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Not JUST a Virtual Club

Andy Millar
Just to say that since the new forums started with photos (if we want) and real names I for one have found this club has gone beyond the virtual - and all the better for it. I've just had my third IET event this year where at least one person has come up to me and said "Hello, you're Andy aren't you? We've never met in real life" - particularly impressive this time as it was someone (hello Garethsmiley) who lives 3,000 miles away from me! I cannot recommend this highly enough as a way of meeting other engineers. 


Of course, I quite understand that some or many members won't want their photos up for all sorts of reasons, but even then it's still possible to spot names on conference / seminar lists. Definitely another really good reason to join in to these discussions. yes


Cheers,


Andy
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    I completely agree Andy Millar‍ wink


    A volunteer once said to me that they enjoyed having an online community at the IET as it meant that members who lived a great distance from each other still had the oppportunity to interact and network with other members, not only locally, but also from all over the world. Especially in the case of some of our IET Local Networks where members can be spread over vast distances making it difficult for some to attend the physical events that their Local Network volunteers organise. By joining the online community, members can still benefit from those physical activities by reading the event write ups in the blog, watching any available video recordings of the event or taking part in any of the post event discussions and asking questions etc.


    Being part of a 'virtual' community can, for some, have just as many benefits as a 'real life' community. smiley

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    Andy

    There is no doubt that the website is becoming better and more intuitive but to many it is still a nightmare. Your message about photos prompted me to try and change my profile picture. Took longer than I thought as it was a long time before I realised that it was not just a matter of adding your photo and clicking update but you had to give it a title!!
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    Hi Jack,


    Still, once you find out how to use the forums (and indeed find them in the first place) at least there's a sense of achievement - a bit like setting up a colony on Mars or finding Atlantis smiley


    Yes that point about the photos baffled me for a year or two - not so much getting it on my profile (I don't actually remember doing that) but adding photos to posts has the same odd feature, it feels more as if you're saving them to the cloud than just plonking them into a message a la Facebook (other social media forums are available).


    As you know, I've been pootling around in these forums for over 12 years now, so I've sort of got immune to the oddities of them...it would be fascinating to ask some short and long term members who've never come here to have a go, and video them doing it!


    See you down the physical pub soon smiley


    Cheers,


    Andy
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    Andy Millar:


    Yes that point about the photos baffled me for a year or two - not so much getting it on my profile (I don't actually remember doing that) but adding photos to posts has the same odd feature, it feels more as if you're saving them to the cloud than just plonking them into a message a la Facebook (other social media forums are available).




    Hi both


    Yes when you upload a photo the 'Title' field is mandatory as depicted by the asterisk against the word 'Title'.  As the asterisk is the widely recognised symbol for a field on an online that is mandatory we didn't think that it needed any specific description text against it. We do have a huge amount of photos that are uploaded to the community on a daily basis so I'm guessing that the majority of community members have no issue with it. However, if you feel that it needs to have the added text of  *mandatory field against it then it's something we can ask the suppliers to look at for us. yes


    I'd also recommend when uploading a photo to also make sure you include a short description of what it is too. There are many photos uploaded to the community without descriptions so there's no context for someone viewing the photo as to what it's about, who is in it, why it was taken etc etc. sad 

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    Hi Lisa,


    Perhaps a topic for another thread ("What do members think of the photo upload features of the forum?")? I'd better not start it just now...it's distracting enough having a nice sunny day outside while I'm trying to work!


    Cheers,


    Andy
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    Hi Lisa


    Understand about the asterisk but thought it only applied to other photos. I assumed by ticking the update profile box that the photo only went as my profile picture. I have now just discovered that there is a photo gallery under resources and my picture with the title me and a lot of others with the title me is there! Perhaps that should be made clear!

    By the way while I am exploring. What is the difference between the forums and the blogs? Also how do you get to the forums? I picked up on this subject though an email link. Does everyone get a link to every forum comment or is there a preference setting somewhere I must have ticked?


    Thanks


    Jack
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    So there is - I never knew that was there (I'd vaguely wondered but never looked). Interestingly I see that my profile photo doesn't have a name!


    So when we upload a photo (say into a discussion thread) it goes into a gallery which then anyone else can search and download and use at will? I suppose I should have guessed that. (Jack, I just downloaded yours to try this as I didn't think you'd mind - I have plenty of other photos of you on my PC already!)


    Who owns the copyright in an uploaded photo? I can't (at a very quick look) see anything about this? Suppose I wanted to use this photo in a PowerPoint https://communities.theiet.org/photos/31503?group_id=&folder_id=&offset=28&total=12527&filter=&order=mostrecent could I just use it? (Personally I wouldn't, I'd contact Kim as the poster and ask for permission, but that's me being me.)


    Sorry for opening a can of worms - to be fair I think Jack found the can opener...


    Cheers,


    Andy
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    Hi Andy


    Copyright of any image always sits with the image owner I believe, unless its licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. It is a huge can of worms and I'm probably not the best person to explain it fully!


    However, it's very easy just to right click and save any image that you find on the internet which is why as a commercial photographer who sells images, you would never post a photo on a website or on social media without first plastering your logo/watermark all over it and without including your purchasing and licensing terms. That's why any images you find on Google always state 'May be subject to copyright' as the onus is on you to ensure you have the correct permissions to use the image. 


    When you upload an image to the community there is an option to 'share with the sitewide gallery' which puts a copy of the image into the resource gallery which is a public space. If you choose not to share the image in that gallery then it only appears in the forum post or group gallery that you've added it to. But again it's easy for anyone to right click and save image...


    There is a disclaimer that appears in relevant areas within the community that says:

    "The majority of content posted in IET communities is created by Institution members and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated and are not those of the IET. The IET is not responsible for any content posted by members of the public on Engineering Communities or for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through the IET websites. Any links to third party websites from the IET do not amount to an endorsement of that site by the IET. Any use of that site by you is at your own risk.

    By uploading content you confirm that it does not violate or infringe any copyright, trade mark, privacy, personal or proprietary laws or rights."


    So basically, when you upload images to the community you're confirming to us that it's not infringing anyone's copyright. 


    There are plenty of websites out there that provides royalty free images under the creative commons licence and there are different variations of that too. Some will allow you to use images as long as you include an attribution to the photographer along with their copyright and some require no attribution at all. 


    Again Google makes it easy to find similar images on the internet which is how you can search for anyone who is using your commercial images without your consent... wink


    Hope that helps?
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    Hi Jack Aust‍ 

    What is the difference between forums and blogs?



    Ahhh now there's a good question and something that does cause confusion for some of our community members! wink


    A discussion forum is a place where you have 'conversations' with other community members i.e. someone asks a question in the forum then other community members reply to it. 

    A blog is different. A blog is usually owned by one author or a number of contributors who also author the blogposts for that specific blog.  A blogpost is more like an essay or an 'article'  which readers can leave their comments on. 


    Hope that helps to explain?


    Lisa

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