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Help: Recent Additions & Changes

  1. The back button on my browser returns me to the top of the page instead of my original position?
  2. What RSS feeds are available on Atlas Quest?
  3. We should have a new attribute for [fill in the blank].
  4. How are blue diamonds assigned to letterboxes?
  5. Why don't I see a box in a search that my friend is able to?
  6. How do I convert a photo into a carvable image?
  7. How can I meet letterboxers in my area?
  8. What do I need to make a postal?
  9. How do you create stealthy containers?
  10. Is there a way to organize or sort my tracker signups?
  11. What is the difference between a postal single and a postal ring?
  12. What should NOT go into a postal?
  13. What is a postal?
  14. I can no longer participate in a postal ring, who can I contact for financial support?
  15. When starting a tracker, who can I contact for advice?
  16. How do I search for trackers that I've signed up for?
  17. Why can't I add a box to a tracker?
  18. How do I sort the participants or boxes of a tracker?
  19. What's a postal tracker?
  20. How do I start or create a tracker?
  21. How can I prevent postals from going missing?
  22. How do I find postals that are open for signups?!
  23. What do I do with my postal once I finish making it?
  24. How can I make a postal?
  25. How can I sign up for a postal?
  26. How do I see the trackers I'm signed up for?
  27. What do the attributes on an 'other' type of box represent?
  28. What do the attributes on an event stamp represent?
  29. What do the icons for stamp types represent?
  30. What do the icons on a virtual represent?
  31. What do the icons on a postal represent?
  32. What do the icons on a personal traveler represent?
  33. What do the icons on an LTC represent?
  34. What do the icons on a hitchhiker represent?
  35. What do the icons stand for in a traditional letterbox?
  36. What do the icons stand for on a cootie?
  37. How do I list a postal bonus box?
  38. How do I add a tracker?
  39. What do the attribute icons for LTC trackers mean?
  40. What do the attribute icons stand for in a postal tracker?
  41. How many pages can I cram in a logbook made with my Bind-It-All?
  42. Is it all right to change my trail name, and how do I do that?
  43. How do I see everyone's profile question answers?
  44. Is there any way to post a letterbox that has TWO planters and TWO authors?
  45. What happens to abandoned letterboxes?
  46. How can I tell if there are any geocaches near the spot I want to hide my letterbox?
  47. Why did the secure login stop working?
  48. What is a BIA?
  49. How do I add more than one photo to an AQ hosted clue?
  50. What's the difference between a Cootie and a Flea?

The back button on my browser returns me to the top of the page instead of my original position?
Last Updated: July 5, 2008 09:08:55 AM

This is a browser issue and not something Atlas Quest has direct control over. Internet Explorer generally will use this sort of behavior while Firefox will take you to the top of the page. (Don't take this as gospel, however, given all the various browsers, versions, operating systems, extensions, and so forth, there could be exceptions.)

The quickest and easiest option, if you do not want to lose your place on a page when opening a new page is to open the new page in a new window or tab. If you right-click a link with your mouse, there should be an option to open the link in a new window or tab. When you finish reading the new page, simply close it and you're back where you started from.

If you use Firefore, you can read Scroll position on web pages not remembered which explains in more detail about the bug. There is an extension called Restore Scroll Position which you can download at http://www.gozer.org/mozilla/extensions/xpi/restorescrollposition.xpi. (Clicking that last link from Firefox will automatically try to install the extension.)

Help Home > Suggestions

What RSS feeds are available on Atlas Quest?
Last Updated: July 2, 2008 02:48:39 PM

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for distributing web content (often news headlines or message posts) to another location of your choice. For most people, it's entirely unnecessary so if you know nothing about RSS or XML, don't worry about it. You aren't really missing anything you can't find on My Page.

