Register · Login
About Theme

A Letterboxing Community

Help: Recent Additions & Changes

  1. What should I include in my letterboxing kit?
  2. Indiana State Parks
  3. Is there an Android app for Atlas Quest?
  4. What should I think about before joining an LTC tracker?
  5. What is a Series?
  6. How do you agree to waiver of responsibility?
  7. Missouri State Parks
  8. How do I search by location?
  9. How does the Basic Search work?
  10. What do the attributes on an event stamp represent?
  11. Is there a clue guide available for Cane Creek Park in Waxhaw, NC?
  12. What is a 'watched' letterbox?
  13. What is the quick search box?
  14. How does the segment data work?
  15. How did the '100 Ways for Barbie to Die' series in Illinois come about?
  16. How do I rename tags?
  17. How do I rename a tracker?
  18. How do I make a Virtual?
  19. What do the icons stand for in a traditional letterbox?
  20. What can I use as a trip name?
  21. How can I restrict my trips?
  22. How does the map work?
  23. What are keywords?
  24. How do the origin, destination, and waypoints work?
  25. How do I search for routes through specific locations?
  26. What do the attributes on trips represent?
  27. What carving material is recommended?
  28. What are Treasure Hikers?
  29. Who do I cantact about an inappropriate placing of a box?
  30. What are, and how do you do a postal letterbox?
  31. Are there any general postal guidelines for anyone new to postals?
  32. Is there a Downtown Guide to Peoria, IL?
  33. What is the best way to cut LTC's from a 12x12 sheet of paper?
  34. What is a strikeout?
  35. How do I create an empty blacklist?
  36. What do the directional arrows mean?
  37. What are boxing buddies?
  38. What do the icons next to a member's trailname mean?
  39. Washington State Parks
  40. How do I add finds for unlisted boxes?
  41. How do I change which account I want as my Primary account?
  42. How do I import a box from another site?
  43. What are LTCs?
  44. Is it possible to change the theme displayed on Atlas Quest?
  45. How do I solve a clue that uses a cipher or code?
  46. Is there a Blackberry app for AtlasQuest?
  47. How does a location based search work?
  48. What is a restricted letterbox?
  49. What is a whitelist and blacklist?
  50. How do I report a plant that I have made?

What should I include in my letterboxing kit?

Last Updated: February 2, 2012 08:51:10 AM

The Absolute Minimum


Should Also Have


Nice to Have (but not strictly required)


Looking beyond what you need for letterboxing, it's also important to prepare for where you'll be going. If the letterbox is on a long hike, you'll need water, snacks, mosquito repellant, and everything else you'd normally carry for such a hike.

Help Home > Getting Started

Indiana State Parks

Last Updated: February 1, 2012 01:11:27 PM

Yes, but there is a permit system. Information Bulletin #46 is for caches, but the guidelines for letterboxes are interpreted in the same manner. These rules became effective January 1, 2005. Each state park has an interpreter with discretion in administering the policy. The number of permitted caches and letterboxes is determined by density, and depends upon the available land area within each property. Placing letterboxes in dedicated nature preserves or other ecologically sensitive areas is not permitted.

Brad Bumgardner, park interpreter for Pokagon State Park, contacted speedsquare August 24, 2006 about an un-permitted letterbox located in an acceptable location within the park. Several informative and friendly emails were exchanged. Pokagon permitted a gathering of geocachers. A letterboxing event with letterboxes permitted for a short period of time may be permitted with prior approval.

Help Home > Land Manager Policies > Indiana

Is there an Android app for Atlas Quest?

Last Updated: February 1, 2012 09:39:43 AM

Aiphid has created an Android app that works with Atlas Quest called Box Radar. He's created the Box Radar Group as a place to discuss the app, make suggestions, or ask questions., You can download and install the app from http://www.boxradar.com/. Make sure to read the Box Radar frequently asked questions before using the app.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > PDAs and Cellphones

What should I think about before joining an LTC tracker?

Last Updated: January 26, 2012 07:04:26 AM

Be willing and able to:






Help Home > Trackers > LTC Trackers

What is a Series?

Last Updated: January 16, 2012 01:26:43 AM

A series, as listed on Atlas Quest, is a group of letterboxes that you expect someone to find in a single outing. It is not a group of boxes related only by theme. It is not a list of every stamp within one box. The term is often used in other contexts in discussions on the message boards and can refer to any arbitrary grouping of letterboxes, but when it comes to listing boxes on Atlas Quest, it has a very narrow, precise definition defined as a group of boxes you'd expect someone to get in a specific order in a single outing.

A series takes a finder to one location e.g. the parking area. The series clue is where people walk to from the parking location (or starting point).

If you require someone to actually get back in the car to drive to a different trailhead for the next box in the series, it shouldn't be listed as a series—that would essentially count as two outings and should be listed as such.

If the boxes are in different locations they should be listed separately. You can tie them together by giving them a series title
e.g.
Lighthouses of Maine: Grindle Point
Lighthouses of Maine: Curtis Island
Lighthouses of Maine: Indian Island

Help Home > Glossary Definitions

How do you agree to waiver of responsibility?

Last Updated: January 11, 2012 10:04:28 AM

If you follow clues for any box listed on Atlas Quest, you are implicitly agreeing to the waiver of responsibility. There is no button to click to formally agree to it—let's face it, most people click "Agree" to just about anything without reading it anyhow. We don't want to waste your time like that, but if you do follow any clues to boxes listed on Atlas Quest, you've implicitly agreed to them whether you wanted to or not!

Help Home > Getting Started

Missouri State Parks

Last Updated: January 11, 2012 09:40:52 AM

Missouri State Parks do allow letterboxing as long as you get permission first. An official permit can be found at:
MO State Park Permit Application (PDF file)

Missouri State Parks Website
Missouri State Parks Policy: (PDF file)

Additionally, some city parks in Missouri have began to develop their own policies for placement on park property.
For Jefferson City see: Jefferson City Letterboxing/Geocaching Policy
For Columbia see:
Policy
Permit Application

Missouri Geocachers have compiled a very comprehensive listing of links to parks (local, state, and federal) policies related to placing geocaches/letterboxes.
http://www.mocache.net/Information/default.asp?Zone=DispFile&FID=8

Help Home > Land Manager Policies > Missouri

How do I search by location?

Last Updated: January 8, 2012 12:08:52 PM

The location-based search can take various forms:


Just for completeness, those last two options are allowed to be missing the keyword at the beginning of the string, and the keywords can be used in any order. For example, each of the search options below are exactly the same:

FROM: Portland, OR TO: Seattle, WA
Portland, OR TO: Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA FROM: Portland, OR

Another example using the trip planner where each of the searches below are exactly the same:

ALONG: I-5 FROM: Portland TO: Seattle
ALONG: I-5 TO: Seattle FROM: Portland
I-5 FROM: Portland TO: Seattle
Portland TO: Seattle ALONG: I-5
Portland ALONG: I-5 TO: Seattle
Seattle FROM: Portland ALONG: I-5
Seattle ALONG: I-5 FROM: Portland
etc....

If you use the trip planner but Atlas Quest cannot found the requested route, the search will be converted into a linear search and the ALONG part will be ignored.

The keywords are not case-insensitive. They are all caps here to help make them stand out, but this is not required. You could also run a search such as:

along: i-5 from: portland, or to: seattle, wa

Search Options


Advanced Search Option

The Use Exact Locations options seems relatively straight-forward, but it's actually trickier than you might expect. For instance, what if there's a mystery box whose location is listed as "somewhere in Northern California"? If you run a search for mystery boxes in California, even if you "use exact locations," you'll usually still want it to return boxes somewhere in "Northern California." People expect AQ to sort boxes into certain levels—address, city, county, state, and country. Any box that doesn't fit neatly into a category (such as "Northern California") can be problematic, and for searching purposes, AQ will "upgrade" Northern California into a "California" level, allowing it to show when you run an "exact" location for boxes in "California." Otherwise, you might miss such a letterbox completely.

Another example where "exact" can be a little fuzzy is park names and addresses. What if one person lists the location of their box as "Lincoln Park, 2323 Elm Gove Road" but you run an "exact" search for "Lincoln Park"? Most people would expect this to match even though, technically speaking, it's not really exact. Close enough, though!

So that Use Exact Locations option isn't accurate in the strictest sense of the word. It is possible, however, to force AQ to run an exact search in the very strictest sense of the word—set the radius of your search to 0. It's somewhat of a hack and for most people, you shouldn't ever want to use this option. But if you find yourself ever wanting to run a very strict exact location for your search, that's how you do it.

Help Home > Atlas Quest

How does the Basic Search work?

Last Updated: January 2, 2012 07:09:01 PM

If you search for the name of the box, two distinctly different algorithms are used. If your search term uses words that are all two letters or less, Atlas Quest will find all letterboxes that start with your search term. If your search term includes words with three letters or more, Atlas Quest will find all boxes that use those words anywhere in the box's name. If you use two or more words, Atlas Quest will only run the search against words with at least three letters, stripping out common words such as the, and, but, a, etc. However, that also means you will not be able to search for more useful two letter words. The search will return all letterboxes that match any one of the terms you specify, however, they will be sorted with the best matches listed first—usually the boxes that match all of your search terms.

