# AquascapeGallery.com, a personal introduction



## Aquascape Gallery (26 Oct 2009)

Greetings all,

It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself, Ewan, son of Jim of The Green Machine. I already know a bunch of UKAPS bods in person through the excellent TGM & UKAPS events.

I have worked for TGM for about 14 months or so and during that time I developed a love for aquascaping (its hard not to when you are in TGM).







http://www.AquascapeGallery.com is a website that I created in my own time because I thought it was a good idea; an online gallery for the documentation and display of aquascapes where the users can vote on each aquascape so that they can be browsed and sorted by popularity. Something that it does that other websites do not is to give each user their own page located at a simple website address and viewable by non registered users. This makes it really easy for AG users to point people to their work.

The website has a simple, clean layout and 'slideshow' viewing effects which complement the display of art. Someone (whether registered or not) can visit the website, browse to a particular user, or list all aquascapes by popularity, then sit back and watch a slideshow of the images. I really like how it works and think its a great way for people who are new to aquascaping to get a good feel for what its all about. Each new aquascape that is uploaded will serve as a better advertisement for the hobby.

Since presenting the finished website to The Green Machine they have given AG their full support because they love the site. They are sponsoring the current Aquascaping competition which is currently being held by AG. The prize for the winner is a Â£50 TGM voucher and, with their permission, the artist and their tank will appear in TGM's monthly newsletter and national magazine (UK) advertising campaign. Its a great prize and the competition will be a lot of fun all round.

I really hope that you all like it, it feels good to be able to contribute to the hobby in a positive way.

Please do add your aquascapes to the site, it will help its growth and promote the hobby in general.

Best regards to everybody...

Ewan
http://www.aquascapegallery.com


----------



## Steve Smith (27 Oct 2009)

Hi Ewan.  The site looks fantastic!  I like the concept of users being able to rate their favourite scapes, but the fact that the user can have a page dedicated, with a coherent URL is something I've not really seen on other aquascaping sites.

Congrats on a great website


----------



## Dan Crawford (27 Oct 2009)

I'm really impressed with it Ewan. I've now had a good chance to look at it and you've created something innovative and a means for the public to publish their work - on a sexy lookin site, nice one!


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (27 Oct 2009)

Thanks guys, glad you like it. I finished it last week and in the run up to completion I was getting very excited because I knew it was going to match the vision I had started with. I love the way it has turned out but will continue to tweak it, making improvements based on user feedback. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know either in this thread or via email: contact@aquascapegallery.com

The site makes it simple for non-computer type people to publish their work, hopefully this will mean that aquascapers who have not yet published work on the Internet can contribute- I know that there are a lot of great aquascapers out there who are not in touch with any sort of community yet.

It feels good every time I see a new aquascape go on, and the list is only going to increase as time goes by. I look forward to the future of AG.

And to all those not yet registered- have a look and register if you like, its free and you don't need to publish aquascapes if you don't want to. I encourage people to join simply to vote on the aquascapes that are already on there. You can also put aquascapes that are not finished on the site, then come back and update them with more photos and details when you are ready.

Cheers fellas!
Ewan


----------



## myboyshay (27 Oct 2009)

Hi  Ewan,

Congratulations on a great looking site   it's obvious to see the thought and hard work you've put in.

Already added mine and I'll replace the pics once the scape matures.

Cheers

Mark


----------



## Tony Swinney (27 Oct 2009)

Good job Ewan - site looks great.  I'll be adding a tank or two at the weekend   

Tony


----------



## YzemaN (27 Oct 2009)

Great initiative, Ewan.
Just signed up. I'll be putting up my scapes later


----------



## wbaguesty (27 Oct 2009)

Website looks cracking mate.

Will be putting mine on when its all set up, will be a while yet.  Good to get some inspiration from the site though.


----------



## andyh (27 Oct 2009)

Ewan, 

Looks great, already posted my tank up there! Really like the look and feel of the site and how it asks you to detail all the individual items rather me trying to remember what to put up!

One possible suggestion, what about the ability to link a video of your tank in? There are some sweet videos out there. I would certainly post something. But then again that might just be me.  

Regards

Andyh


----------



## Nelson (27 Oct 2009)

hi ewan,

congrats on an impressive site  .did you design it yourself ?.


----------



## Superman (27 Oct 2009)

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while, it's good to have everyone on their own "forums" but you need to branch out from the people you know and see week in, week out.

I guess the difficulty will be that unfinished scapes will be published on the site which might detract from the pull of beautiful scapes on the site. If you get people with in-progress scapes then people won't want to go to the site as much, as I wouldn't want to split the beautiful with the ones just getting started.

Maybe a development could be that a journal/blog area is created so that people can just pen their thoughts on there or put a journal of their tank on there. But then that takes it away from the idea of the journal forums here.

I've fancied doing a blog type thing for a while but never really got round to creating one on a generic blog site, it'd be better if there was a well-known site already there.


----------



## LondonDragon (27 Oct 2009)

Ewan what security measures you have in place to prevent people from cheating??

Since you offer a monetary prize there are always people that exploit these kind of sites, just something for you to think about.

I won't post how easy it would be to cheat on the site, PM me if you are interested in finding out and if you have those preventive measures in place.

