I have been pondering this for some time wonder if you can help?
What do you gain form being an 'ACE' on 365 ? i notice lots have, I am well into my second year on 365 after a short break i started my second 365. Personally i seem to be losing or lost followers fast, many people from yr one have moved on, comments have dropped off my pictures, even though my activity is just the same now as it was in yr one,
Should i become an ACE,.. does it really matter? ..does it make any difference ?..would it gain more followers/comments?, i really don't know ..or is it just time to move on ..arrrghhh!!
i understand that you gain more albums ... but is that all.. Please tell me ..what do you feel you have gained from being an ACE on 365 ?? help me make my mind up...
Thank you
Hi Steve. I'd say go Ace. Dont know whether it would increase followers, comments etc. but you'll enjoy it. You could have your 365 album, plus one dedicated to say your iPhone shots and the other all about Oscar! Or one for older stuff you'd maybe like to share. I don't know really but my ace membership expired recently and I didn't need to think twice about renewing it. Also its not that expensive and does go toward the upkeep of the site!
I paid for my second year just recently, but almost regret...not a lot of money so makes no difference, but I'm getting very annoyed with the slow speed on the site! Happens way too often it takes minutes to upload a new page and not very fast at "normal" times either! I get bored and go on to do something else.
I'm not willing to pay for the extremely slow speed of the site. I pay the same for Flickr and get a much better user experience with unlimited uploads/albums, a good, broad community and tools that help me promote my photos outside of the site.
If the price is more reasonable (perhaps half, or £10) and it moves much faster, I'd possibly consider...
Yea i agree with people comments that it is a slow site at times, but sure Ross is doing his best for the up keep of the site. I dont really use all the albums, my first is for my project from last year and the 2nd is my current work. The stats are pretty cool, albeit I don't check it that often. I re-newed this year, becuase I use it so often, I thought it would be good to support something I enjoy again.
I don't think you'll gain more comments from it or followers just because your Ace. I have over 150+ followers, but I'm lucky if I get 20 views a day.
One thing you should be aware of, if do go Ace and begin using other albums, after that ace membership runs out after a year, if you don't re-new again you won't be able to access them photos as these albums are taken offline; until you re-new again of course (other then your default album you choose to select when first join Ace)
I'm not sure if this is the same as Flickr perhaps @vikdaddy could answer that? If you take that in to factor as well, it can be off putting as you'd be expected to re-new every year to keep all photos live for everyone to view.
I've just joined Ace and whilst I don't think that there is a huge benefit for me - I don't want more than one album, for example, I do think that it's a small price to pay for something that someone has set up to benefit a group of people who share an interest.
Hey, and re the following and not following, I see that your followers way out number your follows...maybe start following a few more people and commenting on their stuff and you won't feel so neglected. I try to follow those that follow me and reciprocate on those who comment on my photos...I think it has to be a two-way street.
@vikdaddy@azza_l I have a flickr account which i must admit i have been absent from since joining 365 this second yr (& yes its the same Aaron) if you don't renew it closes down part of your access/albums, which is far i suppose..
Agree with the speed issues it has been slow of late (perhaps something that can be fixed as it was ok not too long ago) I know when i opened this thread it took about a minute to upload .. ..
@rich57 noticed you & Andy have a few albums on the go Rich .. do you get full access to picnik via the ace account?
@juhlin that was one of my concerns too which a couple of you have mentioned it is frustrating trying to comment on a great shot you have seen & it takes longer then normal ... Know what you mean about moving onto something else, perhaps it just too darn popular now ..lol..
I did it to support the site. In fact, I did it right before I stopped posting regularly for a few months. I also like the community here, so...
I had a Flickr Pro account for a few years, but recently let it lapse - I got bored with it, and I don't really "feel" the community there.
For me, I don't care about the extras. It's nice that I get to see my old pictures when the year is past, and the stats are interesting (I like numbers), but the other stuff really doesn't matter to me - I have my own website server with unlimited bandwidth anyway, so I can post links to anything I like from there should I wish.
I don't know if I'll always maintain an Ace membership, but for now I'm happy to support the site and in so doing, stamp my intentions to remain a part of the community.
@giselle hi Giselle thanks for the reply.
