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Author Topic: Meepzorp's coin website  (Read 266394 times)

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Offline Andrew McCabe

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #200 on: November 01, 2015, 05:46:27 am »
This kind of navigation is fine if you're looking for something in particular but maybe you should have a button "display all coins in this category" (or similar). It's a bit tedious clicking through all the categories. Some auctions do this and I usually don't bother.

For me and I think most casual visitors, the links like "SNG ANS 639" are not particularly useful. If you say you have a whole lot of coins, this may be a very time-consuming way of displaying them, both for you and for visitors.
Maybe you could just have a page on coins from Arpi? The pictures of the tags with the description could be smaller and frankly, the additional pictures of the tags:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/meepzorp/gi_apulia_arpi_1.htm

are a waste of space and bandwidth.

Well I agree that all Arpi (and similar situations) should just be a single page, which can be modified when new coins are acquired.

I don't agree at all about the tags. I think this is revolutionary - it'll be the first collection in history to display the handwritten collectors notes (which might at time include symbols or diagrams) as well as the provenance on the same page. This is going to become the model many collectors will wish to follow. No doubt there'll be some more elegant display solutions over time, but this is groundbreaking. RBW who published all his provenance data in his sale catalogues had marvelous tags and handwritten envelopes. All those from NAC61 and NAC63 are now with me for eventual distribution to collectors. But if he had had Meepzorps web display, the collectors would already have all that extra information.

So I think displaying the tags is terrific. But one coin per page is going to be difficult to navigate for some series (albeit easy for others, for example my series has a standard catalogue with consecutive numbering). And different display options should be tested. For example to display pics horizontally, just omit the line break at the end of each image. That way you could have the coin both sides on top and the tags below.

Offline *Alex

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #201 on: November 01, 2015, 07:58:54 am »
Hi Meepzorp,

I agree with Areich in that the pictures of the tags are much too large. I would make the images smaller, crop out the unnecessary background and perhaps arrange the tags in a line of four below the coins. I do not want to sound harsh but the arrangement, as it stands just now, is not aesthetically pleasing, though I accept that that won't matter much to many people.

Alex

Offline areich

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #202 on: November 01, 2015, 08:33:05 am »
But what do the additional tag pictures add? It's ex Kirk Davis, so what? It will just clutter up the web page, when the text 'ex Kirk Davis' would suffice. What would be interesting for a page visitor is the picture of the coin and the info. We all know why the tags are pictured, because Meepzorp doesn't want to type out all that text after just having written the new tags. Not ideal but his decision and understandable.
Andreas Reich

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #203 on: November 01, 2015, 08:55:10 am »
How to set the cache size to zero depends on what browser you are using.  I don't even remember how to change them, but the settings on our browser undoubtedly have a menu. Explore the browser settings menu and you will figure it out. 

Hi Joe,

I looked into how to change the cache size for Google Chrome. Apparently, it is not possible to change it. There is a very long and complicated process you must go through in order to change it. It may not even work, and it can lead to problems. In forums, people advise against trying to change it.

However, it may not be necessary to change it. I am under my niece's account now, and I just checked my website. I can see it now. It appears to be working. I didn't change anything. The problem seems to have corrected itself. Strange.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #204 on: November 01, 2015, 09:07:07 am »
Quote from: Carausius on October 31, 2015, 11:39:26 am
Meep,

I think your elegant website design looks and functions great!  I have just two complaints: (1) the darkness of the coin photos (as seen on my smartphone), and (2) the textured photo background, which I find a bit distracting (perhaps because I see more detail in the background than the actual coins due to the lighting).  Your photos look sharp - I think brightness/lighting is the main issue.  If for time management reasons you don't want to deal with post-production processing of the photos, then I recommend you buy a small but powerful, gooseneck photography light, which will allow you to direct strong light at the coins at angles that will maximize contrast and visibility. I think that will greatly improve the photos at a cost of maybe $40. On the other hand, the post production program tbat Andrew recommeded  is free!

Hi Cara,

What exactly do you recommend? Which is better, incandescent or fluorescent? What wattage for the bulb?

