VIRB

The link is always there, waaaay down there at the bottom of every page under "Virb Is..."

posted Jun 13

Jonathan says:

Oh yeeeah, I see it now.

posted Jun 14

i think an "in house" IM would be a nice feature. this way an option between sending messages and chatting live.

posted Jun 10

Comment replies (8)

Jonathan says:

If you're talking about IMing online, I second this. But if you're referring to a piece of software... no thanks. Everyone seemed to hate Myspace IM when it came out... and even though VIRB tends to do things right, I don't think a downloadable IM client is needed.

posted Jun 10

Jordan says:

What's wrong about using clients that are already available like Aim, Gaim, Trillian, Yahoo, et al.

posted Jun 11

the whole point of virb was that "everything" was all in one place. i agree that a downloadable software would be more than i want, but i don't want to have to start asking people for their AIM, yahoo, etc name. plus, not everyone uses the same IM program, and i don't want to download all of them just for a conversation. i just want to be able to have a live conversation with people i meet here on virb without going through all the steps of sending messages.

another thing i would like to see is a way to play the music i have collected from around virb as i search through virb. you can seperate the music player from "a" music profile, but i want to listen to the stuff on my music player (or other profile music players that are not necissarily music profiles) while i move around the site. i like the shuffle function on my ipod (hint)

posted Jun 12

Fyorl says:

Yeah, the little chat feature that GMail has is really cool and useful. Something like that would be hard to implement so maybe more support is needed to make it viable.

I'm sure a pop-up music player could be arranged...

posted Jun 12

annihilation [floating upon little pink pills] says:

there is a pop up player isn't there?

music - playlists - click on a song and up pops a player of similar style to what's on band profile pages.

edit - and on the dashboard as well.. hah can't believe i missed that... right hand side beneath the virb tunes advertish thing

posted Jun 12

Joe says:

if there is a plan to implement some sort of "online now" feature
then would be a good time to add an IM

posted Jun 14

Reese says:

The personal player has "random" also btw. Though it doesn't work well.

posted Jun 14

back to the Virb IM.

I think it would be rad. but i dont think they should bother making a whole client out of it. Just have it so when you login you can chat on numerous chat rooms (like personal or public). Kinda like Google Talk when you login to Gmail (If anyone uses that at all...).

posted Jul 7

Joe says:

i noticed that each profile has google analytics running on it.
is there a way that we can access the data that is collected?
or is there a way that we can install our own code for the info?

i know you already have the data
(assuming that is where you get the page view stats etc)

suggesting you create an entire page of profile stats using the google analytics data.

posted Jun 6

Comment replies (6)

Fyorl says:

I don't think they use google analytic stats for your profile stats. I think they're just using google analytics for their own benefit.

posted Jun 7

Joe says:

i dont doubt it, but it might be where they are getting the page stats from (page views today, page views all time, page views this week)
it would be nice to see more

posted Jun 7

Fyorl says:

Nope, I'm pretty sure they use their own system for logging page views to your profile. Mainly because it's a lot easier to do it that way than somehow grab and parse the data from google analytics. Although it would conceivably reduce database load...

Either way, it would be cool to have a bunch of stats from google analytics. Not sure what I'd use all those stats for but it would be interesting...

posted Jun 7

Ben says:

I'm guessing they use it to track visitors progress around the site; how many completely new visitors are convinced to signup, and suchlike.

posted Jun 7

Joe says:

well this site does attract a lot of web developers and photographers and well many freelancers.
knowing data about there visitors could probably help boost hits.

posted Jun 8

goenfukyrself says:

all yer data are belong to google.

posted Jun 11

Jon-Kyle says:

for the love of god, we need an rss feed reeder module that outputs it as a text with the option of making it a list. honestly, this would allow me to die a happy man

posted Jun 6

Comment replies (2)

says:

Same here. I love everything about Virb but if there is one thing that I would like for my profile it would be this.

posted Jun 6

chrysb says:

We continue to test the stability of our system with the blog import feature. Once we work out all the kinks, we'll be closer to an RSS module.

posted Jun 13

Nick says:

Here is a list of a few things that I wouldn't mind seeing.

Random Photo - it would be nice to display one random image on my profile page from a Virb photo album of my choice. I have seen that this is possible through some sort of photo_portfolio module, however, I have not seen any documentation this. This may be only available to true photographer profiles. I ended up hacking something together with the random tagline to produce this effect for my random header image.