A word in one's search term is more-or-less any sequence of characters that are letters and numbers. Two exceptions are the underscore (_) and apostrophe (') which will count as part of the word. So a search for "self-help" would actually perform a search for the words "self" and "help" rather than the one word "self-help." Searches for "turtle's," however, will count as a single word. Additionally, a search for "turtles" and a search for "turtle's" are two completely different searches with no overlap.

And finally, there is a list of words, called stopwords, that are not indexed as being too common and generally useless as far as searches go. If one is used in a search, it will be ignored. The latest version of the stoplist Atlas Quest uses is: a's, able, about, above, according, accordingly, across, actually, after, afterwards, again, against, ain't, all, allow, allows, almost, alone, along, already, also, although, always, am, among, amongst, an, and, another, any, anybody, anyhow, anyone, anything, anyway, anyways, anywhere, apart, appear, appreciate, appropriate, aq, are, aren't, around, as, aside, ask, asking, associated, at, available, away, awfully, be, became, because, become, becomes, becoming, been, before, beforehand, behind, being, believe, below, beside, besides, best, better, between, beyond, both, box, boxed, boxes, boxing, brief, but, by, c'mon, c's, came, can, can't, cannot, cant, cause, causes, certain, certainly, changes, clearly, clue, co, com, come, comes, concerning, consequently, consider, considering, contain, containing, contains, corresponding, could, couldn't, course, currently, definitely, described, despite, did, didn't, different, do, does, doesn't, doing, don't, done, down, downwards, during, each, edu, eg, eight, either, else, elsewhere, enough, entirely, especially, et, etc, even, ever, every, everybody, everyone, everything, everywhere, ex, exactly, example, except, far, few, fifth, first, five, followed, following, follows, for, former, formerly, forth, four, from, further, furthermore, get, gets, getting, given, gives, go, goes, going, gone, got, gotten, greetings, had, hadn't, happens, hardly, has, hasn't, have, haven't, having, he, he's, hello, help, hence, her, here, here's, hereafter, hereby, herein, hereupon, hers, herself, hi, him, himself, his, hither, hopefully, how, howbeit, however, i'd, i'll, i'm, i've, ie, if, ignored, immediate, in, inasmuch, inc, indeed, indicate, indicated, indicates, inner, insofar, instead, into, inward, is, isn't, it, it'd, it'll, it's, its, itself, just, keep, keeps, kept, know, knows, known, last, lately, later, latter, latterly, least, less, lest, let, let's, letterbox, letterboxed, letterboxes, letterboxing, letterboxer, like, liked, likely, little, look, looking, looks, ltd, mainly, many, may, maybe, me, mean, meanwhile, merely, might, more, moreover, most, mostly, much, must, my, myself, name, namely, nd, near, nearly, necessary, need, needs, neither, never, nevertheless, new, next, nine, no, nobody, non, none, noone, nor, normally, not, nothing, novel, now, nowhere, obviously, of, off, often, oh, ok, okay, old, on, once, one, ones, only, onto, or, other, others, otherwise, ought, our, ours, ourselves, out, outside, over, overall, own, park, particular, particularly, per, perhaps, placed, please, plus, possible, presumably, probably, provides, que, quite, qv, rather, rd, re, really, reasonably, regarding, regardless, regards, relatively, respectively, right, rock, said, same, saw, say, saying, says, second, secondly, see, seeing, seem, seemed, seeming, seems, seen, self, selves, sensible, sent, serious, seriously, seven, several, shall, she, should, shouldn't, since, six, so, some, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometime, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, soon, sorry, specified, specify, specifying, still, sub, such, sup, sure, t's, take, taken, tell, tends, th, than, thank, thanks, thanx, that, that's, thats, the, their, theirs, them, themselves, then, thence, there, there's, thereafter, thereby, therefore, therein, theres, thereupon, these, they, they'd, they'll, they're, they've, think, third, this, thorough, thoroughly, those, though, three, through, throughout, thru, thus, to, together, too, took, toward, towards, tree, tried, tries, truly, try, trying, twice, two, un, under, unfortunately, unless, unlikely, until, unto, up, upon, us, use, used, useful, uses, using, usually, value, various, very, via, viz, vs, want, wants, was, wasn't, way, we, we'd, we'll, we're, we've, welcome, well, went, were, weren't, what, what's, whatever, when, whence, whenever, where, where's, whereafter, whereas, whereby, wherein, whereupon, wherever, whether, which, while, whither, who, who's, whoever, whole, whom, whose, why, will, willing, wish, with, within, without, won't, wonder, would, would, wouldn't, yes, yet, you, you'd, you'll, you're, you've, your, yours, yourself, yourselves, zero

Some examples might make this more clear:
Search Term Search For Will Match Results Will Not Match Results
hi Will search for all boxes whose name begins with hi. Will match boxes with names such as Hi!, High Top Letterbox, or Hit the Ball Will not match Hello or I Just Wanted To Say Hi.
flowers Will search for all boxes that have the word flowers in it. Will find Flowers for Algernon, Pick Some Flowers, and The Flowers Wrath Will not match The Flower or Baking Flour.
War and Peace Will find all boxes that have the words war or peace in it. It will ignore the word and since that is a stopword. Will match War and Peace, Make Peace, Not War, and Peace Monument Will not match Buy an AQ Patch today.
Georgia on my Mind Will search for boxes with the words Georgia and Mind, since they have three or more letters. The words on and my will be ignored. Will find Georgia on my Mind, Georgia Peaches, Mind Your Manners, and Mind Over Matter. Box names that use both words will rank higher than names that use one word or the other. Will not find Maine on my Brain or The Oregon Files.
turtle's Will search for all boxes that have the word turtle's in it. Will find A Turtle's Shell. Will not match The turtles are a menace!
the least of your worries Will search for boxes the word "worries" in the name. The words "least" and "your" are stopwords and are therefore ignored. Will find My Worries and Don't Worry. Will not find Least of All or Your Birthday Present.

The author search requires an exact match to the trail name of the person who carved, authored, planted, or owns the letterbox, or leave it blank if you do not wish to search by author. Be careful of people with trail names that begin with the word "the" since many times people forget about that and end up not finding the results they're looking for.

The box type is self explanatory, but for search results with the most detailed information, it helps to be specific about what type of letterbox you are looking for. The default "all" type strips out many useful details from the search results since it displays for the lowest common denominator.

Special Cases

If you type in a number and only a number, AQ will return the box with that box ID. Everything else will be ignored. So, for instance, if you search for a box with the "name" 181707, AQ will direct you immediately to The Skateboard Kid letterbox.

Additionally, if you know a box is listed on AQ but the clue is hosted on LbNA and so you only printed the LbNA id number, you can look up a box based on the LbNA id number by typing the name as "LbNA ID" (where ID is the ID number assigned by LbNA). For example, searching with the "name" as LbNA 4311 will automatically redirect you to Snoopy, which has an AQ ID of 127, but an LbNA ID of 4311.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

What do the attributes on an event stamp represent?

Last Updated: January 2, 2012 06:00:33 PM

Stamp Types

AttributeDescription
The creator promises you'll find a genuine, 100% hand-carved stamp in the letterbox and not a store-bought or custom-made stamp.
The letterbox contains a unique, custom-made stamp.
The letterbox contains a store-bought stamp rather than a hand-carved or custom-made stamp.

Attributes

AttributeDescription
A traveling event stamp goes from event to event, making multiple appearances.
A table top box is often located on the tables where letterboxers gather at an event, sometimes in disguise and sometimes in plain view, but it also includes any stamp that is located there only for the duration of the event anywhere near the point of the gathering. While most are located on tables, they may also be found in ice chests, on the ground, and sometimes very clever locations.
Hidden In Plain Sight (HIPS) are boxes that are laying around at an event, but aren't obviously a box. Clues aren't needed in order to find these—just be alert and observant of your surroundings. Maybe it's hidden in a salt shaker. Or maybe it's disguised as a soda can. Or maybe....


Help Home > Letterboxes > Event Stamps

Is there a clue guide available for Cane Creek Park in Waxhaw, NC?

Last Updated: December 30, 2011 05:41:38 PM

Yes. After answering this question repeatedly, it just seemed to make sense to put one together. Every box listed in this guide as well as the tips to each box has been done only with permission of each planter. By listing it in Wiki, anyone can update it to keep the information more up to date (or add or remove their boxes as they see fit). You can also check the revision date of this question listing to see when the guide was last updated.

MAINTENANCE WAS PROVIDED TO ALL BOXES IN 12/2011:
Most of these boxes were planted in 2007. The trails have been extensively changed since then and many clues became outdated. Any clues that have not had a chance to get updated by the planters yet have additional notes after the clues. Planters are all aware of this guide and may update it as clues are updated and the additional notes are no longer needed

Clue Guide for Cane Creek

This Union County park has hiking, fishing, camping, rental boats, miniature golf, climbing wall, soccer field, and horse trails (including areas to camp with horses).

