ArtSpots

ArtSpots (previously JaxPad) was a non-adult anthropomorphic art gallery that showcased artwork from anthro artists and had a Web 2.0-inspired interface. It had a focus on artistic improvement, helping potential applicants get up to skill for reviews.

History

 * October 2006 - Initially a codebase built from scratch for viewing art by a team of individuals of furry inclination, a post on Yerf's LiveJournal offered to transform this fledgling project into a combined all-access and quality controlled PG art site for ex-Yerf artists who were leaving the site during its second major crash on the Autumn of 2006.
 * October 2006 - After taking input and suggestions from people on the journal, the first functional beta version of JaxPad was announced.
 * 2007 - Shortly thereafter, ArtSpots was created to be a "second-tier," skill-reviewed gallery site. Artists wishing to have their work displayed on ArtSpots were required to submit a five-piece portfolio demonstrating their understanding of anatomy, perspective, lighting and composition.
 * June 2007 - The sites were tied together with a common database and user accounts. The combined sites totalled over 7,000 pieces and 399 artists as of 23 June 2007, 129 of whom were artists on ArtSpots.
 * June 27, 2008 - The sites were merged, with ArtSpots displaying art from all artists. Artists previously featured on ArtSpots were given the title compagnon (journeyman). At the time of the merge, over 19,000 pieces had been uploaded by close to 900 artists.
 * Prior to the merge, the ArtSpots acceptance rate was 38.6%. A significant factor in the merge was the delay in reviews, with 44 applications in the queue, the oldest one being 299 days old.
 * August 2010 - Various changes to ArtSpots were made with some users liking the changes and other users being displeased.
 * December 2010 - ArtSpots' rules were revised for clarity.
 * October 2011 - In response to feedback on the site's functionality and features, ArtSpots was to be redesigned once more.
 * 2 January 2012 - ArtSpots was closed because "given ArtSpots original goals and its history, it would be impossible to move forward with these new ideas"; the Yerf Historical Archive was passed to GreenReaper.

Private messaging
A private messaging system was added on 3 September 2008 with an interface resembling that of Gmail. It handled messages between users, received comment, watch and favorite notifications. Private messages resembled postcards, in accordance with the site theme.

Prints
ArtSpots offered a Giclée prints service from March 2007, which was enthusiastically received by artists. However, the service became unreliable in 2009, with some waiting months for their prints, or for refunds. The prints option was removed and recent purchasers were refunded in August 2009.

Art policy
ArtSpots' ratings were set roughly between G and PG-13. The criteria for higher levels of membership were skill-based, with reviews of anatomy, perspective, lighting and compositon.

Some key rules were:
 * 3D works of art are allowed.
 * The art uploaded must be created by the artist.
 * Sketches are welcome.
 * Newer works are encouraged. ArtSpots is gallery site more than an archive.
 * Respect copyright.
 * Be excellent to each other.

Hardware
ArtSpots used to run on a 2 GHz Opteron with 2GB of RAM. It upgraded to a 3 GHz E8400 Core 2 Duo with 8GB of RAM at the end of August 2009.

Trademark
ArtSpots was a registered trademark until June 2009, albeit for the purpose of animation, special effects and audio production.