Suggestions for next generation of TattooNOW

Ok mutha f@#$as, we seem to have website development under control. Three to four sites in an out every month. Phew. We now have time to build the next generation of TattooNOW, designed to be the perfect experience for both the tattoo researcher, artist, casual fan, and newbie. I'm very happy to be cranking out my ideas and its time to hear from you. So, please, if your taking the time to read this thread and have enjoyed TattooNOW, lay it on me what we can do to make your experience here perfect. Nows the time while Im hammering out the design document. All the bells and whistles you might ever want. Thanks in advance.

nothing folks? I know the site aint perfect... what features would make you come back more?

The pro only area seems it would be valuable and attractive for artist to swap ideas.Mabey sub catagories,so people can hunt down(post) what they're after.Registration seems like a good idea,that way there can be some moderation.ie:troll conTROLL. Public/Members areas.Sounds like alot of work to me,mabey you could enlist some volenteers(sp?) to help moderate so long as it does'nt get all brown shirt.

Visuals Gabe, Tattoos are a visual art. The bakcground bores me to death lol , more pictures, and yeah I think a members only area , as well as a pros only area would be highly beneficial in cutting down drama , the moderator thing i'm not a fan of, then it tends to turn into a a you're not my friend sort of atmostphere in most cases. Maybe burn that orange outline off everything lol , it's a well made site not knocking your brain child at all, just been staring at that orange for along long time lol. And that "greed limited edition print" by Mr. Baxter is pretty damn cool but it's been there forever. I really don't have any complaints I love the site , paint it pink I don't care lol I'll be back regardless.

You know what I would like? (besides doughnuts) A less cluttered index page. I think too many things are competing for attention there. Obviously you can't re-work it to be as minimalist as a personal website, but maybe some re-arrangement is in order. There are lots of ideas for that, but it's really early in the morning for me and I'm not thinking all that clearly. Also, I would suggest a spell check for the annotations in the artist upload forms. It would catch all the typos and encourage people NOT TO WRITE ALL IN CAPITALS BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU'RE SHOUTING TO THE CASUAL INTERNET OBSERVER. Regularizing spelling and stuff like that isn't really that cool or interesting, but I think it would give a nice gloss to those annotations. Besides that, how are you doing Gabe-y I have spoken to you or the Mrs. in a long time, hope you haven't exploded or anything.

Sorry if this question has been asked already but i was wondering if the site did make a industry only forum how would peple qualify? Some skill testing question? lol. Do apprentices in shops get in ?

I think we will have a "filter out public" feature to insure we always keep the forum open to the public, but people can filter out the non-registered users/posts who dont want to bother with the trolls. I really enjoy the openness of the forum, because along with the trolls comes voices of anonymous reason. Obviously lots of folks dont like trolls so they can filter their forum. Im hoping one extremely fair ruthless liberal moderator can keep control of the members area. We will add a few category filters so people can view the board flat like it is, or filter out by category so they dont have to hear the newbie questions again and again. Yeah, we will go after a redesign soon. Im awaiting a few graphics and we will see what we can do. Spellcheck, The macs already have it in the browser (right-click and select auto-spelling). Pc's might. We will add a preview, and members will be able to edit posts. Public will get preview but no edit. How do people qualify for pro status. Oh boyo, we're opening this can of worms, so lets hear it professionals. I bet it would include a Blood Borne Pathogens course. There will also be an aspiring artists section for artists who want to become a tattooer. Please, lay it on folks! Dont feel bad, tear this place apart. We didnt get this far by getting our bums hurt when folks point out how to get better.... Thanks for the ideas so far, love to hear more. PS Im doing pretty good! Studio is a year old and we're making it through the winter pretty well. TattooNOW's doing awesome, we finally got website development cruising thanks to a manager and programmer. (knocking on wood furiously)

I have no idea bout every state our country , that's why I"m asking. For a Pros only forum area, one would have to qualify , is there one prerequisite that holds true all the way across the board for making someone a professional tattooist? Like a license, I've heard Canada does not have one or did not for quite some time. I know not all states in the US carry the exact same rules for acquiring a license. Man Gabe you got your hands full on that one lol.

oh by the way , being a person aspiring to be a professional tattooist I love the idea about the wanna be tattoo artist section too lol. Oh and maybe do away with the damn numbers? for members ? PLEASE

and uh maybe some more merchandise? Pimp your shit out Gabe. I'd wear a TattooNOW hoodie lol.

theres already is a pro only forum when you register as a member. are you considering openning up a more public one, one you dont have to pay for? read street tattoo's forum you have to submit artwork, and they call your shop to make sure you actually work there. Apparently im not good enough cuz i wasnt accepted, they never wrote back so i stopped caring. but it seems dumb to make ANOTHER forum, theres already two, a pro and a public one.

