Moderators, read here!

from WinCustomize Forums
im not saying this to aggravate anyone of you but i would like to tell you my ideas of moderator ratings and protocols.......
and i do consider the fact that a bunch of people uploading causes the need for more bandwidth or site performance issues.and i know that can possibly be why you guys are so strict on what gets uploaded....(i might be wrong) BUT:::

when a skin or wallpaper goes through "moderation" it shouldnt be judged by moderators in a sense of quality it should only be judged on copyright infringement protocol, and antiprofanity protocol.


you should let the consumers/end users/downloaders choose wheather its good or not and how can anyone do that if its stuck on a non directly accessed site which is its makers profile?? if it were place in the gallery automatically the maker would know almost within a few days if its any good or not! one persons likings are different from anothers.

more simply put, if the moderators dont like what you have rendered or made in a illustration program or whatever you use, it shouldnt matter to them! because thats the moderators opinion, not the opinion of the people downloading!

for and example, i actually browsed all the way from 5 star- to 2stars and saw all kinds of professionaly done wall papers and skins rated at 2 stars! and some of the two star rated content was way better than the 5 star stuff!

im finished bitching you ge my drift!
36,864 views 111 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

sublime20 ...this is an aspect/concept that has been raised several times before.

Its basis is that Moderators are an 'us and them' existence within the public Wincustomize Community.....but they're not.

As the saying goes...."we are humans, too".

Moderators have equal rights to cast opinions as the next person, and yes, there is the option [of theirs] to determine some works are better displayed in the uploader's personal pages rather than the general galleries but that is specifically part of the Wincustomize moderation process.

What is then commonly forgotten is that these moderators are an experienced bunch who are quite good at not passing prejudiced opinion....[I see their comments frequently and they always show critical opinion of the work, not the person].

Your last para re 2 stars and 5 stars is the perfect example of where your system still falls down....though in this case the discrepancy is down to your opinion/taste rather than those charged with administering site content....

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
There has to be some sort of moderation in regards to quality otherwise the site will be full of crap & buggy blinds,widgets etc if something got two stars then there's a good reason for it,if the maker thinks they've been hard done by then it's up to them to contact that moderator & find out where the improvements need to be made
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have tried to put stuff on my site only and not in the photo section and still get crabbed at. I go to diviant art and my stuff is taken there without complaint. The last upload was the last here. I was basically told not to bother because of size and everything else about it. My pics are all over the internet and I don't care if I download anything more here. I just will come and take and not give back, I pay so I will take. My stuff isn't good enough for here. I have been informed so I guess if you want to download anything don't do it here unless you want to be chastised for your uploads. I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but mine were run over with a truck the last time so I just don't want to try again. Look elsewhere and forget it here, let the professionals do their thing here cause if you don't got what they want, they don't want what you got. Thanks for making me feel so wanted, and my work to be so poorly done. I don't mind, others like my stuff and download it elsewhere.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

mschleinser you have been told many times that the wallpaper gallery is for wallpapers and not personal photos. It is not a 'photo' section as you put it, it is for wallpapers at standard wallpaper size resolutions.

You have had this explained to you so many times I'm now at a loss to know why you don't understand what is being said   

Your stuff is taken at DA without complaint because they have zero moderation...

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BTW i don't care on how many stars are given by moderators, i'm seeing all stuff from 0 to 10   
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
mschleinser.. you have some pretty decent photos in your gallery. Keep in mind that photography is a different artform than graphic making. Photos will be judged differently than wallpapers. This is not the site to get proper critisism on photos. Photography sites such as DA are better suited. Anyplace with professional photgraphers is better than here. Sure there are some decent photgraphers here but in general, they are amateurs such as yourself. I am not sure I would even trust their opinions. Cetrtainly dont trust mine, I could take a pic of a tree and have to remove red eye.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BTW i don't care on how many stars are given by moderators, i'm seeing all stuff from 0 to 10
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become subscribers allow us to see all skins and this time that allow us to help also childs

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Don't take it too personally, sublime20. Hell, someone just ripped one of my OD icons, slapped it on a background they probably ripped , and made it through moderation into the main gallery with 7 stars. WWW Link

You'll go insane trying to figure out how stuff is moderated.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Po - that has now been investigated and removed. 

Anyone can contact a moderator if there's a problem, either by e-mail or PM.

Last night I had a PM from someone at 10:50 regarding a rip. I picked up the message at 10:52, did some investigating (wasn't hard to do...) and at 10:55 the item was gone and an e-mail sent to the uploader.

Moderating can be that efficient   

Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Don't take it too personally, sublime20. Hell, someone just ripped one of my OD icons, slapped it on a background they probably ripped , and made it through moderation into the main gallery with 7 stars. WWW Link
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I guess errors like this are easily made, as I don't think the moderators recognize each and every Icon/skin immediately.