When I was a graduate student at the University of Michigan back in 1989, I had a desk in my bedroom. That desk is now in storage in my cellar. But, at that time, I kept a desktop lamp on my desk. If I remember correctly, it had 2 fluorescent light bulbs in it. I remember it being quite powerful, much more powerful than other fluorescent desktop lamps. I think I still have it, probably in my cellar somewhere. Would that be good to use?

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #205 on: November 01, 2015, 09:12:36 am »
Quote from: Carausius on October 31, 2015, 11:39:26 am
Meep,

I think your elegant website design looks and functions great!  I have just two complaints: (1) the darkness of the coin photos (as seen on my smartphone), and (2) the textured photo background, which I find a bit distracting (perhaps because I see more detail in the background than the actual coins due to the lighting).  Your photos look sharp - I think brightness/lighting is the main issue.  If for time management reasons you don't want to deal with post-production processing of the photos, then I recommend you buy a small but powerful, gooseneck photography light, which will allow you to direct strong light at the coins at angles that will maximize contrast and visibility. I think that will greatly improve the photos at a cost of maybe $40. On the other hand, the post production program tbat Andrew recommeded  is free!

Hi Cara,

I take my coin photos on my kitchen table. I use a very light blue (almost white) towel under my coins when taking photos. I like it because it is flexible. I can tilt the coin at an angle to take better photos. That way, I am not blocking out the secondary light from above. My primary light source is sunlight from a window.

If I use something hard (and inflexible) under the coin, I will be forced to hold the iPhone directly over the coin, thus blocking out the secondary light form above.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #206 on: November 01, 2015, 09:15:13 am »
I also find the background distracting.  A simple solid color or white background would be best.

Hi Jay,

See explanation above.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #207 on: November 01, 2015, 09:22:56 am »
This kind of navigation is fine if you're looking for something in particular but maybe you should have a button "display all coins in this category" (or similar). It's a bit tedious clicking through all the categories. Some auctions do this and I usually don't bother.

For me and I think most casual visitors, the links like "SNG ANS 639" are not particularly useful. If you say you have a whole lot of coins, this may be a very time-consuming way of displaying them, both for you and for visitors.
Maybe you could just have a page on coins from Arpi? The pictures of the tags with the description could be smaller and frankly, the additional pictures of the tags:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/meepzorp/gi_apulia_arpi_1.htm

are a waste of space and bandwidth.

Hi areich,

It was actually my original intention to have approximately 10 coins per page. But then I saw Pete's website, and I thought that it would be better to have one coin per page.

There is another advantage to having one coin per page. Let's say that someone is discussing a coin in Forum. And I want to provide a link to a website page so that I can show them my example. In that situation, it would be better to have only one coin per page. Viewers wouldn't have to go looking through 10 coins to find the one I am referring to.

Should I go back to my original plan? What do you and others think? One coin per page or 10-ish coins per page? Let me know.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #208 on: November 01, 2015, 09:27:12 am »
The pictures of the tags with the description could be smaller...

Hi areich,

Okay. That's a good idea.

But I am concerned about older viewers whose eyesight isn't what it used to be.

What does everyone think? Should I make the tag photos smaller or not? If smaller, what size? 250 x 250? 200 x 200?

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #209 on: November 01, 2015, 09:30:39 am »
...and frankly, the additional pictures of the tags:

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/meepzorp/gi_apulia_arpi_1.htm

are a waste of space and bandwidth.

Hi areich,

Both I and Andrew severely disagree with you on this point.

What does everyone else think?

Meepzorp

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #210 on: November 01, 2015, 09:32:14 am »
I rest my coins on a small piece of play dough, raising it up off the back round to give it depth and it can also be used to slightly tilt the coin if needed.

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #211 on: November 01, 2015, 09:41:50 am »
For example to display pics horizontally, just omit the line break at the end of each image. That way you could have the coin both sides on top and the tags below.

Hi Andrew,

You are mistaken here. My photos are already displayed horizontally. I don't have a line break after every image. I have a line break after every other image. It's 2 photos per line.

My coins are already displayed with both sides on top and the tags below. Maybe your hardware is displaying the photos differently.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #212 on: November 01, 2015, 09:46:07 am »
Hi Meepzorp,

I agree with Areich in that the pictures of the tags are much too large. I would make the images smaller, crop out the unnecessary background and perhaps arrange the tags in a line of four below the coins. I do not want to sound harsh but the arrangement, as it stands just now, is not aesthetically pleasing, though I accept that that won't matter much to many people.

