Development Blogs




Welcome to the ModelFolio development blog, here you can find out whats going on, on ModelFolio.

This Weeks Site Update Roundup WC 22nd Feb
Posted on Monday 22nd of February 2016
Less updates this week, but the updates are generally bigger in size/commitment!

Message Folders


One of the biggest updates this week is the introduction of inbox folders! You can now arrange and organise your messages, so that those of you who like a zero inbox can achieve such!

You can get started by going to "Messages" and creating a new folder. You can drag and drop your messages easily between folders! :)

Message Layout Updates


We've also updated the layout to the message pages! Messages now appear with the newest at the bottom, with the overall message page sizing itself to your screen. ...


This Weeks Site Update Roundup WC 17th Feb
Posted on Wednesday 17th of February 2016
Every week I'm going to round up the latest site updates on the site developments blog :) So, lets crack on!

Social Media Updates


Many of you have connected your Twitter or Facebook account connected to MadcowModels, meaning that when you upload a photo, or like one, or start a thread - we inform your social media follows.

The updates we send have been updated, and for each update we will cycle through between 4 and 5 different messages - keeping the updates you send to your social networks fresh! :)

Is there anything else you'd like automatically shared to social networks?

...


Infinite Scroll Member Listings
Posted on Saturday 13th of February 2016
Our member listing pages have today been updated to utilise "infinite scroll". This means theres no annoying pagination, you can just keep scrolling until you find the right member!...

Our new homepage
Posted on Sunday 7th of February 2016
Check it out - our new home page is now live! Designed to maximize the exposure our starred images get, we think you'll love it :)

- The new home page is designed for non-members, and so you'll need to be in "incognito", "private browsing" or log out for a few moments :)...


Casting Call Updates
Posted on Tuesday 19th of January 2016
Today, we've unveiled an all updated castings section!

So, whats new?

Searching


You will now be able to start searching castings by work level, as well as being able to search by radius! Giving you greater control over the castings you see.

Notifications


There are now a lot more options when it comes to being notified about castings, including a lot more distance options - as well as being notified when a casting with a work level you're interested in appears!

Casting Detail Pages


You can...


Become a Verified Member
Posted on Sunday 25th of October 2015



Starting today, you can become a verified member on MadcowModels.

Verifying your account provides an extra layer of safety and security. It enables other members to confirm you are who you say you are, and reduces any friction and worry when arranging a shoot.

So, why delay, get verified!

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/verify...


Hiding your online status
Posted on Sunday 16th of August 2015
You can now hide your online status, which includes the little green dot and the "last active" time on your profile, and around the site, by going to You > Your control panel > Options > "Hide Online Icon"...

Updated modelling levels page
Posted on Sunday 10th of May 2015
For the past few years we've had a page dedicated to modelling levels, and decoding exactly what they mean.

Today - this has been expanded.

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/modeling_levels


You will now, for each level, find a small description of that level, example imagery, a history of the rates posted for that level and advice and info from members on each level.

Levels need not be confusing, with their meaning ambiguous. We intend to make the meaning of each level as clear as possible - and this new section enables us to do just that....


AvsB goes mobile
Posted on Wednesday 29th of April 2015
You can now play A-vs-B wherever you are, on your mobile.

m.madcowmodels.co.uk/avsb.php

You can use your phone to "swipe left" to vote for the image on the left, and right to vote for the image on the right.

Give it a go, check it out now!

m.madcowmodels.co.uk/avsb.php...


Changing your username and forum post previews
Posted on Monday 27th of April 2015
With several username change requests, its now been updated so that you can change your username by going to You > Options > Scroll down to Username Change.

You're able to change your username every 90 days or more.

Forum Post Previews



You can now preview how your forum post will look, with BBCode rendered and any added images inserted, by clicking the "Preview Post" link under the Submit a Post box.

Giving you the change to amend and get your post just right, before submitting :)...


Member stats and tattoo filters
Posted on Sunday 26th of April 2015
By popular request, today a tattoo filter has been added to the member search engine, so you can quickly and easily select whether you want members who do or don't have tattoos to appear in your search results.

I have also updated the statistics section of the site - so you can now see a breakdown between members and non members viewing your profile. This is also visible on the "profile stats" graph :)...


MadcowModels Logo and Text link for your site
Posted on Sunday 19th of April 2015
You can now link back to your profile, or the site as a whole, using a smaller square MadcowModels logo similar to social network icons. They look as follows:



These links come with your referrer ID baked in, so any time someone clicks through and joins, you both get a months free Top Membership!

If you'd rather, you can also used a text link like so, MadcowModels

And of course the regular contact cards are still present.
...


The most liked images on MadcowModels
Posted on Saturday 18th of April 2015
The images uploaded to MadcowModels receive hundreds of likes every single day, and now you can see which images have been liked the most!

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/liked_images/all

Able to select from the most liked per day, week, month and of all time, you can drill down into the most liked images on MadcowModels however you like....


Add your twitter handle!
Posted on Wednesday 15th of April 2015
You can now save your twitter handle to your profile by going to You > Options > Fill in the Twitter Handle box.

When we send out tweets relating to you or content you've added to the site, we will attach your handle to them :)

Over the next few weeks we will be looking at further social integration, including being able to automatically share updates with Facebook and Twitter....


Chat panel update enter to send
Posted on Saturday 11th of April 2015
The chat feature has been updated to make things a little easier. Clicking "Enter" on your keyboard will now instantly send the message, and shift + enter will create a new line to continue writing....

