A New Change For Luminous-Landscape

[jani]

Thank you for you comments.  Michael, Chris and I have been following the topic all day.  We have heard you and we will keep the forum as a FREE portion of the Luminous-Landscape site.  The rest of the site will be part of the membership site.  The exception is the For Sale topic.  If you wish to post there you will need to be a member.  Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for listening, Kevin, Chris, and Michael. You always have been good at that.

[kers]

Open forum and content for 12$ a year - a very nice outcome  !
I will be happy to sign up to support LuLa.
This site that has been for me an important well of solid information over the years with all the articles, videos and the forum.
congratulations!
Pieter Kers

[AlterEgo]

I suggest that only paid members can have signatures listing their websites/blogs/etc... as this is a form of ad, can't be for free... or to make things simple - signature option is enabled for paid members, that's it

[mecrox]

Happy to contribute here seeing as so far I have taken but not given back. For myself, I would be keen to see more emphasis on the photography itself, i.e. images, perhaps in the form of additional forums for, example, black and white, abstract, cityscapes, etc. where the emphasis is on posting images and much less so on "gear talk". I guess this is a seesaw, though. Gear talk probably brings extra eyeballs but it also brings trolls, fly-by-nights and all the rest. I may be going against the grain here but imho without quality images and attention to the image itself as the core of the whole thing a site doesn't offer much that 1000 more gear-oriented sites don't offer.

[AlterEgo]

site doesn't offer much that 1000 more gear-oriented sites don't offer.

well, that simply shows how ignorant you are... there are only few forums where quality technical info is available... I mean the likes of argyllcms or colorsync mailing lists or http://www.dpreview.com/forums/1061 if you catch the drift (which I doubt) ... on the contrary the quality images are numerous and available to enjoy in a much higher resolution everywhere in abundance from flikr to 500x to you name it.

[mecrox]

well, that simply shows how ignorant you are... there are only few forums where quality technical info is available... I mean the likes of argyllcms or colorsync mailing lists or http://www.dpreview.com/forums/1061 if you catch the drift (which I doubt) ... on the contrary the quality images are numerous and available to enjoy in a much higher resolution everywhere in abundance from flikr to 500x to you name it.

And if you don't mind my saying so your rather aggressive and rude reply suggests that forum curation is important and that too intense a focus on gear brings bad things out of the woods. Yours is exactly the kind of ad hominem criticism of another forum member that most folks, I suspect, don't really want to take out a subscription in order to read, myself among them. And, no, I'm not subscribing to argyllcms.  Been there, done that. I used it for years while running Debian but left that little world behind a while ago in favour of tools on other platforms, thanks all the same.

[digitaldog]

I support the idea of having the ability to add more than $12. I also support the idea of only allowing paid members having signatures listing their websites/blogs/etc.

[alainbriot]

I support the idea of having the ability to add more than $12.

I think that's an excellent idea.  It keeps the subscribtion affordable while allowing donations on a free will basis.

[David Mantripp]

Yours is exactly the kind of ad hominem criticism of another forum member that most folks, I suspect, don't really want to take out a subscription in order to read, myself among them.

I'd suggest using the "report to moderator" link. I just did. These forums do not need that kind of contributor.

[John Hollenberg]

I support the idea of having the ability to add more than $12. I also support the idea of only allowing paid members having signatures listing their websites/blogs/etc.

Both very good ideas.  I would be happy to pitch in more than $12 to support a site that has been very helpful to me over the last 10 years.

[James Clark]

Both very good ideas.  I would be happy to pitch in more than $12 to support a site that has been very helpful to me over the last 10 years.

Agreed - good thoughts on how to give subscribers a little something "extra" in the forums.

[Phil Indeblanc]

Hey, look, it's a discussion forum! Look, there's a topic, what's this? The topic is changes to the web site!

I know, let's discuss that topic in the discussion forum!

Or not, because when you say things that some people disagree with, they just tell you to shut up. Did I misread this? Is this a not-discussion forum? Is this a discussion forum, but only for people who say things John Hollenberg thinks are worthwhile? Can someone point out the the part I missed where John Hollenberg was appointed king?

Please.

You weren't discussing anything.....where is the content below? I don't see it.

I have to say my jaw dropped when I saw the announcement that the site was going to substantially alter its new business model based on a handful of comments made in their forum.