De.licio.us Bookmarks - Maybe integrate the del.icio.us api (much like Virb has already done with Flickr) so that you can display a certain rss feed of links from your user account. I am no developer so I don't know how possible this is. Also I apologize if this has already been requested, I scanned through a few pages and did not see it... which brings me to my last request.

Group Specific Searches - I would like to be able to search all the comments in a specific group. For example, it would have been helpful to be able to search the comments in this group to see if someone had already requested Del.icio.us Bookmark integration. This may very well already be in the works, I have read that there will be more features for Groups coming soon.

Although this comment consists of things that I would like to see, there are SO MANY things that Virb has already gotten right. Thanks.

posted Jun 4

Comment replies (9)

Fyorl says:

$VIRB_photosRandom(4) that's found if you scroll down on the customisation page.
Group Specific Searches will probably be included with all the new group improvements.

posted Jun 5

Jordan says:

I will agree with you on the Delicious feed; I really don't want to use the flash module, and would prefer actual text links =)

posted Jun 5

Nick says:

@Fyori - The current photos module that you suggested would bring in 4 photos at random from my entire photo collection. Ideally, I wold like to bring in a random photo from a specific album... but that's not really the hang up. My problem with this module is that it brings in 4 cropped thumbnails of random photos. It is true that I I can resize these images with CSS but I am really only resizing the auto generated thumbnail and not the original image. Does this make sense?

@Jordan - I didn't realize that there was a current method to display delicious feeds with flash. I assume that this uses a custom module?

posted Jun 5

You can use the SpringWidget RSS widget- it leaves a lot to be desired as far as the way you can customize the look of it but hey, it works. I'd also really love it if Virb used the del.icio.us api- the flash badge is slightly lame...

posted Jun 5

Nick says:

@Fyorl - I have thought about it and it looks like the randomization function of my request is already there (just like you said). Since I cannot pinpoint a specific album to pull images from I can just mark ALL the images in the other albums so that they do not show up on the homepage. This is the long way around it but I think the net effect would be what I am looking for. Now the problem still exists that these are thumbnails of my photos rather than the whole image. I know that there are variables passed in to determine the size of friends and groups, is it possible to pass in a varibale for the whole photo as opposed to a thumbnail?

posted Jun 8

Fyorl says:

I don't think you can get the entire image to display. Using the largest setting though you should get a pretty big image (I don't know how big, I haven't tested it). Of course the easiest option would just be to put an image in a custom module (or using CSS) with a src attribute that points to a PHP script that serves up a random image each time it gets a http request...

I could set one up if you really want. We've got loads of space and bandwidth. I'm also bored enough...

posted Jun 8

Eoin says:

Did you guys find a solution to the random image issue? It's driving me nuts. I have a few images in a flickr set that I want to use as my main image. I just want to bring back one random image from the set.

@Fyorl - i know what ure saying about using a php script in a src attribute but i also need to display a caption for the image. How would I do this? A seperate php script?

@Nick - How did u use the random tagline?

posted Jun 10

Reese says:

I have one random photo on my page...
I use $VIRB_PhotosRandom(1, Large)
you can use a specific album with: $VIRB_photosByAlbumRandom(album name, 1)
this info is on the advanced edit page.

posted Jun 15

Nick says:

@Eoin O'Sullivan - It took some CSS work but in the end it seems to get the job done. The rotating tagline was the only element on the page was pulled randomly. Lucky for me since that is the effect I wanted to create with the banner. Each tagline has a unique ID 'tagline_1', so I was able to write specific styles for each of the taglines. Basically I just gave the tag paragraph the width and height of my banner image and then set unique backgrounds for each one. Then I set caption text as the taglines. In my case the caption text is just location and date.

