09/10 SITE UPDATES - Photos Section - new uploading system (automatic resizing / pics up to 8MB)

[SnowJapan 178]

PHOTOS SECTION - REDEVELOPED (automatic file resizing/optimizing; files up to 8MB OK)

 

In the first of our site updates/changes in time for the 09/10 season, we have completely redeveloped the Photos section of the site and it is now online and ready to use.

 

Basically, here is what's new:

• You can now upload your original photo 'as is', each up to 8MB in size - there is now no need to change the size and dimensions of photos before uploading them;
• The photos will automatically be resized and optimized;
• We have created a new simpler 'Single Photo' uploading page which allows you to just upload one photo at a time;
• We have also created a new 'Panoramic Photo' uploading page for panoramic-style (long and thin) images

The details:

Since we started our Photos section a few years ago we have always known that it would be optimal if members could quickly upload their photos 'as is' without having to worry about file size and image dimensions. For a number of reasons this hasn't been possible but with a fair bit of head-scratching, research and development along with a new server, we have been able to make this a reality.

 

The upload page itself hasn't really changed (although we have created two further uploading pages - one for a single upload and another for panoramic-style images). So it all looks pretty much like it has done since last season. But the system running in the background has been totally reworked with a view to making it much easier for people to use and upload photos.

 

So what does new system do?

 

- it takes your original photo(s) [each up to 8MB in size] and resizes it/them so that the longest side of the photo is 700 pixels in length (or 850 pixels in the case of photos uploaded using the Panoramic upload page);

- it optimizes the quality of the photo - saving it to a manageble size while retaining quality (settings determined by the system depending on the size of the original photo);

- a small snowjapan stamp image is also added to the bottom left of the photo. (Member names will not be added, but if you wish for your photos to display your username we will be happy to do that - just let us know).

 

If the longest side of your original photo is less than 700 pixels, the uploaded photo will remain unchanged.

 

The system accepts .jpg, .jpeg, .gif and .png image file types.

 

So you should be able to take your original large photos taken directly from your camera and upload them to SnowJapan without messing about trying to change the size of the photo. And the photo should end up looking very pretty online as well!

 

(The display of photos as well as galleries and user-defined galleries remains mostly unchanged).

 

 

Uploading links:

Multiple photos - for uploading up to 5 photos at a time

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_gallery_image_uploader.php

 

Single photo - for uploading one photo

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_gallery_image_uploader_single.php

 

Panoramic photo - for upload a panoramic-style photo

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_gallery_image_uploader_panoramic.php

 

Please note you need to be registered (it's free) and logged in to upload photos.

 

 

Uploading Photos - Help:

For more details on how to upload photos to SnowJapan, please read the information on this page:

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photos-help.html

 

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Thank you to the friends who took the time to test the functionality and provide valuable feedback over the last month or so. We appreciate the help.

 

>>>>>

 

Other changes to SnowJapan for 09/10:

We are currently working on other new functionality for the site and those updates will follow in the autumn.

 

>>>>>

 

If you wish to comment on this, please do so in this thread

http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/317780/09_10_SITE_UPDATES_Photos_Sect.html