22 replies to this topic

[bnlflo]

So having experienced the first coverage of an 2013 race on autosport.com, I'm quite puzzled:

- One photo gallery per day of the event: GONE
- Team statements for each day at a glance: GONE (or did I miss something?) ... oh wait, found them. On the autosport home page. Somewhere at the bottom of the page. Not on the /f1 page. Oh my, how could I miss that?

Seriously, guys? I really considered renewing by sub, but it seems you really don't care about the site much anymore,

[scheivlak]

- Team statements for each day at a glance: GONE (or did I miss something?) ... oh wait, found them. On the autosport home page. Somewhere at the bottom of the page. Not on the /f1 page. Oh my, how could I miss that?

It's on the /news page for years.

[bnlflo]

I never go there. It might have been there for decades, but do you think it was a sensible decision to remove it from the f1 page?

[Burai]

17 measly photos for the Australian GP race day? In absolutely no logical order whatsoever? 120 photos for the entire weekend when last year we got 121 for race day alone? And as for the photo coverage of other types of motor sport...

I presume Autosport will be cutting our subscription fees to compensate?

[P123]

Autosport.com is far down the list of websites to visit when looking for photos. It's been their weakness for a while, and is worse than ever now.

[Grayson]

17 measly photos for the Australian GP race day? In absolutely no logical order whatsoever? 120 photos for the entire weekend when last year we got 121 for race day alone? And as for the photo coverage of other types of motor sport...

We took a hard look at our photo coverage and our galleries during the off season, taking into consideration what the respondents to our reader survey (which you may have seen links to on the news pages last November) had to say and also the results from our own website analytics. It was clear that we were posting far too many photos, particularly from Grand Prix weekends. You mentioned posting 121 photos from a single day, and we could see from our website analytics that very few people were bothering to view all of them, and we were also told by subscribers that they would prefer that we did a better job of curating the best photos rather than uploading too many for them to ever view.

While this is constantly under review, we hope that the current balance makes a bit more sense - showing the best 120 photos from the Grand Prix weekend should mean that you will see photos which are of higher average quality while still not running out of photos to view.

- Team statements for each day at a glance: GONE (or did I miss something?) ... oh wait, found them. On the autosport home page. Somewhere at the bottom of the page. Not on the /f1 page. Oh my, how could I miss that?

As I mentioned in this thread, we're looking into putting the GP box back on the F1 homepage, with the quick link to the weekend team quotes. Hopefully we'll be able to get that changed before Malaysia, but it should definitely be there for the build up to China!

[MrAerodynamicist]

Any word on an updated interface? It takes two clicks to see a photos at a decent resolution, then a window close and a back-button to return to the thumbnail view. Using the "Previous in album" is a bit slow and web 1.0.

The user interface to the "Zoom In" photo galleries are everything the standard galleries aren't but should be.

(sorry to flog a dead horse, realised you commented on a potential UI improvement at the start of the month)

Edited by MrAerodynamicist, 18 March 2013 - 17:49.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Why don't you click to the hi res from within the thumbnail page?

[MrAerodynamicist]

Excellent question! I guess it's one of those things where something becomes habit to the point your brain filters out the alternatives.

[Ross Stonefeld]

It swings both ways though, I've never viewed it using Previous/Next in album.

[bnlflo]

We took a hard look at our photo coverage and our galleries during the off season, taking into consideration what the respondents to our reader survey (which you may have seen links to on the news pages last November) had to say and also the results from our own website analytics. It was clear that we were posting far too many photos, particularly from Grand Prix weekends. You mentioned posting 121 photos from a single day, and we could see from our website analytics that very few people were bothering to view all of them, and we were also told by subscribers that they would prefer that we did a better job of curating the best photos rather than uploading too many for them to ever view.

Thanks for clearing that up. The pics (available in hi-res, as well as there being so many) were my "annual excuse" to throw good money at this website. I'm up for renewal in two months, and finally you've given me a reason to let go. Thanks guys.
Why not cancel out autosport+ next, I assume many people think there are far too many words in the articles.

