PriceScope and Pearl-Guide:

[la_corsetiere]

Yes, please share photos with us non-professionals here at PG!!! Eek! To think we've been missing out!!!

 

[Red]

Honestly, I agree with Pearl Dreams. It is overly complicated to load pictures onto PG. A simpler process would go a long ways towards encouraging the posting of more pearl pictures.

 

[lisa c]

I think this has turned into a Win-Win discussion, and I'm relieved to see my new friends back here, posting even though you might not feel it's your home-place.

Seriously, showing up here, expecting post-massive sales posts and photos, seeing nothing? Very spooky. I felt like I'd gone to the kitchen to replenish the punchbowl, and come back to an empty livingroom. Lonely. (sniff) Abandoned. And nothing good to look at (sag).

 

[jshepherd]

This is going to be pretty frank but ...

It used to be a lot more like Pricescope over here with all those post-sale threads and sharing of new purchases, etc. That has changed quite a bit and in some respects (at least for us, PP) it has been a good thing. There was a bit of animosity on PG because so many members were cheerleaders of one particular pearl seller (okay, me). I would see posts by vendors on other forums saying PG is so biased and hear about messages and emails related to it all of the time. One went as far as to say a lot of the members here didn't exist and that a lot of the threads weren't real people (even though they came to the Ruckus). Some cheerleaders (and great customers, unfortunately) were even chased away (made to feel unwelcome) by vendor members (like Callire).

Well, Pricescope's Pearl Forum fixed that - definitively.

I would love to have those threads back here too. I don't post on Pricescope so I don't get a chance to comment on so many of the beautiful things members post whether from us or from other sellers. I didn't realize it was more difficult to post photos here than on the other forum, and I will definitely check that out.

Also, this forum really does belong to you - the people who make up the community. We are always open to suggestions on how to improve it. Some things are feasible while others aren't, but I personally love to hear the suggestions.

 

[lisa c]

Good post, Jeremy, honestly, good to see it from your perspective. Kind of like when Josh (Kamoka) became the Co most represented by posters for Tahitians, you reminded us that his weren't the only good Tahitians on the planet (I'm paraphrasing only). PP is inescapably a big shot because of your huge, quality inventory, as well as other factors. What can one do?

The merchants with a gift for communicating, posting regularly and interacting here develop an edge, too, no doubt.

selfishly I hope we see everybody back here posting pictures and crowing about catches. If it's better to go back and forth between PG and PS, that's what'll become the norm, I guess.

 

[BAS]

lisa -- going back-and-forth is the only "norm" I know. I always have both windows open and check both first and last thing every day.

 

[lisa c]

Excellent point, BAS. Also, kudos for initiating an important discussion!
PS has fun icons.

 

[newberry]

Well said Jeremy.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

...I like the posting format here better, because one can make paragraphs, which are way easier to read....

You can make paragraphs on Pricescope, too!

I think the addition of blogs to the vendor websites, which we can subscribe to, was a fantastic development. This is the perfect way for vendors to present new products, upcoming sales, shopping trips and the like (which we pearl lovers want to know about) without appearing to be advertising on the forum.

I check Pricescope occasionally but I read P-G more.

 

[Icyjade]

This is how I view the two boards:

PriceScope = my peeps. The members are mostly pearl enthusiasts/consumers. We share pictures of our pearls with abandon and pleasure and ask any and all questions and give our advice freely. We're sarcastic, funny, friendly, not-so-friendly -- in other words, we're a comfortable, super chatty community who just adore posting and looking at pearl pictures. I assume the professionals peek in on what we're doing, but post less-and-less often (which is a real loss).

Pearl-Guide = The Professionals. The members/moderators are super knowledgeable Kings and Queens of the industry. They buy/sell/grow/distribute/design/create pearls that I find endlessly fascinating and give me so much pleasure. Though I am active, I post here less often. When someone asks about a pearl -- I wait for a professional to answer. When I buy a new piece, I generally show it to PS rather than PG. I don't want to inundate the professionals with my chatter and cell phone pictures when they see the best-of-the-best and have professional photographers to take their pearl pictures. Sometime a piece is so special (little h geode earrings) or fits into a thread (madama) that I do share.

I feel the same too! The part in bold is why I would probably choose to post in PS over PG... It's like, 'they go to the HK fair and see thousands/millions (?) and all types of pearls... why will they wanna see mine?'.

(I also feel posting the same pictures on both forums is too much, since many of us are members of both. So if I post them on PS first, they usually don't get posted here.)

This too. Plus posting on both takes up loads of time, so I'm kinda lazy to post on both.

Pricescope requests jewelry/gem/ pearl sellers to identify themselves, so on each post TRADE shows up, including myself because of my etsy shop. On PC as someone in the trade, I am not allowed to post photos of my personal pearls, pearl items for sale or make critical comments about other vendors pearls. In a situation when pearls were clearly misrepresented and several of us in the trade spoke up, we were firmly reminded such remarks were unacceptable and the posts removed. If a PC member specifically asks a question of someone in the trade, we are then allowed to comment. For example, on PC there is a discussion of pearl knotting techniques using Beader's Secret thread started by NacreLover, who has dual membership, and has requested my input several times.

Ah! I had no idea. I'll be sure to be specific when I ask trade folks on PS so that they can post photos then.

Katbran: it does mean that you can post the pics of the stuff that I asked about on PS right? I did ask from you specifically...