First thing i do when i log on is I tend to check out the latest uploads page at that time & keep checking that page as i browse the site rather than follow individuals; I do comment loads on various images every day, but admit "tag very few to follow".
Reason is I found than following in my first yr was OK most times, until you got someone who uploaded a multitude of images .. then you seem to miss what many others had uploaded because the home page was flooded with one persons images; It Happened quite a lot in the first yr .. perhaps it was the group i was following many now i think have moved on i think, So that's why my follow list is lower ...
But don't get me wrong i don't feel neglected at all, i was just wondering if people see any difference being an ace member .... ((o;
I have had serious speed problems, especially just recently, but don't know if that has anything to do with Ace membership or is merely a reflection of the success of the site and the increasing number of members using it. What I will say for sure is that I would hate to be without my three albums!
@jinximages Thanks Jink ,
That's a very convincing comment to become an ACE member;
I also have the same feeling about Flickr (hence i seldom now use that site )
i signed up well before starting a 2nd or 3rd album, I thought for $20 (what £13 -£15) that I enjoyed the site and for a little of £1 per month, if it helped Ross keep the site going, than I was happy to pay..
I hadn't intended to use the other albums but after completeing year 1, I thought I would give it a go fully expecting to give up after a while... Then recently, I started a 3rd just to post old pics or for those days when I'm lucky and get a few goodies...
As for more views or comments - I actually think they fell..!! Maybe people get fed up seeing so many pics posted by the same person haha...
The thing with followers is this... most people are going to view and/or comment on the first few pics they see when they log onto the site because that is what they see. I use 365 to push myself artistically. The challenges help with this. The comments are great and sometimes they are even very helpful. I like ACE because I have more than one album. I wanted to enter/participate in challenges and did not always want to post those pictures in my project. I also wanted to showcase my portraiture more often without it taking up my project album.
I'll come in on the end of this....being a loyal follower and all that! I joined ace at the beginning of my second year - I wanted to help the cause money wise...why should we have all this site has to offer for free? and becasue I wanted the second album to be separate from what I did last year. I don't even use my 3rd one....that's for next year, if I stay.....I noticed a lot of folk fell by the wayside too but I have being following quite a few new ones this year. It gave me a chance to try out picnik, which I then got the full version. As you know I'm not a great processor and needed something simple just to make some changes now and again. If you're planning on staying around I'd go for it....even if its just to say thanks to Ross! :-) As for the slow thing....i don't understand computers really...lol...so I thought it was just because it was a busy time on the site, or my laptop was having an off day!! :-)
I wanted to help with the money, so joined ace a year ago. Its ok, nothing amazing, but deffo good to support the site and Ross.. I did have two albums, and now I've run out of ace, and being unemployed still, I have more important things to spend my dosh on. I've lost my 365 completed year, which annoys me a tad!
The question you should be asking is .... will you continue doing this? If you've continued posting pictures, sooner or later the program will stop letting you do this. You could go back and delete old pictures and maybe keep going like this but I think sooner or later it will force you to choose.
Personally, I knew the first year that I would continue so jumped in with both feet. I really like the stats that we can see on our pictures. It shows who is commenting and FAVing as well as keeps track of activity on our pictures. Without it I never knew what was going on and had no way of tracking things. It's a nice feature.
I don't care for the free ads. The calandar format is great for what we are doing. The number of albums is kinda nice. I'm not using the third and will not except of rare cases. I keep my pictures limited to the current month and one year back only. So, I delete the oldest pictures every month.
And probably the most important of all is that I have had a great time here and fully support Ross in keeping this site alive.
Everyone gets free accounts. EVERYONE! That translates to unlimited space and processing for everyone and can be a drag on the whole system. He has to pay for the bandwidth too. So, there are expenses beyond what we see here that he is covering. Does he do it by himself? I don't know but unless he has advertisers paying something he may be covering it all himself.
You can certainly continue to do this on your flickr account(even this has a small pricetag) but we are nicer people. ;-) Keep that in mind.
