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PinPics New Ownership Informational Discussion (as well as requests on what you would like to see available in the new site launching later in 2021)

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PinPics New Ownership Informational Discussion (as well as requests on what you would like to see available in the new site launching later in 2021)
Okay, so another big issues was moderation / pin addition process alluded to by @stratasfan .

On old Pinpics, when people added new listings they were automatically added. The cons of that were that some people didn't perform adequate searches beforehand and added duplicates. Or people didn't fill out all the information. This annoyed the moderators who had to go back in and clean things up.

New Pinpics, everything went into a moderation queue and you couldn't add a listing without uploading a picture. It sounded better in theory than practice. In reality what would happen was
...that a bunch of duplicates were regularly loaded in anyway because the mods didn't know the database like the regular contributors did and that a ton of completely incorrect information was added, again, destroying the usefulness of what had been an extraordinarily well-run crowd-sourced site that had kept information up to date AND accurate.

All of the mess of the last many years simply cannot be corrected because SO much was done wrong for so long.

But the choice is: PinPics for old stuff from when the site was well-run or PTDB which is strongly catching up on content but lacks the history and order of the old PinPics.

Plus the majority of people on social media who don't use either, but simply are guided by ebay prices for the latest 'fire' pins.

I know no one likes to hear this or do it, but I've said this for YEARS since the original PinPics community-run and supported site was trashed: keep your own information independently and don't depend on a third party to do it for you.
 
I simply disagree that it can’t be corrected . If the new owners put the time and effort into it, I think it could be great.

Honestly, time will tell but being constructive especially in this thread seems to be the most helpful thing that we all can do.

2cdb440a4b09fa0d351a9520bf37699f.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have to agree here. I would say that absolutely the new owners can recover the site. Speaking as an admin on a reference history/collecting site that is the largest online resource for US militaria collectors (so no little site) . . . I've been working a year on cleaning up run-down boards and the site in general. It is totally possible to fix a site, and I would say totally possible to fix PinPics! Sure, it will take a lot of work and effort, but I don't think the new owner has displayed anything that says they think they are going to take over with little to no effort.

Get some moderators who don't mind helping and are committed, and I bet they'll succeed. I have really high hopes! :) I just finished writing what I am calling my "Moderator Thesis", to try and breath some life into Mods on the militaria site. I keep trying to explain to people . . . being a Mod doesn't mean you have to be an expert. You can train a willing individual to do the job of Moderation. A lot of a Mod's job is 'janitorial' work. People tend to think it is mostly behaviour and the glory of the title, but they don't realise what it takes. But, a few dedicated Mods who are willing to put some time and effort into a project can really make a huge difference.

So, I would say they totally have the ability to make PinPics back to a front-line resource. It isn't that far gone. And they seem to know what they are getting into and have the mindset to make it happen! Just my two cents, and maybe I am really feeling strongly here since I'm going through it myself. But, don't surrender when you have such a high chance of success!
 
...that a bunch of duplicates were regularly loaded in anyway because the mods didn't know the database like the regular contributors did and that a ton of completely incorrect information was added, again, destroying the usefulness of what had been an extraordinarily well-run crowd-sourced site that had kept information up to date AND accurate.

All of the mess of the last many years simply cannot be corrected because SO much was done wrong for so long.

But the choice is: PinPics for old stuff from when the site was well-run or PTDB which is strongly catching up on content but lacks the history and order of the old PinPics.

Plus the majority of people on social media who don't use either, but simply are guided by ebay prices for the latest 'fire' pins.

I know no one likes to hear this or do it, but I've said this for YEARS since the original PinPics community-run and supported site was trashed: keep your own information independently and don't depend on a third party to do it for you.
I actually DO think it can be done, which is why I've spent a lot of time since the last time thinking and actually getting my own framework together. I actually have a development site 80-90% built (features, not listings), and it's actually on the internet. But I lack the back-backend knowledge (the real hardcore DB stuff) to guarantee that if the site got hacked or a failure that required the type of work Pinpics needs now, that I could provide it. That's the frustrating thing, the last time I didn't know exactly what was possible by someone who knows what they are doing, and now I do, so that's why it's *so* frustrating for me to watch all what has happened. "If you build it, they will come." People will seek out quality, and if a new site was worth it, people would talk about it and find it.