Member follow ups
Posted on Saturday 11th of April 2015
Need to keep tabs on when to chase a member up about a shoot? Or need to set a reminder to send them some info?

You can now do that with Member Follow Ups.

Member follow ups are the easiest way to keep track of what you've got in the pipeline, included on every messaging site on the page is the Follow Up section enabling you to set when we should give you a nudge.

You can track all your follow ups on Your Control Panel, or view them on your Planner - the follow ups are private to you only.

When your follow up is due, we will send you a notification on...


Forum Thread Updates
Posted on Thursday 9th of April 2015
Previously when submitting a post you would have to reload the page to add another post. Now the thread form will simply reset, and you can go straight ahead and post again!

One annoying little bug squashed.....


Google Reverse Image Search
Posted on Thursday 9th of April 2015
We've just introduced the ability to reverse image search your images straight from the gallery page, and photo manager.

Simply click the "Check Image" link, and it will take you to the Google Reverse Image Search for that image....


Under the hood updates
Posted on Monday 9th of March 2015
As well as the new database server, I've been working on a few updates over the past few days to speed things up.

One of these has been combining the javascript files into a single file. Rather than loading 5, 6, or 7 javascript files on each page load, your browser will now load between 1 and 2.

These files have been highly minimised and are cached aggressively to ensure your loading and rendering times are quick!

You should start to notice the increase in speed pretty quick :)...


Competition winners
Posted on Sunday 8th of March 2015
From member feedback, I've decided to expand the competitions so that now if there is a tie both members will be announced the winners and receive the membership prize.

This is a change from the "first past the post" system we've used for the past 2 years.

James...


Image and casting nudity selectors
Posted on Wednesday 4th of February 2015
The image nudity selector, and casting adult selectors have been changed to "on" by default.

This is a test for a few weeks to see if the amount of incorrectly marked images will go down.

James...


Private browsing
Posted on Friday 30th of January 2015
Well.. its been a while since using the blog publisher!

From today, TopMembers can browse the site privately. By turning Private Browsing on in your options, your view of a members profile will not display in their "Who viewed you".

The hit still counts, but, its private.

Not a TopMember and want to browse privately? Upgrade here:

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/upgrade...


Popup image viewer updates
Posted on Thursday 29th of August 2013
The popup image viewer has received a few updates, and fixes.

"List it" has been renamed to "Like this image". Your images will still automatically be added to a "Your Favourites" folder, and if you have more lists set up, you'll still be able to choose which list they are added to. The update is mainly a naming update.

The Like this Image function has received a keyboard shortcut, so you can now click the L key on your keyboard to like an image.

A few bug fixes have been applied to the viewer also. If you've closed the viewer, the arrow keys on your keyboard will now stop displaying the next image.
...


Unlimited photos for TopMembers
Posted on Sunday 16th of June 2013
Up from the previous limit of 1,000 images, TopMembers can now upload an unlimited amount of photos to their MadcowModels account :)

Not yet a TopMember? Upgrade here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/upgrade

Already a TopMember? Upload here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/batch...


Security updates and upgrades
Posted on Sunday 16th of June 2013

Pass Phrase


We've just introduced a Pass Phrase feature, to add another layer of security to your account.

A pass phrase consists of 9 alphanumeric characters (a-z 0-9), and when you log in you'll be asked for 3 random characters from this phrase which must be selected correctly to log in.

You can set a pass phrase by going to Your control panel > Options > Security options

...


Homepage more links
Posted on Thursday 25th of April 2013
The homepage has been updated, each section now has a "More" link under it. Clicking that link will slidedown some more entries for that section....

Comment Replies
Posted on Wednesday 24th of April 2013
Each and every comment now has a "Reply" link, near the +1 and comment time. Clicking this will add that members tag to your comment for your reply, and it will form a part of a bigger commenting and reply system that's upcoming....

Castings for you
Posted on Tuesday 19th of March 2013
Castings for you is a new section of the Castings area, which takes a look at several criteria - such as your profile type and location - and displays castings which it thinks will interest you.

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/modeling_work/targetted

James...


Master Watermark Option and more
Posted on Tuesday 19th of March 2013

Watermark


You can now set a master watermark preference, which will be included in all your current uploads and all future uploads, by going to You > Your Control Panel > Options > Watermark Options

Privacy


You can now see what your current profile privacy settings are on the main page of the Options panel.

The panel informs you who your profile is visible to (Public, Members only, Deactivated), and it has a list of any members you have blocked with a link to unblock them if you so wish.

Image Thumbnail


You...


Weekly Update
Posted on Tuesday 19th of March 2013 | Posted by James
Apologies, I've neglected updating the developments blog for a while.. I'll try and remind myself to fill it in more in future!

Moving on..

You can now sign up to a new Weekly Update Email from MadcowModels. The email is jam packed full of information, including your profile and photos hits for the week, your top viewed images, your A-vs-B history, your Saved Members summary, Castings that may interest you and much more!

You can subscribe to it by going to You > Your Control Panel > Options, and its one of the checkboxes on the main options page.

James...


Message drafts
Posted on Saturday 15th of September 2012
Its such a pain to write a really long message, click send, and oops - you've logged out.

Now, your messages will automatically save as drafts every 2 minutes and so when you come back, the latest version of the message will be sitting there ready and waiting.

James...