What counts is that it has already been removed.


sublime20... don't think too much about it. Just try to improve your work and one day you will find that is has been placed into the public library. Some of the moderators are even kind enough to give you a quick feedback on how to improve your work, if asked politely. The topic of moderation in the wall-section has come up periodically, and whenever the level of moderation has been reduced due to the complaints, people weren't happy either as really good work was quickly pushed back from the "newest" list by submitters that flooded the section with rather "simple" work.

mschleisner...While I really enjoy looking through your personal photos on your page, I wouldn't like seeing them in the main gallery. You have to understand that this is a desktop-customization site. As a general rule most photos are just not suitable as a desktop-wallpaper, also because the resolution on the photos are all wrong.
I've got thousands of photos at home, but if I ever feel the need to show them to the public, I will upload them to a dedicated Photo-site and not to any of the Skinning-sites.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have tried to put stuff on my site only and not in the photo section and still get crabbed at. I go to diviant art and my stuff is taken there without complaint. The last upload was the last here. I was basically told not to bother because of size and everything else about it. My pics are all over the internet and I don't care if I download anything more here. I just will come and take and not give back, I pay so I will take. My stuff isn't good enough for here. I have been informed so I guess if you want to download anything don't do it here unless you want to be chastised for your uploads. I don't want to hurt anyones feelings but mine were run over with a truck the last time so I just don't want to try again. Look elsewhere and forget it here, let the professionals do their thing here cause if you don't got what they want, they don't want what you got. Thanks for making me feel so wanted, and my work to be so poorly done. I don't mind, others like my stuff and download it elsewhere.
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20 people can tell someone the same thing 20 different ways and they still will only take away from it what they WANT to take away...I'm being picked on
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Due to the sheer volume of wallpapers submitted to the site, and the desire to present the overall best quality of work, wallpapers must be partially moderated based on quality.  WinCustomize has always been a moderated site, we feel it is one of our strengths versus other sites out there.  To turn wallpapers into a largely unmoderated gallery, we would have to remove them from the "Newest Submissions" list and otherwise limit their exposure because based purely on volume, they would flood all other content off the site.

In the past (i.e. less than a year ago) probably 75% of all submitted wallpapers were simply rejected from the site.  There was no placing on the personal page.  If it didn't meet a very high standard, it simply was not posted.  In review, we felt that was too harsh and excluded a lot of people, so we both loosened the public posting requirements, and implemented the personal page policy.  This was the compromise.

On the issue of personal photos.  I will just reiterate here that WinCustomize and the Wallpaper gallery is NOT a personal photo storage system.  If you're a subscriber, there is a photo album on your personal site you can use.  This is not an issue of the photo not being "good enough" it's a matter of it not being appropriate.  We don't accept icons in the WindowBlinds category, we don't accept home photos in the Wallpaper gallery.  It is also important to note that there is a difference between a photo wall such as the work Kenwas does, and a photo of your backyard, taken through a screen and glass door, or a picture of a friend in a costume.

Additionally, images must conform to regular desktop resolutions.  Submitting a personal photo at some ridiculous resolution is just the final strike against such a submission.

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It is also important to note that there is a difference between a photo wall such as the work Kenwas does, and a photo of your backyard, taken through a screen and glass door, or a picture of a friend in a costume.
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I assume you are thinking of someone else as all my walls are 3D renders and not photos.

Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Perhaps "photo-realistic" would be a better choice?
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I assume you are thinking of someone else as all my walls are 3D renders and not photos.
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Well, they're good enough to fool me.  They always looked like photos with great editing work done on them 

Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, they're good enough to fool me. They always looked like photos with great editing work done on them
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All this time you thought they were photo manips? Well, I'll certainly take that as a compliment as a degree of realism is always one of my goals. Vue Infinite is also a great program and a fine render engine as well which makes my job somewhat easier for sure.

Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Just as a side on personal taste.........
I had a friend call me Saturday night to tell me he had seen one of my photos at the county fair which had won "Best In Show" in the B&W Nature section. It's a picture of a butterfly. I was gald to hear it (there's money involved) so last night my wife and I went to see it. There it was on it's own display with a fairly large ribbon. I have to say I was a bit surprised to find that it was hung upside down.
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
There it was on it's own display with a fairly large ribbon. I have to say I was a bit surprised to find that it was hung upside down.
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Congrats on the award! The upside down thing must have been a weird feeling indeed though!
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Congrats Lantec
I have to say I was a bit surprised to find that it was hung upside down.
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Did you tell them ???

It's My Secret

Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top

All this time you thought they were photo manips?
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It's OK, Kenwas ......I know what they are...

Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
t's OK, Kenwas ......I know what they are...
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Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's a picture of a butterfly. I was gald to hear it (there's money involved) so last night my wife and I went to see it. There it was on it's own display with a fairly large ribbon. I have to say I was a bit surprised to find that it was hung upside down.
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Congrats Lantec - you have to admit there is a degree of humor in that upside thing .

Art is always in the eye of the viewer ..
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Did you tell them ???
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The judging took place late last week. Seems it's been upside down the whole time. Laura was concerned they might not have liked it as much if it was right-side up...........

I had 2 others make honorable mention. One's a Intracoastal waterway scene and the other is a Reddish Egret (rare and endangered) Neither was hung upside down.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top

It's OK, Kenwas ......I know what they are...
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I know what they are too - they are fantastic wallpapers   

Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Upside down butterfly?

...maybe it was an Australian butterfly