ArtBistro

 I was wondering about sticky.

This is also related to groups:

 I agree, a lot of groups are having members post individual requests for viewing which could clog up the forum. Some people are even requesting viewing through private emails from groups that are not involved in requests for viewing members work. But what I was talking about was that even when your group is on the forum, when I click on the group name it does not bring up as much info as it used to. If I remember right.

i've noticed a lot of "complaining" about the group forums today while surfing this site ... but what is missing is anyone making any suggestions for solutions to any of the problems ... perhaps if some of these solutions were presented along with the initial problem, something could be done in a more timely manner ... there does seem to be a lot of  "friend" groups which seem to have the only purpose of the inital owner of the group to announce their new work ... perhaps if there were one central place to reach everyone or one place that tracks down new postings for the past month, a member could check it out and view the work that they enjoy the most ... this would eliminate the need for multiple listings in order to receive feedback

feedback is good and is an important process in learning ... i know that i have had a few good tips and suggestions that has helped me in the learning process of my craft, but there are a lot of "useless" comments that show no emotion and leaves me wondering if this person really got anything out of my work or if they just want to show up with a posting ... that in turn puts everyone's star ratings and comments in question

the forums are a good place to converse with others, to get opinions and thoughts, to just release (in a fun way, i hope) or meet other members who share the same craft (whether it be oils, acrylics, charcoal, photography, jewerly etc) ... i personally would like to see more of that sort of thing in my "friends" forum, but the question remains "how do i make people aware that this sort of thing exists?? there does seem to be a need to address these problems, but remember, these problems cannot be fixed overnight and they cannot be fixed without a new idea to replace the old disfunctional one

instead of a "look at me, i have new work" post, perhaps a weekly update could be posted on perhaps a saturday morning with a list of all the members who has posted something that week ... that way you can have an organized list of what is new for that period of time ... the list could consist of the handle of the member, the medium that the work consists of (so that any member who is not interested in that medium can bypass the look-see) and the number of pieces that person has available ... i'm not sure if it would work or if anyone is agreeable to it, but it is a suggestion

Don't know how well that would work or not Brandy.  It all depends on the mass of photos being uploaded throughout the week, such as tons of vacation photos posted at the same time, if you are one of those interested in photogaphy and still have to sift through all the "unartsy" photos.  As it appears these sites tend to be photo heavy.

another thing would be for "Group Administrator" to have the ability to approve all mass e-mailings before they are sent out.

That sounds like a good idea.  Unfortunately getting people to follow directions is another thing entirely.  Considering the age majority on here and how its is mainly older people who breaking these rules, its really sad.  I know these people know how to read. 

Remember that stupid test in grade school that they hand out to see how well you follow directions?  The first thing it says is read all the wuestions carefully, and at the very end of it says put your pencil down. (You shouldn't have answered anything on the test.)

unfortunately, there is no perfect solution to any problem ... personally, i like to know when new work is being uploaded so that i might look at it ... afterall, when a new collection is exhibited at a gallery, it is usually announced and advertised in several places (eg. newspapers, local community flyers etc) ...i worked at an art gallery for a period of time and we sent out a stack of snail mail to various people to advertise a new collection ...  in fact, every member of the gallery was given an invitation to view the latest collection every time a collection was changed ... that way you can go and look at the works that are displayed there and comment on the work as a whole in the guestbook ... when you do critiques at school, you have a certain time and place which is advertised and you are there ... in this particular group, it is difficult to find the type of artists that you enjoy the most and for that matter i have not been able to find anywhere where i might find what different artists have to offer 

also, there is a lot of work on this site that i like, but like it for no other reason than it strikes a chord within ... when a person has a collection of about 15 pieces and they are all good, i really don't like to leave the same comment work after work ... it would be nice to be able to leave a message about their work on a whole ... and i really wonder how serious i would be if i were continually leaving messages like "i really like your work" ... most of the artists in this group are really good ... and there is only so many ways that you can say that without repeating yourself ... there are also other reasons for getting feedback ... one would be to see if the message that you want to get out in your work is actually being read by other people ... another would be to critique techniques and offer other suggestions that the artist may or may not try in future endevours ... or the artist is putting together a portfolio for a job or whatever, and would like a little help in what pieces to use ... sometimes another point of view is helpful in seeing your own work ... however, it is hard to tell what the artist is looking for in a critique without first announcing it ... i can understand the frustration of receiving half a dozen announcements for the same thing, but on the other hand, it is also a way to reach out to new people that you may otherwise never meet ... and i am always open to viewing others work but i don't like guessing when something new is offered

which brings me back to my opening statement ... there is no perfect solution ... you can satisfy some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but there is no satisfying everyone with a perfect solution ... and that is just the world we live in

In response to Brandy

I think if you are familiar with viewing art its possible to critique a persons artwork in an album without repeating yourself. Some people feel uncomfortable (not you) about commenting on media they do not use, but there are formal concerns that cross over to various media. Of course I would encourage artists to try different media, it only helps, and can feedback into what your main interest is. 

I see your point. But If its a series you can comment on that while commenting on an individual piece. Some albums have pretty varied work. Star has a good point about using a comment wall for overview. Commenting on an album might be too vague, as many comments on individual work are now. I don't think people expect you to comment on each item in an album. There are multiple pages to the comment wall. Some are worth saving to remind you of friends you might not have contacted for a while. If its used as a chat room, thats different. You make good observations phoenixstorm, it gets me thinking, when I should be painting.

 You might have to copy and paste the links again after you post them to make them hot. That has been my experience. I'm not sure about your other questions.