Important information about the park and trails
1. There is a $4 fee to park
2. Park hours are STRICTLY enforced (they WILL lock you in if you are not out on time!!). Check the sign when you enter but they are typically 8 to 5pm.
3. You can pick up a map when you pay the parking fee or get one here.
4. Most trails are horse trails as well.

RED TRAIL starting at the entrance of the park
A little under 4 miles round trip if you get all the boxes. The trail is generally flat and clear.

NOTE: LOOK FOR A YELLOW GATE AS YOU GO ON THIS HIKE-- It's actually the "pink gate" referenced in Tomatoes are Evil

Fiesta! is a short distance down the BLUE TRAIL. Then go back to the RED TRAIL and continue on for

When is a Raven like a Writing Desk?

YELLOW TRAIL starting at the entrance of the park
About 1.5 miles round trip if you get all the boxes. The trail is clear with some hills and narrow near the water's edge sometimes.

Grandma's Flowers

After finding this box, go back to the bridge and start at that point from the bridge referenced in
Waxhaw 2007

Tea Party Guest of Honor?

From the yellow post in the hill ridge line you should be able to see the chain link fence you need in the following clue (it's NOT the chainlink fence ON the ridgeline):
Backwards?

The Dead Lemur
Note: the yellow and purple trail intersection is now marked by a yellow post on a hill line. The blazes have changed (none are now painted on the tree). It's currently the 6th yellow mounted blaze. This tree is cradling white rocks. Count the referenced paces from this tree.

LOT #4
Less than a mile roundtrip

NOTE: LOOK FOR THE TRAIL BEHIND THE BASEBALL FIELD -- it's referenced in Tomatoes are Evil

The Path Home

BOAT LAUNCH (driveby)

Keep America Green

TRAILS STARTING AT THE REST AREA AT THE END OF THE ROAD INTO THE PARK
About 3 miles round trip of you get all the boxes-- this includes looping back to start again for one of them

Mother & Son + The Waxhaws
You will do this box and loop back to the start for the rest so you can do it first and come back or last and come back.

You will go a little ways up the YELLOW TRAIL to get this box:
Attack of the Mosquitoes!

Then return back to RED TRAIL and continue on to the ORANGE TRAIL. You will go up the ORANGE TRAIL to get this series:
The Perfect Cup of Tea

Then return back to the RED TRAIL and continue on
you will then look at the clues for Determined Smail and pick them up where I have indicated you need to if you are using the clue guide.

Help Home > Getting Started

What is a 'watched' letterbox?

Last Updated: December 28, 2011 09:52:02 AM

Premium Members have the option of putting a watch on specific letterboxes. When a letterbox is on your watch list, Atlas Quest will notify you through AQ mail whenever the status or clues for the letterbox have been updated. So if a letterbox has been pulled for maintenance and the status changed to 'unavailable' or when the owner replaces the box and changes the status to 'active,' you'll get a notification to let you know about the update.

As for updated clues, the watch only works properly when the clue is hosted on Atlas Quest. Since Atlas Quest does not know when a remotely hosted clue is updated (which includes clues hosted on LbNA), you will not get an update

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

What is the quick search box?

Last Updated: December 22, 2011 08:45:59 PM

The quick search box is a small area showing you some of the settings for the current search and allows you to modify them without going to the trouble of editing your search. The inspiration for this feature wasn't to make editing search easier (but it's a nice bonus!), but rather the confusion that is sometimes caused when a search doesn't return boxes that someone is expecting. Depending on one's Letterbox Preferences and from which page the search is run, different defaults might be used. There was never any information on the search results page about which defaults were used, however, which sometimes caused confusion.

So this is really a status bar showing you exactly what the search is doing, along with the option to change the settings if it wasn't what you wanted or expected.



Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

How does the segment data work?

Last Updated: December 19, 2011 03:18:40 PM

At its core, the route is created from a series of points that mark the route. The map is pretty and all, but the raw data that AQ uses to generate those maps comes from this section. It's a series of latitude and longitude coordinates, one coordinate per line. There's no real limit to the number of coordinates allowed—some long, detailed routes have over 5,000 points.

But... there are a couple of less obvious tricks to the segment data. First, you'll usually see coordinates displayed, but technically, any valid location that the geocoders can figure out can be used. Which is often times useful when creating an entirely new route. You can list every city, town, and podunk along your route, one per line, save your route, and AQ will generate a rough path of your route which you can edit further as necessary. (As soon as you start editing the route with the map, however, the locations will be converted into coordinates.)

Another useful tool—sometimes, when editing the map directly, you might accidentally add new segments. It's easy to accidentally click on the map when you meant to add or edit a vertex, and clicking on the map will add a new segment to the end of the path. There's no way to delete a vertex from the map—none that anyone has been able to figure out, at least!—but since the new vertex is added to the end of the path, you can scroll down to the end, remove the last line, and save your changes.

When you edit the segment data directly, your changes will not be reflected on the map until you save your changes, and if you try to edit the map before saving your changes, your changes will be overwritten with the map data. In a nutshell, don't edit or use the map until you've saved any changes you make to the segment data. To save your changes, clicking any of the page buttons will do the trick. (Except the Cancel button, for obvious reasons!) You don't actually have to Save the route to save your changes. Most of the time, you'll likely want to click the Route button—it will save your changes and reload the map so you can see your changes and make any additional adjustments.

Help Home > Trip Planner

How did the '100 Ways for Barbie to Die' series in Illinois come about?

Last Updated: December 15, 2011 09:28:30 PM

Where the Death of Barbie began:

2011: a Stamp Odyssey
Augusta, MO Sept 16-18th 2011.

HowDgirls and I(shorty) finished up all 50 or so boxes by Saturday night. At this point we were headed back to the cabins.

When crossing through the parking lot at beautiful Klondike Park, we saw a baby doll under a car. Surely we both thought it was either a clue or a kid lost their doll. So instinctively I lifted up the doll and sure enough there were 2 peices of paper with the same clue hand written stating 'go to the pole at the end of the lot.'

We did, and yet another doll, with another set of 'clues' that led to the park sign, then to the boulder, light pole, ect...

The entire time(we found like 7 sets of dolls and clues) we were both wondering who did this and what the box was going to be!? In my mind, "Ohh how are they going to kill off Barbie?" Surely the naked and creepy dolls hidden around have something to do with Barbie's Demise! When we reached the final clue and baby doll from 'The Incredibles' it said head up to the cabin and take a doll.

So we take the baby and go to Cabin C-the only other occupied cabin. This cabin held the loud and rambunctious Deniserows, Dezert Ratty, Rozebud, and frontrangehiker.

Dezert Ratty takes up to Cabin B-a non letterboxing occupied cabin of family campers. Come to find out, this was a birthday party for their daughter as a prank for them to do later, and no letterbox was involved! We were not the first to 'take a token at the end' either! So we explained to the family what 'we do' and they explained what they 'are doing' and how they would be perfect letterboxers!

The 'MO' hiding spot

Anyway, HowDgirls and I(shorty) were dissapointed we found no dead barbie, so we decided to make a box of our own! From our goodie bags I dig Toasters kindly prepared for attendees, we have an Altoid tin, logbook, pen, and piece of carving material all ready to be used! Luckily HowDgirls brought their carving tools!
So I(shorty) drew up '100 Ways for Barbie to Die: Lynched' and the opposite of Hello Kitty--'Goodbye Kitty' for Diana Dolphin to carve. Dezert Ratty had picked up the dolls after the party and gave us a Barbie and Kitty, and boxes were born!

I hung Barbie(dismembered of coarse!) from my car with clues to a rock, which housed one of her legs sticking out of the ground with the final clues to a temporary resting spot for the lynched blonde!
Atop of my bumper sat 'Goodby Kitty' ax in hand!

There were quite a few 'PJ and Nightboxers' before everyone called it quits that night in the lot and lots of laughs were had!

This started the need for a 100 Ways for Barbie to Die series, now being permanently planted in various places throughout Illinois!

So now you know the background of this morbid series, and know that Im not a complete creep planting dead barbies!
Now all you need to do is keep an eye out for a Dead Barbie near you!

Also for those that like to carve creative stamps-please contact me(shorty) if you would like to donate a way for Barbie to meet her Demise! I will be planting untill I have 100 of them.

shorty

Help Home > Letterboxes

How do I rename tags?

Last Updated: December 15, 2011 09:47:51 AM

At the bottom of the main Trackers page, you'll see a list with each tag's label and you can edit the label from right there.

Help Home > Trackers

How do I rename a tracker?

Last Updated: December 15, 2011 09:46:12 AM

Go to the tracker details page for the tracker in question, click the 'Edit Tracker' button on the right-hand side of the page, change the name, and save!

Help Home > Trackers

How do I make a Virtual?

Last Updated: December 14, 2011 08:23:12 AM

Step 1:

Basics
Give your Virtual letterbox a name.
Mark it "available" when it is ready to be published otherwise choose "unavailable" until you've completed all the steps and it's ready to be solved.

