That Panjo Classified system - Not good for pictures

[KBeezie]

I noticed that the Panjo classified system is way too dependant on javascript, and with posted pictures the framing and cropping is too strict, cropping off parts of the picture with no way to click on the image to blow it up unobstructed.

[manoeuver]

I'll be spending some time with panko and photos today trying to figure out the best way to post good/useful photos.

I'll let everyone know what I find out.

[dannzeman]

I spoke with Panjo Support today and here's what they had to say about images and cropping:

A square image with a minimum dimension of 600x600px is ideal, but the higher the resolution the better. We are working on making that display more dynamic in the future so any photo, no matter what dimension, is fully shown on all pages.

[panjo]

Hello, my name is James Raj. I'm the new Product Manager for the Panjo Plugin.

We are currently testing and finding a solution to this problem. In the short term, if you can, please upload images that are 600x600px so you can guarantee that all images display in the same way on the Panjo listing page & the threads.

I would love your feedback on the idea of having a "crop tool" so you can customize how you want your image to display. Feel free to send me your feedback at raj@panjo.com.

Cheers
JR

[tandaina]

Nothing takes a square photo and cropping is often less than ideal especially when taking pictures of objects (like pens) that are anything but square. Honestly allowing hte user to just upload any dang image they like would be far preferable. But at the bare minimum supporting a 8x12 (the aspect ratio all our neat digital cameras take photos in) photo format is really needed.

[KBeezie]

Nothing takes a square photo and cropping is often less than ideal especially when taking pictures of objects (like pens) that are anything but square. Honestly allowing hte user to just upload any dang image they like would be far preferable. But at the bare minimum supporting a 8x12 (the aspect ratio all our neat digital cameras take photos in) photo format is really needed.

Same here, almost every photo that's normally processed for the web is either going to be 3:2 (most DSLR and original 35mm film format) or 4:3 (most point and shoots or mirrorless systems). Almost never a square, and I gather than 90+% of people who are selling something like a pen on the occasional basis is not going to be editing their pictures before hand other than shrinking down the resolution (either in camera, or in whatever utility they have that can make it 'email/web' compatible).

With the classified system already being heavily dynamic it seems on javascript and such in an iframe, it doesn't seem like it would be that big a leap to utilize CSS 2/3 to set a max-height or width, and allow the other dimension to be set to auto. I usually process my pics at most to be 1280x960 which I use the same image for any location I push it to to give a buyer a much better view of what I'm offering. If I have to not only crop for a square but to set up my shot for square format in mind, that really throws off my workflow and I'd rather stick with the thread-based classified in that case since I can just plug in my image and everyone can view it without much issues.

I just don't really want to sound insulting, but handling aspect ratio in PHP and nearly every other common web application platform has been basic understanding with gd,imagemagick,jquery,etc for nearly a decade now. There's no real need to complicate the issue with a crop tool when most of the time the image is already cropped for the desired presentation.

[Laura N]

Well, there's this little-known thing called Instagram....

I suspect that whoever developed this was thinking of (i) the smartphone platform, (ii) via app, and (iii) isn't really familiar with the way hobbyist forums work. It's a generational thing, probably.

This feedback is useful; it sounds like they better modify it quickly.

[tandaina]

Instagram resolution is so low as to be useless for sales photos.

[Laura N]

Instagram resolution is so low as to be useless for sales photos.

Oh totally. You are absolutely right. I just meant that I suspect they may come from that world -- the whole "snap a photo on your phone, post it on something like Instagram" and it's quick and easy. Plus the square format is kind of retro and fun, and the kids think of it as artsy.

Hobby forum buyers and sellers, though, want very clear photos, especially with expensive pens. They need to know that, so they can fix the application.

[Jon Szanto]

Well, let's at least give them props for looking in on the forum and soliciting input. I hope some of you (I don't have anything cogent to offer) will c/p your comments into an email for them.

[panjo]

Hi everyone!

I see that my colleague James has already introduced himself. I would like to introduce myself as well. I'm Niko and I'm the Community Manger here at Panjo.

I want to let all of you know that I am here if you need any help, have any questions, want to voice a concern, or have any feedback. If you like something about the marketplace, or dislike something about the marketplace, I am here to help make your experience with the new marketplace the best it can possibly be.

Please feel free to email me directly at niko@panjo.com. I also can be reached at info@panjo.com as well.

Sincerely,
Niko @ Panjo Support

[KBeezie]

Well, let's at least give them props for looking in on the forum and soliciting input. I hope some of you (I don't have anything cogent to offer) will c/p your comments into an email for them.

Yep, active response and inquiry is definitely a plus. Not that many developers out there actually take the time to interact with users.

[AZBennett]

Here's what I have noticed. First, I only use Chrome and have had zero issues except those caused by operator error. Second, while my photoes are cropped in the original listing, when I view the thread in the forum they are present without having tom click on them. I use weird cropping on my pen photos, I usually crop them to what I want, then resize the image after the crop, so I will resize to 1200x(something that is variable). I know that's not optimal but I am neither a photographer of much talent nor a post-production guru and this works for me. I actually have more issues with other classified sections than I have with Panjo as I have to shrink photos down or they only show up in full if you click on them. So far, Panjo has been easu except that I normally sell multiple pens in one listing and Panjo doesn't allow that currentlym

[mtnbiker62]

There really needs to be a better way for multiple pen listings. I tried that today, and a potential buyer clicked the buy now button, and it marked my listing as sold, and removed it from the classifieds section. We certainly didn't have a deal at that point, but I didn't realize the listing was no longer active until a couple of hours later. Not good...

[panjo]

Hi everyone,

I just want to give an update. We are currently working on an offer system that would eliminate the buy now button and allow a buyer and seller to have a discussion without a different buyer swooping in and purchasing the item.

We are also actively prototyping a multiple item listing feature. For example, you could create a single listing thread with multiple pens available. This would negate the need for the seller to create multiple listings and keep track of them.

If anyone has feedback about these features and things they would like added, please email me directly at niko@panjo or at info@panjo.com. I am also subscribed to this thread so I will check in periodically.

Best,
Niko @ Panjo

[KBeezie]

Any way to make it where the system isn't resampling the images ruining the image quality, or to least provide a link to something like Imgur for better resolution pending improvement with the internal system?

I honestly wish it was just back to the thread-based setup we had before. Starting to look elsewhere just to sell stuff, especially since the new thread button forces you to use panjo.