Introducing The Expert Photography Forum (And Why It’s Not Your Average Photography Forum)

It gives me great pleasure today, to finally announce the release of my new photography forum. It’s been in beta for a couple weeks, but with my server move finally completed, I’m ready to share it with you (and why it’s better than all the rest).

First of all, you can check out the forum by clicking here.

Lets have a look why it’s better than the others.

Lets start with the obvious.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I personally find that smaller forums are much nicer forums to be a part of, because everyone is more respectful, and care about their reputation, i.e. less trolls. So that’s what I’ve made, a smaller forum. As it stands, there are only five different categories, so everyone is grouped together better, providing you with a better user experience.

I’ve also decided to only promote the forum on here, so that this develops into a more close knit community. Please feel free to share it though.

Ok, so this all sounds pretty standard, what makes this forum better than the rest?

Well, I’m glad you asked. You see, to promote quality content, and minimise negativity, I’ve installed a reputation system for the users. The more you post, the more you’re liked, the more answers you provide, and the more you visit the site, the higher your reputation becomes.

The forum uses a system called ‘Karma’, which you may be familiar with if you’re a Reddit user, and although it’s a little bit different, it works in much the same way.

Being a good user is rewarded with points, and along with that, recognition. After all, I’m sure we’ve all been on a forum before where someone has commented on thousands of discussions, but no one really likes.

So here’s how you increase your score:

1. When someone likes one of your comments, you gain one point.
2. When you start a discussion, you gain one point.
3. Every time someone accepts your answer to a Q&A question, you gain a point.
4. You also gain 1 point for every 10 visits to the forum.
5. Moderators are also able to reward points where they see fit. (I wonder if the power will go to my head).

So here’s a pretty simple example. If I press ‘like’ below (which is highlighted pink by my mouse), it will increase that user’s karma from four, to five. Please note, this takes a couple of minutes to go through.

Reward good users.

Expert Photography Forum Rules

Ok, so to keep this a nice place to be, here’s a few very simple rules.

1. Be nice, there’s no place for internet tough guys here, and you will be banned.
2. Clean language (think of the children!).
3. Any images you post must belong to yourself, unless you have permission to share it.
4. You’re not allowed to edit someone else’s photos without their permission.
5. No linking to affiliate sites.
6. No spamming (in comments or messages).
7. Easy on the capital letters, it makes it harder to read.
8. No sharing other people’s personal information (and I’d advise you to keep yours to yourself too).
9. Please don’t constantly link to your own site, put that information in the footer.
10. No discussion hi-jacking. If you have a related question, start your own discussion.
11. Be descriptive in your titles, ‘Please help’ isn’t very helpful to others.
12. No ‘bumping’ your own discussions.
13. Lets keep things legal.
14. Use common sense.

How The Forum Works

Ok, so first thing’s first, here’s how you sign up. Click on either the Facebook, Google, OpenID, or Twitter and use your information from that to sign up, or you can simply select ‘Apply for Membership’ (don’t worry, there’s no waiting process).

When you’re in, I suggest clicking on your username at the top of the page, and changing a few of your settings.

For example, you might want to check ‘My Preferences’, which will change how you’re notified from the forum.

I also like to ‘Edit My Details’ because this is where you let people know a little bit more about yourself, and you can link to your own website. The more you use the forum, the more people will be likely to check this. You can also link to yourself in the signature section.

When you’re done, you can click on the logo at the top to see the category overview, or alternatively, you can click on ‘Discussions’.

When it comes to posting your own discussion, click on ‘Start a New Discussion’ in the top right hand corner. This allows you to either start a discussion, or ask a question (discussion is default). Simply add an appropriate title and text, select your category, and click ‘Post Discussion’. If you want to add an image, please host them on a friendly site, such as imgur.  Overall, it’s pretty self-explanatory and I’m sure you can work it out for yourself, so what are you waiting for? Sign up now.