Step 2:

Attributes
Choose a stamp type. Most Virtual solvers prefer an image of your own carved stamp as a reward for solving the puzzle. For definitions of the other stamp types see:
http://www.atlasquest.com/about/wiki/question.html?gWikiId=304

For your typical basic Virtual puzzle you won't need the Attributes "Off Line", "Includes Bonus Clue" or "On Location" but if you think you might need them, you can see their definitions here:
http://www.atlasquest.com/about/wiki/question.html?gWikiId=304

There are basically 2 subtypes - your typical basic Virtual puzzle uses a Passkey, the other type is more complicated and involves hunting by "mousing-over" of an image of a location to find stamped images. Instructions for image search puzzles are here:
http://www.atlasquest.com/about/wiki/browse.html?gCatId=5#q462

Step 3:

Solution
Here's where you add the passkey, a congratulations statement and the link to the reward image - ideally a hand carved image of a stamp you carved.

You need to store the image off-site i.e. not on Atlas Quest.

Scan or digitally photograph your stamp image and upload it to a photo sharing site (e.g. Photobucket, Flickr) or a blog (e.g. Wordpress, Blogger) or if you have your own website you might want to store the image there.

The file must be an image file.
The file extension will end in .jpg or .jpeg or .gif or .png.

This is a correct url format:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6217/6337047245_9c0636.jpg
This is wrong:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10105922@N00/6352925

Step 4:

Virtual Clue
This is where you place your puzzle questions.
I suggest you save the answers to your puzzle somewhere so you can refer back to them if a letterboxer contacts you wanting a bit of help. I like to email myself the puzzle questions with the answers and store it in a folder in my Inbox for easy access.

Step 5:

Location
The Location page is not used for the typical basic Virtual.
Some letterboxers create a type of Virtual letterbox where the finder must physically visit a location in order to find answers (perhaps off of a plaque at the location). The answers will provide the finder with a passkey which they will use to get, ideally, a virtual hand carved stamp image. These types of boxes are typically placed in interesting locations that don't allow or unsuitable for physical letterboxes (e.g. many U. S. National Forests).

Step 6:

Restrictions
Restrictions are generally not used when placing a Virtual but it is possible to restrict to a certain Member Group.
ou

Step 7:

Click the save button to publish your Virtual. (If you marked your box as "unavailable", go back to Step 1 Basics a change "unavailable" to "available".

Help Home > Virtuals

What do the icons stand for in a traditional letterbox?

Last Updated: December 10, 2011 05:20:10 PM

Stamp Types

AttributeDescription
The creator promises you'll find a genuine, 100% hand-carved stamp in the letterbox and not a store-bought or custom-made stamp.
The letterbox contains a unique, custom-made stamp.
The letterbox contains a store-bought stamp rather than a hand-carved or custom-made stamp.

Subtypes

AttributeDescription
The creator does not specify the location of the nearest city for this letterbox. They may have specified the state or country of its location, but you're expected to discover the actual starting point for the hunt yourself. From a technical standpoint, a location is considered a mystery box if the location has no name, address, and city. If the location spans less than one mile, it is not a mystery. And if a location is "somewhere within a city," the owner of the box can specify if it's a mystery location or not. And finally, just because you solve a mystery and add a custom location, the letterbox is still considered a mystery box—adding a specific custom location will not remove this icon.
This picture represents a bonus box, where the clue for the box will be found (usually) in a pre-existing nearby letterbox.
A Word of Mouth (WOM) box. The clues are distributed somewhere other than online, such as via e-mail, postal mail, or delivered in person.

Hike Types

AttributeDescription
A drive-by letterbox, as defined on this website, is a letterbox that requires perhaps 5 to 10 minutes to nab from the time you park your car. A drive-by letterbox will be hidden within eyesight of where one parks, or at least so close that if it were raining, the person would take the box to their car to stamp in.
A stroll is something that's less than a mile, which would take most people less than 30 minutes to find and return to their starting point but still too far out to be considered a drive by.
A walk is something requires 1 to 2 miles of hiking, which would take most people between 30 to 60 minutes to find and complete.
A hike is a box that requires 2 to 4 miles of hiking, which would take most people between 1 to 2 hours to complete.
A trek is 4 to 8 miles of hiking, and will typically take most people anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete.
An backpack is 8 to 15 miles of hiking, and will typically take most people anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to complete.
An thru-hike requires 15 or more miles of hiking, and will typically take most people a minimum of 8 hours to complete.

Note: Use a little common sense with these icons. A flat, paved, 1-mile trail would be a stroll. A rugged 1-mile trail that climbs 1,000 feet in elevation gain would be a walk. Even though both trails are one mile long, they would each fall into different categories since the difficulty level is very different. There are no hard or fast rules regarding this—just use a little common sense. A typical hiking trail that's two miles long would normally be a walk, but if the walk requires an extreme climb going up thousands of feet on a rarely maintained trail, mark it as a hike.

Attributes

AttributeDescription
An urban letterbox, as defined here, is located in an area where one is unlikely to experience "The Great Outdoors". Like in a big city, such as New York city. A rest area in the middle of nowhere is an urban box. A large city park with trees and hiking trails is not an urban box. The 'setting' for the letterbox is urban, not necessarily the location, if that makes any sense.
This letterbox is located indoors—perfect for those cold, wet days when you really do not want to go outside.
A snow friendly box is rather a squishy concept. Some people might consider a box that requires several miles of cross-country travel using snow shoes or skies as snow 'friendly,' while other may not. Other boxes might be quite findable if there's an inch or two of snow on the ground but may no longer be easily found if there's a foot or two of snow on the ground. In theory, though, a snow friendly box is one in which important landmarks in the clue would not be covered, nor will digging through layers of snow be required to find the box.
A pet friendly letterbox is located in an area that allows pets to roam, usually with a leash requirement.
This letterbox is available only for a limited time. A limited time letterbox is either a box that is planted for only part of the year or a box that you intend to retire within the next three months. Letterboxes planted in regions that are covered in snow for nine months of the year or in stores that require a visit during store hours do not count as limited time boxes.
A bike friendly letterbox is located in an area where bicycles or mountain bikes are permitted and have plenty of room to roam. For instance, while it is legal to ride ones bicycle on busy city streets, it is not considered bike friendly if there are no designated bike lanes available for use near the letterbox. And while many trails may be accessible to mountain bike, it is not considered bike friendly if the trail is for hikers only.
The trail or path to the letterbox should be accessible by wheelchairs or strollers the entire way. However, the letterbox itself may not be reachable from a wheelchair or stroller, and those using them may need assistance from others to actually acquire the box. The letterbox may be planted too high or low for someone in a wheelchair to physically reach, or too far off from the main trail for a wheelchair, but as long as an assistant can retrieve the box and bring it back for the wheelchair-bound person, it's considered wheelchair accessible.
You'll be expected to use your head on this one in order to decipher the clue. The code might be easy or hard—this image promises nothing on that count—the only thing it does promise is that the clue won't be straight-forward as most.
An extreme letterbox poses a significant risk beyond that of a normal letterbox, and the letterbox requires some sort of technical skill (e.g. rock climbing, scuba diving, etc.) that requires appropriate training and experience in order to successfully acquire. Never look for an extreme letterbox unless you fully understand the risks involved and are well-trained in whatever extreme task is required.
The owner or author of the letterbox has indicated that the box requires repairs, but for whatever reason, they aren't able to do it themselves and are asking for your help, should you choose to look for the letterbox. Maybe the container is cracked and needs replacing. Maybe the logbook is soaked and needs to be replaced. Maybe a torn ZipLock needs replacing. Whatever it is, this icon is a call for help!
This image marks letterboxes that require a compass in order to find. The lack of this picture means the clue doesn't require a compass OR that the creator of the letterbox did not specify a compass requirement. It's generally a good idea to always carry a compass in your letterboxing kit, though, so you'll always be prepared.
This letterbox requires payment of some sort of fee—probably a parking or entrance fee—in order to find. The lack of this picture does not necessarily mean no fees are required. The creator may not have specified fees, or perhaps fees were added since the box was planted. It's always a good idea to carry a few extra dollars in case of an unexpected fee or two.
Those who plant letterboxes are able to point out their favorite plants by assigning them the Planter's Choice Award. They might do this because they consider it one of their best boxes, or perhaps it has sentimental value. Whatever the reason, the planter wants you to notice this box.
The blue diamond marks letterboxes that are highly recommended by other letterboxers. If your time is limited, you might want to focus on finding a Blue Diamond letterbox.
Each week, the highest rated box on Atlas Quest is designated the Box of the Week. Use this to search for boxes that have reached such lofty heights.
Some people like to find boxes that are 'historic,' and using this option in one's search can help narrow down the possibilities. A historic box, in this case, is any letterbox that was planted at least ten years ago and has been listed on Atlas Quest for at least five years.
Some letterboxers want to find that elusive box few people ever find or even search for. Searching for 'rare finds,' in this case, will return all boxes that have not had a recorded find for at least one full year.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals

What can I use as a trip name?