This solution is far from ideal, the main drawback is that once customization is removed then the taglines mean absolutely nothing. Until I find a better way I guess this will do.

posted Jun 18

Cobalt Design says:

I've mentioned it before, but the messaging system needs a LOT of work done to it. It's so primative right now. There should be a save folder (and/or the ability to create folders), a trash folder, sent status, and whatever else. Now that I think about it... it'd be cool to make your account even an email (cobaltdesign@virb.com). But that was just an idea. not something I feel that needs to be done.

posted Jun 4

Comment replies (7)

m Dot says:

Perhaps we should wait until Yahoo offers to buy virb.

posted Jun 4

Dan says:

Argh! It's inevitable someone will, probably. However, I still hope it never happens.

posted Jun 4

Joe says:

if yahoo buys virb. i leave virb

posted Jun 5

if anybody buys Virb...it should be Google. They are the only (if at all) that can do it right...

posted Jun 5

i don't know about that- i mean, look at what happened to Blogger. I think Yahoo handled the Flickr nab pretty well... but didn't Yahoo just get sucked up by Microsoft?

posted Jun 5

m Dot says:

Plus, Orkut is a nightmare.

posted Jun 6

Joe says:

although purchasing a social networking site when they already have one would be unlikely.
Virb could benefit a lot from the services google has to offer.

RSS reader* (google reader)
page stats* (note the post about 5 up (google analytics is already installed on each profile) )
advanced message system* (via gmail)
alerts* (google alerts)
bookmarking*
calendar*
google groups* ....... eh?
google page creator*
advanced image upload service* (picasa web albums)
IM* (google talk)

many of these things have already been suggested.
i would like it if maybe Virb would use more Google integration

posted Jun 6

I'm sure this is already been stated, but ill say it again to emphasize it.

How about a "currently online" notifier thing. Kinda like the one on myspace.

posted Jun 4

Comment replies (18)

allisonberryart says:

I'd rather have a "last logged in" thingee so that we know if the profile is dead or alive :-D

posted Jun 4

I'm ok with this as long as there's an opt-in /opt-out option.

posted Jun 4

Dan says:

Agree with Birdy, and allison. At the very least we need user last active stats.

posted Jun 4

Cobalt Design says:

Last log in is better.

posted Jun 4

Nick says:

I would have to disagree, I am one of the people who really appreciate that there is no indicator of when or if I am logged in. Some privacy is nice. If I want to communicate with someone I can send them a message and they can return it when convenient, I don't mind waiting. Maybe I am not the average Virb user but since there are other tools to instantly message people I do not see the need for an indicator. Just an opinion from the other side of the fence.

posted Jun 4

@nick- yeah, me too.that's why i'd want an opt-out for this feature.

@cobalt- but i'm always logged in, so wouldn't it just look as if i'd last logged in a month or two ago?

@dan- doesn't the 'recent activity' section of your home page serve that purpose? i post and interact pretty regularly. anyone who isn't on my friend's list and wants to see whether i'm active or not could just take a look around the groups i'm in or my profile page to see my new posts and photo/artwork additions.

I don't really care for the Now Online indicator. Like Nick, i'd like to get back to people when i want to... its why i prefer email to IMs, you know?

posted Jun 4

allisonberryart says:

@I Love Birdy - Your absolutely right about being logged in all the time - I didn't think about that.

I like what Dan suggested - "last active" stats - just a date - no time indicator. This is from the perspective of being a group creator and also from the perspective of open networking.

In the case of being a group creator, I spend a good amount of time exploring profiles that have similar interests associated with my group. I do this with the intention of inviting them to my group so as to expand the entire experience of the group itself. It seriously would save me a whole lot of time if I knew whether a profile that I was considering inviting was active or not.

As far as open networking goes, the more people that I meet, the more likely I am to be introduced to new ideas and new opportunities and to have access to a wider range of information. Like the nickname for my friends on my profile says, I'm always looking for "cool, unique, one of a kind, eccentric and/or nonconforming individuals" - it fuels my creative furnace and I would hope that it's the same for my friends. My point here is that, again, when I'm surfing profiles, it would be useful for me to know if a profile is active.

And, just for the record... I am against the "currently online indicator" - I appreciate privacy as well :-D

posted Jun 5

Fyorl says:

Well you're not technically logged in all the time. What happens is a cookie is stored on your computer with various information to identify yourself to Virb (if you checked the 'remember me' option). The normal logged-in session still runs as normal and will expire after half an hour or so of inactivity or if you close your browser. Your cookie is preserved however so when you visit Virb, instead of telling you to log in again because your session has expired, it first checks your cookies and sees if they check out. If they do, then it automagically logs you back in and lets you continue on as normal.

So, you see, technically you log in as normal it's just that most of the time it's done for you. Therefore a 'last logged in' stat would work fine.

Of course, if you spent your entire day browsing around Virb then it wouldn't work as expected. That's a bit hard to do unless you cheat and use Firefox to restore your sessions constantly.