This is a web site with somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 regular readers.

The regular posters in the forums represent a self-selected and very very small subset of the people you actually need to persuade. Further, a very small subset of that population has thus far weighed in at all, and only a fraction of those suggested making the forums free. As many suggested, or implied, they didn't want the forums free (mainly so their enemies would presumably be excluded, which isn't the best of reasons).

It's really none of my business, but this isn't coming across like a particularly well thought out plan. I hope there are wheels within wheels here, things I'm not aware of.

This post is less thought out. Its not that no one wants a discussion, these types of comments are sideline noise. they add nothing to the discussion. And the claims you make about the regular posters and the percent that represents things are simply wrong. So the only thing that is of SELF value you could have been thinking to yourself is your last bit about wheels within and things your not aware of.


The people who posted with suggestions are not aimlessly posting feedback like yours above.
Genuine and thought out ideas to keep the site for a long term plan is the key. If the printing side makes some revenue, fantastic. I think it would be great that Lula adds a printing platform. Maybe with 2 targets, Archival fine art, and the competing stuff that they can offer here for a easy transition. Something like Whitewall and Costco combined. (not all members understand or value prints like someone who's gonna order it one done on Hahnemuhle textured fine art or something.

But the best plans FOR the users are always in consideration of the users views... in any company that is not looking to suck everything out of its users and shortly make a run for it.
Its actually the best thing any site can do, and that's listen to its users. It makes sense.  If they had a full proof plan it would be more of a shopping site. Not a community driven site.
There are long term members here with years of a relation with the site. We are looking out for its best interest, not our one days worth of coffee money. 

If you have a suggestion, MAKE IT. otherwise noise just wastes and takes up digital space. ...much like this post I felt I had to make, but in hopes for a more sustainable digital space:-)

Anyway...lets move on.

Flip the switch already...I'm interested in seeing the site....Maybe we can get a new non green/yellow color scheme with it? :-)  OK, yes, maybe not a good marketing idea to change that....but it could be used as a subset within a new scheme.

[tnargs]

Have Kevin or Michael confirmed that things that we now pay for, like the $150 videos, are going to be free once you pay the $12 subscription?

Because, I have seen a few posts in this thread that assume so, and I'm not so sure that they are right!

[Kevin Raber]

Yes everything including videos is included with membership.  The only part we haven't confirmed on is Art Wolfe's videos and we should have that in place by Monday. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I'd suggest using the "report to moderator" link. I just did. These forums do not need that kind of contributor.

The use of the word "ignorant" was your reason to bother moderators!? Perhaps these forums also do not need the delicate flower kind of contributor that runs for moderator's skirt every time they hear something offending their sensitivity. Nor the kind of contributor that would like to see only the kind of contributor that thinks and behaves like them.

These forums were doing just fine the last ten years, with most contributors being adults and capable of handling occasional though talk without whining. The freedom of expression principle was not invented to protect one's delicate feelings, but to facilitate something much more valuable: a free flow of ideas. Not all those ideas come packed with a neat little pink ribbon. 

[mecrox]

The use of the word "ignorant" was your reason to bother moderators!? Perhaps these forums also do not need the delicate flower kind of contributor that runs for moderator's skirt every time they hear something offending their sensitivity. Nor the kind of contributor that would like to see only the kind of contributor that thinks and behaves like them.

These forums were doing just fine the last ten years, with most contributors being adults and capable of handling occasional though talk without whining. The freedom of expression principle was not invented to protect one's delicate feelings, but to facilitate something much more valuable: a free flow of ideas. Not all those ideas come packed with a neat little pink ribbon.

Perhaps some folks could try a bit more politeness and a little less rudeness of the ad hominem kind? There is no justification for it, none at all, simple as that. "I can say whatever I like but any reaction to it is invading my freedom of expression" is a very old and tired racket. Ideas don't flow freely where sarcasm and aggression hang out.

[Christopher Sanderson]

Enough already. Please stick to the topic.

[Phil Indeblanc]

Btw...
Is it a site redesign as well, or the same sight with the new functioning structure?

[Kevin Raber]

Same site. The design is less that a year old.  Once you are signed in as a member things will look the same except for a couple of options on the menu, like signing out, and such. 

[Farsh]

as many members pointed out, I would welcome and use the option of paying more than just $12/year.
I've used this website for a while.