Last Updated: December 6, 2011 01:09:09 PM

A trip name can use pretty much any letter, number or symbol. The Trip Planner page will shorten your name to 25 characters if necessary to make it fit. Using common abbreviations such as Hwy instead of Highway or Fwy instead of Fwy can help keep the name short—in fact, AQ will automatically abbreviate the words for highway and freeway to Hwy and Fwy respectively. Interstates names are automatically filled out in full—I-5 will automatically be renamed into Interstate 5. This does conflict with the usual rule that short is good, but for technical reasons regarding database indexes, the word Interstate works better than the letter I.

Additionally, it's recommended that you be specific which road you might be talking about. Nearly every state has a Highway 17, for instance, so to make your route clear, include the state (if it's a state road) or county (if it's a county road). A name such as CA Hwy 17 works much better than Highway 17.

Help Home > Trip Planner

How can I restrict my trips?

Last Updated: December 5, 2011 12:16:42 AM

By default, any trips you create will be private—only you will be able to see them. If it's a route that you think others might be interested in using, however, you can make it public for other premium members to see. Trips are mostly a premium member perk and you cannot make a route available for everyone to see. Admins do have that power, however, and if it's a route that you feel should be public for all, you can lobby to extend the route for everyone.

As a general rule of thumb, the only routes that are made public for everyone are major roads that are intended for cross-country travel. In the United States, that includes the Interstate system. In Canada, it includes the Trans-Canada Highway system. Other routes, even long ones that do span much of the country, probably won't be added.

Help Home > Trip Planner

How does the map work?

Last Updated: December 5, 2011 12:03:56 AM

To zoom in or out, use the controls on the left side of the map. You might be tempted to double-click the map to zoom in—a common navigation technique among maps—but a click on the map will add a new segment to your route and you would end up with an extra segment you didn't want and the map will not have zoomed in.

To add a new segment to the end of the route, click on the map where you want the new segment drawn out to.

To edit an existing vertex, click and drag a solid square that marks the end of the segment.

To add a vertex between two existing vertices, click the semi-transparent square between the two solid vertices and drag it to the new location. When you let go of the mouse button, the new vertex is automatically added.

So far as anyone has been able to tell, Google Maps provides no method of removing a vertex once it's been added. You can delete a vertex from the raw segment data below the map, but more often, it's just easier to move the unnecessary point to a point along the route. Better to have too many points than not enough! The excess points won't hurt anything, though.

The image below has two red arrows—they point to 'solid' points. Those are points that are part of your route and will have a corresponding location in the raw segment data. The purple arrow points to a semi-transparent point—those are always located halfway between solid points and are used for creating new points between two existing points.

Sample Map

Help Home > Trip Planner

What are keywords?

Last Updated: December 4, 2011 11:24:52 PM

The most common keywords you should include are alternate names for your route. Many popular routes have 'human names.' Highway 26 might be better known as the Sunset Highway locally, for instance, or the John Doe Memorial Highway, or whatever the case may be. By including alternate route names, AQ can search for the route under these other names.

It's also possible to add other keywords besides alternate names. The route names might be related to an event (road trip!), facilities, notable landmarks, or anything else you feel is necessary.

Help Home > Trip Planner

How do the origin, destination, and waypoints work?

Last Updated: December 4, 2011 11:01:31 PM

The origin and destination are self-explanatory, and both are required for creating a new route. You can use any location that the geocoders on AQ can find. You can use addresses, latitude and longitude coordinates, zip codes, and any other valid locations that would work with a regular letterbox search.

The waypoints are optional, but if you include them, it will insure the default route that AQ creates goes through each of these points, in order, between the origin and destination. Again, any valid locations used for letterbox search will also work with waypoints. A maximum of eight waypoints is allowed, and multiple waypoints must be separated with semicolons.

If AQ is unable to create a precise route from your origin to each waypoint to the destination, it will create straight lines between each point and you'll have to manipulate the route further if you want any precision at all.

Help Home > Trip Planner

How do I search for routes through specific locations?

Last Updated: December 4, 2011 10:39:36 PM

You can run a trip search for routes that run through specific locations. Any number of routes is allowed—just separate each location with the word "to" if there is more than one location.

For instance, you can run a search for all routes that go in or near Seattle, WA. Or search for routes from Seattle to Los Angeles. Or extend the location search from Seattle to Forks, WA to Los Angeles, CA.

Keep in mind, the search will include routes that go near requested locations—typically within 30 miles.

Help Home > Trip Planner

What do the attributes on trips represent?

Last Updated: December 4, 2011 10:12:59 PM

Subtypes

AttributeDescription
The route represents a driving route. (The vast majority of routes are driving routes!)
The route represents a walking route. Obviously, this applies to long-distance trails such as the Appalachian Trail, but it can also represent walking routes through cities and involve road walks.
The route represents a bicycling route.

Attributes

AttributeDescription
There are rest areas along the route. They may not necessarily be a lot of them, but there are at least a few along the way! The term 'rest area' can be used liberally for walking and bicycling routes. Perhaps a trail with shelters, or a convenience store along a bicycling route.
A historic route, typically famous (or infamous!) for one reason or another.


Help Home > Trip Planner

What carving material is recommended?

Last Updated: November 27, 2011 05:34:07 AM

Different carvers often prefer different materials. The two most popular materials used are Speedball's Speedy-Stamp and Stampeaz's Firm Kut.

Other carving materials (not necessarily popular or recommended!) include:
A few comments about some of these:

Firm Kut
Way too hard for the exacto knife. My hand hurt when I was done and I had trouble getting detail in there well. Image transferred ok. (Reviewed by Shark Boy and Lava Girl)

It's very good. As long as you don't have huge inked in spaces, it doesn't need to be sanded, but really, sanding it takes about 10 seconds and makes the ink take better. No chemical treatment is necessary.

It's a matter of learning how to carve it. It behaves differently than other rubbers, and in most ways it surpasses them. The only thing I don't like about it is the way a knife cuts through it. I just can't get a clean cut with a knife.

I also haven't had a perfect transfer yet. I haven't figured out the right iron temp, but I like the material well enough that it's worth all the trial and error. It's definitely worth a try if you're putting an order in anyway. (Reviewed by Fiddleheads)

Ecocarve (Nasco) "the brown stuff"
Well, it's not quite PZ Kut; but, it was pretty darned good. [The image] transferred well and it actually lightened the brown color which rubbed off on the transfer paper. This made the contrast between the transfer and rubber easier to see. It cut well and I really liked how the rubber lifted out after each cut. So far this is the best alternative I have tried for the orange stuff. I'd rather carve on this and adjust to it instead of having to learn how to carve on the much softer pink stuff. (Reviewed by Shark Boy and Lava Girl)

Orange PZ Kut (no longer manufactured)
Has a trait that no other carving material has: When you make a slit with a razor knife, you can see the slit. With all the other materials, after making the slit it closes up and you cannot see it without bending the rubber so the cut opens up. As a result, the orange PZ Kut is strongly preferred among many carvers who use razor knives extensively. Note that it does nothing for those who carve primarily with gouges, though -- in fact, people who carve using gouges tend not to like orange PZ Kut at all; they usually prefer the white PZ Kut.

MasterCarve
Says right on the package that it "cuts like butter", and that's true -- it is very easy and smooth to carve. It is soft enough, however, that physical damage and wear can be an issue. If your image consists of broad inked areas, there won't be any problem, but if the image includes any thin lines or tiny dots -- which involve narrow ridges or points on the surface of the rubber -- these features can easily get rubbed away or damaged.

Speedy-Stamp (Speedball) "the pink stuff"
It is excellent. Speedy-Cut, by the same company, is ivory in color and should be avoided like the plague. It crumbles when carved, and sometimes dries out and breaks into pieces when stored in an outdoor letterbox.

Safety Kut (Nasco)
Inexpensive ($1.35US 4x6" piece), available in various sizes, some carvers feel that the blade doesn't glide through the medium smoothly enough for their liking. It inks up well (little, too no pooling with markers, a light sanding will make it ink up even better.) Downside: not good for fine detail work. It's tough to get sharp edges. (Review by Lone R)

Safety Kut has a texture that is similar to Mastercarve, but not quite so buttery. It cannot handle the detail or fine lines that PZ Kut does, but it does pretty well. Over a large number of prints, the edges will begin to wear, but not as badly as Mastercarve or that crappy Speedball stuff. It also doesn't get crumbly over time like the Speedball. (Review by Thunderbird)

Don't make the mistake of thinking that erasers are the cheapest way to go. On a per-square-inch basis, the PZ Kut is likely to be the cheapest material you'll find -- and that's including the shipping cost. If you order five pieces, you pay the same shipping cost as when you order one. And you can order the "B" grade to save a bit more money yet. And don't forget how much gas you're saving not having to drive around town to find it!

Help Home > Carving & Mounting Stamps

What are Treasure Hikers?

Last Updated: November 23, 2011 06:13:25 PM

TREASURE HIKERS
Yep. We're all treasure hikers in the general sense of the word... each little piece of art set free in the world is a treasure to plant and find.
But there is a larger game afoot to encourage more boxes on longer distance trails and paths, and that game is Treasure Hikers!
Mama Fox, of the Little Foxes, came up with the original idea and it wasn't long before other states wanted to kick up their hiking heels as well.

