Photo Mosaic Creator Visual/functional feedback

[Anim9or]

Hi, I've been working on small website called Fauxsaics (Faux Photo Mosaics) for a while that uses PHP to create photo mosaics for it's users.  I've recently redesigned it to make it more efficient and would really love for people to test it. 

 

You can currently upload tile pictures, copy them from other websites, or import them from Facebook.  If anyone wants to try it, feel free to let me know how you process went and what you think of the final result.

 

One example of me is attached.

 

http://www.fauxsaics.com/

 

 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Anim9or]

NOTE: The actual mosaic page is at

http://www.fauxsaics.com/canvasupload.php?step=0

I should've put that in the first post but it won't let me edit it now.

[thewooleymammoth]

hmmm, well ill start with too much green. get another color in there please, even if its just a significant  amount of white.

 

your google ads look out of place, center or something.

 

everything is a bit too square for me.

 

also for small rez pictures you should make the pixelation use smaller squares.

[Anim9or]

Thanks for the advice! You brought up some good points that I'm going to work on to try to maximize the website.

 

I think I agree about the green especially, I wanted it to be a signature idea, but now that think about it, most websites don't use one makor color(except white), I'll probably mix some more blue and white into it since they don't clash and most sites use that scheme.

 

I fixed the ads, they're now centered and I changed the background color to blend with the box they're in instead of the total background.  it really does look much better.

 

I see what you mean about everything being square, but I kind of like it.  It seems to go with the theme of breaking down the pictures, maybe that's just me though.

 

I'm working on the smaller resolution thing, according to past experince no one seems to use the manual tile sizer so I guess it's my job to set up a good one from them from the start.

 

If you don't mind me asking though, what do you think of the site's functionality?  According to Google Analytics, no one seems to be finishing their mosaic or uploading tiles as if it give them an error, but whenever I try the site, it runs fine.  if anyone could tell me if they ran into a problem or couldn't find a button I'd me much obliged.

 

Thanks again!

[seventheyejosh]

If you put in ' in the tile size box, you get a \' back, but the loading link takes you here: http://www.fauxsaics.com/editboxsize2.php?picture=1296&boxsize=\%27

 

With some fun business:

 

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You need to validate the digit your users choose:

 

//old (maybe)

$somenumber=$_POST['number'];

call_function($somenumber);

//new

$somenumber=(int)$_POST['number'];

if($somenumber>0){

call_function($somenumber);

}else{

//fail somehow

}//end if

[seventheyejosh]

http://www.fauxsaics.com/contact.php

 

Put a ' in the "name" box...

 

Takes you here:

 

http://www.fauxsaics.com/send_contact.php

 

With:

 

Warning: mail() [function.mail]: Bad parameters to mail() function, mail not sent. in /home/content/97/5333297/html/send_contact.php on line 15
Sorry, all fields need to be filled out, please go back and try again.

 

You really need to validate and sanitize all of the data your users will submit.

 

Also, when you search, it moves the search area above the menu.

[Anim9or]

heh, that's embarrassing .  Just fixed all of those(except the search issue, couldn't find the problem when I tried it).  Everything is now sanitized for the users convenience using either a red font warning or a JavaScript form validation. The page is once again open to users, so feel free to continue criticizing.

[Anim9or]

hey, sorry for bumping, but before I let this page fade into obscurity, I was wondering 2 things:

1) According to Google Analytics, most people are creating their canvas picture, but are not uploading any tiles.  I've checked the buttons and their all working for me, has anyone else had problems?

2)Also, does anyone have a good idea on how to promote the site?  I really think it's a good idea, but nothing I do sticks, probably because possibly because of the first question.  Does anyone know a photography forum, or anything of the sort that might be interested?

[tsoltysiak]

Regarding the fact that people are uploading a canvas but no tiles, I think it could be some confusion about how it works.  I just tried it and uploaded a picture, then clicked on upload, and it didn't really look different so I clicked on Next Step, which then spent some time loading and made a "Mosaic" that just looked like a pixelated image.  The thing is that I didn't realize I had to upload some tiles until it was too late.  Try to find some way of making the steps clearer, with better explanations of what it is used for and that it is needed for a mosaic to be created.

 

Tom

[Anim9or]

Thank you!  I was really hoping someone would tell me they were having a problem like that, it sure beats "people aren't using the website because they're not interested in what the website does".  I'm going to look into some methods making it seem more direct.  In the mean time, I have added a set of step by step instructions to uploading on the top(the yellow bar) that should give people a better idea of how to make it and I have disabled the next step button for pictures with no tile pictures, but also added a caption explaining why they shouldn't press next step with a direct link to importing pictures from Facebook, which I believe is the best way to add tiles.  Thanks again, hope it helps!