Gallery Makeover Project

$Moonbeam13 recently posted a journal about the Gallery Makeover Project. The project talks about the changes that have already occurred within the Galleries here on deviantART. When the new 'submit' became live, it was important that all the gallery descriptions were updated and the thumbnail examples accurate. Now it's time to look at the galleries themselves!

The CV team is working alongside $Moonbeam13 to act as a port of communication for you to share what you think needs to be changed within the galleries. So, because of this I am asking YOU, what you'd like to see changed within the Customization/Wallpaper or whether indeed, everything should just stay the same!

Sometimes, sub-categories can be very confusing and there are a fair few galleries within Wallpapers, that have an extensive amount of sub-cats. Are there too many? Do you think there needs to be an addition somewhere, or would it be better to remove some sub-categories? Do things need to be renamed? Whatever the case, drop your comments on this article and let's get a discussion going!

_{*NOTE: I did totally plagiarize some of this content from ^Kaz-D, a CV for Photography..}


Re-Structuring the Gallery Tree: Customization/Wallpapers would have a revised Submissions Tree for the gallery, including some new Sub-Galleries, and Sub-Sub Galleries.  Here's how it COULD look...

_{Customization > Wallpapers > ...}

Mobile
Multi-Display
Standard
Tablet                         Is this needed?
Wallpaper Pack
Widescreen

Well those would be the primary groups for Submission.  It focuses on what device the Wallpaper is for, or in the case of the "Wallpaper-Pack", for those who submit *.zip/*.rar files, containing multiple resolutions of the same Wallpaper.

Along with this, would come updated Gallery Descriptions... Ok.  Are we ready for the next category of Sub-Gallery?

_{Customization > Wallpapers > ... > ...}

3D
Abstract
Animals & Plants
Fantasy
Fractals
Landscapes & Scenery
Macabre & Horror
Objects
Other                         Is this needed?
People
Science Fiction
Space
Transportation

So.  Here's where it gets fun... Under this NEW proposal... We'd be doing away with the set of branches in the tree which had to do with HOW it was created.  Meaning that Photo, Vexel, Manipulation, Vector, 3D, Traditional, etc... They're gone.  From now on, in Searches, you'd make use of the Search Tool, by inputting that, as well as the "More Like This" feature... This would mean that how work is "Tagged" (Make use of Keywords), becomes immensely important, both when you SUBMIT as well as when you SEARCH.

FAQ #70: What is the format for the Keywords in deviations and what are they for?

#CRWallpapers

It's been thrown out there that the Customization/Wallpapers community COULD benefit from having an 'official' (but totally unofficial) Wallpapers Group, which would always be run and moderated by the current CV (Community Volunteer).  A bridge between the CR Team/CV and the Gallery's Community.  What do you guys think of this proposal?

I have gone ahead and made this.  Since it can do no harm..

Wallpaper FAQ's..

At present, there's really just one FAQ for Wallpapers; Could we use more? Split the information up into more digestible faq's?

FAQ #811: What is a Wallpaper and what should I know about using and making wallapers?

Resolve the Resolution

Another topic to discuss are Resolutions.  Once upon a time, it was VERY important to have strictly sized Wallpapers, for artwork to look best on our PC's.  NOW however, there's Soooooooo many new devices, different sizes and resolutions, etc... That it is a thought - to perhaps change our view on what is considered "Proper Resolution".

Instead of having concrete numbers, Width by Height.  Let's instead focus on the Aspect Ratio's.

16:10
16:9
4:3

And then there's Tablet resolutions, as well as those for Mobile devices (iPhone, Android, etc..).  With this in mind, wouldn't it be great if we could just say "This piece meets the minimum size requirement for this particular Aspect Ratio?  Our PC's and Laptops do a splendid job of re-sizing with a nice smooth rendering when needed.  Operating Systems have advanced considerably.  Let's evolve with them!

Project Educate

Customization/Wallpapers is participating in this event, the week of: June 17^th - June 23^rd.  For more information and to see what it's all about, be sure and visit #projecteducate!