Welcome to the Commons!
The Center is the place where you can see what is new at TMP, discuss any aspect of photography, access courses and workshops, or leave comments on what you would like to see in future updates.
The Commons is built on a new software platform. I only became live in June 2025. There will be improvements and new functions as the platform matures. I will change this page and add it to the Announcements when something cool is added!
A Brief Description on What Each Feed is All About
Latest Posts
The Latest Posts is a toggle link that will bring up a page that shows a list of the latest additions to the Commons in chronological with the latest listed at the top. It’s a good way to see what is new in the Commons.
Announcements
The Announcement Section currently contains the What’s New and the How to Use the Commons feeds are located. You are in the How to Use the Commons now so you know what that is all about. The What’s New is a feed that I use to announce new major developments on this website. It might be redundant as the posts are also linked in the Latest Posts section.
Open Discussions
The Open Discussions section is where we as a group of photographers can post and discuss whatever we want as long as it is about photography. I have added three feeds to get it all going.
I implore you to add to these feeds so we can know more about you! The first is called Welcome Please Tell Us More About You. Please introduce yourself in this feed when you feel comfortable and when other people join please make them feel welcome and say hello to them.
The second is What’s On Your Mind, the third is What Camera Gear Do You Use, and the fourth is What Editing Software Do You Use.
Please post and comment to these and and add your own questions (Feeds) by typing in the green box by your image (oh, I haven’t talked about that yet – more on that below.) You can post your images too! But please don’t make the images too large.
It’s just like FaceBook except no one is tracking you and there are no ads or annoying group suggestions that you have no interest in looking at. As you can tell I dis-like FB…
More on how to use the discussions at the bottom of this thread.
Photographic Courses
The Photographic Courses is a section where I upload videos discussing a camera related topic. Right now I’m posting videos on how I use Lightroom Classic. But I will be adding many more on subjects like Photoshop, DxO products, Focus Stacking Software, etc.
Full Image Edits
In this section I will be adding videos of how I edit photographs. Some edits will be one off videos, others may be placed into a course-like format. I’m not sure yet. We will both know when I get too it.
As a side note, I’m not saying I’m the best editor in the world, all I’m doing is showing you how I do my edits.
Useful Links
In this section I will place links to websites, documents, etc, that I think might be useful to you. Each listing is a link that when clicked will take you to the described website that will open in a new window.
Buy Me a Coffee
If you liked the content or how I put the Commons together and maybe learned a thing or two it would be appreciated if you could Buy Me A Coffee. I can sure use the money for the website and if you read what equipment I use then you know I need an upgrade. The page is self-explanatory. Anything you can spare is appreciated.
The Bottom of the Page with Your Name
The bottom section is where you can view and edit your profile, find your bookmarks (more below), logout of the Commons.
Click the vertical ellipsis (the vertical 3-dots) and a menu will pop-up that lists Profile, Bookmarks, and Logout.
Logout is self-explanatory so we will get that one out of the way.
Profile
If you like the Profile link you will be taken to a Profile Information page where you can upload a photo of yourself if there isn’t already one there from Gravatar. You can also add a cover image that will be on your profile page.
Please fill out your first and last name and what name you want to be recognized with in the Commons. You can add a short Bio if you want so people can get to know you better and maybe post where you live in a general area – even a state or international city or country would be appreciated.
There is also a tab where you can change your password.
You can change any of this at anytime.
Bookmarks
Bookmarks are internal links that you create when you find a post, lesson, video, or feed that you want to come back to at some point either to finish, re-edit, or find again. In the feeds, you will see a little ribbon on the top right of any post or video that can be bookmarked. Click that and it will turn black and a little note will come out of the righthand side saying you created a bookmark.
When you want to find that post again, visit bookmarks in your profile section and it will be shown. Click the button at the bottom to view the post. When you no longer want the bookmark, visit the post or lesson and click the black bookmark and it will remove it from your bookmark page.
This will come in handy when you want to find something again!
Bell Notification
At the top right of the Commons header you will see a Bell. If you click that you can see any notifications that you might have where someone mentioned you or if a new post you are following has been updated. You can see all of your notifications or those that are unread. You can also make them all read by clicking the Mark All as Read text at the top once you have opened the notification window.
Using Discussions
Most of this should be familiar, but if not I’ll go through the highlights.
Discussions work much like other social feeds.
Liking & Sharing
You can like someone’s post by clicking the heart on the bottom left of the post. If you click the Return Arrow you can share that post on FaceBook, X, LinkedIn, or copy it to your clipboard.
Please think before you comment or share. I can see some misuse here so I may disable this function at anytime. Also be aware that if you do share a comment the viewer will have to be registered to the Commons to see it.
Commenting
To comment on a post, click the speak bubble and type your comment into the box. If you want to mention someone, type the @ sign and start typing the persons name without a space and names of members will start showing up. Click the name of the person you want to mention and they will be entered into the comment and notified that they have been mentioned.
If there is no speak bubble, then comments are not allowed on that post.
Please use your best discretion when posting and commenting. I don’t want to post Rules to follow, by now everyone should know what is offensive and always be kind.
I have no qualms about blocking people. I don’t expect that I will have too.
If you have a problem or complaint email me directly at to**@*******sh.com and we will discuss the issue.