Here is the OFFICIAL TREASURE HIKER WEBSITE. It is located at www.TreasureHikersUSA.com
Treasure Hiking is a fun way to set hiking goals while letterboxing and earn cool pathtags or other accessories!

Guidelines

Here's the only rule: One point for each mile hiked while letterboxing, either finding or planting, on hikes of 1 mile or longer round trip.

If you have a question about whether something fits the Rule, use your own judgment, bearing in mind that we are operating on the honor system when you report your points. If you need clarification, read through the Suggestions and Footnotes below. The FAQ list is found below the table showing participating states and state coordinators. If you have questions about the program in one of the participating states, please contact the coordinator for that state.

Friendly Suggestions:
Other Footnotes:
If you are interested in starting a program for your state, contact one of the state representatives listed below:
Participating stateWho to contactHow to contactStarting Date
CaliforniaTurtlegirl 19AQ email4-01-09
ColoradoThe3DTsAQ email1-01-10
ConnecticutKit Kat 61 or The QuackersAQ email6-01-09
Florida ThreeHearts AQ email5/1/09
Georgia Buttercup, Hawkeye AQ email3/20/09
IllinoisNitrocatAQ e-mail4/24/09
KentuckyEeny Meany Miney MoeAQ e-mail3/1/09
MainemudflinginfoolsAQ e-mail???
MassachusettsgraywolfeAQ e-mail4/25/09
Michiganthe hicks from the sticksAQ e-mail5/22/09
New HampshiremudflinginfoolsAQ e-mail???
North CarolinaThe Little Foxes or Knit Wit AQ e-mail3/1/09
Ohio Mn8X AQ email3/1/09
OregonMystic DreamerAQ e-mail3-20-09
South Carolinadtandfambly or JWalkersAQ e-mail3/1/09
Tennessee4 Little PiggiesAQ e-mail3/4/09
TexasPI JoeAQ e-mail1/1/2010
Virginiawee3AQ e-mail6/1/09
WashingtonCampFireLadyAQ e-mail3-20-09

There are other similar hiking incentive programs. Contact the organizer(s) listed for the program.
Program nameWho to contactHow to contactStarting Date
New York Letterbox Hiking ChallengeJackbear, Scout, or SahalieAQ e-mail4/2/09
NC Mountain ChallengeDixie or The Little FoxesAQ e-mailin planning stages

Frequently Asked Questions
Really the program is on the honor system, and we prefer that you have fun in the spirit of the game and count your points using your own conscience.
However, some questions get asked regularly so, for the sake of consistent answers (and the sanity of the moderators), this section was added.

What if the box is a one mile hike but I get lost and travel for 3 miles? How many points would that be? Only one. No extra points for being directionally challenged.
Can I go get 10 drivebys at .1 mile each and say that's one mile? No. None of these are qualifying boxes. A qualifying box must be a one mile hike (round trip).
Can I use a bike instead of hiking? No. The program is for hiking. There's nothing stopping you from making your own Treasure Biking program, though.
Do attempts count? No. They don't count as finds and they don't count toward points in this program either. However, if you take a box with you and plant it at one mile or more you could get a point for that.
What if I start a 6 mile hike but I don't finish it? I only do 3 miles one day, then next week I go back for the farthest boxes and do 6 miles? Do I count 9 miles total or only 6? You should count 9 miles total. You did 3 miles one day and 6 miles another day. Just because the boxes happened to be in a series does not change that you hiked 9 miles total on 2 separate days to qualifying boxes.
Can my dog get a pathtag? If your dog walked the distance with you, go ahead and order one for his collar too!
What if I walk a mile to get to a driveby box? Then can I count it? No. A qualifying box is one that is one mile in hike length for anyone to get to. You can't make it a qualifying box by just setting your own starting point.
If I am in a park where there are several separate letterboxes listed and I can find them all by stringing them together to make a hike greater than one mile, can I receive pathtag points? The Treasure Hikers program was originally envisioned as a way to encourage planting boxes on longer hikes in areas where the tendency seemed to be planting drivebys. While many of the coordinators still adhere to the idea that the box you are seeking should require a hike of one mile or more, we also recognize that there are some areas where finding a mile-long trail may be a challenge. Follow your conscience. If you live in such an area, consider planting an urban box that might incorporate a mile-long "sightseeing tour" of your city in the clues.
I heard New York was doing things a little different, what's the deal with that? The New York organizers were inspired by the original Treasure Hikers group, but being New Yorkers, wanted to put a little different spin on it. A Challenge Patch is available for different miles accomplished, 25,50, 75, and 100 instead of a pathtag. They also honor attempts and maintenance, and any other excuse you have to get out and letterbox. As with the Treasure Hikers, the New York Letterbox Hiking Challenge encourages participants to challenge themselves to go on longer hikes. For more information on the NY guidelines, go to:NY Letterbox Hiking Challenge Patch Guidelines
What about partial miles? If we hike 3.5 miles round trip can we round our points up to 4? Rounding up from the halfway point is technically taking credit for mileage that you didn't really hike. Most of the members are rounding down to the whole if the fraction is under a half and rounding down to the half if it is over the halfway point. The beauty of the tracking widget designed by Wassa is that you can input exact mileage without rounding at all. If you truly want credit for that partial mile, use the widget tracker. :-) In addition, as stated above, each individual hike must be at least one mile round trip to begin with. No hiking .7 miles one week and .3 the next and adding them together for one mile.

Help Home > Getting Started

Who do I cantact about an inappropriate placing of a box?

Last Updated: November 14, 2011 09:43:17 AM

First try to contact the person who planted the letterbox. If you know their trailname, you can contact them directly by sending them AQ Mail. If you do not know the trailname of the person who planted it, it'll require a bit of sleuthing.

Run a letterbox search to find the inappropriate listing. You can search by location—even down to the specific park or address where the letterbox was found. Keep in mind, however, that many people only list the city where their letterbox is located so it may be further down the results than you might expect. If you know the name of the letterbox, you can also search based on its name.

Once you've figured out who planted the box, check the last time they logged into Atlas Quest. Unfortunately, some members quit letterboxing without taking care of the letterboxes they've planted, and contacting those people might not generate any results if they never get your message. You can see their last login date on their profile—click the icon next to their name of the head in profile. If they've logged in recently, go and contact them about your concerns.

If they haven't logged in for months or years, you'll want to contact a moderator. Moderators can update the box as necessary.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals

What are, and how do you do a postal letterbox?

Last Updated: November 13, 2011 12:41:19 PM

Here's some basic information about postals in these help pages:

What is a postal letterbox?
How can I made a postal?
What do I do with my postal once I finish making it?
Should I be cautious giving my postal address to people over the Internet?
How can I sign up for a postal?
How do I find postals that are open for signups?!
Are there any general postal guidelines for anyone new to postals?

For all postal-related information, check both the Postals Category and the Postal Trackers Category.

Help Home > Getting Started

Are there any general postal guidelines for anyone new to postals?

Last Updated: November 13, 2011 12:38:58 PM



Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

Is there a Downtown Guide to Peoria, IL?

Last Updated: November 12, 2011 07:14:50 PM

Downtown Peoria, IL

* Soldiers & Sailors
* Bradley Braves
* Remember 9/11
* The Spirit of Peoria
* A Portrait of Mark Twain
* St. Mary's Cathedral
* Knockin' on Freedoms Door-coming soon

All of the Downtown Peoria Boxes are with walking distance of each other. The farthest one out is the Cathedral, so that one may be best to drive to first, or at the end, your choice.

There is parking all around the streets, but there if free parking down by the Riverfront building on NE Water Street, behind the parking lot-take a left on Hamilton onto Water St.

** For a visual map of the approx. locations of these boxes are, click HERE.

Cautions/Warnings/Tips

Do NOT attempt any of these boxes during lunch time. This is when all the foot carts and breaks are taken and it gets busy!
The same applies for anytime, if there are people around, come back another time.

For those parking down by the Riverfront, the order below is best to do them in-in a row. The cathedral can be done 1st or last, doesn't matter.

The Spirit of Peoria-When retrieving/replacing, make sure no one is watching! Down by the river is a busy place, especially with the riverfront fountains up off to your right! Make sure you get the pouch with magnets tape in put back securely!

Knockin' on Freedoms Door--Coming Soon-Also on the Convention Center, in the piece of art dedicated to Moses and Lucy Pettengill's Underground Railroad home which is now the site for the Convention Center.
Make sure the Velcro and stamp are connected securely and that it is out of sight!

Bradley Braves- Simple silver Velcro'd pouch to the sign on the Convention Center. Stealth is still required!

Remember 9/11- Small black pouch Velcro'd to sign, please make sure you get it fully connected before leaving. If the Velcro is falling apart, let me know Asap, Please!

Soldiers & Sailors- "Box'' is next to the courthouse and on Main St. Extreme Stealth is required! Please make sure you put it back exactly where you found it-wedged between the 2 branches and out of sight!

