The Shmax Conspiracy

[Encore_Prime]

Websites keep deleting my Shmax dynamic signature, starting to annoy me too.

TFW2005 just deleted my sig and said it was too big or whatever, but that's BS. That site is full of much larger signature pictures.

Maybe it's a bandwidth thing? Idk. Sure would be nice if One Particular Board would stop deleting peoples Shmax signature while other larger signatures get ignored.

/end rant


I feel better.

[shmax]

Yeah, I don't quite understand why they should care--they don't have to host the things, and they don't make the content on the page take any longer to load. I think the reason some get nuked and some don't is that they have to chase around after them individually, there's nothing automatic about the process. That said, I'll see if there's anything I can do to reduce the size some. I suppose it's probably safe to remove the contest message at this point--I think everybody knows about it at this point. What other websites are deleting your shmax signature?

Websites keep deleting my Shmax dynamic signature, starting to annoy me too.

TFW2005 just deleted my sig and said it was too big or whatever, but that's BS. That site is full of much larger signature pictures.

Maybe it's a bandwidth thing? Idk. Sure would be nice if One Particular Board would stop deleting peoples Shmax signature while other larger signatures get ignored.

/end rant


I feel better.

[Encore_Prime]

I don't care about the other site, I took it as a snub and don't go there now. But yeah I miss my sig at TFW2005. They told me the sig rules, I remember it had to be under 40k I think, I can't remember the pixel size limits though. I didn't think the Shmax sig broke the rules though.

[Encore_Prime]

ahh, found it.

"Sig pictures are to be no larger than 40KB in file size and should be no larger than 300 pixels in height and 500 pixels wide - 2005 Staff"

that's what I saw instead of my Shmax sig. I was sad.  :cry:

[Hellscream333]

I say this right here and right now: TFW is a site packed with fans and for the life of me I can't understand why they continue to go there. It's not a friendly place and the MODS are way to "INTERNETZ R SERIOUS BUZNIZ". Additionally, There are some sites that get pretty angsty when you post outside links to other sites that have forums. Some kind of competition mentality... I don't get it.... Anyway; If you're looking for a board to post on There's here or you can join me TFINO.com.

[shmax]

Yes, there are some very strange notions of competitiveness. A while ago I contacted seibertron.com, and told them that I'd like to buy some ad space. I was told that they don't deal with "competitors". I don't really regard www.shmax.com as a fan site, or news resource. It's just a cool database. You may as well get upset about imdb.com, or wikipedia.

That said, why DON'T more people use the forums here? Hellscream suggested a few mods to the general forum mechanics, which I'll do, but what else is going on? Do you guys have any suggestions to encourage more participation?

I say this right here and right now: TFW is a site packed with fans and for the life of me I can't understand why they continue to go there. It's not a friendly place and the MODS are way to "INTERNETZ R SERIOUS BUZNIZ". Additionally, There are some sites that get pretty angsty when you post outside links to other sites that have forums. Some kind of competition mentality... I don't get it.... Anyway; If you're looking for a board to post on There's here or you can join me TFINO.com.

[Hellscream333]

I think part of it is that there's The Allspark, TFormers and TFW2005 already in existence. They've been around for a long time and are well established. TFINO only has 70 some odd members and barely 25% of that are regulars and technically we don't count as we ALL just simply left TFormers....

Regarding Seibertron; if I'm not mistaken TFW2005 owns them now so.... But yeah, you're right. They're not really competition. They're more of a gallery (and a highly incomplete one while we're on it) and they don't really seem to cater to the identifying aspect nor the collector aspect of what goes on here. *shrugs* Hey, if some people want to walk around with  their nose in the air far be it from me to point out the flowers.

[shmax]

So I spent a day or so fiddling around, and I've managed to get the size of the sig back to where it was before I redesigned it. I've also removed the "photo contest" nag message (I think we've gotten all the competitors we're gonna), so for a modestly-sized collection you should be seeing file sizes under 40k. If you have a huge collection it will take more pages to list everything, and there's not much I can do about that. Anyway, tfu should be happy, now, so enjoy.