Alex

Hi Alex,

I can make the tag photos smaller. That is not a problem.

I already cropped out the background.

Not all of my coins have 4 tags. Some have 2 or 3 or 5.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #213 on: November 01, 2015, 09:50:09 am »
But what do the additional tag pictures add? It's ex Kirk Davis, so what? It will just clutter up the web page, when the text 'ex Kirk Davis' would suffice. What would be interesting for a page visitor is the picture of the coin and the info. We all know why the tags are pictured, because Meepzorp doesn't want to type out all that text after just having written the new tags. Not ideal but his decision and understandable.

Hi areich,

Yes, that and to preserve the "pedigree" in the photos.

Meepzorp

Offline Andrew McCabe

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #214 on: November 01, 2015, 11:03:49 am »
There is a charm and authenticity in presenting written tags. It demonstrates that the information was personally researched by the collector - it's not just a cut and paste from a quite likely incorrectly catalogued variety on a acsearch. It's proof Meepzorp checked himself. And whilst "ex Kirk Davis" may not sound interesting, there'll be coins with more unusual citations perhaps as published examples. As for search, I agree a few descriptive words in the link to the page will help get you to the coin. But then it's over to Meep. We want to know what Meep made of the coin, and that's the charm of the tags.. This isn't a replacement for acsearch. This is a demonstration of coin collecting in action. Personally I think its a bit killjoy to want searchable text in place of the picture. Carried to its extremes we may as well dispense with the coin picture too and substitute a text description. There are more than enough searchable databases out there, acsearch, wildwinds, CNG etc. This is an illustration of a collection, which is a different idea. I illustrated my own collection on my website with a similar but different approach - I show all my coins in their red abafil trays so they can be seen in proper size proportion. Like Meepzorp though, I've very little text, just bare Crawford numbers and one word descriptors for each side. I wish I'd had tags to photograph.

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #215 on: November 01, 2015, 11:44:35 am »
Hi folks,

I went in my cellar to look for that goose neck desktop lamp I mentioned above. I found it. It has two 15 watt fluorescent light bulbs in it. I know that the wattage used by CFL light bulbs is a fraction of that used by incandescent light bulbs, so I assume that something similar is true for the old style fluorescent light bulbs. I don't know exactly how that translates into lumens or brightness compared to incandescent light bulbs.

But I also found something even better, something that belonged to my father. It is similar to the gooseneck photography lamps that Cara was referring to above. It's basically a light bulb with aluminum shielding around it (aluminum in the shape of a funnel). It has a 100 watt incandescent light bulb in it. It is very old, possibly from the 1960s. But it still works. I tested it. No one has used it in years. So, I figured that I'd use it.

The only problem is that it doesn't have a goose neck, a pole, or a tripod. There is only a clamp. That's it. I guess I can clamp it to the light fixture that hangs from the ceiling above my kitchen table.

Meepzorp

Offline Carausius

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #216 on: November 01, 2015, 01:23:40 pm »
Quote from: Meepzorp on November 01, 2015, 11:44:35 am
The only problem is that it doesn't have a goose neck, a pole, or a tripod. There is only a clamp. That's it. I guess I can clamp it to the light fixture that hangs from the ceiling above my kitchen table.

Meep,
It sounds like a type of work light that I have. You could probably attach it to a broomstick leaning against the table and held in place with chairs or other heavy ballasts.  That would enable you to also adjust the height of the light from the coin snd the angle, which should also eliminate the need to use the textured towel background as a light angle adjusting tool.

As for what bulbs to use: compact fluorescent bulbs seem to rate highly in terms of matching daylight light "temperatures",  but I refuse to use them for safety reasons - they are a serious environmental/ health risk if broken (as in "open the windows and clear the room").  Instead, I use halogen bulbs which aren't quite as good as CFL, but safe.

Before buying specialty bulbs, try whatever you have on hand and see if you get better results than your previous photo attempts.

Offline Akropolis

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #217 on: November 01, 2015, 01:33:24 pm »
MeepZorp:

You wrote:
"Hi Andrew,
You are mistaken here. My photos are already displayed horizontally."

