After 6+ months of work I’m excited to announce the new Moped Army photo gallery! When I launched the new website two years ago the gallery was reformatted for mobile, but otherwise largely untouched. I focused that build on the forum, wiki, and rider profiles and left the gallery for another day. Well, it’s finally that day.
This is a major overhaul. All of the images from before are still there, but reformatted for easier browsing as well as new ways of searching. Uploads are back, as well as a new way to add photos that have already been uploaded to the forum. That means there are decades of photos already on this server ready for anyone to properly add and categorize. We now have the tools to build the largest and best database of moped photos. Instagram is great for a stream of recent pics, but this is an enduring reference library of mopeds.
There’s a lot of little details I want to highlight, so here’s a feature breakdown:
All brands: This page lists all the moped brands represented in the gallery. Each brand’s most popular image is shown, along with the total number of photos. Use the “Instant Brand Filter” to tame this long list — it instantly filters with every key press. Looking for Jawa? Just press “j” and you’re halfway there.
Brand list w/ search: Each brand page is a long scrolling list, paginated with 200 photos at a time. By default these are sorted by “popularity” so the best photos rise to the top. You can also choose to sort by “date added” to see what’s new. Use the search bar to filter this list by keywords in the title. Let’s say you’re on the Puch page: type a model (maxi), or a year (1974), or color (yellow). Or maybe combine them all (1974 Maxi Yellow). The search happens instantly and includes all the photos from that brand (not just those on the current page). Images are “lazy loaded” as you scroll to keep things zippy.
Likes: Every photo has a little heart icon next to it. Clicking the heart will add that photo to your “liked list”, which is shown on your profile. Since these likes also drive the “popularity” count of the gallery don’t be shy when you see a good photo — it’s your likes that help the best photos bubble to the top.
Photo upload: The upload form is how you add photos of your moped to the gallery. Choose a brand and add as much info as you can, including year and model. There are two really cool things about this form: (1) it uploads your photos before you submit, giving you a visual confirmation that it went okay, and (2) you can add up to 5 different photos of the same moped. Not every submission will need five different viewing angles, but now you have the option to capture all sides of your moped and include them in a single gallery page.
Individual photo page: The final destination and the largest view of your photo(s). If you notice these photos looking better than normal (both here and in the brand list) it’s because they’re formatted for high-resolution displays. The photo page also includes links to the full size original(s), information on who submitted it, and a handy “report” link that lets you flag photos as incorrect or inappropriate. Please report when something is in the wrong spot, not a moped, or doesn't belong here. This is a gallery of moped photos and should be focused on documenting the bikes themselves, not random rally pix — Instagram is perfect for that.
Forum integration: The gallery has over 10K images, but there are way more living inside of forum posts from the last two decades — so I integrated the forum and the gallery! Underneath every image in the forum is a “Add to Photo Gallery” link that allows you to “sideload” that photo into the gallery. Once it’s been added, the link in the forum changes to “view” instead of “add” and you can “like” the photo directly from the forum thread.
Anyone can add forum photos, you don’t have to be the original uploader, but please use this feature thoughtfully. Not every image on the forum is a good fit for the gallery; many are not even moped photos. Please add only the good quality moped photos that deserve to be highlighted in the gallery.
Miscellaneous: A few small extras to point out.
- The Latest photo page is a place you’ll want to check regularly to see all the newest additions. This is the default page for the “Photo” navigation link.
- When there are multiple photos in the same upload, that number is in the upper corner on the list pages.
- Gallery URLs are now more readable, including the brand name in the link. Old style URLs will redirect to these new ones.
- Your profile has a link to all the photos you’ve uploaded, either directly or added from your forum uploads. Unfortunately this only includes uploads made after this new photo gallery launched.
- Every screen layout is designed to adapt to your screen size, whether mobile, tablet, or desktop.
- Sharing a photo gallery URL on social media (or iMessage, Slack, etc.) will include a preview of the image.
I’m looking forward to seeing all the great photos you add to the gallery! Together we can create the biggest and best visual library of mopeds!