As for 'online now' status. Sure, add it if you want. I'm gonna turn it off though.

posted Jun 5

@Fyori- Interesting. Guess i didn't really think about it that way.
Seems to me that makes an even better argument for not having a "Last Login" timestamp: I leave my laptop on constantly, with FF running all day (and a tab with Virb open in the background), and I almost never restart- so wouldn't it look like I was "logging in" every time I unsleep my computer and reload My Home page to check for new friend activity? Having a login timestamp would make it look like I just logged in over and over every day.

@allison- for the reason I just mentioned I like the idea of the stats only indicating the day I was last on, rather than an exact time. Good suggestion, and one I wouldn't mind having on, I suppose.

posted Jun 5

Fyorl says:

@Birdy: I know what you mean but I think it would still work. If you leave Firefox open and don't click around Virb for more than half an hour then your session will expire. Then whenn you go back to any Virb page, you'll be logged in again automagically because of your cookies.

The only way to get around that would be to sit and click around Virb all day or, just before your session expires, force-quit firefox (shutdown your computer or kill the process). That way firefox retains all your session information and will ask you if you want to restore them once you start it up again. Of course, if you've left Firefox unattended for hours then the session will have expired and so saving it would make no difference.

I realise it's a bit hard to explain. It helps if you've been a web developer for the good part of 4 years.

The best way would be to just give people an option to become 'invisible' as per deviantART. That way your last logged in stat isn't displayed and neither is your online indicator. Then you can wander around Virb pretending you're a ninja...

posted Jun 5

m Dot says:

Whose pretending?

posted Jun 5

@fyori- i got what you meant, cookies aren't hard to grok at all (it just didn't really occur to me at the time to think about cookies as it related to this subject)- what i meant was that i do go back and check virb every couple of hours (eh, smoke breaks)... so like i said, it would look like i'd just logged on many times a day.

don't know about the invisible mode thing-i mean, ideally it would just state the last day you were on virb and if you wanted to you could turn that feature off, which i suppose amounts to invisible mode...

btw- you've been a web developer since you were 13? :)

posted Jun 5

*Go Tigz* says:

I want to be able to see when people are online! that's all i have to say! :)

posted Jun 5

ok make it an option then. if you want it: then turn it on. if not: turn it off. that simple....

posted Jun 5

Fyorl says:

@Birdy: Oh right, I guess I was the one that misunderstood you. Yeah it would update the last logged in stat several times a day. But if it's measured in days then it won't change until the next day...

Oh and yeah, when I was 13 I made my first browser-based MORPG... good times...

posted Jun 6

@Fyori- man, when I was 13 I wasn't making anything but trouble and mix tapes. My only excuse is that there wasn't a web yet to develop anything for...
:)

posted Jun 6

Fyorl says:

Bah, it's hilariously easy to do in PHP. I mean, when I look back at some of that code, I really cringe. I guess I'm just nerd... maybe I should have stuck with making some mix tapes... or mix CDs =P

posted Jun 6

Fyorl says:

Yeah I read it. I know there were some PHP tutorials as well as some MySQL stuff. I don't think the PHP tutorials dealt with games of any sort though (their C# one does I think). I didn't follow the tutorials anyway because it looked too basic for me.

posted Jun 6

I asked about this a while back but never heard anything so I'm gonna take a chance of being annoying and post it again:
Can we please have a "number of comments" line for Blog posts on the profile page?

I have my full blog posts on my profile page and I'd really like people to be able to see if there's been any commenting activity without having to click "See all".

posted Jun 2

I'm curious why when I choose the friends link from my homepage, I cannot go to their profiles. when I click on one of their pictures, I get a box allowing me to give them a tag. What I want is to go to the profile page. Am I missing something? It is a nuisance to have to "view my profile" then go to friends to get to them.

posted May 31

Comment replies (3)

When that box pops up you should have a line of text right under their screen name that reads "Go to Profile" (its blue text)

or you could click on the picture inside the pop up box and go to their page.

posted May 31

Fyorl says:

Yup...

posted Jun 1

thankyou. i was missing it

posted Jun 1

fin24000 says:

How about a new tag for Food?....... As that is a semi major thing that has been over looked....... I know you can make a block for it but then it becomes picking a tag for it that fits and well there is not one......

posted May 31

Comment replies (1)