Having a collections feature

It would need to be done better than Weasyl. I don't think many people use Weasyl's collection feature just because it's easier not to. You have to contact the artist, get them to sign onto Weasyl in the first place (because let's face it, FA's still everyone's furry home base), get them to accept or offer the collection... It has an extra step that requires cooperation from both parties. It will need to be a system like Y! gallery, where the person who uploads the file has the opportunity then to specify whether or not it's a commission, and who it was by or who it was for. The file's page can say "SUBMISSION NAME - by ARTIST (and ARTIST) - for USER (and USER)" and upon acceptance from both parties can show up in both respective galleries.

I think Twelve has a point. A collection feature is nice, but many people wouldn't use it because it'd be easier to just upload it to your own account. Weasyl's collection feature was a nice idea, but it actually is not very effective. If a feature like this would be added to FN it would have to be much easier to use.

We SORT of have collections - but they're only able to be edited by the artist only, which makes them more "folders" than collections.

I'd be interested to see how much demand there is for this.

If they are folders, why not name them folders?

I think with "collection" Mehlahphuse means a way to display a piece done FOR YOU BY SOMEONE ELSE on your profile, without reposting it, but to adapt the original submission from the artist with his permission. That way you'd have the piece that was done for you on your profile, while the artist's original submission is actually displayed.

Maybe a "claim button" could work better than a collection feature? A simple, little link (like with flag and takedown) to send the artist, who has done and already posted the piece, a request to allow you (for whom the work was done) to display the work on your profile. If the artist confirms, the piece would appear in your gallery or collections gallery. Of course this feature could be abused, if an artist gets spammed with such requests by users who are not involved in the creation of the piece. But maybe it could be combined with the new commissions feature? If artist and Commissioner use the feature and the process is completed the system automatically asks the artist "Offer this commission to the commissioner's gallery?" and if the artist choses yes, the commissioner can opt to display the work on his profile.

The problem with that (which is the same problem that Weasyl's Collection feature has) is that you first have to wait for the artist to upload the image, which does not always happen quickly, if at all. You need that coordination with someone else, which makes things less efficient.

If the commissioner(s) can upload it, tag both his/their names and the artist name(s) on it, upload it to his own gallery, and have the system offer the artist the chance to claim it and automatically display it in his gallery too, that would make things more efficient. The artist can do the same: upload it, put her name and the commissioner name(s) on it, and then the system would offer all commissioners the chance to claim it and automatically add it to their galleries.

The system could pay attention to which names are tagged onto the submission so that if, say, the artist has uploaded a piece and put the commissioner's name on it, but the commissioner has not yet seen the system's notification and is trying to upload the same image, the system can say, "Hey, I'm noticing you're uploading a commission for you by ARTIST. ARTIST has already offered you a commission claim. Make sure this isn't a duplicate image!"

In addition, since FN has an in-house commission system, perhaps the artist can have the option to submit the finished work to the commissioner by uploading it to the site (not to the gallery, but to the site itself) rather than via email, Dropbox, or what have you. The site would know it's a commission, know who it's for, and send all people involved a commission claim option so that it is automatically added to their Drafts. If there are multiple files (for example a High Quality one and an Online version) the users can select which one to add, and the system will download all of them to their computers in a neat little ZIP folder.

Actually I was going to make a topic about the current collections feature. I would like personal gallery groupings to be put in 'folders', and favorite groupings put in 'collections'.

Also, I would like the ability for multi-tiered folders, or 'folders within folders' as mentioned in another thread.

My personal want for multi-tiered folders would be to sort my art by both type, and year made. While I acknowledge that tagging the art with those details could suffice, I personally would still like to sort my art in that manner in my own folders. I can see Multi-tier folders also being handy for grouping of photos from conventions, or character art collections.

Old Nabyn used to have a thing in character profiles (these were separate profiles under the main account, not like in FN). Where you could add your own pieces to the characters gallery, link existing pieces from other users galleries and upload works that you had commissioned outside nabyn community (they required credit to the artist). I think a concept like that could be further improved. Such as add custom section to your profile where it links to artwork, stories, multimedia etc.

I don't like weasyl's collections since they require the piece to be submitted by the artists first AND also approved by them (what if they're lazy??), what if the artist doesnt upload it to the specific site OR they don't even want to upload it to their gallery in the first place (some artists only upload their fav commissions).

Exactly. The coordination needed between artist and commissioner is a hindrance.

FN does seem to have separate character profiles under one account. You can add a character, which will get its own @handle under your account, and switch to it at any time.

It sounds like this feature mainly revolves around character owners cross-posting an image they commissioned from an artist on their own account - so that when their image is finished, it shows up on both the artists' gallery, and on the commissioner's gallery.

Based on the recurring theme of "Coordination between artist and commissioner is a pain", maybe re-framing the solution to be based around making it easy for both parties to post a finished piece on their galleries would be a good option. It could be an additional step at the end of the "commission" process, where both users are prompted to open the image in a 'draft' submission, ready to add tags, edit description and post.

Thoughts?

I think that could work. It's at least an easy solution. If a feature like that would be too complex or annoying not many would use it and then there is no point in the feature at all.

That would work, yes, but only if everyone sticks to using FN's commission system, which would be important to consider. Some artists may still prefer to use the usual methods of commissioning, especially in coordination with their existing methods of working, and how things are done on other sites where they store their work, and the fact that FN's system involves a fee (however fair that fee may be). This system could be a thing to encourage more people to use it, or it could be something that doesn't make a difference to them if they don't want to use the in-house commission system.

One thing that's also important is linking back to the artist, making it clear from the get-go that the submission is a commission from ARTIST, and for USER. That eliminates the need to link back to an artist's or a commissioner's page in, say, the descriptions (where people may not see said link-backs unless they hit the "Read More" link), makes it easy to do so the artist gets credit for his work and the commissioner gets credit for his idea and characters more often, and keeps said credit nice and visible so there's no confusion and viewers can be led to sources of really great work or really great characters.

If you want to get really fancy, you could link submissions together such that a view or favorite or comment of this commission on for example the commissioner's page also means a view or favorite or comment of that commission on the artist's page.

Having people link submissions is cool but it's ultimately the same issue that weasyl has: Someone is going to commission an artist outside FN and then they'll have to awkwardly upload it as reqular artwork anyway and what if the artist is just lazy to upload it here oh god need to show this cool thing right now while I'm still awake!

Perhaps just having a separate tab for commissioned artwork? Where you can make own collections for specific characters or themes. Upload should require user to give a link to artists page and write their nickname there.

Could easily do the shared feature with these too tho, but I don't think it should be nessecary.

That's the thing that this idea prevents. Either party involved can upload it and offer the other party the opportunity to claim it and automatically add it to his or her drafts. You don't have to wait for any one person to upload it; you can upload it yourself, and it will go to the other person's gallery if he or she allows it.

Now that you highlight that out, it makes more sense. Or even link submission together.

Although on the other hand, I wouldn't personally upload any commissioned work to my profile if they went to the same place my own works did (that's just confusing! and feels too weird). But that would defo work for profiles that represent one character only or otherwise revolve around just characters and foldering them.