Andrew is correct. I opened your pages in Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome and iPad2 and they are all arranged vertically!.

You may be viewing your pages in an ancient browser version, that does NOT display the same as the newest versions. I learned this when working my web pages on Windows XP with Internet Explorer 8. They did NOT display the same in Internet Explorer 11, although not as radically different than your experience.

You may have to use "Tables" to force the display horizontally in two lines, regardless of browser version.....I think. I am no expert at this. Of course, "stitching" the obverse and reverse coin images and each tag image would accomplish the same thing.

PeteB


Offline Andrew McCabe

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #218 on: November 01, 2015, 02:18:49 pm »
MeepZorp:

You wrote:
"Hi Andrew,
You are mistaken here. My photos are already displayed horizontally."

Andrew is correct. I opened your pages in Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome and iPad2 and they are all arranged vertically!.

You may be viewing your pages in an ancient browser version, that does NOT display the same as the newest versions. I learned this when working my web pages on Windows XP with Internet Explorer 8. They did NOT display the same in Internet Explorer 11, although not as radically different than your experience.

You may have to use "Tables" to force the display horizontally in two lines, regardless of browser version.....I think. I am no expert at this. Of course, "stitching" the obverse and reverse coin images and each tag image would accomplish the same thing.
PeteB

I wouldn't worry too much about this however. You could just live with the unpredictable layout, until you learn how to use tables (see as usual w3schools) which can get a bit complex.

Re the dark photos, I said one could do a 7-second edit in photofiltre. It took a little longer - 30 seconds - for the coin below (before Right, after Left). But in the same time I lightened the coin and improved its contrast, I also stitched the images. Once again to make the point that a little advance effort saves a lot of time later. With stitched images your html effort in saving and uploading images is reduced by 50%. For just seconds per coin. And you can also correct the image at the same time. Start doing this now rather than after 1000 coins which you would need to redo! http://photofiltre.en.softonic.com/download

Very nice coin by the way!

Offline PeterD

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #219 on: November 01, 2015, 02:21:13 pm »
Meepzorp has coded correctly and on my large monitor it appears as he says.

What's happening is is that individual browsers try to correct for individual screen sizes. If there is not enough room to display two pictures side by side, they will be displayed vertically.

Meepzorp - You might want to put your pictures in a "Table". That way you pictures will stay in the same position for everyone. Also the page would look better if everything was in the centre, vertically. Using a Table would enable you to centre the pictures.
Peter, London

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Offline Molinari

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #220 on: November 01, 2015, 02:53:40 pm »
Meep,

Andrew's touch up of your coin demonstrates just what a difference it makes.  I really think you should take the time to do it.  It looks significantly better!

Offline Akropolis

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #221 on: November 01, 2015, 03:12:07 pm »
PeterD wrote:

"What's happening is is that individual browsers try to correct for individual screen sizes. If there is not enough room to display two pictures side by side, they will be displayed vertically."

I went to my wife's computer which has a WIDE screen, and sure enough, the images are in three horizontal lines!

Still learning.

PeteB

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #222 on: November 01, 2015, 11:13:21 pm »
Andrew's touch up of your coin demonstrates just what a difference it makes.  I really think you should take the time to do it.  It looks significantly better!

+1

Offline Andrew McCabe

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #223 on: November 02, 2015, 02:05:25 am »
Andrew's touch up of your coin demonstrates just what a difference it makes.  I really think you should take the time to do it.  It looks significantly better!
+1

And I'm sure a sophisticated touch-up in a professional tool such as Photoshop would have done even better. But this just used a tiny free app and took seconds to do the touch ups and the stitching. You don't need Photoshop. All you need is something that's
- good enough
- quick and easy
- free

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Coin website help
« Reply #224 on: November 02, 2015, 05:26:16 am »
...to display the handwritten collectors notes (which might at time include symbols or diagrams) as well as the provenance on the same page.

Hi Andrew,

You must be psychic.

Some of my coins have monograms and other symbols on them. For many of those coins, I drew the monograms/symbols on my tags. And I will be taking photos of those tags and posting them along with the coin photos.

Meepzorp

 

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