And unfortunately, many of the things I find so frustrating is why I can't commit to PTDB as much as others have. And I hate saying that, because I know @starry_solo and @TheMickeyMouseRules and the others that have added pins have put a TON of work into it, and I'm grateful for the backup information source, but they are still at the mercy of what Ryan built with no easy way to improve the things that need improving, themselves. The suggestions I posted up thread, go for PTDB too. They have keywords, but only limited ones. The tedium of trying to update your collection with hundreds of pins all at once, not having a solid way to link pins of the same series together (I know they have "same release" but that doesn't help when series pins aren't released at the same time), not always adding all pins of the same mystery sets all at once (I know some of you are good at that, but then there are others where it's all over the place :) ). Collectible Pin Trader, is the one that has more of the things I've wanted, but I don't find it as intuitive to find what I need, and I don't see people talk about too much so I don't know where it fits into all of this.

All of these sites have the same problem in that they seem constrained by the choices Britt made for Old Pinpics and then expand away from that in a few aspects, but not in a "throw the doors open wide" kinda way. Adding everything that a Pin Trading Database should contain means that, while you could map existing fields to new fields, reducing some of the work, ultimately EVERY listing would need to be touched because there would be so many fields needing data. I doubt there is the commitment for that, because if starting from scratch "would take years," and was rejected, so would this. My little project has 50+ fields for the "Encyclopedia" side, and another 15+ fields for the "Inventory" side (right now we are used to having 3. Wants, Owns, Trades... but what if you own multiple of the same pin, or have multiple copies of traders? hmmm... ;) )

Anyway, I know my vision is still likely years away, if ever, so last week I started building a personal inventory system in LibreOffice Base (don't have access to Access). That one only has like 25 fields and 10 subforms with some more fields, and 45 tables (if anyone has experience building a Microsoft Access database, they would understand, but I think even then, mine is particularly anal "Comprehensive.") But that's still only part of the picture. People can make their own Inventory, but people can not build their own Encyclopedia of Pin Knowledge. Too much is released all over the world. It will never be as complete. You are lucky that you have multiple people that will let you know when every single Wonderland and Loki pin will be released, no matter the source. The rest of us aren't so lucky. And then there is the trading. If everyone went "personal" the only pin trading would be in person. Which is fine for SoCal and Central Florida, but not so great for the rest of us.
 
I have to agree here. I would say that absolutely the new owners can recover the site. Speaking as an admin on a reference history/collecting site that is the largest online resource for US militaria collectors (so no little site) . . . I've been working a year on cleaning up run-down boards and the site in general. It is totally possible to fix a site, and I would say totally possible to fix PinPics! Sure, it will take a lot of work and effort, but I don't think the new owner has displayed anything that says they think they are going to take over with little to no effort.

Get some moderators who don't mind helping and are committed, and I bet they'll succeed. I have really high hopes! :) I just finished writing what I am calling my "Moderator Thesis", to try and breath some life into Mods on the militaria site. I keep trying to explain to people . . . being a Mod doesn't mean you have to be an expert. You can train a willing individual to do the job of Moderation. A lot of a Mod's job is 'janitorial' work. People tend to think it is mostly behaviour and the glory of the title, but they don't realise what it takes. But, a few dedicated Mods who are willing to put some time and effort into a project can really make a huge difference.

So, I would say they totally have the ability to make PinPics back to a front-line resource. It isn't that far gone. And they seem to know what they are getting into and have the mindset to make it happen! Just my two cents, and maybe I am really feeling strongly here since I'm going through it myself. But, don't surrender when you have such a high chance of success!
Love this Elizabeth... the new owners deserve a shot to prove themselves before we shoot their attempt down. It’s not their fault that Pinpics was
run to the ground by the previous owners.