Image watermarks
Posted on Friday 31st of August 2012
Your images security is very important to MadcowModels, and so we now offer the ability to quickly and easily overlay a watermark on your images.

We have 2 different watermarks, and you can adjust the position of these.

We have a MadcowModels logo watermark, which is very faint so that it doesn't destroy your viewing experience. The watermark stretches the full width of the image for maximum security.
This can be positioned at the top, middle or bottom of an image.

There is also a more "customised" watermark, which consists of your username and the MadcowModels URL. This can be positioned at either the top or bottom of your image.
...


Similar castings
Posted on Thursday 30th of August 2012
Casting Discovery is something I'm heavily focusing on at the moment, and the castings detail page has been updated to include a "Similar Castings" section.

The feature takes into account several details from the casting you're viewing, such as the work type (TFP, paid etc), who the casting is aimed at, the location and the level of work.

It seems to be having a positive impact already, with over 15% of today's casting views coming click-through's on the "Similar Castings" feature.

James...


Message panel hover over
Posted on Tuesday 21st of August 2012
The "Messages" link has been moved from the "You" sub-menu to the main menu of MadcowModels, and the Hover Over panel has been reintroduced.

We originally had the hover over panel on the old header, which was updated about 6 months ago.

The hover over panel provides a snap shot view of the latest 5 messages in your inbox and your sent box.

James...


Automatic monthly subscription
Posted on Monday 20th of August 2012
You can now upgrade to TopMembership with an automatic monthly subscription, so you'll never have to go through the upgrade or renewal process again!

The subscription is quick, simple and easy to set up, just go to the upgrade page (www.madcowmodels.co.uk/upgrade) and click the "Subscribe Now" link.

James...


A vs B arrow clicks
Posted on Saturday 11th of August 2012
You can now vote for images on A-vs-B by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

The left arrow key = voting for A
The right arrow key = voting for B

Caution: This makes A-vs-B a lot more addictive!!

James...


Landscape orientated images and AvsB info
Posted on Saturday 11th of August 2012
Previously, wide images were scaled down to fit within the column that tall images fit in. Today this was updated, so that now they expand across the page so that you can see them in their full glory.

The Photo Info, Comments, Similar Photos and More of My Photos sections have been rearranged underneath the image.

The image stats section has been updated, to include a photos A-vs-B history. You can find a photos stats by clicking on the figure displayed next to "Views".

The Photo Info section has been updated to include an images A-vs-B ranking and position, you can find out more about rankings here:
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/help-centre/a-vs-b...


Photography and modelling news articles
Posted on Thursday 26th of July 2012
On the right hand side of your control panel is a new news and articles panel, displaying the latest news from various fashion and photographic websites.

Models and make up artists will see articles about style, fashion, make up and beauty. Photographers and studios will see articles about photography, equipment and tips tricks and tutorials for photoshop.

Clicking an articles title will open the page up in a new panel on MadcowModels, so you do not have to navigate away from the site.

If you know of any great, relevant, news feeds that you'd like to see added to the news feeds, please let me know! :)

James...


Chat
Posted on Tuesday 10th of July 2012
MadcowModels Chat enables you to keep your conversations going, without requiring you to be on the conversation page. So, you can keep chatting whilst you're browsing photos, posting in the forums or even whilst playing A-vs-B!

Chat is located at the bottom left corner of your browser window, titled "Messaging". Click the Messaging box, and your contacts will appear.

You can change between your "Inbox" view, which shows you all the latest messages you've received, and a "Saved Member" view, which displays your online saved members by clicking the spanner image at the top of the messaging panel.

You can also search for members by clicking the magnifying glass icon...


Group Messaging
Posted on Wednesday 27th of June 2012
Messaging on MadcowModels has just got even better, with the introduction of Group Messaging!

Group messaging allows you to converse with as many members as you want, in a single messaging thread, at the same time - perfect for when you're organising studio days or other meet-ups!

How do I start a group message?

Starting a group message is very easy. All you do is go to Your Inbox, and click the "Start a group message" tab.

After writing your opening message, an invitation box will appear, where you can fill in the names of the members you wish to invite.

How...


Performance and page load updates
Posted on Thursday 21st of June 2012
Over the past few days, I've been working on page speed and other performance updates.

The updates have mainly affected:
1) The home page
2) Your control panel
3) Gallery pages
4) Listing pages, and search results.

The updates have now gone live, and hopefully you're feeling the benefit of this.

Your update stream on the control panel has also been updated, to include an "infinite scroll" system. This means you do not have to click to load more updates, they will automatically appear.

James
...


Members planner
Posted on Saturday 16th of June 2012
Keep track of all of your upcoming photoshoots with your very own feature packed planner

Availability

You can change your availability, by clicking on any individual day or by going to he planner options link on your planner page.

You can set yourself as unavailable between any time on certain days, week days, weekends or individual days.

Photoshoots

The messaging pages contain a new "Add a photoshoot to planner" section. This allows you to easily add planned photoshoots with other members to your planner, and the shoot will also appear on their planner.

You can access your planner by going to "Your control panel" and clicking...


Next and previous arrow keys on results and photo pages
Posted on Tuesday 12th of June 2012
On certain pages around MadcowModels, you can now use your left and right arrow keys to navigate and change pages.

These pages are:
•Photo pages

•Casting listings

•Image search results

•Member search results

...


Organise your photos in photo albums
Posted on Saturday 5th of May 2012
You can now organise your photos on MadcowModels into photo albums!

