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Tutorial videos Rating Algorithm Questions & Answers Contact Us
Introduction to 500px
This is an introduction to 500px. This video will guide you through the whole process and will show you how to login, edit profile, which sections do we have, and how to upload, edit, delete and fave a photo. Currently, this video is in Russian, but expect English version soon too.
New Rating Algorithm for Photos
We have implemented a new algorithm for rating photographs at 500px. The official name is Lower bound of Wilson score confidence interval for a Bernoulli parameter and we discuss the details of the algorithm below.
Why Old Accounts are Inactive?
When we launched a new version of 500px, we have paused old accounts, making them inactive and restricting people onto new 500px. A short video explains what happened and assures that everyone will eventually get access to the new 500px.
More Videos
From time to time we add more videos on how to use our web-site and how to promote your works and integrate 500px to your workflow.
How New Algorithm Works
We have launched a new advanced algorithm for rating photos that will help new fresh photos to get promoted to the top quickly, and old, but popular photographs to slowly lose their ratings as time goes by.
Upon voting on photos, this algorithm allows to give more heavy weighted votes to fresh photos as opposed to the older ones. Thus constantly changing photos on the Popular page. The maximum rating that a photo can achieve is a 100.
To get to the top of the 'Popular' page, a photo might only need 10-15 positive votes. However, the system is 'troll-proof' meaning that a negative vote will slow down the ascent of the photo. We also monitor the negative votes in order to keep out community fair and balanced.
Read more on how formula works a work "How Not To Sort By Average Rating" by Evan Miller.
Questions & Answers
Here a small section that we have put together from questions that we have received so far. Check here if you have any questions (be sure to know a little bit of Russian beforehand), and if the answer is not here, go to Contact Us and ask us.
500px (five hundred pixels) is a popular daily photo-digest, which recently opened to the public. 500px allows photographers to easily create online photo portfolios in seconds. Currently, the registration is done by invitation only, but you can request an invite. If you have a Facebook account you can register without an invite code. The mission of 500px is to unite photographers around the world and to provide the technological means achieve their goals.
Registering with Facebook
If you have a Facebook account, you can register at 500px using Facebook Connect. Once you click on "Login or Register", select "Connect with Facebook", and follow the instructions. You will then have to pick your username and enter a valid email. Next time, simply click on "Connect with Facebook" and you will be logged in automagically.
If you want to change the password, click on 'Settings' and choose "Change password". Selecting a password will allow you to login using either Facebook or a regular login.
What are the limits on upload?
There are no limits on size, dimensions, or number of photographs. However, we do limit to 5 photos per upload.
Can I unsubscribe from email notifications?
Yes, you certainly can. Go to "Activity" in your account, and deselect those notifications you do not wish to receive.
Can I crop the preview thumbnail photo myself?
You are ahead of us! This feature will be available soon.
Can I screen, moderate, and delete unwanted comments?
No, we believe in free expression. However, if you find some comments inappropriate, please send us an email to complaints@500px.com including a Permalink to the comment (it looks like 500px.com/photo/NNNNN#commentNNNNN), and we will take care of that.
What's the difference between "Editors Choice" and "Popular Photos"?
"Editors Choice" is a selection of outstanding photos by our team of editors. The idea is to show photos that will be rarely seen otherwise. Popular Photos is your choice. Users can vote on photos, and the best photos will be promoted to the top.
Who are the Editors?
You can see our current list of editors on Team page; however, the new editors will be involved soon. These editors have worldwide recognition and respect for their accomplishments in a field of photography.
Copyright and Photographers' rights
We respect and honour the copyright laws and comply with Canadian Copyright Law (C-42). We kindly ask you to do the same. We are also planning several advanced copyright protection technologies to help you secure your works. You'll be able to restrict copying of the photo, as well as to apply watermarks on the images, and add your name into the photograph's file (EXIF).
We already help visitors to find your photos by having a meaningful filename. Any saved file will have a name "500px_by_username_xxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg", showing which site it came from and who posted it.
How does Rating works?
We use Lower bound of Wilson score confidence interval for a Bernoulli parameter formula for Ratings. The idea is to allow fresh photos gain votes faster, and decay rating over time, so Popular photos are always rotating every few days. Please see video for more details. Letters "N/A" mean that there have been no votes yet. Be first and vote on that photo!
What are you doing with inappropriate or bad photos?
500px is designed to help create professional portfolios. As such, the focus is on quality photographs. While art comes in many forms, the inappropriate and bad photographs will not be tolerated. We will be introducing a "Report" button in the future and will be taking affirmative action on inappropriate content.
Am I able to see who voted?
No, the voting process is kept private. However, we retain the right to publicize names of those people who abuse the voting system. We would like our community to be kind and respectful.
What is "Fresh"?
"Fresh" is the latest uploaded photos. If you would like to see what others are uploading, vote, and be the first to comment, this section is for you. You can see "Fresh" photos for today, yesterday, rest of the week, or all uploaded photos.
You have a nice set of icons on the web-site!
We use the icons made by an awesome designer Yusuke Kamiyamane (his site — Pinvoke.com). It's one of the most comprehensive icon sets and it's free to use with an active link.
Haven't found an answer you were looking for? Write to us!
Contact Us
As a last resort, you can reach us directly. We like emails and phone calls, but please keep them short and business like.
