Updates to uploads

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been doing some preparatory work on updating and improving the image upload process. It's already pretty simple, but we think there's more we can do to streamline things and avoid the problems we know a few contributors have experienced.

Most of the problems revolve around selecting the correct date for your entry - some people just ignore the date menus, others select the wrong date by accident or get confused because they're posting from a non-GMT timezone.

Most digital cameras store additional information within your image every time you take a photograph, including the type of camera, lens used, exposure settings and date taken. We think it makes sense to use some of this information to help avoid the problems outlined above, and provide something many contributors have asked for - the ability to display this information on their entries.

To see how feasible this might be, we've been capturing and storing this data, which has thrown up some interesting and useful results.

First off, we've discovered that well over 90% of images uploaded have this data intact, which is great news - it means we can start work on some new features that the majority will be able to make use of straight away.

Secondly, it seems that a small number of contributors don't have the date set correctly on their cameras, which could complicate the dating issues when we update the uploading process. For that reason, could we ask you to spend a minute or two and check the date setting on your camera? It's impossible for us to provide instructions for everyone, but it should be pretty straightforward to do - if you have any problems, leave a comment below and see if anyone else can help.

Thirdly, as a result of this research we've noticed that a very small minority of contributors are regularly flouting the taken-on-the-day rule. No matter how much clever technology we put in place, we're always going to depend on the goodwill of the community to protect this fundamental principle of Blipfoto. After all, it's what makes it so rewarding for the vast majority of contributors and the countless other viewers who visit the site every day. If you haven't taken a picture you're happy to publish, just leave a gap - there's no shame in that!

Finally, for the contributors whose images don't contain any camera data, if you'd like to make use of these features in the future, you might want to visit this page which briefly outlines how to maintain this data if you edit your images using Photoshop.