To provide you with the greatest flexibility to organise your photos exactly how you wish there are no limits as to how many albums you can have, or how many albums a photo can be placed in. The thinking behind this is that you may wish to organise the photos by models/photographers you've worked with, or even have a portfolio album of your best images and albums of experimental styles. The possibilities are endless!

Can I add photos I'm tagged in to albums?


At this stage no, but that functionality will be added soon.

How do I reorder my albums?


To reorder the images in your album(s), go to "Photo...


Spell checker
Posted on Monday 30th of April 2012
Although many modern browsers have a spell checker built in, quite a few people have this turned off by default.

I've now added a spell checker to the forum's, post-a-casting and update profile sections.

James...


Refer a friend referrals status
Posted on Sunday 8th of April 2012
The referral page ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/refer ) has been updated to now include the status of any referrals you've sent to friends....

Saved member lists
Posted on Thursday 5th of April 2012
You can now create lists and categorise your saved members into them, making it easier to keep track of each member and easier to find them.

To start creating and organising, go to "Saved members" from your Control Panel.

Shortly, I will be adding the functionality to add a member to a list as soon as you save them.

James...


Rotate images
Posted on Tuesday 3rd of April 2012
If you've uploaded any images and they are orientated incorrectly, you can now rotate them by going to Your control panel - Photo Manager - click the photo you wish to edit and clicking "rotate left" or "rotate right" underneath the image.

James...


MadcowModels Shop!
Posted on Wednesday 28th of March 2012
Today, we've pulled the wraps off our new shop!

In association with Amazon.co.uk, we offer everything from camera bags to photography books, DSLR's to tripods, clothing to beauty products.

Go Shopping on MadcowModels

...


Mobile website blank page fix
Posted on Wednesday 7th of March 2012
Some members were experiencing blank pages when trying to access the mobile website ( m.madcowmoddels.co.uk ) off of Windows based mobiles, or via Internet Explorer.

This bug has now been fixed. If you still experience any issues with the mobile website, please contact me.

James...


Updated advert system
Posted on Monday 5th of March 2012
Whether you have your own business to advertise, a blog, or even just want to advertise your own portfolio, you can do so quickly easily and affordably using the MadcowModels Advert Publisher, and now its even easier to target your advert with our latest Advert Manager updates.

Whats new?:

• Your Advert Manager ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/advertising/manager ) has been integrated with your account, so no need to log in to each advert individually.

• The old advert manager log in screen is now a summary page for your adverts ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/advertising/manager )

• You can now set up an advert by...

Rebuilt dialog boxes and image statistics
Posted on Wednesday 8th of February 2012
There were several underlying bugs in the previous dialog/popup boxes. I've rebuilt the dialog boxes to remove the bugs, and restyled them. I've now launched them site wide.

As a part of this, the functionality on photo pages to view a photos statistics has now been re-enabled. Clicking the number of views a photo has, on the photo page, will display a dialog box which will detail how many views a photo has had over different periods of time, and where the views have come from.

James...


Control panel updates filter
Posted on Saturday 4th of February 2012
You can now filter the updates you see on your control panel, by going to "Your control panel" - "Your Updates Options".

The updates can be filtered by type, and you can also decide how far back in history you want your updates to go.

Thanks to mattauckland for the suggestion....


Photos uploaded on a specific date
Posted on Tuesday 31st of January 2012 | Posted by James
So you've clicked a link that says "Joe Bloggs has uploaded x photos today", which is great, except if they have an extensive portfolio, then scrolling through to find their new photos is a bit of a pain.

Now, we've started introducing links which display only the photos uploaded on a specific date, so using our example above, the link will take you through to Joe bloggs portfolio which will just display the photo's he uploaded today.

These links have also been introduced to the "Uploaded" date on each photo page.

James

...


Photo albums and message emails
Posted on Friday 6th of January 2012

Create your own photo albums


Albums are the new way to save and organise photos on MadcowModels. Save your favourite photos, photos for inspiration at a later date or those that you'd just like to refer back to.
For example, here is just a small album dedicated to some of my favourite photos on MadcowModels:
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/james/albums?albumid=3
And you can view all of my albums here:
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/james/albums

You can save a photo by clicking the star on each and every photo page, and you'll then be prompted to save it to an album or to create an album.

...


Go mobile with MadcowModels
Posted on Tuesday 3rd of January 2012
Looking to use MadcowModels on your phone?

m.madcowmodels.co.uk is home of the new MadcowModels mobile website!

The mobile website includes:
•Editors Choice

•Members Choice

•The castings board

•The forums

•All members profiles

•Your messages

•Your photos

•Members feedback

•The member listings

And plenty...


Non modelling photo category
Posted on Tuesday 3rd of January 2012
For new photographers, who haven't yet photographed a model, we allow them to upload a maximum of 2 non-modelling photos to their portfolio.
As soon as they upload 2 or more modelling photos, the non-modelling photos are removed.

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/blog/2011/11/Photo-policy-updates.html

What this meant, was that non-modelling photos would be polluting the normal modelling categories.

We have now added a "Non-modelling" photo category. This is *only* to be used to contain the non-modelling photos for new photographers, and does not mean hundreds of non-modelling photos can now be uploaded.

Regards,

James...


Messaging updates
Posted on Thursday 29th of December 2011
The message/conversation page has recently been updated, to a neater version which also provides a lot more information about the member you're conversing with.

