Sunday, April 27, 2008

So Much to Talk About!

Given the fact that I finished my thru-hike from Key West to Springer Mountain just over a week ago, I've been a busy little bee working on a number updates for Atlas Quest--some minor, some significant (thought not necessarily what I would call "major").

Some of the more notable changes.....

First, you'll notice when you read a message that you can now mark it as interesting, educational, funny, agree, disagree, or hug. 'Tis a little trick I learned from the folks over on the Knitting board of all places, and I was absolutely fascinated and enchanted with the idea. =)

Second, for you LTC'ers out there, you'll find several new attributes to choose from. Update yours if you so choose to. =)

Third, for those of you who want to restrict boxes, you are now permitted to do so for any box except those hosted on LbNA. (Nothing personal against LbNA, but it really makes no sense to restrict a box on AQ when the clue is hosted on LbNA.) Boxes without clues or those hosted on personal sites can now be restricted, however.

Fourth, when you record a find, you'll have a new option to send your comment privately (which has always been the case until now) or have it posted publicly. If you do not want people to be able to post comments about your box publicly, you can choose to opt-out. There's also an option to allow you to moderate any comment before it goes public as well.

Fifth, there's a new user group on AQ called "Pin-ups." You can choose to opt-in to that group. AQ has been and continues to be what I consider a PG-13 website, but some material really is PG-13 and it sometimes comes as a surprise to some folks who assume the site is rated G. Yes, it really is a PG-13 website, and for those folks who are concerned about accidentally offending someone expecting a G-rated site, you can now join the pin-ups group. It will allow you to restrict boxes only to other people who've opted into this group, and it will allow you to see boxes that others have restricted to this group in your searches. But remember, folks, it's still rated PG-13. If you have something even more explicit, it should not be listed on AQ.

Sixth.... yes, there's more. =) For traditional boxes, you now have the option to mark them as bonus boxes or WOM boxes. If you've listed any of these, you might want to edit the boxes to change their subtype to the appropriate value.

Next up, for those of you that do searches for trackers.... The search for "all types" will NOT include trackers anymore. You must explicitly choose trackers to search for them. There's a reason for this, but it won't be readily apparent until my next big update. ;o) In any case, just know that if you use the default box of "all" types, it no longer includes trackers in the search results. Change the search type to tracker to search for trackers.

Hmm...... That's all I can think of off the top of my head. You might find some other changes along the way that I've forgotten to mention, but those are the most notable ones for the time being. =)

Happy trails!

-- Ryan

10 comments:

Beth said...

Very cool updates! Thanks for all your hard work.

Beth
(print and pie)

Anonymous said...

And we thought you were on the trails, just having a good time!
Hmmm liking some of these updates!
Thanks,
oceanwinds

Anonymous said...

off to have fun checking out the new toys. and here i thought it was going to be a post about the hike.........not just brainstorms on the hike that have been made real.

thanks condo

Anonymous said...

Great Ryan! Thanks! *When you get to it... I'd love a couple more attributes on LTCs:

~Adult-only cards

~made by kid cards

~and some thing to note that cards are restricted (but not by finds or whatever the normal restrictions are). Some people have cards that are for military families, pregnant people, veterans, only for gatherings, etc) Obviously, there can't be an icon of every possible way a card could be restricted, but if there was some catch-all way to note that the card isn't widely available, that'd be awesome!

I also have a whole list of things I'd love to see on an LTC tracker if you ever get to THAT update! LOL

Thanks for all your hard work and glad you're back to us safely.

BNL BaliGrl

littlmoon said...

Wow, you have been busy!

Thank you!
I have enjoyed reading about your through-hike adventures and now to get all these treats! Thank you!
~littlmoon

Anonymous said...

To add to BNL BaliGrl's suggestion on LTC's I think the group as a whole could also benefit from attributes of "not for trade" or "earned card" and not necessary but maybe helpful for us "part of Ring" or "Individual trades", but that could already be in the works with working on the trackers to include LTC's better. The rest are great, and I know you don't like a whole lot of attributes but these are things we always have to add in the text.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great new features, Ryan.

sula

dbltall said...

Ryan - you always bring us back the neatest presents from your trips!

I will be contrary, and say that we do not need a "carved by kids" or "Carved by adults" attribute. That information belongs in the clue IMHO.

And the "earned" or must qualify for type already has a marker - SHH thought up marking them with an asterisk, and I think that conveys the information quite well. An LTC with an asterisk after its name has some sort of special requirement. (see my "Remembrance*" for an example).

In fact, you could actually eliminate the Hand Carved attribute - that goes with saying for LTCs. If it's not a hand-carved stamp, it's not an LTC, it's an ATC, and you can go trade it at nervousmail.
(which doesn't have any attributes at all!)

Mariette

Anonymous said...

Where is that gorgeous photo taken of waterfall onto the beach? Oregon? CA?

Anonymous said...

I don't agree with Mariette that only handcarved stamps count. We are new to this gig and having a great dea lof fun, but are nto yet experienced stamp-carvers. Three of four of our plants (a series)were commercial stamps, but we took great care in decorating the boxes artistically, planning good places, witty & challenging clues, special treats for first finders, etc. Isn't this just the sort of exclusivity/snobbery we want to avoid?
Suzi of SuziLivvi