Hey whatsup, I keep reading all this pros only stuff and while i can completly understand don't leave the rest of us educated tattoo fans out . It sucks some ignorant people give all of us "non-pros" a bad name. Im just a fan of tattoos and would like a better way to research people. Make it so when you click on a artist its more like a web page with a full portfolio. Also maybe a weekly articles from pros on different aspects of the business. Lastly, FREEEEEEEE. I got no money!!!!!!! I can't afford to join a website. I have 2 kids a wife, and a house. After that the pennys i have go in a jar for my tattoo. Sorry for a spelling errors. Matt

XHTML/CSS pleeeaaassee!!!!

thanks for the feedback! Ok, vetting professionals, we currently do that with TattooNOW Artist memberships. Professional artists realize they will make their money back and then some, scratchers usually go running. If your not gonna make the startup fee back, then you need to hustle more! Or we come up with something in-between with tests and calling and photos and blah blah, Im thinking we want folks with enough talent and business sense to use our tools to catch customers. In short, if its not working now then it wont work here, but if it works right now then we will make it work better. And we can keep working to make it better. Indeed we can get rid of the numbers for members. Yeah! Currently the members forum is a double and not used really (its not artist only, its all members). We will consolidate all the boards to one and have different filters on it so folks can see what they want (and have access) to see. We will not leave rabid tattoo fans out at all! Indeed, much of this re-organization is to give every type of visitor exactly what they want without all the extra noise. The community has grown quite large and its a matter of meeting everyones needs in their own way! Weekly articles and what not are on the way, but mostly a matter of finding time, or folks with time, to do quality professional writing. Content means more visitors, though, so as we get organized, you betcha we will get the content! We actually have some videos coming in the future, we are hoping to release them once a month next year. *crossing fingers*. (Advertisers email us now!) There will always be a healthy amount of free on TattooNOW. Indeed, I would love all the content to be free but A) our servers couldnt handle all the traffic and B) we couldn't afford to run the site. Things seem to be clicking into place, however, and we are finding ways for content to pay the bills via ads and memberships. In any event, there will always be a free open anonymous forum here as long as Im at the helm. In the future there will be an option to filter out un-registered users who prefer that method of reading. Of course we want to hustle real hard and there will always be a subscriber area where folks to pay up a bit get extras. As many as we can dish out! Lastly, CSS yes! Lemme tell you, after developing 65 some odd websites over the last 5-6 years we cant wait, and thats a serious understatement, to have all the information organized and all CSSed up. Oh boyo. Actually, the whole upgrade is gonna make our website clients *extremely* happy. I'll try not to say much more, dont wanna dissapoint when reality catches up but hopefully the fun has just begun. Thanks alot for all the feedback, please keep the ideas coming folks! I'd love to hear from more artists, both members and non-members, as well as more regular visitors...

Not to insult but isn’t funny how the feed back was to break everyone down into smaller circles & add moderators in both cases its to “ start a click “ Mostly of judgmental power hungry busybodies. Gabe, you run a good board truthfully I have never visited any other page on this site. The only problem is this page doesn’t refresh correctly sometime it takes 4 tries to get the post to go though & I have to refresh twice on every visit in order to get the latest updated page. Stay away from anything dividing everyone down to some sort of self made elite group, There is no need for a pro section if anyone feels the need to be respect for the artwork performed that can be accomplished by the posting of any photos. With or without any special section everyone will know just where that person stands in their career. Hell you can read the use of a posters language and know if the person is real & knowledgeable about this industry. Trolls on the net are everywhere, But in all fairness you’ll meet just as many at any Tattoo Show. ( As a personal note it does suck that you can edit & delete your postings but we cant. )

Josey, first up you should be checking out the tattoo galleries, thats the whole point of the site! Maybe I'll add the latest thumbnails to the forum sidebar.... I dont think any of our changes will create any more "clicks" or an elite, it will let people filter out who they want to interact with. there will be a pro only area because there is obviously a great need for it, there does need to be a place for professionals to talk amongst themselves. for instance its not right to either critique the @#$% out of a tattoo or discuss technical techniques on an open public forum. Everything else will be open, with different filters people could use to only see what they want to see. I dont image getting moderators anytime soon (other than the 2-3 there are now). I cant edit posts, just delete em. Thats one of the upgrades that we will implement (for registered members, not anonymous ones by their nature).

i like the idea of the gallery thumbnails. maybe tattoos on the left and art on the right?

Mmmmmm CSS, the graphic designer's answer to learning code Anywho, I'm glad to hear you're doing good! The winter is an awful time, in every way that I know possible and I'm glad good people are surviving it. We just finished cleaning up all the debris and whatnot from the huge-ass ice storm that destroyed all the trees in a 300 mile radius and all the power too. It was a fun time. I actually saw our campus on national TV, which was kind of disturbing. On other slightly related news me and the ball and chain are graduating in the spring and I was thinking of getting him booked for a cover-up type thing as a present, and since we're going to be up in Boston in June for a wedding, it seems like a good time. Shall I email you or IM you? For I need your wisdom Gabe-master. Also, if you're looking for someone to write articles, I will have a shiny new degree in such matters in a few months! All in all, very glad about everything going on, wish you well! D