The message stream


The message stream has been moved to the left hand side, and has been tidied up - hiding things like the Attachment feature and messaging privileges, which appear when you start to type a message.

Feedback from other members


Any feedback the member you're messaging has received will be displayed on the right hand side, along with the photoshoot rating, giving you a quick insight into that members history.

Members work styles and rates

...


Plus one
Posted on Sunday 18th of December 2011 | Posted by James
+1, or Plus one. The new link above all forum posts, and on all comments around the site allows you to quickly and easily agree with what another member wrote.
You can also click the "X members +1'd this" link to see who else has agreed with what the member has written.

I look forward to your feedback,

James...


Your messages dropdown and hovercard redesign
Posted on Tuesday 13th of December 2011

Message Dropdown


Tried hovering over the "Your Messages" link at the top of the page? Hovering over it will now display a quick summary of the last 5 messages you've received, who they're from and whether you've read them.

This will receive another update shortly to add a tab for sent messages, so you'll be able to see a quick summary of messages you've sent, and whether they've been read.

Hovercard Redesign



The hovercards (The little things that display when you hover over a members username) have been redesigned, and they will now load a lot quicker.

The redesign has...


Members choice photo
Posted on Friday 9th of December 2011 | Posted by James
We've had the Editors Choice on the home page for about 18 months now, and now we have Members Choice.

If you've seen a photo which you think deserves extra exposure, click the "Choose this photo" button on the photos page, and the photo with the most amount of members choice votes will be displayed on the front page of MadcowModels!

Please be aware, you only have 1 vote a week - so use it wisely!

Of course, you cannot choose your own photos ;) and unfortunately photos which contain nudity also cannot be chosen at this time.
...


Education centre youtube and photo nudity
Posted on Sunday 4th of December 2011

Education Centre


For many months I've mentioned in the forums that I'm interested in building an education centre. Why? Well a lot of our members are relative newcomers to the industry, so having a one-stop-shop where our experienced members can share some of their knowledge and experiences with the "newbies" makes perfect sense.

You can find the new education centre here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/help-centre

The development blogs and articles have been integrated with it, as well as the glossary and other "site help" bits.

The "Member help" section will be expanded to include other sections over the next few weeks, but we feel theres enough there to kick start it.

Online Icon
Posted on Thursday 1st of December 2011
All around the site you will now be seeing little green dots ( )

These green dots indicate whether the member is online or not.

You will be seeing these little dots:
1) On profiles
2) On forum threads
3) On hover cards
4) On your inbox/sentbox
5) On the messaging pages
6) On comments

Hope it helps!

James...


Christmas header and home page snow
Posted on Thursday 1st of December 2011
December is here, and there's no denying that Christmas is rapidly approaching.
Each year we do a different header design for it, and we've just launched this years!
We've also followed our tradition of having snow falling on the front page.

If, you do not want to see the Christmas header you can switch back by clicking the "Normal header" link on the footer.
The Christmas header and snow will remain in place until the 1st of January, 2012.

James

...


Photo policy updates
Posted on Friday 18th of November 2011
We've always been fairly relaxed with the photos uploaded to MadcowModels, both in quality and content.

We will now be tightening the reigns on what can be uploaded, but for the better.

Camera phone photos


The uploading of camera phone photos/low quality photos have always been against the rules, but this rule has never been enforced except in some cases.
This rule will now be fully enforced. Camera phone photos are no longer allowed on the site, and any camera phone/low quality photos on the site will be removed.

Please bear with us whilst we do this.. there are thousands and thousands of photos on MadcowModels, and it takes time...


New photo categories and site header update
Posted on Thursday 10th of November 2011
A few new updates today!

Photo Categories


We've just added a few new photo categories which have been suggested/requested by a few members.

The new categories are:
Alternative Fashion
Published
Still Life
Life Style
Theme
Photomanipulation

If there are any categories you'd like to see, please feel free to let us know!

Header update


The header has been updated - to get rid of that black bar behind the header, and...


Your work styles and rates
Posted on Tuesday 8th of November 2011
"What are your rates?" is most commonly the first message between a photographer and model. Often you may just want to compare the rates between several different members, which can be made a long process by having to mail each member and every member.

Today we've introduced the ability to input your rates for each work style, and these will then be displayed on your profile!

To input yours, go to Your Control Panel and go to "Update Profile"....


Response Rate Update
Posted on Thursday 3rd of November 2011
The thread in the forums about the response rate provided a lot of good feedback.

The response rate has since been updated, first earlier this week and again today.

The new response rate looks at messages you've received and checks to see whether you replied to the initial message.
It does not take into account "conversations", only the first contact between you and another member. The thinking behind this is that it provides a more accurate result as to whether a member will respond to initial replies.

James...


Comment system rollout
Posted on Tuesday 25th of October 2011 | Posted by james
Today, the comment system has been rolled out to another area of the site, and merged with another system.

The commenting system is now on each casting call, allowing for open/group discussions about individual casting calls.

The new system has also been merged with the photo commenting system, allowing for a better tie up of comments in the future.

Commenting is now available on the following pages:

•Blogs

•Articles

•Photos

•Castings


And it...


Changes to the visibility of adult rated images
Posted on Wednesday 19th of October 2011
We currently have a work safe mode feature which if switched on, doesn't allow you to view adult rated images. When turned off, the website is "unfiltered".

