Mermaid Tail "Library"

[Yulia]

So I've had this idea on my mind for a few days that I'd like you tips and opinions on...

I want to make a sort-of library/collection of "all" the mermaid tails there is.. A place where you can look through pictures of tails from different makers (pro and "homemade"), materials and colors.
I love looking at different tails, and having pictures of them in one place would make it easier to find for example, all the blue tails out there,
tails with the Mahina monofin, or just tails that have dorsals!

I'm imagining it in some kind of folder system, so if a tail has more than one picture of it it would be in it's own "folder".
Different materials would have their own folders, (fabric, neoprene, latex, silicone, and so on)

For the questions... Where should this be held? Are there a website you guys can think of that would be appropriate for this?
It would probably take a lot of time, but I really want to see this in reality.

[Mermaid Wesley]

Hmmm I'm not on very many sites but the tumblr tagging system might be worth a shot. You can tag tails by material color maker monofin etc and then have a link to all the tails tagged 'merbella studios' or 'blue' or 'fabric'


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[Odette]

I have no idea where to start, but that's going to be a lot of tails. I bet over a thousand.
Could be a website on it's own.

[AniaR]

there sort of already is an index at www.mermaidtails.net

[Mermaid Wesley]

That lists all the tail makers but I think yulia wants to make an index of every mermaid tail and make them searchable (if I'm right)


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[Yulia]

That lists all the tail makers but I think yulia wants to make an index of every mermaid tail and make them searchable (if I'm right)


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Excactly.

I'm not used to the tumblrsystem, but that might be something to look into.
An own website would be really cool, but I can't program... Could maybe get help and make it.

[empressmone]

This sound like such a great idea. It would be nice to just search a color or fluke type and find it. :)

[SINicallyTwisted]

Wowsers. That's a pretty cool idea but it also sounds like it would take an awful lot of work trying to track down every tail that's been created. :O_o:

[Ayla of Duluth]

I love this idea, I'm imagining that flash art you see in tattoo shops, just every mermaid tail ever! I'd be willing to help out wherever needed, I've been thinking that this needs to be a thing for a while now. :)

[Mermaid Tula]

I think its a great idea, a challenge yes, but a great idea. Tumblr would be a good place, or maybe something like a webpage with an alphabetical listing.

[Theta]

The problem that I think would happen with Tumblr though is that posts are rebloggable, and the people would add their own tags, which would muddle any kind of archive you're trying to do.

How about a facebook page? You can sort albums by color, maker, material, etc. and it would be very easily to handle/look through.

[Yulia]

The thing is, that if I do it on facebook pictures won't be sorted in different albums automatically. Also, I'd have to save and upload all pictures there, and that might be a bit controversial since it's other persons photos.
I have no idea how tumblr works, if someone wants to explain a bit more, I'd listen! (:

[Yulia]

I might have found the solution!
I'm working on it right now, and when there's something to show, I'll do!

[Mermaid Wesley]

Well when people add tags to your pictures it doesn't affect your tags on your page. Think of it like Facebook, people can share and add comments but it doesn't change what you originally posted.


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[Yulia]

I tried tumblr, but when I clicked on a tag on my picture, I could see pictures all over tumblr with that tag, and that's not really what I was looking for.

I have made a wordpress, and it works in the way I want. It need some polishing still, then I'll let you see how it looks. :)

[AniaR]

mermaids 101 and mermaids and anchors on tumblr pretty much post every mermaid out there. so that would be a great place to start to find tails.

[Yulia]

mermaids 101 and mermaids and anchors on tumblr pretty much post every mermaid out there. so that would be a great place to start to find tails.
Thanks, those are great links!
I'm going to start with Finfolk, Merbella and Mertailors pages on facebook since those are the most popular pro makers.

[AniaR]

just be sure you check with people about their photos though. some people aren't comfortable

[Yulia]

just be sure you check with people about their photos though. some people aren't comfortable
Yup, but it'll be a while till I get to the point when it's time to post peoples homemade tails. I can only assume that the ones who have Facebook fanpages want to be seen.
It's possible to crop out the person in the tail too, but leave some kind of credit/link.

By the way, does anyone know if the old styles of the Finfolk flukes have any names?