The other alternative is that Pinpics continues to crumble and eventually dies off. At least someone took initiative and wants to restore it. That in itself is something I can support and get behind.
 
I simply disagree that it can’t be corrected . If the new owners put the time and effort into it, I think it could be great.

Honestly, time will tell but being constructive especially in this thread seems to be the most helpful thing that we all can do.

2cdb440a4b09fa0d351a9520bf37699f.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BellesEnchantedRose thank you so much ! We appreciate your comments.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Love this Elizabeth... the new owners deserve a shot to prove themselves before we shoot their attempt down. It’s not their fault that Pinpics was
run to the ground by the previous owners.

The other alternative is that Pinpics continues to crumble and eventually dies off. At least someone took initiative and wants to restore it. That in itself is something I can support and get behind.

Thank you MyBabyKelly! We appreciate the support. Updates will be forthcoming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Congratulations and I wish you well in rebuilding a valuable resource for the community.

I would love to just see everything that is supposed to work, work.

Suggestions:

A feature to take a picture and match it to what exists in the image database.

A password reset feature for lost passwords.

In the last couple of weeks I believe my password got corrupted and there is no way to reset it on the current site.

Thank you
vans4bkah
Bob
 
Congratulations and I wish you well in rebuilding a valuable resource for the community.

I would love to just see everything that is supposed to work, work.

Suggestions:

A feature to take a picture and match it to what exists in the image database.

A password reset feature for lost passwords.

In the last couple of weeks I believe my password got corrupted and there is no way to reset it on the current site.

Thank you
vans4bkah
Bob

Hi Vans4bkan!
This might be a “work around” for the moment. If your Username and PW are auto populating…..type over the pw that is there with your current pw. That worked for me. Just know we are working on it!!


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Please remove all the non Disney pins too. Make it solely Disney, the bootleg and unauthorized Disney pins are fine because they're kinda funny but pins like this
pin10737th200
 
You are lucky that you have multiple people that will let you know when every single Wonderland and Loki pin will be released, no matter the source. The rest of us aren't so lucky. And then there is the trading. If everyone went "personal" the only pin trading would be in person. Which is fine for SoCal and Central Florida, but not so great for the rest of us.
Agreed that after more than 20 years of collecting, I've gotten to know so many amazing people worldwide - who are not just pin friends, but life friends - for whom I'm extremely grateful and without whom I'd've given up this hobby, which I've invested in so much, a long time ago. Also agreed that I'm extra lucky to be close to where the trading/selling happens. And agreed once again that this hobby could desperately use the kind of resource that PinPics used to be many years ago - meaning literally constant, up-to-the-minute crowd-sourced updates of EVERYTHING that came out EVERYWHERE that the rest of the contributors could help guide and correct for accuracy and information.

Where we disagree is that I don't see how the last however many years of mistakes can be fixed and all the misinformation corrected, duplicates deleted, and missing pins added - much less in the release order of when the site was running well - to make this database comprehensive, accurate and timely once again. The resources simply aren't there - both the people who regularly contributed hundreds of listings and the information that was lost along the way.

Nor that the community that was once very centralized but is now scattered to the social media winds would return to one central resource. And without that community-wide interest and use and constant contribution, I don't see how this works as it once did before it became so broken.

That said, as someone who gladly contributed a lot of work and info to the site back in the day - I hope it still helps some folks as a free resource in the way it was originally intended - and not in a monetized capacity as it has become.
 
I don't know if we can ever get back to the worldwide network that Pinpics had. So many worldwide partners were lost in the years after Lenny purchased it. I don't know how to market the new website when it's up to the older Japanese and European traders while appealing more to Chinese and Korean traders. I find that here in the states, there are very few Dr. Strange pins, but in Japan, there are A LOT. So, if I were working on the website, I would find out a way to reach out and establish trust with those people once more.
 
Hi Vans4bkan!
This might be a “work around” for the moment. If your Username and PW are auto populating…..type over the pw that is there with your current pw. That worked for me. Just know we are working on it!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the recommendation.

Of course I tried that before I posted.

I will wait until the site can reset passwords.

