Collectors Club Public Gallery

Just to let you know that the Poole Pottery Club's web site is presently being redesigned and as a result the Public Gallery will disappear. Sorry to all contributors. The Gallery will be open until the new site is launched.

Why?

As part of the rebuilding of the site we felt as a committee we can no longer justify the space needed for the non members area. It can be better used for the members identification galleries, that now hold 14,500 photos as well as other information  and once the new site is up and running this will increase even further. It is possible to join the club for a small charge of £10 per annum to access just the site with no other club benefits.  Sorry but we are a small club and need to put our members first. Feel free to contact me with other queries.

further.
We will not transfer the photos to the members gallery as we do not know who they belong to. Also for some photos the club does have a facebook page that is open to all. Hosting the site costs money and those who pay should get the benefits. Sorry but that's life.

Poolejake thank you for the explanation. Might I suggest that you consider one of the larger web hosting companies as most of them now do unlimited web space for less than £5 month.

I understand that this would require blowing the budget of x6 members fee all in one go but your membership might consider that it was worth it?

Having the two galleries is not beneficial to members and also causes confusion. The idea is to create an easy to use and extensive site that looks at Poole Pottery throughout its history. We have other costs to consider magazine printing, postage etc. (we do have many postal members) As previously mentioned the club is there for it's members, that's what they pay for and are entitled to. There are other sites for non-members, such as this one, where photos can be posted. We welcome new members but have thought long and hard and have taken the advice of our new site designer in reaching this decision.

We had no intention of upsetting anyone but as a committee will not be re-looking at this, the decision is final. The new site will be up shortly.
Again sorry for any upset caused

poolejake

So it's not on cost then?

Yes it is, as well as other issues. I am trying to be as clear and honest as I can, so I am saying all our reasons. As we want to add a lot more to our site and to get what we want and the ability to continue to add the amount we are we need to look at all angles. Its not just cost it's true but that does play a part. We are going with our experts opinion on hosting etc. to make our site safe an permanent.

poolejake wrote: I am trying to be as clear and honest as I can

Not that it's anything to do with me, but that sounds weird. Why can't you be completely clear and honest?

xx

I am being clear and honest. if anyone has sensible comments I will reply otherwise I think I have said all that needs to be said.

Ouch I doubt Jake intended to come across as badly as those exchanges came across to me.

Although I am not a member of the Poole society I have previously visited the website. It would be a shame for it to go. But I can fully understand a members club restricting its energies for those who pay for it to continue. I doubt anyone is making any money out of it. The only note of caution would be around images and written submissions from non members in the public area discussed here. If in the redesign those then found there way into the members paying part of the site then they could be seen as charging for access to material originally intended to be free. If those that posted it originally gave permission when they signed up to post it, no issue. But if they didn't then a person could request this club remove material they do not have the copyright or right to display. Sounds like a lot of people added a lot of content in the past so could be tricky. I imagine it's a legal minefield then when you are charging for access to websites (however the subscription is worded). Good luck.

no photos will be transfered

I will be sad to see the gallery go but let's take a reality check here.
Fot the last 2 or 3 years of the Poole club that set up this gallery there was 1 person who posted images and tried to keep the ball rolling and that person was me.  Apathy was rife and every member I talked to agreed that the forum was completely dead with no hope of recovery so I think we owe Sue (Poolejake) our thanks for keeping the gallery online for many years after Ed threw in the towel and handed both the gallery and the forum over to her

Thanks Sue and good luck with the Poole Collectors Club

Thanks Dan. It's not just me, there is a committee of 5 running the club, elected every 2 years. It is very democratic and transparent now publishing accounts and is non profit making, we have just about paid off the debts incurred when we took over.

Good to hear that the club is on a sound financial footing, it is the killer of many an organisation no matter what subject links the members.

Also sounds like you have a huge wealth of information about Poole in the club. If anyone is tempted I would pay for a new book about Poole ceramics. I am sure Richard Dennis would publish it if someone found the time? After all the Torquay guys made one and they have a much smaller set up I believe.

There was a book planned on cataloguing all the traditional shapes and patterns planned in conjunction with the club. But this was halted when the person collecting the data sadly passed on. But we hope one day to do something like this. On site we have over 500 traditional shapes and 700 patterns just of the traditional range.

Sounds great. In recent years we have been poorly served with books about English ceramics. The last one I got really excited about was the Della Robbia one, a stunning bit or work (grab if you can). Apart from that we had some classics printed way back in the 90's and out of print now. But little really since the internet age. Ok we have had the odd one. But increasingly we are losing information because it is in peoples heads or random web pages instead of in print or collected together in some other way. Glad to see you Poole guys are doing your bit

poolejake wrote:I am being clear and honest. if anyone has sensible comments I will reply otherwise I think I have said all that needs to be said.

I'm sorry, I apologise. It was just the '...as I can...' that sounded odd. Just semantics

As you were everyone

xx