Possible profile option - Gallery button?

[Cad64]

I'm a member over at CGArchitect.com, and they have a "View My Gallery" button under your name and profile info, that when pressed, takes you to a gallery page that displays all the renders you've uploaded to the forum. Is it possible to do something like that here?

Here is an example of what I'm talking about: http://forums.cgarchitect.com/67246-psycho-house.html

[CADTutor]

Yes, it's possible - the CGArchitect forum is also based on vBulletin, so in theory, we can do anything they can. To be clear, are you suggesting that we have a gallery here or that we have a button that links to a gallery elsewhere?

[Cad64]

I don't know how it all works, whether the gallery would be part of the forum or an external site? I just think it would be nice if members could have a gallery page to showcase their body of work rather than just having it scattered around in the Showcase section where it ends up getting lost as new threads are posted. The way they do it at CGArchitect is they have a dedicated section for finished work, so anything posted in that section goes into your gallery. You have to fill out a simple form, with required fields, and then choose the image you want to upload, but beyond that, I don't know where the image goes or how it's stored or anything. It would be great if we could somehow implement that here.

[BlackBox]

Sounds like the gallery functionality, displays the results of a query for the user's posts in a particular forum (or at least by post content?). I would think that including an optional field for 'portfolio site' to the Profile Options might be simpler (and less overhead?), than the former. Just a guess, not all that familiar with vBulletin.

[Strix]

I'm a member over at CGArchitect.com, and they have a "View My Gallery" button under your name and profile info, that when pressed, takes you to a gallery page that displays all the renders you've uploaded to the forum. Is it possible to do something like that here?

Here is an example of what I'm talking about: http://forums.cgarchitect.com/67246-psycho-house.html

Can it tell the difference between an uploaded render and a daft pic you've swiped off the internet somewhere to share the joke with other forumers?
If not, is it just an additional function of 'manage attachments' on a particular account?

[Cad64]

Can it tell the difference between an uploaded render and a daft pic you've swiped off the internet somewhere to share the joke with other forumers?
If not, is it just an additional function of 'manage attachments' on a particular account?

The only images that get added to your gallery are the ones posted in the section of the forum devoted to final renders, like the Showcase section. Daft pics that are posted in other areas of the forum do not get added to your gallery. If I attached an image to this post, it would not go into my gallery.

You also have to fill out some mandatory information in order to submit your render for inclusion in your gallery, so you can't just randomly upload something by accident. You have to intentionally do it.

[BlackBox]

You also have to fill out some mandatory information in order to submit your render for inclusion in your gallery, so you can't just randomly upload something by accident. You have to intentionally do it.

^^ That's neat.

[DANIEL]

^^ That's neat.

yes, because none of us want to see that picture of your butt you accidentilly uploaded

[BlackBox]

yes, because none of us want to see that picture of your butt you accidentilly uploaded

Wait, what !?

... No, no, nooo ... That NEVER happened.

[CADTutor]

I think the gallery idea is a good one and something I'd been thinking about for a while. The vBulletin stock solution is poorly implemented and would need a great deal of work - I'm sure the CGArchitect guys have added a lot of extra stuff for their gallery. However, I am running out of patience with the vB developers and am currently looking at alternative software to run our forum. At the moment, the favourite is Invision Power Board and if we go for that, there is an excellent gallery plug-in that will do all we want and more in a very slick way. If (or more likely "when") we make the move, timing is important as I need to be up-to-speed with the new software before implementation. My guess is that it would likely be 3 months or more before that happens.

I would welcome your thoughts on a move away from vBulletin and any opinions about IP Board.