On posting descriptions with your photos, bulk uploading, and more

Hey photographers:

I originally wrote this in an email, and decided maybe it was something we all could enjoy...

When you post your MyBuffalo photos, you will see that there is a "Description" box where you can post a write-up. It doesn't have to win the Pulitzer! Just three or four sentences about the event - where it was, what it was about, maybe an amusing anecdote. No need to worry too much about it!

It will be a lot easier when the bulk uploader is done - and again, I'm expecting that literally any hour now. It's finished, in theory, but still needs some finishing touches.

As far as finding specific events - if the event was relatively recent, people will be able to go into the "Recent Photos" section and find them, but I think this is where tagging will be really key. You are able to be really specific with your tags in MyBuffalo, which was not the case in Spotted. My advice is to post as many tags as possible whenever you add your photos, because this will increase the power of the search tool.

Help Wanted

Just about an hour ago, the marketing director here at The News, Cindy Sterner, ran down the hall and exclaimed "GREAT NEWS!" I immediately got interested...here's the scoop:

Buffalo Place organizes Thursday at the Square (AKA "TATS") and they've given us concession tickets...free beverages for every show this season. However, this week since ticket sales are slow, they're giving us tickets to the Joan Osborne show at Buffalo Rocks the Harbor (one per person).

Here's how it works, if people pose for a picture for MyBuffalo.com, they get a ticket to Joan Osborne....and probably concession tickets too.

Unfortunately, I have a doctor's appointment Thursday and I can't be with Ben to deal with the large crowds that will be surrounding him asking for tickets.

So, long story short - we need volunteers. We need three or four people to take photos and give out tickets.

What time you ask? From 6-8:30pm

This was part of the conversation overheard in the Buffalo.com office:

Cindy: “Ben, why aren’t you more excited?”
Ben: “Cindy, this is excited.”

Hopefully we’ll have either Buffalo.com stickers or cards by Thursday.

We’ll probably be doing this at more TATS in the near future.

Let me know if you can volunteer - drusso@buffnews.com...or even better message me through MyBuffalo.com!!!! You can get a ticket to the Joan Osborne show for coming out too.

Thanks!

Deanna

Bylines for writers

There has been a little confusion regarding the difference between articles and blogs at MyBuffalo.

Here is the delineation:

• Blog: anyone can post a blog. You can blog. I can blog. Joe in Accounting can blog. In fact, I wish he would blog. That guy knows some dirt.
  
  
• Article: although they are written in the blog format, an article is actually a Buffalo.com-contributed piece. Deanna and I have access to administrative tags that allow us to mark certain blogs as "articles." This allows us to push content into the Articles section.

In the very near future, we will have a special interface for the Buffalo.com contributors that will allow you to directly post articles to the Articles section. This interface will also allow our photographers to bulk-upload photos. It's coming very soon! I was actually messing with some of the behind-the-scenes tools on this particular piece yesterday.

One more note for writers:

When you post an article, you obviously will no longer have the whole "Buffalo.com/YourHub John Doe" title anymore...so we need you to add a byline. At the top of each article you post, you should have a heading that looks like this:

John Doe
Buffalo.com Contributor

If you have any questions, please let me know!

...and here's the storm

I have already received some feedback on MyBuffalo - some good, some...constructive (ha ha), and as you may imagine, we are a little overwhelmed with all of the little fixes and details and issues that come out of any Web site launch. If contact is a little spotty today, I apologize in advance.

Anyhow - the most important message I can give you right now is this:

What you see is NOT the finished product.

We will be rolling out new tools and features daily - including the bulk photo uploader that you may have noticed is currently missing.

Hang in there - it's a big change for everyone - and we will make this transition as a team.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns, email me or call me - but I'd really like it if you messaged me through the MyBuffalo site! I'll try to get you answers as quickly as possible.

Calm before the storm

Buffalo.com photo by Sean Rudyk.

Well, this is the last day for Spotted and YourHub. I am tempted to get sentimental and think about all the fun stuff and interesting experiences I've had as a result of these two Web sites. Instead, I will refrain from boring you with tales of my drives through eastern Niagara County and visits to Southern Tier high schools and will look to the future, instead.

Here are some things to keep in mind as we transition to MyBuffalo tomorrow:

• There will be a learning curve for everyone. I am still learning all of the ins and outs of the MyBuffalo site, and it will take all of us a few days to really get a feel for the new project. I am humbly requesting your patience while we get the wrinkles ironed out. That being said...
  
  
• Please be active at the site. This is a great opportunity to get to know your fellow contributors a little better. In fact, in some ways, this is a real opportunity to cut out the middleman (me) and really connect with feedback, ideas, meet-ups, and the like. Please don't cut me out too much, though, as I would like to be a part of the action, too!
  
  
• The functionality is definitely different than Spotted and YourHub. Tomorrow, I will discuss some of these differences - doesn't make much sense to do it before it launches - but bear in mind that it is NOT going to look or feel like the tools we are used to using. I again humbly request that you are patient and that you have an open mind about using the site.
  
  
• We'll be a little light on events this week. There is probably a lot going on around Western New York this week - I would wager on it - but we're going to be doing a lot of sitework and not quite as much "booking" for the next few days. If there are events you are interested in attending - and there are some good ones, like the Rev. Horton Heat at Artpark, Thursday at the Square, the Allentown Arts Festival - let me or Deanna know, and we will get you out there...but the list itself will probably be pretty slim.
  

Anyhow, I hope you are having a great weekend, and I look forward to your feedback on the new site.M

Photo contest in Brant

Buffalo.com photo by Sean Rudyk.

Hey, here's something pleasantly unrelated to all of the changeover talk...a chance to win some prizes for your pics. Check it out:

The Town of Brant is having a photo contest as part of their Summer Fest on June 21. The cost is $5/photo to enter. 8x10's are suggested but not required. The categories are Faces, Places, Children & Community Life (doesn't need to be the community of Brant). A panel of judges will choose a winner in each category. There will also be a popular vote in each category. The back of the photo needs to have the photographer's name, address, phone # & Category.

I didn't get the address for where you submit the photos, but you can click over to the Town of Brant Web site and I am sure you can either find the information or find someone who can get you that info...

And by the way, I saw something online about this being "Free Doughnut Day" at Dunkin' Donuts. Is this true?

Some more news and info on the site changeover

Buffalo.com photo by Erica Morano.

Because we will be changing over from Spotted and YourHub to the new MyBuffalo.com site on Monday, please keep the following issues in mind as you post content to our sites this week:

• If you post any content, please hold onto your original copies.
  
  We will automatically upload all content from the Spotted and YourHub sites through May 31 to MyBuffalo.com , but photos and stories from this week will not be automatically loaded.
  
  Please load (or re-load) your content from this week onto MyBuffalo.com on Monday, June 8 - it will be a great way to get a hang of the new site.
  
  
  
• Please stop distributing Spotted and YourHub cards - we don't want to send people to sites that will no longer exist in five days. I will have MyBuffalo cards for you in the very near future...when they come in, I will either mail them out to you or arrange a way to get them to you.
  
  
• If you have a Spotted and YourHub ID card - let me know and I will get you a Buffalo.com ID, instead.
  
  
• If you have any questions for me, please let me know!
  

I know this is a somewhat hectic and confusing time for our contributor program, but things should settle down after we get the new MyBuffalo site launched...and thank you for your patience.