I would love to have those threads back here too. I don't post on Pricescope so I don't get a chance to comment on so many of the beautiful things members post whether from us or from other sellers. I didn't realize it was more difficult to post photos here than on the other forum, and I will definitely check that out.

Also, this forum really does belong to you - the people who make up the community. We are always open to suggestions on how to improve it. Some things are feasible while others aren't, but I personally love to hear the suggestions.

I'm used to the PS pic upload interface and new to the one in PG so here's my perspective:
- the speed of upload is way faster on PG than PS. (PG +1)
- the interface for PS is more intuitive and I can see the images of earlier uploads as thumbnails on PS but not PG. (PS +1)
- PS limits the number of pics per post to 4 (erm, no such limit here right? I didn't try doing a post to test out) which is irritating cos I've to create multiple posts to share more than 4 pics. (PG +1)
- PG allows pics from third party sites like photobucket. (PG +1)
- PS doesn't require moderator to approve newbie pics. (PS +1)
So overall IMO PG picture posting isn't too bad. Final score: PG 3 vs PS 2

Suggestions:
- make the forum feel more welcoming to newbies and remove the pic approval requirement.
- make the pic upload interface more intuitive (I blog on Wordpress and they have the easiest interface).
- make the forum user friendly for mobile devices like phones and iPads, including how to add attachments/post using these devices.
- enable emoji or add some cute emoticons.

=======
But I do want to take the opportunity to express my thanks for having this forum. I've learnt so much from PGers and I really appreciate having a place where folks like me can ask people in the industry questions about pearls. I've spent so many hours reading old threads on PG to learn more about pearls and I'm sure I'll be spending many more hours in the years ahead. Thank you!

 

[jshepherd]

Thanks for all of this! I will definitely see what is doable.

Related to the "pic approval requirement," there is none. There is only a "post approval requirement" and only for the first two posts. A new member's first two posts have to be approved before they are viewable to everyone on the forum. This is why you never see spam posts or links to shady sites and trojans on Pearl-Guide. It happens several times a week, but the "post approval requirement" keeps them from ever making it to the live site.

The pic approval thing is a bug. It only happens once in a while, and it happens to everyone. In the past year it has even happened to me and last year or the year before it even happened to Blaire. I know it happens somewhat regularly and happened again just last week. There are about four of us that are the spam cops here on the forum, and we're the same ones that have to approve those pics when it happens. The unfortunate thing is that there is no notification when it happens like there is when a first-time poster has to be approved or rejected. This means either someone has to report it or we have to find it.

After the holiday I am going to do more research on why this happens. There are thousands of forums on the web built with vBulletin on the web today. We can't be the only ones with this issue.

 

[lisa c]

Oh, PearlDreams, you're so right! I wonder why my brain remembered "no paragraphs"....

 

[jshepherd]

On a whim I went to check the settings on all the individual sub forums and not just the settings on the forum itself. For some reason, the akoya sub-forum was set to moderate attachments. I never really thought about it before, but if the only attachments that required approval were in the akoya forum, the problem should now be solved.

 

[Caitlin]

And that should solve the mystery, too. When it used to come to my attention that an attachment needed moderation, I always wondered why, because I knew that attachments weren't moderated and said that even when people said they couldn't see an attachment-

Now I hope we will get a lot more cross posting of photos. Isn't it some kind of provenance or something to have photos of your pearls online in two different places? If it is not, it could be.... At least you know where copies of photos are if you need them for insurance.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Just my perspective here, but as a consumer, I really appreciate the ability to come in to this forum and look at the products and read the posts of the experts. I also enjoy viewing "real life" photos of those products because, let's face it...a vendor's shots are their best face for their products. The real life photos help me to determine if the product will live up to its "hype" and worth my hard earned money. I have had very wonderful experiences with several of the vendors here. I like to shop where I feel welcome...and for the most part the vendors here have been very helpful with my silly questions. While it may be a site for "pros", I consider it also a place to find information and background on unique and special pieces I may be interested in purchasing. Thank you for that!

 

[juliebeth]

agree with JerseyGirl, although just posted a giant thread on PS on my new i'm-never-taking-them-off blue wobbly tahitians (TAN000-1170, Jeremy, by the way, THANK YOU FOR CREATING THAT STRAND you've made my year, if not my decade!) with gobs of photos b/c i suddenly discovered how to easily attach photos over there. i will play around and duplicate that thread here, if nothing else, y'all will love the bi-directional (tri-directional? drunken oysters?) pearls this necklace features, as well as the colors and luster that i suspect i never could have been able to afford were those particular oysters not on the bottle that day...

love both forums, honestly prefer this one, would love to see it get as chatty as PS re: sales and purchases, etc. i'll do my part. give me a day.

 

[lisa c]

Where did the reputation things go? I want to say great intuition and impulse, Jeremy! but there's no reputation button :-( ? Is it the topic or the thread?

 

[GemGeek]

That's odd. They must be working on things.

 

[pinkjewel]

I have to agree with many of the others. I love this forum and read quite a bit over here and find it very educational, but don't really post much as I feel like I am not a pearl expert- well, not even close!!. Most photos I post on PS- not because it's more difficult here, but I always thought that most people who like to view pics are on both forums and duplicate postings would be redundant and time consuming.

 

[dkan 168]

I have fond memories of the time when PP had a baroque Tahitian necklace sale a good few years ago, and a number of us rushed to PG to post about which strand(s) we managed to bag.

Happy days!

DK