We realise that this isn't the perfect solution. Just because you want to look at images categorised as glamour or lingerie for example, doesn't mean you want "Adult" photos appearing on your screen.

Rather than banning the upload of adult images (though there are rules on what is and isn't accepted), instead we've restricted how they can be viewed and where they will be displayed.

Whats changed?



1) Work Safe Mode can not be turned off by non-members, to prevent under-18's from...


Instant email notifications for new castings
Posted on Friday 16th of September 2011
Members can now receive instant email notifications for new casting calls added to MadcowModels!

The moment a new casting is posted, matching your chosen criteria, you will be emailed a link that will take you through to the casting call, so that you can be one of the first to respond to it!

So that you only get notifications for castings that you're interested in, you can specify to receive an email when the casting is looking for a specific member type (a model, or a photographer for example) and a specific remuneration type. So if you're only interested in paid work, you can receive notifications when a paid casting call is added!

To set up your notifications, go to "Your Control Panel"...


Updated statistics section
Posted on Wednesday 7th of September 2011
The statistics page for your profile and photos has been updated.

The photo statistics now show the "absolute unique" views, so each person that views a photo is only logged once, and refreshing the page will have absolutely no effect on the statistics.

Below the daily statistics is a "How people are finding your profile" section. This section shows all the referring pages to your profile, these may be internal links from a search on MadcowModels, links from facebook or any other website for example.

"How people are finding your photos" will be added shortly, as well as a timeline/history view for both photo and profile referrers....


Saved user notes and activity
Posted on Friday 2nd of September 2011
Although not a new feature, as it was always available through your "Saved Users" ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/SavedUsers.php ) panel, we've now linked the Notes and Recent Activity panel to members profiles.

Now when you save another member you can go to their profile and click the "My Activity" tab at the top of the page. A pop up page will appear allowing you to add notes about that member (which are private and cannot be seen by anyone else). You can also see all that members recent activity on the site such as new photos, castings and forum posts.

Not new, just more convenient :)...


Request feedback from non members
Posted on Wednesday 24th of August 2011
You can now get feedback from people you've worked with who are not members of MadcowModels!

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/requestfeedback

If you've worked with someone, whos not on MadcowModels, you can fill your part of the form and they will be emailed to ask them to fill in their part of the form.
Being an experienced model/photographer/MUA, yet signing up to a website and having no feedback/recommendation's to your name is unfair, and we hope this will redress this in-balance.

They will also be invited join MadcowModels, and if they do, you get 1 months TopMembership for free....


Article and blog comments
Posted on Monday 22nd of August 2011
We've introduced the ability to comment of articles and blogs, enabling you to give us feedback on the blogs, and to share your thoughts on articles.

Over the past few months, we've had several requests to introduce profile comments.

As always, we're interested to know what you think - whether its a good or bad idea, so you can let us know using the new commenting system below, or the poll on the right hand side (if you're logged in)....


Search engine and tagging auto complete
Posted on Sunday 7th of August 2011
Today we added an "autocomplete" for the search engine and tagging system.

If you're looking for a particular member, you can start typing their username in the search box at the top right of every page, and 10 of the closest matches to that username will display.
Clicking on one of the dropdowns will take you through to that profile.

We've also added the autocomplete to the tagging system when adding and updating images. When you want to tag member, start typing their username in the relevant box on the upload/update pages and the autocomplete will give you a bit of help finding that member and using the correct tagging method....


Updated Member Search Engine
Posted on Saturday 6th of August 2011
We've just launched the new member search engine:
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/search

The new search engine merges the standard search engine with the postcode search. What this means, is that you can search for members within a certain radius of a postcode.

The search engine has also been tidied up, removing a lot of old fields that won't being utilised much/or we felt that a lot of good members may have been being overlooked because the member may have had slightly incomplete fields.

Future updates to the search engine will see the ability to search for more than one member type at a time.

The photo search engine...


New work styles
Posted on Wednesday 3rd of August 2011
We've just added several new work styles, they are:

Catalogue
Commercial
Lifestyle
Make-up
Pin-up
Implied Nude

You can add these to your profile by going to "Your control panel", and clicking "Edit Profile".

If there are any other work styles you'd like to see added, please let us know.

James...


Gift a Membership
Posted on Wednesday 3rd of August 2011
So, you've just worked with a member and now they can't display those brilliant photos on their profile, simply because they're a free member.. well now you can "Gift" someone an upgrade! Simply go to the bottom of the members profile, and click "Gift Membership".

Maybe you'd rather "part gift/part pay" a member for their time, or you'd rather enjoy the benefits of additional exposure by having your photos displayed across 2 profiles rather than just the one.. whatever the reason, the possibility is now there.

The gifting process works exactly like the normal upgrade process. You'll be taken to the upgrade page, select which membership you'd like to gift to your friend, and you'll be taken through to paypal.

Let us know...


Front Page Updates
Posted on Monday 11th of July 2011
As you may well have noticed, we have updated the front page of MadcowModels.

Whats New?


The biggest change is the new "Recent Activity" scrollable stream on the front page, which displays some of the recent activity from our members on MadcowModels.

The purple headers have also been made smaller, to bring more focus to the photos/content on the page.

We've also added a "Photo Spotlight", this chooses a different photo from the MadcowModels photo database, and displays it.

The Articles and Site Blog boxes have been moved into the left and right hand columns, and the remuneration type has been added to the Casting...