Thank you
 
I don't know if we can ever get back to the worldwide network that Pinpics had. So many worldwide partners were lost in the years after Lenny purchased it. I don't know how to market the new website when it's up to the older Japanese and European traders while appealing more to Chinese and Korean traders. I find that here in the states, there are very few Dr. Strange pins, but in Japan, there are A LOT. So, if I were working on the website, I would find out a way to reach out and establish trust with those people once more.

Hi Chubs! Thank you for your suggestion.


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...that a bunch of duplicates were regularly loaded in anyway because the mods didn't know the database like the regular contributors did and that a ton of completely incorrect information was added, again, destroying the usefulness of what had been an extraordinarily well-run crowd-sourced site that had kept information up to date AND accurate.

All of the mess of the last many years simply cannot be corrected because SO much was done wrong for so long.

But the choice is: PinPics for old stuff from when the site was well-run or PTDB which is strongly catching up on content but lacks the history and order of the old PinPics.

Plus the majority of people on social media who don't use either, but simply are guided by ebay prices for the latest 'fire' pins.

I know no one likes to hear this or do it, but I've said this for YEARS since the original PinPics community-run and supported site was trashed: keep your own information independently and don't depend on a third party to do it for you.
I also think getting things back is possible. Everyone working together would be best, but right now there is too much division. A pie in the sky thought, to be sure.

I agree with @hopemax about PTDB... it is still under the control of an individual who could decide something similar to the owners of pinpics. Its not a good set up.

A pin database formed within a legal entity as a public non-profit organization (with clear and voted in by the membership, by-laws) run by an member elected board (I have been in many clubs run this way), would be one suggestion for stopping another pinpics disaster. Pin data not owned by any individual, but by a legal entity that anyone can join. Annual membership would ebb and flow as people enter and leave pin trading, but the organization itself would remain and be run under the current membership and volunteer board.

Unfortunately $$money$$ became involved with pinpics and it is unlikely we will ever get to a non-profit as long as the pin data is in the hands of someone who paid a lot of money and wants to recoup or profit from their 'investment'. But I do still have hope for PTDB... and this is why I my efforts go into PTDB. If Ryan moved PTDB into a non-profit club set up... I could see PTDB taking off exponentially. I think there is a significant number of pin traders (100s? 1000s?) who would get on board if they knew things were starting off on the right foot. The pool of talent from these members would be amazing and each could contribute as much or as little as their interest allows. People with computer background, event planners, newsletter writers, accountants, etc. coming together to make this hobby amazing.

Finally, the melding of PTDB's current pin listings with Pinpics history could give the community something very close to the entire picture for pins. But if they were melded... the PTDB/Pinpics entity would absolutely need to be given back to the community by creating the non-profit organization to run it.

The club I was a member of for many years (which is what I am basing all of this on) also ran an annual event that brought in $10,000-$20,000 (in the 1990s) for the club's coffers. A non-profit pinpics club could do the same (ie, pin trading events...) to make enough to cover the expenses of maintaining the database servers, upgrading software, etc.

Anyway, these are my two cents and what I would like to see happen. For whatever it is worth...

PS: Interacting/trading with others is why Pinpics exists, why it is important to the community, why I still continue to use it and why I wish @MollyAnne success in bringing it back.
 
Where we disagree is that I don't see how the last however many years of mistakes can be fixed and all the misinformation corrected, duplicates deleted, and missing pins added - much less in the release order of when the site was running well - to make this database comprehensive, accurate and timely once again. The resources simply aren't there - both the people who regularly contributed hundreds of listings and the information that was lost along the way.

It would lose “release order” for the stuff that it is missing. But I think you underestimate how much data is actually still out there. Several people scraped Old Pinpics before it became New Pinpics, and there are are other sources but they are scattered, and you have to know where to dig. It would take time, commitment and people to go through everything. Like I said everything has to be touched, but with a good group of moderators, you could also have a group with a smaller set of permissions, pulled from the user base, allowed to cleanup, fill empty fields and replace photos it would get better, and hopefully start snowballing into action. Yes, most of the old contributors are gone, but it doesn’t mean conscientious pin collectors haven’t joined in the intervening years.

