersdc]

The current Creative Image Maker website will be updated early next week (week commencing 18th Feb) and this will mean a loss of service for a few days.

The current site does not allow us enough room for expansion as there is a limit on the number of pages allowed and it also has a fixed hierarchy of those pages. We are already near the limits on the articles section and so this update is needed. The new site provides us with much more freedom and I'm looking forward to getting it uploaded.

The new site has a familiar feel to it, although there are some minor differences - particularly in the way that articles will be displayed; with the new site, articles will appear in a new window. Navigation remains broadly similar as do the section titles.

The current site will have to be pulled first, before the new site can be uploaded; following that the domain name servers (that allow your computer to go to the site) will need to be updated and that can take 24-48 hours. I'm looking to start this on Monday, with a view to normal service resuming on Wednesday.

As an additional thing, I'm wondering whether it's worth re-instating the Gallery? I definitely want to keep the Feature Images as that seems to be a real hit, but I'm not so sure about the Gallery - especially when there's Flickr, APUG, et al. What do you think?

Also, I haven't been pushing the events / exhibitions / camera club sections as I've been concentrating on getting articles and images - do you feel that this section is worth building up (I'm happy to do it, if you think it's worth it)?

That's all. Remember that it is a magazine for you and I do value your input, we wouldn't be here without it after all!

Cheers,
David.

 

[Peter Schrager]

shows;events;meetings

the events;meetings;clubs;and or shows are very important-it's how we network and that IS photography...please keep that part alive and updated...from what I've seen so far it's going to be a worthy endavour...
Best, Peter

 

[vickersdc]

Site Update...

Finally the site is going through the update process, having been taken down by the service provider.

This was the first step in the process - the original site had to be removed to allow me to get a better web hosting agreement. The new site can then be uploaded and the domain pointed at the new server.

I'm currently waiting for some information about the new server before I can upload the version 2 site. It's slow going this update, but at least we have made some progress!

I'll keep you posted.

David.

 

[vickersdc]

Still Waiting...

As reported on Thursday, the old site has been taken down to make way for the new site. We had to take the old site down first as the service provider could not run two separate hosting services at the same time - as we cannot point the creativeimagemaker.co.uk domain name at two places at once.

As I'm sure you are aware, I've been very unhappy with this hosting provider and when they finally took down the site (four days late), I purchased a hosting plan with their sister company. With the monies out of the account, I got a response from the site that I would be sent information allowing me to start the process of uploading the new site.

By the end of Friday I still had nothing. I sent in a support call and I'm still waiting for a response.

So, as I write this, we have no site up and running, I can't upload the new site as I don't have the server information I need and I'm guessing that I won't get a response until Monday.

I've also asked for a refund as their customer support service is just appalling. I'll try and find a company that actually responds to their customers!

I'm hugely frustrated and disappointed by this setback - but rest assured that the project is still alive and well, and I'll get the magazine back online as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience,
David Vickers.

 

[vickersdc]

Right... there's a new web provider, new functionality and a new site!

The site is up and running, but is still heavily under construction (still has the virtual scaffolding around it). I have decided to go for a proper content management system that will certainly make life easier for me as we go forward.

It was actually quite a 'difficult' decision to make - I'd already recoded the old website so that I could just upload it, but when I started to think about the project as a long-term proposition, it just didn't make sense to carry on having to hand-code articles.

The new site uses a content management system and it will take me a bit of time to get it looking right and setup for our purpose - but in the meantime, if you don't mind donning your virtual hard-hat and stepping in to the building site, the articles will still be appearing and I've uploaded some of the older articles and posted this weeks Polaroid Special.

As it's set at the moment, you will have to login (top right) of the homepage to get access - just follow the instructions.

Thanks,
David.

 

[Ian Grant]

Strange when I follow the links to the pages the header is in Turkish not English.

Ian

 

[vickersdc]

Strange when I follow the links to the pages the header is in Turkish not English.

Ian

:confused: Errr.. I wasn't expecting that as a problem! PM me and give me some more details - I'll see if I can find out what's happening!

I'm expecting some issues to begin with, whilst I get it sorted out and tweaked, but nothing like this.

Cheers,
David.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Good to see it back up after a fashion anyways.

 

[vickersdc]

Hi Chris,

It's getting better day by day! Well, hour by hour really

I'm on one steep learning curve I can tell you! There have been several improvements over the last 24 hours and I dread to think how many hours I've spent on it over the last few days.

We now have all the old articles online. We've got this weeks Polaroid Special online as well, and there is information on what is coming up over the next three weeks. You can also message each other if you're online on the site and logged in too. There were issues with the forums, but I've sorted that out about 30 minutes ago, so they are now up and running. I have still to update the competition stuff, write a how-to use guide and a couple of other things, but I hope you all like the new site (once I finished playing around with the themes and altering them).

As I write this we have a blue theme, which won't be staying (unless you all like it?), but the original theme needed lots of tweaking so I need to do that somewhere else.

Cheers,
David.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Keep us abreast, David and let us know what we can do.

 

[vickersdc]

Thanks Chris, will do...

 

[Snapshot]

Hi David,

I enjoyed the articles on Polaroid cameras. Please keep up the good work!

Regards,

 

[vickersdc]

Thanks Snapshot!

Hopefully you'll also enjoy this weeks magazine which has a bit of a cyanotypes special in it; buying off of eBay and a fantastic feature image by Dorothy Kloss.

Cheers,
David.

 

[vickersdc]

Hi everyone,

I've added some extras on to the site - there's now a bookstore (US and UK versions) and a gallery. The gallery is based on a Flickr viewer and it will show images that are posted on to the Creative Image Maker pool on Flickr. It's just an experiment at the moment so your feedback is wanted please. The bookstore is done via Amazon and so it does mean that purchasing a book via the site allows me to recoup some of the cost of putting this all together(!) - 4% of the cost of the book goes towards keeping the site. Now, if you are in the US, due to how Amazon (US) works, I'll be getting vouchers rather than any hard-cash - and it is my intention that these vouchers can be used to buy a book which can then be used as a competition prize (for example), this way you'll get something back too.

Cheers,
David.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Haven't checked out the gallery yet, David. I'll have to see that. Thank you.

 

[vickersdc]

COMPETITION ENTRIES

Just a quick reminder that the 'Image Within An Image" competition closes on Monday night (31st March)! Submit your entries this weekend to have a chance at winning the prize kindly donated by Fotohuis RoVo.

For more information, look at the Creative Image Maker website: Dead Link Removed.

Thanks, and good luck!
David Vickers.

 

[vickersdc]

Improved Navigation

Hi All,

Just to let you know that I've improved the navigation on the Creative Image Maker website - you can now access the current weeks articles directly from the front page instead of having to go to the overall weekly view.

I hope it makes using the site even easier, as there have been a couple of comments in the past about finding your way around the site. As is the case with these things, it was an obvious solution that struck me like a bolt of lightning! I've also made it slightly more 'graphic', rather than just the plain ol' text that used to be there.

So, if you haven't been to the site for a while / at all - check it out.

Thanks,
David.

 

[Snapshot]

Thanks again for your hard work, David.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Creative Image Maker Magazine . . .

Hi all. For those of you who are not familiar with this publication, it was begun by David Vickers of the UK in January and had some early successes due to initial interest. Well as with all things interests wan. It has slowed a bit, due mostly to a lack of contributions. If you check out the site (link in my sig) you can see the kind of material that has been submitted to date. If you know a great deal in a particular area of photography (gear, technical, process, editorials, you name it) then by all means feel free to contribute. Check it out. THank you.