by Guest » October 16, 2023, 9:52 am
Guest wrote: October 15, 2023, 11:04 pm
Mr Link wrote: October 15, 2023, 10:19 pm
In regards to the former Boatnerd user-submitted photo gallery (pics.boatnerd.com) there certainly were efforts to save it; some successful but many not. Boatnerd, which has always had limited funds and volunteers, relied on publicly-available freeware to run those galleries. Over time the programmers of that freeware package decided to terminate any further development of the gallery software. There were no good options for exporting existing galleries from that software package to any other affordable package. And after updates ended, the site became more and more glitchy as time marched on. Eventually, posting, moving and sorting photos became impossible, and in time all access became difficult, if not impossible.
Many of the photos that were in these galleries were preserved digitally off line. But two things have stalled them from being put back on line on the new site.
First is the size and quality of the photos; most date back to "ancient" times internet-wise and don't display well on web sites that meet today's graphic standards.
Second is the fact that Boatnerd still has a limited pool of volunteers, so we have to prioritize what projects and updates are worked on. In past user polls, there was little to no support shown for bringing back online those low-quality user-submitted photos from 10 or 15 years ago.
As an aside, I personally spent hundreds of hours over several years sorting and organizing a Boatnerd "historical gallery" (sorted by vessel type and fleet) using that freeware. It never went public, because by the time it was ready to debut, the software was no longer being updated. It was a hard lesson that websites are in peril if they don't keep their software (and security protocols) up to date.
Firstly, thank you for your efforts and explanation.
I get it that the software was crusty and needing replacement and even that not everything in there was worth keeping - particularly with regards to photos of ships that still exist. My main concern was the historical stuff for ships long gone.
There were some pretty neat (and hard to find) interior photos of engine rooms and crew spaces. I hope that those can find their way into the new galleries - if they still exist. :)
Unfortunately, it seems, at least from what I have seen, younger generations do not have much interest in the historical aspect of Great Lakes shipping. I'm not saying that nobody from these age groups cares about history, it just seems like there is a lot less interest in it. Please believe me, I'm not trying to insult any individual or any group, this is just my personal observation of following shipping since the 1970s.
The ease and familiarity of posting information and photographs on social media have obviously reduced traffic to these boards, and likely to this website in general. That is likely to continue in the future. The main problem I have seen with social media sites is that the appears to be little retention of information over the long term. So within a relatively short period of time, any material submitted to those websites appears to be lost, forever I would assume.
I have been a regular visitor to this website since it began with Neil Schultheiss (please forgive me if I spelled his last name incorrectly) in the mid-1990s. It seemed to grow very quickly and became very active within a short period of time. I would say it reached its high point in the early 2000s. But as some visitors and posters passed away, or possibly became uninterested, the number of posts declined. The increasing popularity of social media platforms during this period appears to have also played a large role in the decline of reduced postings to this chat board.
All while this has been going on, it also appears that there has been a steady loss of interest in this hobby. I know some will point out that certain social media accounts associated with Great Lakes shipping have followers numbering in the several thousands as proof as to the strong level of current interest. I will argue, however, is that when it comes to the current figures there is no way to adquately compare to the number, or even percentage, of the general public that had an interest in this hobby more than 20 years ago.
It is further liekly, that the interest in this hobby will decline in somewhat general proportion to the continuing decrease in the number of active ships on the Great Lakes.
As a nearly 30-year visitor to this website, I would like to thank all of the volunteers involved in making this website work both in the past and the present.
[quote=Guest post_id=256457 time=1697429093]
[quote="Mr Link" post_id=256456 time=1697426345 user_id=11343]
In regards to the former Boatnerd user-submitted photo gallery (pics.boatnerd.com) there certainly were efforts to save it; some successful but many not. Boatnerd, which has always had limited funds and volunteers, relied on publicly-available freeware to run those galleries. Over time the programmers of that freeware package decided to terminate any further development of the gallery software. There were no good options for exporting existing galleries from that software package to any other affordable package. And after updates ended, the site became more and more glitchy as time marched on. Eventually, posting, moving and sorting photos became impossible, and in time all access became difficult, if not impossible.
Many of the photos that were in these galleries were preserved digitally off line. But two things have stalled them from being put back on line on the new site.
First is the size and quality of the photos; most date back to "ancient" times internet-wise and don't display well on web sites that meet today's graphic standards.
Second is the fact that Boatnerd still has a limited pool of volunteers, so we have to prioritize what projects and updates are worked on. In past user polls, there was little to no support shown for bringing back online those low-quality user-submitted photos from 10 or 15 years ago.
As an aside, I personally spent hundreds of hours over several years sorting and organizing a Boatnerd "historical gallery" (sorted by vessel type and fleet) using that freeware. It never went public, because by the time it was ready to debut, the software was no longer being updated. It was a hard lesson that websites are in peril if they don't keep their software (and security protocols) up to date.
[/quote]
Firstly, thank you for your efforts and explanation.
I get it that the software was crusty and needing replacement and even that not everything in there was worth keeping - particularly with regards to photos of ships that still exist. My main concern was the historical stuff for ships long gone.
There were some pretty neat (and hard to find) interior photos of engine rooms and crew spaces. I hope that those can find their way into the new galleries - if they still exist. :)
[/quote]
Unfortunately, it seems, at least from what I have seen, younger generations do not have much interest in the historical aspect of Great Lakes shipping. I'm not saying that nobody from these age groups cares about history, it just seems like there is a lot less interest in it. Please believe me, I'm not trying to insult any individual or any group, this is just my personal observation of following shipping since the 1970s.
The ease and familiarity of posting information and photographs on social media have obviously reduced traffic to these boards, and likely to this website in general. That is likely to continue in the future. The main problem I have seen with social media sites is that the appears to be little retention of information over the long term. So within a relatively short period of time, any material submitted to those websites appears to be lost, forever I would assume.
I have been a regular visitor to this website since it began with Neil Schultheiss (please forgive me if I spelled his last name incorrectly) in the mid-1990s. It seemed to grow very quickly and became very active within a short period of time. I would say it reached its high point in the early 2000s. But as some visitors and posters passed away, or possibly became uninterested, the number of posts declined. The increasing popularity of social media platforms during this period appears to have also played a large role in the decline of reduced postings to this chat board.
All while this has been going on, it also appears that there has been a steady loss of interest in this hobby. I know some will point out that certain social media accounts associated with Great Lakes shipping have followers numbering in the several thousands as proof as to the strong level of current interest. I will argue, however, is that when it comes to the current figures there is no way to adquately compare to the number, or even percentage, of the general public that had an interest in this hobby more than 20 years ago.
It is further liekly, that the interest in this hobby will decline in somewhat general proportion to the continuing decrease in the number of active ships on the Great Lakes.
As a nearly 30-year visitor to this website, I would like to thank all of the volunteers involved in making this website work both in the past and the present.