[mikeyfuzz]

Damn tfw2005 deleted my damn sig too!!!!!!!!!!!1

[shmax]

Damn tfw2005 deleted my damn sig too!!!!!!!!!!!1

Yes, it seems that even after the optimization I did your sig still comes out a bit larger than 40k. Not to worry, I'm exploring some further compression techniques, and there's a good chance I'll be able to go a bit smaller. Hang in there!

[mikeyfuzz]

It ok, not your fault.  I just put it back into my sig again.

[DarkConvoy]

They are deleting them cause you are considered the Competition. Mods there don't like competition. I know of a guy who questioned something a mod said once and got banned. In the sites mentioned its not what you know but who you know.

[Hellscream333]

They are deleting them cause you are considered the Competition. Mods there don't like competition. I know of a guy who questioned something a mod said once and got banned. In the sites mentioned its not what you know but who you know.

Pretty much whole point. There are two sites that I can think of that are run more like a popularity contest than a free place to converse. It's total BS and I don't get why fans flock there but wutevas....

[Encore_Prime]

you know honestly the only reason I go to TFW is for the news. It's a fun site and I try to post most of the time, but really it's the news. They always have the stuff the others sites don't have or are too scared to mention.

Really for me it's just: TFW, The Allspark, and here.

Not sure why more people don't post in the forums here, I think just because it's new and there aren't tons of members posting, so sometimes it's slow. I do like here and the Allspark though because for the most part they're the friendliest places to visit. I started my TF Forum thing at Siebertron but I left after awhile because it's just kind of a cold place, not very friendly. You don't feel welcome there at all really, just people arguing and acting like trolls alot of the time.

I think Shmax will pick up, I hope it does, I really like it here and I think Max has done a truly amazing thing with the collection database. A couple years ago this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. We really can't thank him enough for all the hard work and time he's put into this place. I'm embarrassed to admit I promised him a bunch of pictures a couple months ago and then (dramatic music) LIFE INTERVENED!!! And I wasn't able to. I feel cruddy about it because I really wanted to do something to help him out with this place.

Sometimes, "Thank You!!" Just doesn't seem like it's enough.

We should all pitch in and buy him a stripper for christmas.

[shmax]

They are deleting them cause you are considered the Competition. Mods there don't like competition.

Now now, I don't know if it's as bad as all that. They have a rule about sigs being under 40k, and the shmax sig is indeed over 40k for folks with large collections. They don't remove ALL shmax sigs--Squallte's is still up there, as is mine (or was, before I changed it to the contest graphic, which was wider than they like). Let's give them the benefit of the doubt on this one, and assume they really are just enforcing their own sig rules.

I don't think of this site as "competition" for anyone. To me it's just a cool reference with some bonus functionality. Is imdb competition for rottentomatoes?

I'd really like to stay out of Transformerdom fan-wars, or whatever you call all these strange site allegiance politics. Let's be the Switzerland of Transformers sites!

Not sure why more people don't post in the forums here, I think just because it's new and there aren't tons of members posting, so sometimes it's slow.

Kind of curious about that myself. For a long time I thought it was because I'm still using the boring stock templates that come with this forum software, but Seibertron uses the same thing and doesn't seem to be having any trouble. Maybe it IS the news that gets people active in the forums. I'll have a talk with the mods and see if any of them are interested in sort of leading the charge on daily or weekly news reporting.

I really like it here and I think Max has done a truly amazing thing with the collection database. A couple years ago this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. We really can't thank him enough for all the hard work and time he's put into this place.

Aww, well thanks, man! I don't know what to say, it's damn rare that anyone comes up with any praise. The collection system was a good 6 months in the making, and I'm glad people are enjoying it. Engledogg deserves some recognition for doing most of the data entry--he's entered something like 18,000 part, package and figure records all by himself, and without him I'd STILL be trying to get the parts database going!

If you want to support the site, help spread the word! The next time someone asks where he can find information on a particular toy in a forum you frequent, point them this way.

Thanks again for the kind words, and no, I'm not letting you off the hook for those photos!