We are pleased to announce the release of VFXY Photos v4.4. Over the past few months we've been working hard to upgrade the site, with both new and old features. While some of these features
have been online for a while, we'd like to take this opportunity to formally announce them and to introduce features that will be coming. We hope you enjoy the latest upgrades and that you will
take a few minutes to read through this newsletter.
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VFXY Photo Knights Unite!
We would like to thank the donors who've contributed funds and/or time since we launched the Knights feature. The contributions and feedback have been greatly appreciated. The interaction
strengthens and vindicates our desire to continue the growth of this wonderful community.
There are incentives for becoming a Knight. For those who've already donated, these feature are already available to you. For those who'd like to take advantage, send us a donation, become a
Knight and enjoy the privileges of membership!
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Buy and Sell Your Photos (The VFXY Photo Market)
You may have noticed the new shopping carts on some images and blog boxes. This new feature allows you to request the use of photos, offer payment, and communicate directly with the
photographer. In the best interest of the community, this market place/transfer mechanism allows buyers the ability to directly contact the artist without having to go through a middle-man.
To activate your seller account you must be a Knight and you must activate the feature at http://photos.vfxy.com/members//requests/. Once you have activated
the feature, a small
cart
will appear next to all of your images. Other users will be able to submit requests directly and you will be notified by e-mail. You can access and manage your requests within the buy/sell
options.
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New Daily Mosaic Upgrade
The Daily Mosaic feature has been completely revamped. With funds donated from our Knights, we've sent the feature to the shop and it's come
back better than ever. There is now a new pop-up
bubble that lets you click into the gallery or save the image to your collection directly. We have also enabled page resizing and orientation so the image fits your screen better. In addition,
there is now a progress bar and loading feature. What this all means is that there are faster mosaic load times and second page loads before you click so it's ready by the time you click on
next
page.
Beyond these upgrades, we'll let you in on a little secret. We're working hard to let members post the daily mosaic on their own websites! Yes, you've read correctly. With a simple line of
code,
you will be able to embed your collection or photoblog archive images directly into your website. You can even customize the skin! But that's all very hush-hush and coming in the future.
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Your Photoblog Statistics
One feature that many have been waiting for is the statistics feature. We are finally able to release this feature. Now you can gain access to all your VFXY stats, including your average votes,
linkbacks, referrals, and ranking chart. Please be advised that this is in beta development and there are some minor glitches. Visit http://photos.vfxy.com/members/stats/ to check your latest
stats.
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Weekly Pic-ks
In order to thank you, the community, for your work in photography and your contributions to the community, we implemented the Weekly Pic-ks. For the
past six months we've been highlighting one
gifted photographer a week to introduce to the community. With the assistance of our resident editor, Dawn M. Armfield, we've published 26 reviews, with many more to come. It is with the
contributions of members, such as Dawn and other supporters, that these features can continue and prosper. There are more features in the Weekly Pic-ks' future so we urge you to return often,
view your fellow photographers' contributions, and find out what is coming up next.
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Google Groups + VFXY Photos
To encourage more involvement and collaboration in the development of the VFXY community, we've established a group in Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/group/vfxy-photos). This group
will be the forum to discuss and suggest new features for the VFXY Photos v5 upgrade, which will be in the planning stages over the next few months. In addition, this is your opportunity to
help direct the future of the community; follow Group discussions for the inside scoop and up-to-date communication on features, bug patches, and more. We do make one request: Please do not
use the Group to request application processing. If you need to vent or discuss an application, please do so through the contact form on the site. The Group discussions may move too quickly and
we wouldn't want to lose your information in the banter!
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Faster Application Processing and Contacts
We understand that waiting for your application to be approved can be a bit stressful. In order to speed up the application process, we've recently implemented a new moderation system and have
taken on moderators to help with applications. Our skilled team of 10 moderators have been given the tools to effectively process your application with ease and efficiency. We hope this feature
will help the moderation process move along quicker. Of course we'd also like to thank the moderators for their constant dedication.
If you have submitted a contact request or technical service then please hold on a bit longer. We've been swamped with requests and are working hard to answer everyone.
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Hottest Collection Profile Contest
Are you ready to win something? Are you ready to see your involvement in the community add up to something more than a wonderful collection of photographs and links? We are going to launch a
"Hottest Collection" profile contest. Over the next 2 months we want you to dig hard, find those amazingly creative photos, and add them to your collection. Start preparing now and in the near
future, we'll launch a feature to nominate your collection gallery to the contest. The member with
the nicest, most visited
collection will win a prize. Stay tuned! More details coming soon.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day,
Team VFXY
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