ThatAdamGuy
5th of January 2004 (Mon), 20:38
I'm still trying to get my head around optimum gallery organization, and have been visiting many other sites featuring EE galleries to examine and consider usability.
One thing that I'm mulling over is the issue of whether the category pulldown menu should, by default, select photos from all galleries, or just the current gallery.
For instance, if you are looking at exhibition "San Francisco Dance Festival 2003", and then notice the category pulldown menu and select "aerials" (dance jumps in the air), perhaps you are intending to see ALL photos of aerials, and not just aerials from the SF Dance Festival. Or perhaps not.
What is disconcerting for the user, however, is to select a category and be told "0 photos found by search." At minimum, I think, there should be a link that offers the user in this context:
"If you wish, you may _show photos from ALL exhibitions for [category]_"
I also think initially part of the problem is that people may not be used to the wording of "exhibition" in the context of online photo galleries. Indeed, the name usually used is "gallery," as in, you have a gallery entitled "SF Dance Festival" and then photos placed within it.
---
Additionally, from a webmaster perspective, it's also difficult to decide how to best use exhibitions and categories. Should I have a few exhibitions and many categories? Or many exhibitions and few categories? Or many of each? Should I perhaps use many of either, but then feature only a few on either an index page or the actual dropdown menu? Or maybe just use a handful of either, but make extensive use of keywording within IPTC, and then add in keyword options in addition to categories (perhaps as sub-categories?)
These questions, indeed, are not ones that I'm necessarily asking you directly, Pekka, but rather, ruminations from my mind just to show stir up some discussion :)
It is -- with this software or any other -- rather daunting having thousands of photos, and figuring out a workflow and an optimum online arrangement for myself and those who visit my site.
Anyway, I would certainly welcome hearing from others here... how you've decided to structure your galleries, how EE has helped in this or could better help in the future, and so on.
One thing that I'm mulling over is the issue of whether the category pulldown menu should, by default, select photos from all galleries, or just the current gallery.
For instance, if you are looking at exhibition "San Francisco Dance Festival 2003", and then notice the category pulldown menu and select "aerials" (dance jumps in the air), perhaps you are intending to see ALL photos of aerials, and not just aerials from the SF Dance Festival. Or perhaps not.
What is disconcerting for the user, however, is to select a category and be told "0 photos found by search." At minimum, I think, there should be a link that offers the user in this context:
"If you wish, you may _show photos from ALL exhibitions for [category]_"
I also think initially part of the problem is that people may not be used to the wording of "exhibition" in the context of online photo galleries. Indeed, the name usually used is "gallery," as in, you have a gallery entitled "SF Dance Festival" and then photos placed within it.
---
Additionally, from a webmaster perspective, it's also difficult to decide how to best use exhibitions and categories. Should I have a few exhibitions and many categories? Or many exhibitions and few categories? Or many of each? Should I perhaps use many of either, but then feature only a few on either an index page or the actual dropdown menu? Or maybe just use a handful of either, but make extensive use of keywording within IPTC, and then add in keyword options in addition to categories (perhaps as sub-categories?)
These questions, indeed, are not ones that I'm necessarily asking you directly, Pekka, but rather, ruminations from my mind just to show stir up some discussion :)
It is -- with this software or any other -- rather daunting having thousands of photos, and figuring out a workflow and an optimum online arrangement for myself and those who visit my site.
Anyway, I would certainly welcome hearing from others here... how you've decided to structure your galleries, how EE has helped in this or could better help in the future, and so on.