A Portrait of Mark Train-During the week, especially during lunch, many employees come out to take a break/eat/smoke/ect... Be wise when retrieving/replacing the stamp in the sprinkler!

St. Mary's Cathedral-Park as close as you can to the light post to 'block' some of your view from muggles. Make sure you are not interrupting church go-ers and that you are not seen when finding/replacing this box.

*The only box with a logbook is St. Mary's Cathedral, the rest are just the stamp.

shorty

Help Home > Getting Started

What is the best way to cut LTC's from a 12x12 sheet of paper?

Last Updated: November 10, 2011 09:28:34 AM

You can get 16 LTC's from a 12x12 sheet of paper. You start by cutting the 12x12 into four 5x7s, then cut those into quarters. You'll be left with a small square scrap of paper in the middle of the original sheet. Here's a link to a diagram for this size sheet of paper:

http://csaddicts.wetpaint.com/page/ATC+Cutting+Diagram

Help Home > Letterboxes > LTC

What is a strikeout?

Last Updated: November 8, 2011 11:24:37 AM

When multiple people try to find a box and believe it is missing, they'll record an attempt on the box. Each attempt counts as a 'strike' against the letterbox, and after three consecutive strikes, the box has 'struckout.' By default, most searches on Atlas Quest will not include strikeouts in the search results since most people prefer to avoid boxes with long strings of attempts on them. Search results will show an icon with a baseball next to boxes that have a strikeout.

If you see a box with a strikeout, the only thing that tells you is that, the last three people who looked for the box and recorded the attempt failed to find it. It does not mean the box is missing—just that it has not been found recently.

Strikeout Strikeout Strikeout

Related Questions

If one box in a series has struckout, will it strike out the whole series in a search? No, strikeouts apply to the individual boxes within a series—not the entire series.

How do I know which of my boxes have strikeouts? If you check your logbook plants or logbook attempts, you'll see the strikeout icon on boxes that have struck out. You can only see strikeouts on your own plants and attempts in your own logbook. You will not see the icons in other people's logbooks nor on any other pages of your logbook.

I found a box with three or more attempts on it, but it doesn't have a strikeout. Why? Multiple attempts on the same day only count as one attempt. We don't want one group of people who are looking for a box to be able to strike it out—we want confirmation from at least three different groups of searchers that the box cannot be found.

How can I check if a box has been struckout? Strikeouts will show wherever the series information for a box shows up. You'll find it in the clues and on the box details page next to the status and last found dates.

I checked up on my box and it's still there. How do I take the strikes off my box? From the box details page, click the "Update Status" button near the right side of the page. Mark the box as alive and well, save your changes, and AQ will remove the strikes.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

How do I create an empty blacklist?

Last Updated: November 6, 2011 12:15:27 AM

Create a contact group. You'll probably want to make the group private and give it a name such as "Empty blacklist." Leave the box for group members blank—it wouldn't be empty if you added members to it! If you later choose to add members, you can edit the group to do so.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Help

What do the directional arrows mean?

Last Updated: November 5, 2011 04:51:26 PM

When viewing a traditional letterbox or an event, Atlas Quest will point to the direction of the letterbox or event from where your home location is listed. Atlas Quest will attempt to use your private home location which can be set in your preferences. If no location is listed or it's vague such as somewhere in a state, then AQ will try to use your public location—set in your profile—as your home. If that fails, no directional arrows will be provided.
Arrow Description
None The letterbox or event is exactly where you are!
Unknown The letterbox or event doesn't have a specific enough location to know what direction it is located from your home.
North The letterbox or event is north of your home location.
Northeast The letterbox or event is northeast of your home location.
East The letterbox or event is east of your home location.
Southeast The letterbox or event is southeast of your home location.
South The letterbox or event is south of your home location.
Southwest The letterbox or event is southwest of your home location.
West The letterbox or event is west of your home location.
Northwest The letterbox or event is northwest of your home location.


Help Home > Events & Gatherings

What are boxing buddies?

Last Updated: November 3, 2011 07:19:41 PM

A boxing buddy is a small mascot, usually a small stuffed animal, complete with its own signature stamp and logbook, to travel with you and share in your letterboxing adventures. Sometimes folks like to pretend that they are actually real. This is very fun (especially for kids) and can be a nice way to introduce them to letterboxing.

The log books for buddies vary greatly. Some are very simple and just held together with rings; others have pictures and history and are more"scrapbookie" in nature. Some people stamp right into the buddy's log and others cut out the images that were stamped on the trail and paste them in with some details about the find and perhaps a picture too! You have to remember that the buddy's owner is boxing vicariously through the buddy, so add as much information as possible.

It is also good idea to post the finds on the buddy's page so the owner can follow where he has been. Some buddies have a webpage where you can post your activities and pictures too. The owner will advise you about this.

Boxing Buddies Group
Boxing Buddies Message Board

Help Home > Trackers > Boxing Buddies

What do the icons next to a member's trailname mean?

Last Updated: November 3, 2011 12:58:57 AM

IconMeaning
View Profile Allows you to view this member's profile.
Contact Member Allows you to contact this member.
View Logbook Allows you to view this member's online logbook.
Planted 55 letterboxes Planted 123 letterboxes Trophies represent the number of planted letterboxes. Silver trophies represent between 10 and 99 planted boxes, while gold trophies represent between 100 and 999 boxes. The number on the trophy matches the first digit of the number of planted letterboxes. For example: A silver trophy with the number 5 on it means the person has listed between 50 and 59 letterboxes on Atlas Quest. Another example: A gold trophy with the number 1 on it means the person has listed between 100 and 199 letterboxes on Atlas Quest.
Found 12 letterboxes Found 423 letterboxes Found 2196 letterboxes Ribbons represent the number of found letterboxes. The ribbons are color coded to the numbers on them, then count the number of 'strips' behind the ribbon and add that many zeros after the number. That'll give you a rough idea of how many finds the person has. First, the colors: blue = 1, red = 2, white = 3, yellow = 4, green = 5, pink = 6, purple = 7, brown = 8, light blue = 9. Second, the design: A ribbon with one background strips = x10. With two background strips = x100. With three background strips = x1000. With four background strips = x10000. A couple of examples will help make this more clear: A blue ribbon with one background strip behind it means the person has found between 10 and 19 letterboxes listed on Atlas Quest. (1 x 10 = 10) A yellow ribbon with the two background strips means the member has found between 400 and 499 letterboxes. (4 x 100 = 400) And a red ribbon with three background strips means the member has found between 2,000 and 2,999 letterboxes. (2 x 1000 = 2000) And if all that is just too confusing, just hover your mouse cursor over the ribbon and it'll tell you exactly how many finds the person has. =)
StarsStars represent the number of messages the member has posted to the Atlas Quest message boards. After 25 posts, a member gets a single, yellow star. After 50 posts, they get a second yellow star. And after 75 posts, three yellow stars. Upon their 100th post, the stars begin to change colors. First red, then blue, and finally, after 10,000 posts, they will begin to turn purple. The full cycle is shown below.
25 - 49 message board posts
50 - 74 message board posts
75 - 99 message board posts
100 - 249 message board posts
250 - 499 message board posts
500 - 999 message board posts
1,000 - 2,499 message board posts
2,500 - 4,999 message board posts
5,000 - 9,999 message board posts
10,000 - 24,999 message board posts
25,000 - 49,999 message board posts
50,000+ message board posts
Happily hatched November 11, 2011 This image of an egg about to hatch indicates that the user is new to Atlas Quest and will appear for the first two weeks from the time they signed up.
Profile updated November 11, 2011 An egg wearing sunglasses (for lack of a better image!) means that member has updated their profile within the last seven days. It may be nothing more exciting than adding a favorite food to the profile, or it may be they have filled out their interview!
Last Login: > 2 weeks This member has not logged into Atlas Quest for at least two weeks.
Last Login: > 1 month This member has not logged into Atlas Quest for at least one month.
Last Login: > 3 months This member has not logged into Atlas Quest for at least three months.
Last Login: > 1 year This member has not logged into Atlas Quest for at least one year.
Happy Anniversary! The picture of a cake means this user is celebrating an anniversary—the anniversary of the date they signed up on Atlas Quest!
Resting in Peace This is one icon you will never see next to your name, and you would probably prefer if others did not see it next to your name either since it means you have died. We won't delete your account if we find out about your death, but it lets other people know why you are no longer replying to AQ mail or maintaining your letterboxes. It also means there is a tribute section for you in the letterboxer obituaries.
Those with premium memberships at Atlas Quest get a feather in the cap to recognize their important contribution in helping to fund Atlas Quest. There are a few dozen hats available for premium members to choose, but you'll see a red or yellow feather in their hat regardless of the type they've selected. Additionally, as premium members, they get access to special features not accessible with a free membership. Learn more about the benefits of premium membership and how you can become one too!


Help Home > Atlas Quest

Washington State Parks

Last Updated: November 2, 2011 12:48:37 PM

In order to place a cache on State Parks' property, an individual or organization must obtain a Geocache Placement Permit from State Parks. Any cache located on State Parks' property that does not have a permit on file is subject to removal from its location, and after notification of the owner (if known), may be disposed of within 10 days.

