Well first of all welcome and we hope positive things happen.
I read a couple of pages of this thread (didn’t read it all) and I noticed most comments are forum related. So, as an active photographer let me throw in a couple of comments/suggestions regarding the photo database and photographer tools.
Grid: when you are browsing thru the gallery, you can either select display=detail or display=card but “detail” will always come default. My suggestion is that people can actually select their predefined value.
Thumbnails: photos on a ratio different than 3:2 would look “cropped” on the thumbnail, please help fixing that.
Search: the search engine when viewing photos, sometimes uses more than half the screen showing all the different fields/options for searching. It is actually worst on mobile (iPad), you have to scroll down too much to finally get to the photos. As well as the suggestion I made for the Grid, may I recommend that the user can select its default “Basic” or “Advanced” search engine?
Photos size: when I click on a thumbnail to see an enlarged version of the photo, it always opens up in “medium”. I’m a particular fan of watching photos on the full size option (Large) and not this middle size. On the old site you could always choose “medium” or “large” from the thumbnail and I really miss this option. Maybe adding a user defined option on what size to open images would be a good idea too.
Stats: Please bring back the old “stats” feature for photographers, were you could see (among others) the photos you have uploaded by: year, county, airline, airport, etc. It showed the views and some other cool stuff. If I my suggest something, please look at JP’s (don’t trash me for that) “photographer profile” feature. I think it is way much more developed than the current A.net feature.
Photo Index: Another great one gone from the past version on A.net. please bring it back.
A feature such as planesspotters.net data center/ airlines fleet information would be useful too. Sometimes you take a picture of a plane and all you can see (registration wise) is that 3 letter code on the nose gear and finding what rego that corresponds too is such a pain, with a fleet database that could be fixed in a matter of seconds.
Link to photographer: when you click the name of a photographer, that “profile” section opens up. In my opinion that social profile kind of idea is not the reason you would click the name of a photographer, you click on his name to see the pictures he takes, not a cheap facebook kind of profile. Please help us bring back that feature, now the only way (I have found) to see one single photographers pictures is by doing a “cross search”. Leave the profile page as a secondary option.
Premium: please bring back the option for users that want to pay and not see an ad happy site. I use adblock, but I still hate all that blank space for ads.
Mobile: yes I agree, mobile is where growth is, mobile is the game changer. I think A.net needs to do (or update) a mobile app as one of its main goals. I see social media apps such as Instagram or flicker have lot’s more of “punch” than A.net does nowadays and I think many of the traffic A.net has lost is due to this particular two “new” giants.
Many people are not willing to turn on a computer and sit down to browse a.net when they get home after a long day out, times have changed. People browse everything on mobile now and although the A.net mobile page is way much better than in the past, it is still not 100% cool. I don’t like to see A.net on my phone, it simply doesn’t fit.
Build an app proper to compete with these social platforms, with simplified photo viewing options and a simple search engine (perhaps the usage of hashtags). Add some tools and trick’s for photographers out on the field like spotting guides with maps, METAR’s TAF’s, etc.
Final thoughts: as I stated before I think many photographers and photo enthusiast viewers have abandoned the site in favor of new mobile friendlier platforms. Just read this thread and see how we are all focusing on the forum, few people are talking about the photos that are what made this site great.
I think a.net forum is like no other and it is way ahead #1, but not any more when it comes to photos. Think about this: A photographer is out on the field and he gets a rare “hot” catch, he instantly turns on camera wi-fi and downloads the picture with his phone, one or two quick retouch clicks on the phone, instant add to a social media and the picture has thousands of views before the plane has even reached the gate. On the other hand, you need to come back home, download and edit the picture and wait for 7-10 days to get it on a.net. I know quality and all those things are worth it, but I think you guys have to re-think about how to being the #1 news center of airplane photos, social media has just beat a.net to the punch.
Just my 2 cents.
Juan