[Clipart] Requests: Are they a bit confusing? + General organization thoughts + Activity (is the site alive?) + Searching

[chovynz chovynz]

Hi all.

I'm looking for understanding.

I was browsing the OCAL site looking for something to do, and decided to
look at some of the Requests. Having not been to the OCAL site much, I took
awhile to read, watch and learn. I went to the wiki to see if there was more
helpful information on fulfilling clipart requests, then to contact you
guys, only to find that there is no more community portal on the wiki, IRC
is dead, and this mailing list is the only real place to be able to contact
someone. Hopefully there is life out there. :)

So..

After browsing for awhile and trying to find some clipart for my own use
(pictures for a job checklist), I figured out that more clipart is needed.
Wanting more professional clipart available, liking your goals and being a
designer of sorts, I thought "Ok, well, Draw I can."   I went to the
requests page(s) and tried to find something to do.

*Requests*:
http://openclipart.org/media/view/media/requests

Looking through these "requests" I found one or two that I can actually do.
However, most seem to have images, or not enough description of what the
person wants. For example
http://openclipart.org/media/files/gabriela/11207is a request, but
what do they want done to it? Perhaps I'm new and dont
know how it works, but, is this an image that is already done? or is it a
request of what they want? Why are there reviews on the request images if
they are not yet fulfilled? What use is a comment on a REQUESTED image such
as "Please submit an SVG file. You can convert the image using Inkscape or
this site: vectormagic.staford.edu . Thanks."

First, I have some issues with this kind of reply. 1) The submitted image
(as far as I can tell from the example I chose) is a jpg REQUEST for what
they want. There is no point in asking general public people to submit the
REQUESTS as svg, because that is what they are wanting as well - a vector
svg. This kind of admin comment on a non-svg-image trying to fulfill the
request would be ok; but not, I believe, on an example image of a request.
2) I researched Vector Magic and you have to pay to use it. When you sign up
you get two free conversion credits. After that you have to pay for the
service at $8/month. While it might seem like a good conversion engine, your
admin is instructing authors and designers (or end users) to pay for
something which I doubt many would be happy to do. A vector graphic
designer...perhaps... might be willing to pay, but not Joe Blogs down the
street.

Whats my point? Good question. I'm confused about how to use the requests
page-list. In some places it seems like a place to request an image. In
others it looks like someone has done something already. Is there someone
overseeing the requests list to ensure fulfilled ones are moved? How does
the request page work? Why are there reviewers comments on many of the
requested image examples?

*General Organization Thoughts:*
Is it possible to have a thumbnail of the image in the page list? Or a
specific place for a gallery that has filters (so that the main pages are
left as is)? Many clipart libaries use only "lists" of filenames or
descriptions. When someone is looking for a picture, they know what they
want. A gallery would speed up Joe Blog's search even more. With today's
speeds of broadband (and technology trends of Critical Mass - user adoption)
it wouldnt be too much to ask for a thumbnail gallery on a website providing
images to a person.

*Activity*:
How much activity is going on on the wiki and Website? Am I trying to beat a
dead horse (by joining up and creating clipart for public use), or is there
actually work being done on these?

*Searching:*
When I search for "bell" or "hand" anything containing the searched for word
appears in the list. This includes member names as well as any clipart
(filenames or descriptions) submitted by authors (and/or/also containing the
word). Is there a way to refine the results - e.g. "excluding/only" members,
images, keywords, colours, OlderThan, etc.

As I said I'm new to the site and am hoping to find some answers that will
help with my confusion.

Cheers
Chovynz
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