Washington State Parks supports and encourages these recreational activities in state parks as long as participants follow the placement guidelines and you have a current permit. The permits are free and easy to fill out. You can find information and a link to permits by following the link provided:
Washington State Parks Activities . Please fill it out and submit it to the park where your property will be located.

Washington State Parks
Official Policy and Permit Application: Good as of June 6, 2006

Help Home > Land Manager Policies > Washington

How do I add finds for unlisted boxes?

Last Updated: October 15, 2011 05:17:08 PM

Unless you are a premium member, you can't. Being able to list all finds, regardless of whether the letterboxes you've found are listed on Atlas Quest or not, is a premium member perk.

If you are a premium member, or happen to get in on a "free listing day," use the Record Find option from the Letterboxes menubar option. Type in the name of the box you want to add and set the type of letterbox you've found. If you already know the letterbox is not listed on Atlas Quest, do not worry about the author. Finds of unlisted boxes do not track the author of a box, so it won't do any good.

Atlas Quest will first return a list of letterboxes that match your search that are listed on Atlas Quest, but skip below that section for a list of matching letterboxes that people have found that are not listed on Atlas Quest.

If you are the first person to record finding an unlisted letterbox, you'll have to use the "create a new entry yourself" option next to the Unlisted Letterboxes section.

Fill in the rest of the blanks and save your find.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Recording Finds

How do I change which account I want as my Primary account?

Last Updated: October 14, 2011 09:08:17 AM

First, make sure that the account is independent of all other accounts on AQ. If it's a sub-account of an already-existing account, spin it off into an independent account.

Second, start adding other independent accounts as sub-accounts. Accounts that are already a primary account to other sub-accounts or other sub-accounts cannot be added without first being turned into independent accounts.

To spin-off an account, change the "account type" to "spin-off."

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Account Info & Preferences

How do I import a box from another site?

Last Updated: October 11, 2011 07:24:27 PM

First, never list someone else's letterbox on Atlas Quest without their permission. You'll save yourself a lot of grief if you remember this from the very start.

With that disclaimer out of the way, there's no dedicated 'import' feature. You simply list your letterbox like you would any other letterbox with the Add Letterbox option. Type in the name of the letterbox, location, attributes, and so on. The only thing you might do differently if your letterbox is already listed on LbNA or a personal website is the listing of the clue. There no sense in listing duplicate clues, so you can link your listing to your remotely-listed clue.

If your box is listed on LbNA, change the source of the clue to "Letterboxing.org" and type in the box number from that website.

If your box is listed on any other website, select the option for "Other Website" and type in the URL for where your clue is hosted. If you have control of the source HTML, you can surround the actual clue with <!-- aq --> and <!-- aq end --> on lines by themselves and AQ will cache just the clue itself without any navigation bars or other page elements.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Help

What are LTCs?

Last Updated: September 24, 2011 06:12:02 AM

LTCs are Letterboxer Trading Cards.

They are a variant of ATCs or Artist Trading Cards. ATCs are small pieces of artwork created for the sole purpose of trading with other artists. So, LTCs are created with the intention of trading with other letterboxers. The difference is that a LTC must include a stamped image. Most do prefer a hand carved stamp just as they do in the hobby of letterboxing and this is the general consensus. Nothing compares to the authenticity and uniqueness of hand carved. Other embellishments can be used but a LTC as part of the art on the front of the card.

LTCs were suggested on AQ (Atlas Quest) by a letterboxer and became a reality when Mama Cache hosted the first swap. She wrote up the first guidelines and they are still in effect today. You can read about how they came to be and the guidelines on her Letterbox Trading Card page.

LTCs are usually made of card stock or similar heavyweight paper. They measure 2.5" by 3.5" (the size of a baseball card), and can use any medium or combination of media.
Construction paper is a poor choice because of the acid content which will shorten the life of your work. Seek out acid free options to come closer to archival quality (long lasting) art work. Scrapbooking papers and card stocks offer a wide variety of acid free choices. Watercolor papers and some art canvases are also good bases. Cards have been made from a wide variety of base materials such as fabric, fused beads, very thin wood, etc.

LTC Examples



Help Home > Letterboxes > LTC

Is it possible to change the theme displayed on Atlas Quest?

Last Updated: September 1, 2011 07:49:54 PM

The theme is often set to reflect an upcoming holiday or date of significance. The theme may change several times a month. Ryan is always planning and adding new themes to keep things fresh and interesting. If you would prefer to pick your own theme, you can change that from your Preferences Page. If you have manually changed the theme and you want to revert back to the automatically-changes-randomly default, you must return to the Theme Preferences page and choose the clear option.

Users can also create their own themes to use and share with others. Ryan wrote a tutorial for creating websites that includes tips on how to create your own themes.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Account Info & Preferences

How do I solve a clue that uses a cipher or code?

Last Updated: August 28, 2011 12:20:08 PM

That's a good question, and there's not a readily available answer that applies in all situations. It depends on the specific clue and how it was encoded! If you contact the planter of the letterbox, they might tell you exactly what cipher or code was used. If not, a lot of trial and error could be involved. The most common ciphers and codes used in letterboxing clues include:


An Internet search for ciphers and other related terms will pull up all sorts of useful websites with countless codes and ciphers and variations.

Too much work to solve a coded clue? Then don't look for it. Not all letterboxers are intended for everyone's enjoyment. These types of boxes are designed for people who want to work a bit harder to find an elusive box that not many people will likely look for.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals

Is there a Blackberry app for AtlasQuest?

Last Updated: August 24, 2011 12:38:25 AM

Sorry, but no, there are current no Blackberry apps for Atlas Quest at this time. If you are interested in developing one or know someone who is, please have them contact Green Tortuga to access that AQ API.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > PDAs and Cellphones

How does a location based search work?

Last Updated: August 20, 2011 01:34:41 AM

You can run location-based searches in a wide variety of formats: by zip codes, addresses, street intersections, park names, airport codes, and even well known monuments. If all else fails and you have a GPS, you can even search based on specific latitude and longitude coordinates. Examples might help make all of your options more clear. The following list includes some valid searches that can be run using the location based search:


Additionally, the names of a business tend to fail miserably. So searching for Joe's Taco Stand or Madonna Inn will usually not work. Use their addresses or a nearby street intersection instead.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

What is a restricted letterbox?

Last Updated: August 20, 2011 12:50:12 AM

Some people like the ability to restrict a letterbox to a subset of members for various reasons. At this time, letterboxes may be restricted to other members with minimum P or F-counts or to members of specific member groups. Someone can also restrict boxes so only certain people can see the box (a "whitelist")—or even block certain people from not seeing the box (a "blacklist"). The exact restrictions for a letterbox will not be displayed to help prevent abuse. (Some people may try to find a member who meets the requirements and bug them for the clue, for instance.)

The specific reasons aren't important, and different people will have different reasons for the restrictions. Some people might restrict boxes to help insure that search engines can't index them. Others might be wary that someone is targeting their boxes for vandalism. Other boxes might not be appropriate for everyone (perhaps it has an adult-oriented stamp) so the planter might want to insure only specific people or types of people will look for it. It doesn't really matter what the reason is—a restricted box just means you have to meet the restrictions before you can access the clue on Atlas Quest.

If you find a box that is restricted, you won't be able to record finds on it or even find the listing on the Atlas Quest. For all intents and purposes, until you meet the restrictions, it's as if the box isn't listed on Atlas Quest at all. You can record the box as a find on an unlisted box if you are a premium member or wait until the box does show up in your searches once the restrictions are met. Most of the time, the restrictions are quite low. Most restricted boxes require less than 10 finds and 1 plant.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

What is a whitelist and blacklist?

Last Updated: August 17, 2011 04:34:53 PM

Whitelist - restrict your box to anyone on your designated whitelist.

Blacklist - exclude people from seeing your boxes. It works like the whitelist option, but in this case, anyone on your list cannot see the box, event, or tracker. Caveat: you may hurt someone's feelings or anger them if people figure out they are on a blacklist.

There is ONE instance where you might want to make use of the blacklist--and that's a blacklist with nobody in it.

The way AQ works, it has to know who is logged in to know whether or not to display the box, event, or tracker. So if you have a whitelist or blacklist restriction, anyone who is not logged in will not be able to see it.

An empty blacklist essentially means only a logged in member can view your box, event, or tracker.

(Paraphrased from Ryan's blog entry August 4, 2009)

Wait, but couldn't you also do this simply by setting an F or P count?

Not exactly the same. An empty blacklist limits a box to AQ members who are logged in. A P or F-count restrictions limits a box to AQ members who are logged in and meet the restrictions.

Help Home > Glossary Definitions

How do I report a plant that I have made?

Last Updated: August 16, 2011 09:23:28 AM

Plants aren't "reported" per se, but rather listed on Atlas Quest, letterboxing.org, or other websites. To list a letterbox on Atlas Quest, use the Add Letterbox option under the Letterboxes menubar option.

Help Home > Getting Started