[Seatan]

Yup, but it'll be a while till I get to the point when it's time to post peoples homemade tails. I can only assume that the ones who have Facebook fanpages want to be seen.
It's possible to crop out the person in the tail too, but leave some kind of credit/link.

Please don't assume that. I am a teacher and I do not want my students to see me as a mermaid; however, I have a Facebook fanpage for Seavanna--I just only share it with mermaiding friends and family. To find it my students would have to know what to look for on Facebook (just like they can't find my personal Facebook because I use a fake last name). It would be very unlikely for my students to run across my Facebook page. Tumblr, however, is an instant reblogging system. With one click of a button that picture can be all over the internet, and the poster can change the tag from, say, "Seavanna" to "mermaid" on their repost, then anyone looking up the "mermaid" tag could see that photo of me! When it comes to posting pictures of other people, it is only fair that you contact that person. A photograph is copyrighted to the person who took it, so technically you would be violating my copyright to repost without permission.

I do think what you're going for is a fantastic idea; however, please remember that many of us on here are adults who love mermaiding but, for personal reasons, do not want it spread everywhere. I basically lost my job because I posted mermaiding stuff where my students could find it, and I never want that to happen again. I had to take down my unboxing video, close my "The Fairy Mermaid" website and etsy store, and shut down my "The Fairy Mermaid" facebook. I kept the Mermaid Seavanna facebook, however, because it was the mermaid identity that I didn't let slip. I just don't want to lose it, too.

[Yulia]

Please don't assume that. I am a teacher and I do not want my students to see me as a mermaid; however, I have a Facebook fanpage for Seavanna--I just only share it with mermaiding friends and family. To find it my students would have to know what to look for on Facebook (just like they can't find my personal Facebook because I use a fake last name). It would be very unlikely for my students to run across my Facebook page. Tumblr, however, is an instant reblogging system. With one click of a button that picture can be all over the internet, and the poster can change the tag from, say, "Seavanna" to "mermaid" on their repost, then anyone looking up the "mermaid" tag could see that photo of me! When it comes to posting pictures of other people, it is only fair that you contact that person. A photograph is copyrighted to the person who took it, so technically you would be violating my copyright to repost without permission.

I do think what you're going for is a fantastic idea; however, please remember that many of us on here are adults who love mermaiding but, for personal reasons, do not want it spread everywhere. I basically lost my job because I posted mermaiding stuff where my students could find it, and I never want that to happen again. I had to take down my unboxing video, close my "The Fairy Mermaid" website and etsy store, and shut down my "The Fairy Mermaid" facebook. I kept the Mermaid Seavanna facebook, however, because it was the mermaid identity that I didn't let slip. I just don't want to lose it, too.

I'm not doing it on tumblr, so people won't be able to repost.
The pictures are linked from their "source" and I'm mainly taking pictures where only the tail shows.
I'm not going to publish pictures of say, mermaids here on the forum without their consent. When I said " I can only assume that the ones who have Facebook fanpages want to be seen."
I was thinking of mers in tails on for example Mertailors page, or on very "public" pages like Mermaid Melissas, och Mermaid Lindens.
My intention is not to exploit, and I ABSOLUTELY not want this to be negative for any mer.

[AniaR]

yeah it's best not to assume in any case. I have to get permission from some of my photographers in regards to where I post my photos. And people in the community do get really upset when people repost their images. It's always best to link the exact credit, not just the source link but the actual website link (so FB link, not source code link) so people can click and visit the page. I'd advise against cropping photos so it's only a tail. Iona wrote what I feel is an epic rant about how often people do that to her and why she finds it rude ;) You're taking on a big thing but I still do feel it's a bit redundant. I think the mermaid tumblrs pretty much cover it all. but have fun anyway

[NerineArcticMermaid]

Cropping bad!

[Yulia]

Just to make it clear, it's not supposed to be every picture of every tail, just one picture of each tail. I'm not going to spam the whole thing with 20 pictures of a mermaid in her tail.

" It's always best to link the exact credit, not just the source link but the actual website link (so FB link, not source code link) so people can click and visit the page."

yup, I'm doing that! ;)

The thing with the tumblrs is that there are so many photos on them that aren't really pictures of the tails, for me, it's just a mess. (I like sorting :$)

[Mermaid Isabel]

this is a wonderful idea can't wait to see how this works out!

