Loaches Online Forum

Expurgated by YellowFinned

Wow, how long did that take for you to post that up?

Not everyone has access to a high speed connection. If I went to a site that had their species index setup like this, I would give up after a few minutes of watching pictures slowly loading

Well, this certainly qualifies as the longest post ever! (In fact, it was too long and exceeded the maximum post length, so the end got cut off)

YellowFinned, it wasn't the best idea to post dozens and dozens of full-sized images on a single page. I modified your post to use smaller thumbnail images that were on the server. (I had to make a slight change to the forum software to accept them, so maybe you had tried this previously and couldn't get it to work).

Thanks,

Jeff

me too, took about 18 minutes to load the whole page for me...and my internet isnt even slow!!!!

good idea, but not practical...hmm

if you used ONE 3x2" picture for each species, that would be ALOT better...haha

-brett.

hey you missed the golden algae eating loach.
I can get a photo of one at the LFS.

We will have to wait for YellowFinned's reply to my PM enquiry as to the point of his post, but my guess is that it was a demo of how he thought we should do a photo-based species index.

A lot of wasted effort as it is incompatible with the makeup of the other site.

What I will work on is a staged, homing in on the general area type of system based on simple line-drawings. Basic shape is a good start off to get you into the proper family area.

All joking apart newshound, but "Is it a Loach" is the first question to answer because other species get called "loach" that aren't, so firstly you eliminate those.

To get this key set up right is several days work, but worth it.

Martin.

Hello Martin,

You must have spent an awful lot of time putting that together. I have high-speed Internet and I can't even download it. My compter stalls out.

It took me two hours. If you assume I downloaded all the pictures to put the page together, I did not. In fact, I did not even view the pictures till I put the message up.

If your idea was to illustrate how we could organize a picture-based species index that was not the way to go about it. All those pictures are far too big for that kind of use.

My idea was partly as an illustration, but more so for my own use. I know the pictures are too big, I can see that since I have put the message up.

A post from Ken basically states why it is imoperable

(Do what?)

....nobody will wait that long. Many people won't even be able to see it.

Yes. And if it was not there, nobody would be able to see it.

We will most probably remove the thread to stop others experiencing their computers just stopping like mine did. I have yet to discuss this with other moderators.

I will edit the thread myself and remove the bulk of it. Please allow me to do that without removing the thread completely. Maybe there will be other comments added.

There was good reason - in my mind - for making that message, even if you have viewed it negatively:

I still would like to see a picture index, and I believe others would too. Although I have suggested it to you and the moderators in general, I do not expect it is my right to receive it. I don’t wait around.

I could have download all the images, and made a picture index on my own computer, or I could have uploaded it to my own website and possibly invited others to view it. I could have put in considerable more time and effort and made something more usable. However, the content is not mine and I will not infringe on copyright, even with good intent. I do not even have access to the content, and I believe there is a lot more in terms of variations of size of all of those pictures.

So I did something, a first stage towards a usable picture index. And I am not apologizing if you do not appreciate it. I well know it has nothing to do with your plan for a loach identifier.

I am lucky in that I live in a part of the world where many loaches come from, and where tropical fish keeping is relatively cheap and easy. But information is hard to come by. I cannot just go to a book shop and get a book on loaches, or any fish, especially not in English. And ordering books is not practical. The internet is one of my best sources, although I have to sift through much misinformation. Do not imagine I live on some strange periphery of the world, I feel like I live in the hub of it.

Not many, or none, of your other members might live in loachland, but I am sure from the posts I have read, a useable and comprehensive picture index would be welcomed.

In the thread, you have told the forum that you are awaiting my reply from your PM. Well I like getting PMs, but in this case I am appending this to the thread.

Thank you, YellowFinned

Thanks for replying YellowFinned.

I realized that you were trying to be helpful, and maybe move us along towards a picture index.

The sheer size of the post was somewhat shocking, however.

To get this key set up right is several days work, but worth it.

A picture index has been Martin's initial concept from the get go. We all agreed that it would be much easier for visitors to locate what they were after if there were some visual links to direct one to a specific group based on appearances. We simply had to have all the ducks before we could put them in a row.

So, in one sense your post was helpful to give us a push in that direction.
But for future reference, please feel free to pass on any good ideas or suggestions to the moderators. We'd be happy to hear your ideas and talk about them with you.