I also think you underestimate how much even in a broken state Pinpics is still referenced. People post negatively about the diminished trading opportunities but most “I need info about this pin?” Facebook posts, still get responded to with a link to the Pinpics listing. If the site was more functional the mentions will increase. People want a central place, but for the last several years the answer of what was that place has been clouded.

The bigger issue will be trust. Pinpics got very insular and contentious, which made the insular nature worse and if we end up swapping one small group of moderators for another, and it remains insular that will remain problematic. If inaccurate information, when pointed out, isn't changed because someone new thinks they know better than someone who experienced it first hand, that will be problematic. Although, even if Pinpics turned into "what Facebook pin people use," it would be a better state of affairs for Pinpics than it is now. We'd have to see about what it would be for the rest of us.
 
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I don't know if we can ever get back to the worldwide network that Pinpics had. So many worldwide partners were lost in the years after Lenny purchased it. I don't know how to market the new website when it's up to the older Japanese and European traders while appealing more to Chinese and Korean traders. I find that here in the states, there are very few Dr. Strange pins, but in Japan, there are A LOT. So, if I were working on the website, I would find out a way to reach out and establish trust with those people once more.
I imagine this is where the sellers would come into play. I've been surprised by how many Asian connections can be made on social media vs the old days. If the new site's plans for adding sales can bring some of those sellers a bigger audience, they would be motivated to keep up with listings from pins from their regions.
 
Hey Molly,

First off, congrats on acquiring the pinpics website! Definitely one of my most favorite Disney pin websites for years! Saying that, I have been a member using pinpics since the early 2000’s (dizpins.com) days . Here’s what I would like to see different:

- Fix the log in issue. This would be the first step
- Multiple pictures of the pins - front and back would be amazing. Back of the pins helps with edition size.
-Better pictures of the pins with more clarity. Uploads of the “actual” pin will help with size, colors, authenticity
- Reference center! As you probably remember from dizpins, it was easier to add feedback from trades
- A list of active user’s! This is huge and would love to see more teasing like back in the old days. I feel like I send out hundreds of requests and get few in return. Would be easier if I knew I was sending a request to someone that hasn’t been active in months etc
I think this is a a good start. I know you will. Take this site back to normal and we appreciate that’s it’s in good hands now!

-Matt C
 
I agree with other posts. All good comments/suggestions.

The one thing I would like to see is more flexibility on the picture when posting a new pin. I've basically stopped contributing because it was impossible for me to get the picture right. To be clear, my pictures were very good photos with the pin nicely centered and in focus. The problem was there was a little bit of shadow around the pin and I was told that was no good. The background had to be completely white with no shadow. Sorry but I am not a professional photographer with a major light setup that can make that happen. I suggest allowing photos that are very good and usable even if they have a bit of shadow, etc. And maybe allow people to swap out photos if they have a better one. At least, in the meantime, the pin will be posted and people can start leveraging it. Otherwise they don't get in there at all, which is the case for several I wanted to post.
Thanks.
 
It sucks disney cant/wont open source the data. They must have an excel somewhere with every pin ever released, likely a name, number and description, release amount date and picture. Heck they could even sell it. online pin sites could adopt the numbers disney uses, would definitely be easier even though its obviously a pipe dream.
 
It sucks disney cant/wont open source the data. They must have an excel somewhere with every pin ever released, likely a name, number and description, release amount date and picture. Heck they could even sell it. online pin sites could adopt the numbers disney uses, would definitely be easier even though its obviously a pipe dream.
Disney used to have a site like this.
 
OH, a more basic thing that I don't know if you can fix, but it sure would be nice! When you compare members, no username can be compared that has any sort of special character.

This is the one that typically gets me:

wdwtrains+pins

Also, I'm looking through the list of compared members and here is another:

PeterPan'sFlight

Since usernames are allowed to be created with those characters, maybe there is a way for the compare feature to be able to do them! I LOVE PinPics compare feature. :)
 
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