Hello,
I find the list of available categories somewhat limited. How about adding the following categories?
DIY Photography
Hacks, tips, and tricks
Articles and useful links
Miscellaneous
Thank you,
Dmitri
These are excellent suggestions, I especially like the DIY category.
Before a category is added, we try and ensure that there will be posts to fill said category, as we do not want empty categories.
1 Like
The categories are due for a revisit (in particular the Showcase and Critique categories can probably be combined for example).
There is the Lounge for Off-Topic/Miscellaneous stuff.
I know that @Morgan_Hardwood will have some opinions on this - so Iâd love to hear them!
Could DIY and Hacks, tips, and tricks be combined into a single category?
I think a natural combo! Would be nice to have some dedicated space for that kind of thingâŚ
FWIW I think showcase and critique are valid separate categories. In one, someone wants to show off something they have done, while in the other someone is inviting constructive criticism of their work. If they are combined, the contributor will need to state whether they want critique, every single time.
3 Likes
Isnât the whole forum about DIY? Especially software done yourself? 
2 Likes
I tend to see one for the Kim-Jong-Unâs and one for the Dalai Lamas among us 
1 Like
A very important point. The existence of a category must come about from a need for one - only if the item being posted really does not belong anywhere else. Some forums go head over heels with categories and sub-categories, but that really doesnât do much good, and becomes difficult to clean up as time passes.
I agree that Showcase and Critique are two different things, but is the distinction between the two clear to all and will it be obeyed? Not everyone who speaks English well will take the moment to think about which one to post in, and not everyone here speaks English well enough to understand the implications of the not-too-clear difference in category names. Furthermore, I feel that showing photos here while implicitly (by the name of the category) being forbidden from constructive critique goes a little against the spirit of the site.
Back to the main question.
âDIY Photographyâ and âHackâ greatly overlap, while âtips and tricksâ is too general.
I suggest instead adding a category âHardwareâ. It will combine several suggested categories and fill in a gap. Itâs very clear what belongs there - DIY, hacks, gear talk, etc.
âArticles and useful linksâ again is too general - we already link to articles in the appropriate categories which the articles belong to. I donât think there is a need for an Articles category, it wouldnât improve anything.
Iâm unsure what to do with threads about image processing scripts. They will get lost in the Software category. For example I posted a Bash script some time ago in Software, Easily generate DCP profiles using DCamProf and this Bash script. The only way to find it is to search for it. Maybe Software could use a Scripts sub-category? There are already a bunch of them floating about. Or maybe I should move that to github? @patdavid?
Then there is the question of buying and selling stuff, e.g. second-hand lenses, or some DIY electronics. âBuy & Sellâ could be a sub-category of âHardwareâ.
2 Likes
Iâve been meaning to syphon off the scripts and commit them to the github repo⌠But time! Time is in short supply.
I also sort of wish discourse had tagging in addition to categories, but I also have the feeling thatâd get wildly out of control.
1 Like
I like where you all are going with a âHardwareâ category idea for all of the DIY, hacks, gear, etc. Iâll get that stood up shortly and we can start moving relevant topics into that category.
I do think we should probably consolidate âCritiqueâ and âShowcaseâ into a more general âImagesâ category that I donât have a pithy name for at the moment. Any ideas?
Per @paperdigits suggestion on a different thread, I think I will also release the âLoungeâ category to be open to everyone and to serve as a general off-topic/general discussion area for whatever folks would like to talk about. This will also help by exposing those topics to a wider audience for posterity.
So, @Morgan_Hardwood, @Ofnuts, @houz if yâall have any other insights or objections to my proposals above, let me know! Iâll go ahead and set up the âHardwareâ category now, and wait a couple of days before combining the others to get any late feedback. Thanks for all the feedback so far everyone!
There is actually tagging available for the forum. Iâd be happy to enable itâŚ
Perhaps showcase and critique could be rolled into âthe galleryâ or âimage sharingâ or âframingâ or âthe frameâ or âbehind the glass.â Just throwing a few out there.
1 Like
If one wanted to show some photos, one would look through all of the available categories and pick the best matching one. If there was no Critique category one would assume one could post images in Showcase to show them and perhaps receive critique. If there was no Showcase category, one would assume one could post images in Critique to show them off. The distinction between the two, what can and what shouldnât be done, only comes into play when two or more overlapping categories exist - then you try to figure out the difference. Well, maybe then you try to figure out the difference â depends on your character. (Off-topic: Iâve the type of character which looks through all of the options and only makes a choice once Iâve assessed all options. This becomes a big pain in the ass when I for example try to buy a pair of in-ear headphones, or choose a recipe, orâŚ) Others might just choose the first matching option they come across, ignoring the rest, even though there might be a better match farther on. My point is you could call it anything, including one of the old names, it wonât matter if there is only one suitable category.
âShowcaseâ, âShow and tellâ, âGalleryâ, âPhotosâ, âImagesâ, all good.
I havenât forgotten this discussion, just been busy. But Iâd like to revisit it. After enabling tagging I see that @paperdigits tagged the PlayRaw entries which got me thinking that it might make sense to create a category just for challenges and sharing samples with everyone. Does this make sense?
If so, any ideas on a name? Iâm leaning towards something like âChallenges and Samples (Files?)ââŚ
Would this include the collapsing the Showcase and Critique categories?
Yes, though not necessarily collapsing them into the same âChallenges and Samplesâ category. Perhaps there should be an âImagesâ category, and a sub-category of âChallenges and Samplesâ?
Lots of categories could fit under âImagesâ⌠Dare I say all the categories? 
Iâm back to the âGalleryâ idea, something that implies that youâre somewhat finished and want to share, maybe with a subs of âplayrawâ, âcritiqueâ, and âshow and tellâ?
I do like the idea of the " Show-and-tell" in that it should encourage people to share their techniques instead of just posting images.
1 Like
âSamplesâ doesnât speak to me, I donât understand what would go into it. âGalleryâ or âShowcaseâ or âPhotos - Show and Tellâ speaks more clearly.
If you want to cut down on the number of main categories, Iâd put Challenges as a sub-category or tag of âPhotos - Show and Tellâ.
2 Likes
I think what Iâd like to see is a section for software downloads that has been developed either as testing or stable, which doesnât have anywhere else to go.
Iâm thinking about the likes of @Carmelo_DrRawâs excellent GIMP appimage. The way it is atm, we have to scroll further down the front page to find it, and goes further down the more people post. But by having these in a separate downloadable section, makes it far easier to locate and browse to.
I guess the only caviet would be that items placed there, for the ease of community members, would be that they would have to be a single-file appimage, snap, deb, rpm, exe, etc⌠or a link pointing to a ppa or compiling page.
Having such a section may also encourage other developers to show off their work, by creating an appimage, snap and posting it, who may want a much greater exposure (pun not intended) to those of us who get lost in complilng, and thus wonât touch anything that requires such.
Just a thought.
1 Like
for proposing a âdownload linksâ category.
I agree that grouping the known download links for installable packages that are verified by the community would be of great help.
As for what concerns the gimp appimage, the current solution is only temporary, to allow some initial testing. I think it is now time to give it a more official place⌠why not here?
Among the packages that would be worth including in the download links category, I would propose:
- @parthaâs Win and OSX GIMP builds
- krita appimage
- DT and RT download pages