I just went thru 8 pages of new uploaded pictures and over half of them had no descriptions...i left messages with each of them...i click on them for a reason....something in that cake caught my eye...so why wouldnt people leave some kind of "story" as to how they came about that design and how did they accomplish it....i was wondering---to the powers that be-----if there could be a prompt at the initial downloading of the picture that would not let it be downloaded until something is entered in the box....i know i could pm the decorator but if i want to save it to my favorites i would like the description to be there with it for future reference.....

The problem with a forced description is that it just means you have to put "something" in there. I always put a story about my cakes, but if I were to choose not to, yet couldn't exit the screen unless I put "something", I'd entered things like "cake" or just a dot.

There's an old saying in the management world: "Be careful what you measure 'coz that's what you're gonna get."

If you want "something" entered in the field, then "something" is what you'll get. How informative or interesting the info may be is a whole different story.

I can usually look at a picture and figure out how to do it. On the ones I can't figure out, I'll PM the person at the time I make the cake, if I make the cake, when I choose to make the cake.

Another thought to forced descriptions is that if people don't just enter 'something' as Debi said, they may decide that posting the pictures just isn't worth it any more. Especially if they are short on time and don't have time to give a paragraph about how they did the cake. So by forcing a description could cause less posting too.

There are cake designs that have been done a million times, so after a while do we really need a description to all of them? Some cakes are easy to figure out. When a cake isn't then you can always PM that person or start a thread on the board to ask if anyone has any ideas on how to do it. After seeing a hundred of bow cakes with dots on them we do really have to see that in the description every time??

I can understand wanting to know what type of icing someone used. But if I am going to use an idea and they used SMBC then it isn't gonna matter too much cause I'm still gonna do it in my buttercream.

I never got the flavor thing. If you are looking for flavor combinations there are tons of threads about it on the board.

We will never please everyone with the descriptions especially if some want the whole history of the cake and others just want basics. I'd hate to see the list of questions everyone would want answered just so I could post a picture on here.

My favorite story on "careful what you measure...." was when my sister worked in a wire factory. The machine operator showed the supv that the outer jacket was blowing, meaning there were holes in the black jacket and the copper wires were exposed. The supv, who was measured on how many feet of wire he shipped out each month, told the operator, "Ship it and let customer service handled it as a return on the back end. We're running short on our shipments this month and I have to get something out the door."

He was measured on feet of wire shipped, not on QUALITY of wire shipped. He was perfectly willing to send defective wire to a customer so his numbers that he was measured by looked good.

I always just prayed that wire was not destined for an operating room where a spark from exposed wire, in a room full of pure oxygen, could be a really bad thing!

As someone who is new to decorating, I do find the descriptions very helpful, but I also agree that forcing people to write something with each photo is probably not the way to go. I don't think there's an easy solution to this!

Sure there's an easy solution - ask someone for more info. If it's important to the querent, they can take a moment to pm the pic poster.

Ok, let me start by saying I am in a mood today so sorry if I ruffle feathers , I have been noticing lately a feeling of entitlement here and it is really annoying. Just because someone posts a pic of a cake does not mean that they HAVE to give step by step detailed instructions on how to do it. To the op, your own picture, while very adorable, animal themed cake has a description of "Morgan wants a monkey too" that to me is not a description and is exactly what you are frustrated with people not doing........

I am guilty of not posting a description at times. For some of my cakes there is nothing to say except what flavor the cake or icing is. I don't know about anyone else but if that's all I have to say it feels kinda lame. I feel like it would be me just talking to hear myself talk, you know?

IMO, this is an amateur cake site, where people help each other out on, well, cake stuff. so, when i leave a description, i say if it is carved, what kind of cake, icing etc, just to help someone out who may want to do it later. using a flaky cake on something that is carved doesnt work so having a reference to what kind of cake the poster used is a great thing. but some people don't want someone using their ideas to begin with, so i guess they wouldn't want to say how they did it. its a cruel cruel world we live in, but thats just how it goes. and if you want to know more about a cake, just PM the poster, as someone has already said. they (hopefully) will tell you what you need to know.

I think we need to remember that this site has members from all over the world............a lot of members do not speak or write English.

This again???? Seriously? This is enough to make me want to DELETE every picture I've ever uploaded. Geez. It's called a PM. Use it.

How's that for a mood?

I tend to give a brief description with my pics and also like reading the descriptions of others, but come on. Why is this such a big deal? If someone doesn't post a description .... so what??

I look at the artestry of others as a springboard for IDEAS for what I could do, not to copy it exactly. I tend to take elements from several cakes and put them together and morph them in a way that works for me. If I have a question, I ask.

Basically, my feeling is who cares. People, not only on this site but in general, need to worry about themselves and stop worrying on what everyone else is doing.

Count me in with Jamie and Starbucks Addict and the rest!! Geez.... why don't we just delete and then ban all members who don't leave a detailed tutorial with pics illustrating every step of every cake they've ever posted? Where in the world does this sense of entitlement come from?

Lighten up folks.... its just cake.

Let me start off by saying that I also enjoy reading the descriptions. I find it so much easier to have my questions answered in the description rather than PMing somebody. But I also don't mind having to PM when there is no description (it doesn't bother me either way). Now that I've expressed my opinion on the subject.....Why do ya'll have to be so mean about it? She does have the right to post her opinion the same way ya'll aren't holding back on yours. I mean really, if a thread like this bothers you so much than why do you click on it? Skip to the next one. And allow those who don't have a problem with this thread post their replies. It's that simple.
I am so sorry grandmaruth for the harshness expressed, but know that not all of us feel the same way, and I hope that this doesn't discourged you from posting in the future.

Let me just say, I am not sure if this happened to anyone else and this was a while back, but if you look on my pics and there is no description on it, it is probably because I tried to upload countless times after typing a description and it wouldn't upload, so I tried it without the description and it worked. I figured after that fiasco that if someone had a question they would PM, I like being able to answer and ask specific questions. Hope that I could show another side of it. Sorry if that steps on anyones toes.

Thanks,

Sarah

I agree with champagneibo.. after trying to enter pics and having it not work and after writing a detailed description each time... I gave up.When you have a little one(or little ones) at home its hard to get "simple" little things done.. and this is one of them.
Jodi

I think it is courteous to viewers for you to leave a description of your cake. After all, if they are viewing it, they may be admiring it and thinking nicely of your work and may enjoy hearing what kind of cake it was, who it was for, whether you pulled your hair out making it etc.

My cakes are an expression of me, and I don't mind sharing my humble experience with that cake. I'm no professional, so when I see a cake described well by someone who I consider professional or talented, I think very positively of them. Same as when that person continues to give their experience so freely on the forums, I consider them gracious and generous, a trait to be admired these days. You know who you are.

I've noticed people go so far as to leave a response to questions made on their photo in the comments. I think it's so nice when people choose to do that.

I think it would be much simpler to describe the cake as well as you can, instead of answering many PM's years to come about the same cake.

Do I think it should be mandatory? No, I just think it's nice if you choose to do so. Freedom of choice is such an awesome thing isn't it?

I have come to the point that if someone cares so little as to tell us a little something about the picture, then I just don't comment on it.....

And this is exactly why I stopped uploading pics a long time ago....I hate the attitudes that people get about not leaving comments/vs leaving comments, I didn't get 100 comments about my cake, the comments were only 2 words long, etc.

Geez and all I had to do was be a lazy butt and
never upload one picture and I avoid this whole fray.



Carry on, kids....