This is beyond ridiculous. Good luck with you "premium" offerings in the future.

Edited by bnlflo, 18 March 2013 - 19:18.

[chdphd]

Thanks for the feedback Grayson.

... we could see from our website analytics that very few people were bothering to view all of them..

Quite probably because the only way to do so is cumbersome. If there was a slideshow option then you'd be getting more views for each image.

[Kristian]

Why not have them all up, but with a 'top 50 as rated by users' link for those who don't want to view them all? After all you do already have a ratings system on the photos.

[djned]

Why not have them all up, but with a 'top 50 as rated by users' link for those who don't want to view them all? After all you do already have a ratings system on the photos.

good idea, kristian.

the reason given for not uploading more photos just doesn't hold weight for me. i would never view all the photos in a gallery, but often i do want to search the photo database and see lots of images of what i'm looking for. autosport should be striving to be (remain?) the most comprehensive motorsport resource on the internet. it seems quite shortsighted to make a decision on content based on a single use case.

anyway, to the reason i came into this thread - am i blind, or where is the paddock life/behind the scenes from albert park?

[gerry nassar]

What happened to the GP session times on the front page (of the F1 page) where you can also convert to your own time zone? Seems to be missing.

[Buttoneer]

On the front page proper below the Autosport+ boxout.

[prty]

Don't know if there's a way to do it already but would be good if you could click on the news items pictures to get a hi res one. Because a lot of times I've seen a good picture in the news that I couldn't find in the gallery.

Edited by prty, 23 March 2013 - 01:04.

[Icicle]

Lack of pictures also bugs me.

[BullHead]

The magazine report and pictures of Oz are good.

[Rob Ryder]

Thanks for clearing that up. The pics (available in hi-res, as well as there being so many) were my "annual excuse" to throw good money at this website. I'm up for renewal in two months, and finally you've given me a reason to let go. Thanks guys.
Why not cancel out autosport+ next, I assume many people think there are far too many words in the articles.

This is beyond ridiculous. Good luck with you "premium" offerings in the future.

I totally agree and will be considering my position when renewal time come around.

If it has been OK for past seasons, and no extra problem for Autosport.com, why the Greek-style austerity measures in the Gallery sections?
60% reduction in F1 and over 80% reduction in other catagories

Rob

Edited by Rob Ryder, 25 March 2013 - 21:48.

[SophieB]

You mentioned posting 121 photos from a single day, and we could see from our website analytics that very few people were bothering to view all of them, and we were also told by subscribers that they would prefer that we did a better job of curating the best photos rather than uploading too many for them to ever view.

While this is constantly under review, we hope that the current balance makes a bit more sense - showing the best 120 photos from the Grand Prix weekend should mean that you will see photos which are of higher average quality while still not running out of photos to view.

This only makes any sense if you take the view that every fan is interested in looking at each person, each team and each car equally and that therefore failure to look at each picture indicates people were being overwhelmed by choice. But personally, there are teams and drivers I never looked at in the gallery unless the photo looked especially eye-catching. And in any case, I liked having the option and indeed paid for Autosport+ for that option. Now the new measures mean there are far fewer pictures of the teams and drivers I am interested in because the overall total has reduced. Also, frankly, although I accept it's probably a matter of opinion, I don't think the photos now chosen look exactly the cream of the crop.

If this genuinely is an artistic measure - and bluntly, I doubt that - please reconsider it. It just looks penny-pinching to the point of being depressing, like seeing a once great department store closing off floors to save money on the heating and lighting bills.

Edited by SophieB, 31 March 2013 - 10:52.

[bnlflo]

If this genuinely is an artistic measure - and bluntly, I doubt that - please reconsider it. It just looks penny-pinching to the point of being depressing, like seeing a once great department store closing off floors to save money on the heating and lighting bills.

Well put, thanks.

Well, today the number of pics is even below 100. At the end of the season, we will have 1 pic per day at race weekends. This is just sad.

[SophieB]

It's slightly fewer even than that as there are a couple of photos in the race day gallery that are duplicates.