@Cherrill well Cherrill i dont know about the not being a good processor "your images are getting better & better each day ... the wasp was a belter ...
thanks for your thoughts
@steveh I never thought that it may get wiped, eek! Re: job, I did think about it, but now the house is on the market (and we'd planned it for a few months) I didnt think it was worth while building up customers, as would move 200 miles away! Am going to set up PR & wedding when get back home.
@Cherrill You lovely nutta you! Thanks so so so much for the kind offer, but I couldnt do that. You've made me smile loads tho, you are fab!! I will rejoin in a couple months when things have settled down x
I think it's just basic Picnik. I signed up for the full version before I became Ace. Actually there's another reason to upgrade apart from the badge. Then you can say you're now Ace!
@rich57 Oh we are Ace Rich..we truly are!! :-) @blightgal when you say PR and wedding.....you mean a company doing that or you are having a wedding??? or maybe it is weeding....lol @steveh ...have we let this deteriorate? :-)
@blightygal good for you, i hope it works out for you
... if you get stuck i can give you a contact name for one of the 'BIG' supermarket chains who produce a mail order cat in Milton Keynes there own still life & fashion studio on site & they did hire freelance last i heard still do >> (O;
@Cherrill lol it was never too serious !!
just thought i would rattle the tree leaves & see what came falling down .. I probably will be going ACE soon, I just wanted to hear what people who use the service thought about it .. & i can see the troops are generally 'happy' ...
@Cherrill Grins.. weeding/wedding, close!! Yeah, wedding photography. I figured out I can work a 2/3 day week & spend the rest of the time sorting the pics out at home, keeping warm and not stalking celebs anymore!
I just recently became ace, a couple of weeks ago maybe. My reasoning was just to support this site. I get so much out of 365. The friendships I have made here enrich my life for one thing. And, if I didn't have 365 I don't think I would push myself to take photos or try to improve. It keeps me going. So, number one reason I think that one should pay that small fee is to support Ross and his efforts. He has given all of us a lot with nothing in return for a longgggggggg time. I hope he feels it is worth it.
I do ace so I can do themes or just show pictures I could not narrow down. Also for $20 USD a year, it is an easy way to support a site that has given me so much support, contacts, ideas and entertainment. Also for a suggestion for the second year, you may want to look at some of the people who are just starting out and comment and support them, they will probably comment back.
i recently became ace just like mary more(previous comment) a short while ago - mainly to support the site as i get so much enjoyment out of it (and its cheaper than a night out and you get the membership for a whole year) really pleased I did it : )
I started out my project in the freebie mode. I didn't know if I'd stick with it, so I didn't want to spend extra money- as like many others, I'm unemployed now. But I ended up going ACE rather quickly. I did want the extra albums- more pictures, more comments- more followers. And that's what I noticed first- I had a boost in followers. I don't have as many as some, but the ones I do have and have gained are as faithful to me as I am to them which I really appreciate. But beyond that, as an ACE member I liked the fact that I was supporting this site. The people I've met because of 365 are just amazing and I wouldn't have met them, if someone wasn't keeping the site running. The cost is so minimal for what you get as far as creatvity and feedback. Plus, I'm watching less tv and reading less idle chit chat on fb. There is more substance on 365 so I feel my time is better spent here. Anyway- I think it's definitely worth it.
hi Steve, i got it to get additional albums and support the site...it certainly doesn't help get followers!! I've found i have a few followers from the beginning but it seems to go through waves...lots of guys i started to follow are now fininshing their projects so I'm doing a new search for people to follow and follow back to keep me going to the end of year 1 (and maybe beyond!!)
I joined as an Ace to support the site. I haven't used any of the extras yet, but I've learned so much from the community here that I wanted to show my appreciation. :)
I didn't get Ace at first, but like you I noticed that everyone else did. Also, it starts your album at picture 1 again which I like. I notice I get more comments the more I spend looking and commenting on others. If someone comments on mine, I always go right to their pictures and look.
I "aced" about three weeks ago! The extra albums gave me somewhere to put a few more pictures and one of them, no, both of them have become rather addictive - different from the regular 365 ... and definitely for my enjoyment ....
Why did I join? Not sure ... well into second year it seemed that I was getting a lot of pleasure for free .... and maybe just wanted to contribute a little something to the fun! I have really enjoyed being part of this and "meeting" folk, if not every day, then quite often. I'd miss a lot of folk if they stopped posting. And I do miss a lot of those whom I followed last year.
