Queue Length/Screening times

We've received a number of emails from members recently enquiring about the screening time. At A-P.net we pride ourselves on getting your photos screened as quickly as possible and on to the site. However screening is a voluntary position and as such screeners screen as and when they can. Over the last couple of months the screening times have slipped for a variety of reasons, some of which include holidays, work patterns, illness, etc.

We are making progress with the times again - from over 6 days on Friday to just under 4 days today but hope to improve on this even further in the coming days and weeks.

Many thanks for your patience and understanding.

Edit: Just to add that for those who have appealed you haven't been forgotten. We're trying to get the main queue down and as such only a few appeals get screened every other day.

This post has been edited by Michael Carbery on 11th September 2012 - 13:32

I do understand policy of voluntary site like A-P.net. Photographers want to enjoy their splendid result as quickly as possible while screeners have their life as well as their own result. We should not rush them only for personal conviviality. Of course, I could understand but....... :-)

This post has been edited by Toshihiko Takamizawa on 12th September 2012 - 05:13

The queue length always reminds me of a large bucket that can only be emptied by a tea-spoon or sometimes lots of tea-spoons, however as soon as you work away and get the level down it quickly refills and you are back to square one.

We are victims of our own success, however it is not helped by the number of sub-standard images that are uploaded as the first line on the Upload page states "Only submit your best images."

A good number of members fail to understand that point and regard AP in the same way as they do say Flickr and use AP as some form of hosting service.

Take it from me, rejecting photos for silly mistakes is not a pleasurable activity, it's depressing. So please help us to help you and

Only submit your best images.

Bingo.

(I don't want to offend anyone, I tend to be a bit direct, continue reading if you like...)

Though does sub-standard mean also motive-wise to you? A boring Cessna parked on a field taken at eye level at 20mm won't interest anyone. Neather will an Air France A320 taxiing 90* side on shot, shot at noon in the summer. Or not?

I don't know about the rest but It's quiet apparent to me when I look through the database which pictures took an effort to take. Light, Location, Perspective, Crop, Composition. Etc.

Who is going to look at your shot when next to it is a shot of a JAL 787, on the runway, reversing deployed, in the wet, panned, caught the beacon, all that at night. Boss as Hell.

We have all been a bit guilty of uploading boring shots in the past. Or at least I was (not on this site, or at least I think).

I got my first DSLR in 2005. Starting shooting everything that moved at the airport. The easiest pictures to get accepted where the blue sky 90* shots. The interesting pictures we're always the hardest to get accepted, so I refrained from that. CLICK HERE for the crap I used to upload

Quality over Quantity. Maybe upload 1-2 Shots per week, but make those 1-2 your best.

Maybe the same policy applied to skyshots (must be superb quality, news, different, nice angle, creative...) should be applied to "boring shots" such as taxi shots and parked aircrafts as mentioned above.

I applaud your ethic Samuel, truly worthy whereas there are two types of photo a record and an artistic it would not make any sense for a screener to be an arbiter of taste as well as photographic quality.

Please don't use the word Motive, it has been corrupted by another site to something to a picture that does not fit within a set of rigid rules and thankfully, AP does not have any Motive rules.

There are places for both types of photo and for the members they have to learn some how, just as you did and taking record shots may just be that first step on the ladder of success.

AP set out to be different, just how different is up to each individual member to decide, although some, I fear will never progress past a straight record shot but for those that want to try and encourage their creativity.

Getting back to the subject, the queues stand at First ( 5 + 383 ) and Second ( 0 + 123 ) Queue length: 3 days 0 hour 48 minutes and I'll try and make a small dent in that list by doing some screening.

I just uploaded one shot, and the queue length is 6+ days right now. By the time it's screened, I'll forget that I even uploaded. I think it's time for A-P to start sending its members email notifications when their stuff has been screened, as the other sites do. The "check back later" system does not work with a queue this long.

Interesting idea although it would probably add to the site hosting costs.

The queue is horrendous and we are doing what we can to reduce it.

A situation has arisen where the rate that the screeners can work has drastically slowed down.

Until this problem can be overcome, the length of the screening queue will get longer and longer (it is just about to break the six day mark) with the inevitable delays in screening your photos.

Problem solved. We'll do what we can to bring the length of the queue down this weekend.

The queue has reached 0 for the moment today. Many thanks to all screeners for their great work, it requires plenty of effort to get to this point.

If you want to enjoy very short screening times, just upload your photos now.

Martin

Hi, guys!

First of all thanks for your work on queue time.

But I have one photo uploaded that's been under "Screening" for around 24 hours now.

Does it mean something (like it's been decided whether to accept it or not)?

P.S. Photo passed screening :) thanks!

This post has been edited by Vasily Kuznetsov on 3rd November 2012 - 17:44

Hi Vasily,

apologies for the late reply :(

When an image is first screened it is passed to second screening and unfortunately as you have seen it will sit there until another screener picks it up. It's very rare that it will sit for 24 hours but it can happen.

Glad yours passed :)

Hi all

Just wondering if there may be a hiccup in the system, as following on from Vasilys post, I also have a photo which has been 'in screening' for about 52 hours.

Thought I would make an enquiry seeing as its usually only a short wait to see if you've made the grade or not !

Cheers

Nigel.

Hi Nigel,

there's no hiccup in the system. All screeners do it on a voluntary basis and screen as and when they can. Unfortunately there can be periods of time when screeners are unavailable and this just happens to be one of those times.

Apologises for any inconvenience this may cause and many thanks for your patience :)

Michael

Thanks for the reply. No inconvenience caused by the wait at all.

I realise screening is done voluntarily and appreciate your efforts, especially the helpful feedback given on rejected images, acting on that kind of feedback has certainly improved my acceptance ratio.

I only chirped up just in case there was a chance of my photo getting digitally 'lost down the back of the desk' so to speak !

Cheers

Nigel.

Good job, Guys!

Well done!

Cheers

Markus

Just a quick notice, the screening times have been very impressive recently, most images being screened within several hours of uploading. Most people (myself included) do not mind a wait of several days for their images to be screened, however when it only takes a few hours, it's hard not to be impressed. Fantastic work from all the screeners. Kudos!

This post has been edited by Dave Henderson on 8th January 2013 - 04:22

Thanks Dave.

Very nice shots in Zurich, such a nice light...

Thankyou very much Fred, much appreciated! I was lucky with the light whilst in ZRH over the summer. 5 days of glorious clear skies! :)

Well said, Dave. Congrats to the team! =)

I have just uploaded my first photo for several weeks and it has been double screened in about 20 minutes. Impressive! Well done to the screeners!

I do appreciate the fast turnaround time from your screening process lately. Kudos to all the screeners for doing a fantastic job!