Photo organising editor
Posted on Saturday 2nd of July 2011 | Posted by James
One of the most requested features is the ability to order/organise your photos, and today we've just launched the ability to do that.

Organising your photos is simple, you just go to your Photo Manager, click "organise photos" and drag and drop the photos into your desired order.

Any changes to the photos order are saved instantly, so there is no need to press a save/submit button.

If you're logged in, you can edit your photo order by clicking here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/PhotoManager.php?action=order

Any feedback is welcome.
...


Profile Preapproval Check List
Posted on Saturday 25th of June 2011
When a new member signs up, and logs into their control panel, they will now see a checklist of things that need to be completed on their profile before it can be considered for approval.

These criteria are:
A valid Email Address*
A profile photo
An "About me"
Completed profile information
and to be added soon: a minimum amount of photos in the members gallery

This is to ensure that profiles on MadcowModels.co.uk are as complete as possible, and profiles will no longer be accepted unless the check list is complete.

*Email addresses are now automatically "pinged", so we...


New forum layout
Posted on Monday 13th of June 2011
The new forum layout has gone live..!

So, whats changed?

Forum Home Page



Theres not too much new on the home page, largely, its been cleaned up and made more efficient on the processing side, and a few of the forums have been re-ordered into a more logical order.

Thread listings


This is where the updates begin..

User thumbnails have been added down the left hand side of the thread listings - helping you to quickly recognize who has started a thread.

...


The DarkRoom
Posted on Saturday 11th of June 2011
Bigger images = bigger impact, which is why we would like to introduce to you..

The DarkRoom


The DarkRoom is a full screen image viewing portal, allowing you to view all the photos on MadcowModels full screen on your desktop computer!

Read more about it here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/darkroom/about

Or, view a sample here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/darkroom/10000

Feedback, as always, is appreciated....


Members message response rate
Posted on Wednesday 8th of June 2011
All members profiles on MadcowModels now display the members message response rate.

This information is only available to members on the TopMember and Premium membership packages.

The message response rate is measured in percentage, and it will be added to various other places on MadcowModels, such as the hover cards and user listings, shortly.

Want to see the message response rate? Upgrade here:
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/index.php?content=membershipdetails...


Message Sending and Log in Slowness
Posted on Monday 6th of June 2011 | Posted by James
Several new updates for you..

Message Sending


When members were using the messaging system, sometimes there was a bit of lag when the messaging system was connecting to all of the other systems to send the message + upload any attachments.

Now when you press "Send!", the submit button will disappear and a message telling you that your message is being sent, and attachments being uploaded, will appear.. hopefully preventing members from pressing the "Send" button several times in confusion ;-)

Log in Slowness


We were aware that logging in was taking up to 10 seconds to happen after pressing the "log in" button. ...


Suggest new photo categories and modeling work styles
Posted on Thursday 2nd of June 2011 | Posted by James
With more and more photos being uploaded, and many more members signing up every day, we're hoping to add more specific photo categories and a wider range of work style categories to prevent "over crowding" in each category.. so who better is there to ask than the users themselves!

Photo Categories


The photo categories we currently have:
Fashion
Catwalk
Fitness
Stock
Editorial
Body Parts
Hair
Headshot
Swimwear
Lingerie
Glamour
Topless
Gothic and Fetish
Classic/Artistic Nude ...


Messages emails and urls
Posted on Tuesday 31st of May 2011 | Posted by James
We have recently changed our policy regarding email addresses and website urls in messages between members.

Free members can no longer send email addresses/URLs to other free members, nor can they see them. If one member in the conversation is paid, and the other free, URLS and emails will be visible to both members.

It is only between Free members that email addresses/urls will be filtered.

Its very important to us that we make the Free membership as usable as possible, whilst at the same time, making sure the paid memberships are good value and the benefits worthwhile.

TopMembership is set at the competitive price of £3 a month, giving you full access to...


Link to us and Profile card
Posted on Sunday 29th of May 2011 | Posted by James
We've just introduced several new ways to link to us, as well as a few profile sharing updates..

Link to us


By going to the Link to Us page ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk/index.php?content=linktous ), you will now find 2 different graphics which you can use to link back to us from your own website, or another forum/blog.

If you're a member and signed in, the codes presented will also attached your referral ID - so if someone clicks that image and signs up, you get a free month of Top Membership.

More info: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/index.php?content=refer

Profile Card...


New Search Engine
Posted on Sunday 22nd of May 2011 | Posted by James
We understand that no one likes sudden change, no one likes to log on and find a website has been completely reorganised, thats why over the past few months we've been slowly making subtle changes to the main header of the site, and now you can see why..

We've just introduced our new search engine!

The new search engine is accessible here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/search

- OR -

via the new search bar at the top of every page, next to the MadcowModels Logo.

What can I search for?


We...


Stay logged in and casting call reply
Posted on Wednesday 18th of May 2011
Hello,

We've introduced a few new updates..

Stay Logged In


Don't you hate it when you've just written a really long message, clicked send, and found out your log in session has ended?

From now on, 5 minutes before your login session is due to end, a box will appear asking you if you'd like to stay logged in.

If you'd like to stay logged in, just click the "keep me logged in" button.

If you're almost done, then click the relevant button and your log in session will end naturally.
...


Subscribe for your weekly email update
Posted on Sunday 15th of May 2011 | Posted by James
As some may already know, we have a daily email update - mainly for those looking to respond quickly to any new castings.