However, now it is a smaller group it is easier to keep up .... and a number of new folk are finding us and adding themselves as followers ...
I like 365 and hope to continue .... the taking of a picture, or two, or three every day is now part of the routine .... and it provides a wonderful commentary and aid to memory ....
I did the ACE membership simply to show support for this wonderful site. I really don't use the extra album space as I'm usually struggling to get one photo to post each day as it is. :)
@peggysirk@elizabeth@julie@pintopony@sparkle@irishmo
Thank you for all your comments;
it does seem the vast majority ACE up to support the site which is a really great. I totally agree this is a special place, the community spirit is strong and just seems to be growing ..
Ross has done a great job keeping things going & its only right that if we want this to continue a little help from members is not too much to ask.
So how can I not ACE up after so many positive feedback's ... & to just hit the nail on the head !! Like @manek43509 said "I get a little badge by my name ..lol..."
Thanks everyone for joining in the thread, its been great to read all your comments. I am off now to ACE up my membership ..
I want to upgrade to ace for my second year as I see that we must give a little back to the site at least, the only problem I have is I can't get a Paypal account, so there is no way for me to upgrade ... right? xx
I aced for a couple reasons. 1 - it helps pay for the site. 2- more albums, so i can do the 365 project (as much as i can) on the main album, and another album for fun
i supported the site for the first year as i was right into it . Ive kinda taken a back pedal in the second year and thought i wouldnt pay for it . Im coping well as a NON ace user. The only thing is when u have multiple albums when on ACE and then u go NON ACE ur other albums become hidden . U or followers cant see the photos. Just wish i knew this before hand cos i would of only had one album. Oh well .
Im a bit like VIK i am more on Flickr , i am a member of a awesome group which have became great friends and go out shooting together every weekend and maybe more. If 365 had meet ups near me id love to attend .
Any how thats my 20cents worth. I def dont think having extra albums and no adds is worth it . ( the ads are not that painful )
Like many above, I feel it is a small fee to support Ross and thanks him for producing this amazing site. I personnally get a huge payback. Since using this site I have met interesting people from all over the world, viewed amazing photos and, I hope, improved my own skills by learning from others.
Spend the money to become an Ace member. This site is one of the best places on the internet for community, support, inspiration and encouragement. Well worth every penny!!!!
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
In fact, here's a full list :) http://365project.org/store/ace-member-1-year
If the price is more reasonable (perhaps half, or £10) and it moves much faster, I'd possibly consider...
PS Even posting this took about 20 seconds!
I don't think you'll gain more comments from it or followers just because your Ace. I have over 150+ followers, but I'm lucky if I get 20 views a day.
One thing you should be aware of, if do go Ace and begin using other albums, after that ace membership runs out after a year, if you don't re-new again you won't be able to access them photos as these albums are taken offline; until you re-new again of course (other then your default album you choose to select when first join Ace)
I'm not sure if this is the same as Flickr perhaps @vikdaddy could answer that? If you take that in to factor as well, it can be off putting as you'd be expected to re-new every year to keep all photos live for everyone to view.
Hope this helps.
Agree with the speed issues it has been slow of late (perhaps something that can be fixed as it was ok not too long ago) I know when i opened this thread it took about a minute to upload .. ..
@rich57 noticed you & Andy have a few albums on the go Rich .. do you get full access to picnik via the ace account?
@pocketmouse thanks for the link (o;
@juhlin that was one of my concerns too which a couple of you have mentioned it is frustrating trying to comment on a great shot you have seen & it takes longer then normal ... Know what you mean about moving onto something else, perhaps it just too darn popular now ..lol..
thanks for the replys guys
I had a Flickr Pro account for a few years, but recently let it lapse - I got bored with it, and I don't really "feel" the community there.
For me, I don't care about the extras. It's nice that I get to see my old pictures when the year is past, and the stats are interesting (I like numbers), but the other stuff really doesn't matter to me - I have my own website server with unlimited bandwidth anyway, so I can post links to anything I like from there should I wish.