[Yulia]

Okay, here's a preview:

http://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/

It's still a work in progress, so take that in mind.
If you have any suggestions about for example a category you think should be added or anything else, please tell!

[Nereid's Looking Glass]

Super great awesome brilliant fabulous idea!
This would be super great for the people who don't have artistic abilities ***cough cough ME cough cough*** or who want to have a little inspiration to get started. I can't wait and fully support this!
Think about it: with a little bit of searching or even a different website that would allow you to do this, you could search by main color, accent color, caudal/dorsal/accessory fin types, silhouette, tail shape, etc.! And linking to the original creator would make it super easy to contact them with any requests--if they are a tail-maker--or any kind of permission-getting. Also, if they have a patreon page or another place to donate, you can link to that--especially if they're getting started with their own business.
LOVE THIS! (Can you tell?) ;)

Nicole

[Mermaid Galene]

I think this is a really helpful site, Yulia. I like the way you've organized it by maker and by color, etc. It makes it easy to get tail ideas at a glance.

It will be challenging to credit each photo the way the photo owner will want it credited, and to be sure the owner is okay with having it posted at all. But if you can work that out, I think the site will be an asset to the community.

Great start!

[Seatan]

Looking good! You may want to change "realistic" to "realistic fluke" in FinFolk since they now have a realistic scale upgrade as well.

[Yulia]

I think this is a really helpful site, Yulia. I like the way you've organized it by maker and by color, etc. It makes it easy to get tail ideas at a glance.

It will be challenging to credit each photo the way the photo owner will want it credited, and to be sure the owner is okay with having it posted at all. But if you can work that out, I think the site will be an asset to the community.

Great start!

Yes, that is the biggest problem as I see it too. I will try to credit best I can, and ask for permission if it's a more private photo. It's easy too edit or remove a photo if that's needed too. Don't want to trample on any toes here!




Looking good! You may want to change "realistic" to "realistic fluke" in FinFolk since they now have a realistic scale upgrade as well.

I named it after this:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1545091_260934460737166_988961931_n.jpg?oh=66a1e21 ca5480472b891fe8db0ca9a60&oe=544F565F&__gda__=1414974764_d65ff6228e7235415eb3b260dc24361 2

And it's listed as "The realistic", to keep it from cluttering I'm not naming the different fluketypes with the "-fluke" after it.
It only looks weird when you see the categories on top of the pictures, because you see the names out of context.
In the category list it looks like this:
http://puu.sh/anNAb/17314f2906.png

So I don't think it will be mixed up with the scales.


I'm still looking for names for the older flukes Finfolk had in the beginning, do you think I should give them some in the meantime?


edit: Thanks for the great feedback!!

edit2: I'm trying to keep it simple, but I'm wondering about the colors, should there be more? If so, which should be added?

[Ayla of Duluth]

wasn't their first one the leafy type fluke? it's probably something related to that. Anyways, I love this site! I had a merbellas tail so I'll pm you the best pic I have of it (since I didn't see Raven do a full preview on her site) so you can post it. :)

[PearlieMae]

Pinterest could be an option as well. Maybe.

[Yulia]

Thank you Ayla!!


Pinterest could be an option as well. Maybe.

I looked into pinterest too, but you can't make folders inside folders, so it didn't quite work the way wanted.

[empressmone]

will fabric tails be included as well ???

[SeaNymph]

Hm, I would ask the mers if they are okay with their tails being listed in that kind of "catalog". I can imagine that some people, especially when they have put great effort in the design of the tail, are not comfortable with that. Personally I would not want my tail to be listed in this way because I see my tail as body part and want to keep it mysterious to people instead of revealing it's tailmaker, material, category, flukestyle etc.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I'm ok with it :) I made all my fabric tails ;)

[Mermaid Wesley]

Yep mine can be listed too


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[*Celine*]

This is a great idea!!! Why did no one else ever came up with that :-p!!! I would be honored to have my tail on that site so feel free to use my pictures. :-)

[Yulia]

@Seanymph, ofcourse if someone doesn't want their tail there, it won't. Though it might be kinda hard to find out who owns every tail that for example gets posted on Facebook. If a tail already is on Facebook "everybody" can see it. With that said, I absolutely will not grab personal pictures with a mer in them without consent.