Like I said to you before, the site is very well thought out and very well executed, congrats


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (27 Oct 2009)

andyh said:
			
		

> Ewan,
> 
> Looks great, already posted my tank up there! Really like the look and feel of the site and how it asks you to detail all the individual items rather me trying to remember what to put up!
> 
> ...



Hi Andy,

Glad that you like the site- as you say, it does make the process of documenting an aquascape nice and easy.

I think videos would be a good addition as an option for those who will use them, I have looked into this and I should be able to sort it out. It will not take priority at the moment however because I don't think many people will use it yet. If I get more requests then the process will be sped up. Plus I know that videos are a great way to show off a tank.

Cheers Andy,
Ewan


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (27 Oct 2009)

nelson said:
			
		

> hi ewan,
> 
> congrats on an impressive site  .did you design it yourself ?.



Hi Nelson,

Thanks, the website is based on an open source content management system called Drupal, which basically provides building blocks for constructing websites from. The graphic design and layout of the website is based on a standard theme which is already really slick looking, and I don't believe in fixing something that is not broken, so I just tweaked it until it had the feel I wanted. It took my quite a while to put everything together but it has been well worth it.

Nice one,
Ewan


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (28 Oct 2009)

Superman said:
			
		

> I guess the difficulty will be that unfinished scapes will be published on the site which might detract from the pull of beautiful scapes on the site. If you get people with in-progress scapes then people won't want to go to the site as much, as I wouldn't want to split the beautiful with the ones just getting started.
> 
> Maybe a development could be that a journal/blog area is created so that people can just pen their thoughts on there or put a journal of their tank on there. But then that takes it away from the idea of the journal forums here.
> 
> I've fancied doing a blog type thing for a while but never really got round to creating one on a generic blog site, it'd be better if there was a well-known site already there.



Hi Clark, hope you are doing well.

Each aquascape that you document on AG has a tick box where you can say whether it is finished or not. I will use this to separate the aquascapes into 'finished' and 'unfinished' when users search. It doesn't allow this yet but will not take me long because I have future proofed this aspect of the site.

I think the journal suggestion is a good one, I have already considered how this could really be useful to a lot of AG users. one of the big attractions of public journals is that they are one of the the best ways to give people who are new to the hobby a good feel for how the aquascaping process fits together as a whole. Blogs are another interesting idea, and I can see how they could work with AG. Any additions I make will complement the website as a whole.

I am giving this some thought so thank you for the feedback.

Thank you,
Ewan


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (28 Oct 2009)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Ewan what security measures you have in place to prevent people from cheating??
> 
> Since you offer a monetary prize there are always people that exploit these kind of sites, just something for you to think about.
> 
> ...



Hi Paulo,

I understand your concerns regarding cheating. I knowledge that the 'star' voting system on AG is susceptible to cheating if people are willing to go to these lengths but this element of the website relies on good faith in people and is only really there to help people sort lists of aquascapes by popularity. I know that the current AG rating system could not be used for an award style competition.

For the current competition, the one with the cash prize, the 'star' rating system on AG is irrelevant. The aquascapes will be judged by a number of judges from TGM as well as some independent judges.

Really pleased you like the site  

Ewan


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (29 Oct 2009)

Hi chaps,

I have added blog functionality for every AG user, so when registered you can create and edit blog entries which are listed on your personal blog page located at aquascapegallery.com/blogs/_user-name_

Each blog is viewable by all registered and non-registered users alike and has its own RSS feed so that people can subscribe to it. Your most recent post is featured on your main profile page along with links to your blog.

I know that not everyone will use this feature, but some users will no doubt find it very useful. Its a great way to keep a record of what you have been up to.

Check it out and let me know your thoughts on it.  8)


----------



## Superman (29 Oct 2009)

Ewan, thats a really good addition (as my above post).
I might start writing a few aquatic thoughts on there.


----------



## Nick16 (29 Oct 2009)

how about being able to show some shots before the scape grew in. Have the main image that you see first as the finished scape, so that it still pulls people in, but then when you click on the scape, there is an area for say 2 photos of the initial stages, to help other see, initialy planting, and growth rates and heights, plus how the scape has filled in.


----------



## George Farmer (29 Oct 2009)

Great idea and great site, Ewan!  Congratulations.


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (29 Oct 2009)

Nick16 said:
			
		

> how about being able to show some shots before the scape grew in. Have the main image that you see first as the finished scape, so that it still pulls people in, but then when you click on the scape, there is an area for say 2 photos of the initial stages, to help other see, initialy planting, and growth rates and heights, plus how the scape has filled in.


Hi Nick, when documenting an aquascape the creator can upload an unlimited number of photos and the one which is positioned at the top will be used for the main image throughout the rest of the website. So it is possible to post images of the early stages and add a description to each, and these are only viewable when someone views that particular aquascape page.

Or are you saying that the 'finished' images should be kept separate from the 'in progress' images? I do feel that it would be best to divide these in some way. I will continue to ponder a better way of separating finished works from journal style entries.

Thanks for the feedback, keep it up!


----------



## Aquascape Gallery (23 Nov 2009)

Very well done to Mark (myboyshay)! A lovely Iwagumi style aquascape. Thanks also to everyone else who has put their tanks up.


----------



## George Farmer (24 Nov 2009)

Just added a couple of my older creations.


----------