For some people, this email may be too frequent, so we now have a weekly update.

The weekly updates contain:
•Newest members

•Latest castings

•The weeks editors choice photos


To subscribe to the weekly updates, you can do so by going to the home page ( www.madcowmodels.co.uk ), or if you're a member, you can subscribe by going to your Control Panel and scrolling down to the Weekly Updates...


Show More Alerts
Posted on Friday 13th of May 2011 | Posted by james
Probably not the most exciting update for non-members, but now when you're logged in you can view more of your updates/alerts by scrolling to the bottom of your control panel and pressing the "Show More" button.

James...


Members Recently Online
Posted on Thursday 12th of May 2011 | Posted by James
At the bottom of the home page is a new feature showing which members were recently online.

The list shows 11 members at a time, and is ordered randomly not chronologically, so that you see 11 different members every time you refresh the page.

Regards,

James

MadcowModels Manager
www.madcowmodels.co.uk/james

...


Website modeling and photography glossary
Posted on Thursday 5th of May 2011 | Posted by James
We've compiled a small glossary of terms used within the modeling and photographic industry. We understand that becoming a part of a new industry can be a bit daunting, and thats before you realise theres potentially a whole new language of terms and words out there.

View the glossary here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/glossary

We hope this helps and if you think we've missed anything out, please feel free to contact us....


Work Safe Mode
Posted on Wednesday 27th of April 2011 | Posted by James
We've just introduced a work safe mode on MadcowModels.

Work Safe Mode prevents any nudity from displaying, and it prevents you from being able to search for it.
It also prevents you from being able to view adult rated casting calls, and select the adult-rated categories on the search engines.

By default safe mode is on for everyone, but it is optional to turn off except for under-18's who cannot turn off safe mode.

On MadcowModels, you can turn the Work Safe Mode on and off, via the little switch located at the bottom right of the footer, titled "Turn work safe mode off".

For more information, please...


Tagged Photos Gallery
Posted on Sunday 24th of April 2011 | Posted by James
If you have been tagged in any photos by other members on MadcowModels, these will now appear in your "Tagged Photos" gallery.

To view this gallery, there is a link at the top of your profile.

Have you done a shoot with a member, and they've not tagged you in the photos? Contact us and we can tag you in them.

If photos appear in your gallery that aren't of you, or if there is any other problem with the tagged photos, please contact us.

Regards,

James

MadcowModels Manager


New About Us page
Posted on Tuesday 12th of April 2011
A new "About us" page has been written and published on the footer of the website, detailing some information about us, our aims, the features of the site, and providing some contact links.

Interested? check it out here: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/about

...


New articles section and updated header footer
Posted on Monday 11th of April 2011

Articles


The new articles section is now live!

www.madcowmodels.co.uk/articles

All of our articles are user submitted, you do not have to be a professional journalist, nor have had any form of journalistic training to have your article featured, we simply ask that your article be well written and relevant to our audience.

Want more information on submitting your own article? View this page: www.madcowmodels.co.uk/articles/submit-your-own

Header and Footer


The header and footer of the site have both been updated.
The menu on the...


Photo tag alerts
Posted on Sunday 10th of April 2011
Now when a member tags you in a photo, you will be alerted on your Control Panel.

If you think you've been tagged in a photo by mistake, contact us and we can remove the tag....


Advertise your business
Posted on Friday 8th of April 2011
Do you own a business, or have a service to offer?

Now you can advertise it on MadcowModels, and have your advert seen by thousands of potential customers.

We accept 3 different advert sizes, 200x200, 768x90 and 468x60, so where are these displayed?

200x200 Adverts
•Bottom of the Home page
•User Profiles

768x90 Adverts
• Forum home page
• All Thread listing pages
• All Threads
• All model listing pages | Newcomer, Novice, Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional
•...


The updated messaging system
Posted on Tuesday 5th of April 2011 | Posted by James
The messaging system has recently been updated.. so whats new?

Attachments


You can now add attachments to your messages, which the receiver can download to their computer.
All popular file formats are supported, such as .jpg, .doc, .txt and more.

Continuous Messages


Rather than having 3 or 4 "threads" of messages with one user, all messages are now collated on the same thread, making it easier to keep track of your conversation with that member.

As always, we look forward to your feedback, and we'd like to this opportunity to remind members not to give out personal details such as...


New Profiles
Posted on Monday 4th of April 2011 | Posted by James
The new MadcowModels profile has arrived! So whats new?

Tabbed Profiles


The profiles are now spread across several different tabs, with an easy to use navigation bar. These tabs include: My Info, My Photos, Message Me, My Feedback, My Postings and My Forum Activity.

The new profiles, and their layout, gives us flexibility to add more new and exciting features in the future - so keep an eye out for those too!

Shorter URLS



Typing your username after "http://www.madcowmodels.co.uk/" will now take you straight to your profile.

Oh and...


Daily email updates
Posted on Friday 18th of March 2011
Now you can get a daily email which updates you with the latest goings on, on MadcowModels.

The content of the email is optional, you can choose to receive information about the newest members and the latest castings.

Both the Newest Members and Latest Castings sections are broken down into 6 categories, allowing you to make your daily update as relevant and useful as possible.

Daily updates are completely optional, you will not receive them by default, and to opt out of receiving them after setting them up, simply un-tick all of your Daily Updates settings on the options panel.

To set up your daily email updates, log in and go to your control...





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