I don't know if I'll always maintain an Ace membership, but for now I'm happy to support the site and in so doing, stamp my intentions to remain a part of the community.
First thing i do when i log on is I tend to check out the latest uploads page at that time & keep checking that page as i browse the site rather than follow individuals; I do comment loads on various images every day, but admit "tag very few to follow".
Reason is I found than following in my first yr was OK most times, until you got someone who uploaded a multitude of images .. then you seem to miss what many others had uploaded because the home page was flooded with one persons images; It Happened quite a lot in the first yr .. perhaps it was the group i was following many now i think have moved on i think, So that's why my follow list is lower ...
But don't get me wrong i don't feel neglected at all, i was just wondering if people see any difference being an ace member .... ((o;
That's a very convincing comment to become an ACE member;
I also have the same feeling about Flickr (hence i seldom now use that site )
I hadn't intended to use the other albums but after completeing year 1, I thought I would give it a go fully expecting to give up after a while... Then recently, I started a 3rd just to post old pics or for those days when I'm lucky and get a few goodies...
As for more views or comments - I actually think they fell..!! Maybe people get fed up seeing so many pics posted by the same person haha...
Personally, I knew the first year that I would continue so jumped in with both feet. I really like the stats that we can see on our pictures. It shows who is commenting and FAVing as well as keeps track of activity on our pictures. Without it I never knew what was going on and had no way of tracking things. It's a nice feature.
I don't care for the free ads. The calandar format is great for what we are doing. The number of albums is kinda nice. I'm not using the third and will not except of rare cases. I keep my pictures limited to the current month and one year back only. So, I delete the oldest pictures every month.
And probably the most important of all is that I have had a great time here and fully support Ross in keeping this site alive.
Everyone gets free accounts. EVERYONE! That translates to unlimited space and processing for everyone and can be a drag on the whole system. He has to pay for the bandwidth too. So, there are expenses beyond what we see here that he is covering. Does he do it by himself? I don't know but unless he has advertisers paying something he may be covering it all himself.
You can certainly continue to do this on your flickr account(even this has a small pricetag) but we are nicer people. ;-) Keep that in mind.
& sorry your still out of work "still no luck yet then ?.. still life its a good earner if you can get into it .. did you consider?
thanks for your thoughts
@Cherrill You lovely nutta you! Thanks so so so much for the kind offer, but I couldnt do that. You've made me smile loads tho, you are fab!! I will rejoin in a couple months when things have settled down x
... if you get stuck i can give you a contact name for one of the 'BIG' supermarket chains who produce a mail order cat in Milton Keynes there own still life & fashion studio on site & they did hire freelance last i heard still do >> (O;
just thought i would rattle the tree leaves & see what came falling down .. I probably will be going ACE soon, I just wanted to hear what people who use the service thought about it .. & i can see the troops are generally 'happy' ...
Why did I join? Not sure ... well into second year it seemed that I was getting a lot of pleasure for free .... and maybe just wanted to contribute a little something to the fun! I have really enjoyed being part of this and "meeting" folk, if not every day, then quite often. I'd miss a lot of folk if they stopped posting. And I do miss a lot of those whom I followed last year.
However, now it is a smaller group it is easier to keep up .... and a number of new folk are finding us and adding themselves as followers ...
I like 365 and hope to continue .... the taking of a picture, or two, or three every day is now part of the routine .... and it provides a wonderful commentary and aid to memory ....
Thank you for all your comments;
it does seem the vast majority ACE up to support the site which is a really great. I totally agree this is a special place, the community spirit is strong and just seems to be growing ..
Ross has done a great job keeping things going & its only right that if we want this to continue a little help from members is not too much to ask.
So how can I not ACE up after so many positive feedback's ... & to just hit the nail on the head !! Like @manek43509 said "I get a little badge by my name ..lol..."
Thanks everyone for joining in the thread, its been great to read all your comments. I am off now to ACE up my membership ..
Im a bit like VIK i am more on Flickr , i am a member of a awesome group which have became great friends and go out shooting together every weekend and maybe more. If 365 had meet ups near me id love to attend .
Any how thats my 20cents worth. I def dont think having extra albums and no adds is worth it . ( the ads are not that painful )