Yes, there will be fabric tails aswell!
As many types as possible will be represented on there.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

Would you be able to link the tail owners in with the image. I would love to be associated with my finfolk tail because I had a hand in designing it.

[empressmone]

You can put my tail and the one i am making now if you like :)

[Yulia]

Would you be able to link the tail owners in with the image. I would love to be associated with my finfolk tail because I had a hand in designing it.
Yes, that is something I've thought of too, I'll just link to the owners facebook page, or other link. :)

[AniaR]

wouldnt linking be credit? thats what I would expect with credit. not just their name but the link to wherever you got the image from.

[Yulia]

wouldnt linking be credit? thats what I would expect with credit. not just their name but the link to wherever you got the image from.
I have linked to the respective facebook page I've gotten the pictures, right now it's only the Finfolk page because I started out with their tails to try out the concept.
Since I'm (mainly) not taking pictures from the mer who owns the tail facebook page, I can link to their page also, and not only where I got the picture.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

How bout some kind of online database like Google?

[Yulia]

How bout some kind of online database like Google?
How do you mean?

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Hm... You ever go to the library and then they have the computers where you can search for a book using certain keywords. And the result you would then see that have those keywords like you type "weaving" and you get everything associated with weaving. But instead of weaving, one can search for specific tails using words like "fluke", "Fringed fluke", "no monofin tail" etc. Or search by colors, tailmaker, tail types, cost etc.

And the results that the database would show are all the tailmakers(pro and homemade), that have those keywords as part of their description.

[Yulia]

Hm... You ever go to the library and then they have the computers where you can search for a book using certain keywords. And the result you would then see that have those keywords like you type "weaving" and you get everything associated with weaving. But instead of weaving, one can search for specific tails using words like "fluke", "Fringed fluke", "no monofin tail" etc. Or search by colors, tailmaker, tail types, cost etc.

And the results that the database would show are all the tailmakers(pro and homemade), that have those keywords as part of their description.
That is exactly what I am doing ;)
You can check it out here:
http://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/

(With summer and all progress is slow, but I haven't forgot about it!)

[Yulia]

Mermaidtailcollection celebrates one year apparently! :D

So here's some fun statistics over the tails there:

Top ten countries:
29883


Five most clicked tails:

https://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/785/

https://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/923/

https://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/907/

https://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/901/

https://mermaidtailcollection.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/818/

Most used colors:

1. Blue
2. Black
3. Yellow
4. Turquoise
5. White
6. Orange
7. Purple
8. Green
9. Nude (skincolor, blended waists)
10. Gold
11. Red
12. Pink

Least used colors:

1. Grey
2. Copper
3. Dark Green

Most popular fins:
1. Dorsal
2. Pectoral
3. Ankle

Finfolks most used flukes:

1. The Realistic
2. The Loreena
3. Betta/Calypso

Merbellas most used flukes:

1. Merbella
2. Angler
3. Butterfly koi/Merfin

Mertailors most used flukes:

1. Pirate's
2. Splash
3. Leaf

[MerEmma]

How is yellow above turquoise? Huh. I feel like I don't see many yellow tails. Neat list though!

[Yulia]

How is yellow above turquoise? Huh. I feel like I don't see many yellow tails. Neat list though!
I guess many tails have a detail of yellow, and probably some of what people would call turqouise I have put in lightblue.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Looking good! I have bookmarked it as Yulia's Tail Library. So that if I forget why its there, I know someone on mernetwork did it.

[Mermaid Alea]

Happy 1 year! :clap:

[lynsea]

Whatever you decide to do, I've been collecting images for years and have over 1000 now if you'd like me to contribute them!

[MermaidBrandie]

I think this is a lovely idea! I could help design it but i can't code either. I think tumblr would be a really good option. :)

[Yulia]

I think this is a lovely idea! I could help design it but i can't code either. I think tumblr would be a really good option. :)

Tumblr didn't really do what I wanted to do, but if you visit Mermaidtailcollection.WordPress.com you can see what I've done so far!