But for those who do know what RSS is, these are the feeds currently available:



Help Home > Atlas Quest

We should have a new attribute for [fill in the blank].
Last Updated: July 1, 2008 06:18:03 PM

There have been many suggestions for various attributes, and most of them will never be implemented. One popular suggestion is to have a "winter friendly" attribute, but while that may make sense in Massachusetts, it wouldn't be very useful to someone living in Florida. And one person may think going out in showshoes or cross-country skies makes a box winter friendly while others may feel a winter friendly box should not require such specialized equipment.

So if you suggest an attribute, make sure it's something everyone on Atlas Quest will find useful, and even then attributes where different people are likely to assume different definitions for the same attribute will never be considered.

Additionally, it would not be useful for there to be a list of dozens or even hundreds of attributes. They're effective because they're limited to a small number of the most essential attributes people will likely find the most useful. And finally, attributes that would apply onto only a tiny fraction of boxes (e.g. an icon for boxes that require a GPS device) or attributes that would apply almost universally to all boxes (e.g. an icon for boxes that already include a writing utensil) aren't particularly helpful and therefore have almost no chance of being used.

On a technical note, attributes on Atlas Quest are stored in a byte. Each byte has eight bits, and each bit represents a specific attribute. So at this time, letterbox attributes are limited to a maximum of eight choices, all of which are currently in use for traditional letterboxes. To implement a new attribute, an old attribute will have to be retired, so if your suggestion isn't nearly as useful for people as the existing attributes, it won't fly. It is possible to increase the data size to two bytes, but that takes up more space in the database, more time to process and search through, and 16 options seems a bit overkill for a single letterbox.

All non-traditional boxes have room for additional attributes and therefore suggestions for those types of boxes have a much better shot at being added since they don't have to bump out an existing attribute.

Help Home > Suggestions

How are blue diamonds assigned to letterboxes?
Last Updated: June 30, 2008 03:51:58 PM

Those who find a letterbox have the option of recording their opinion of the letterbox on a scale from 1 to 5. And no, you cannot rate your own letterboxes葉here is too much conflict of interest in allowing that. How you vote will never be exposed publicly. Administrators and webmasters on Atlas Quest can see how you voted if they need to, but that is not likely to happen since they have better things to do with their lives than worry about what you think of other people's letterboxes.

The actual calculations used by Atlas Quest to rank the letterboxes is a secret to discourage people from trying to 'beat the system.' It's not a simple calculation. A variety of factors is taken into account to determine rankings such as the voting history of each finder, their experience level, and even the standard deviation of how everyone voted on a given letterbox.

Once each month, Atlas Quest runs these calculations then assigns blue diamonds to the top 5% of the letterboxes.

Resources
Your Voting Patterns
Record Votes

Help Home > Atlas Quest

Why don't I see a box in a search that my friend is able to?
Last Updated: June 30, 2008 03:42:48 PM

Most likely, that box has restrictions that you do not meet but your friend does. Boxes may be restricted based on official AQ P or F-counts, or limited to specific user groups such as premium members or members who've chosen to be in the pin-up group. Unless you meet the restrictions, it's as if that letterbox is not even listed on Atlas Quest and therefore it will now show up in search results. Treat it like you would any other unlisted letterbox.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Searching

How do I convert a photo into a carvable image?
Last Updated: June 30, 2008 08:17:42 AM

The best tool to help you with this is Photoshop. If you don't own it, find a friend that does and ask them to help you. Other photo editing software such as Paint Shop Pro can be used, but the commands in the following steps may be called something different or found in different locations than on Photoshop.

  1. Choose a photo (color or black and white) with a plain background, preferably with simple details, and擁f necessary耀can it into your computer.
  2. Open the photo in Photoshop. For the most flexible results, make a copy of the photo in a duplicate layer. Press Ctrl+J (Mac: Cmd-J) to jump the image to a new layer. Press the D key to set the foreground and background colors to black and white, their default settings. Then choose Filter > Sketch > Photocopy. Set the Darkness value to its maximum, 50. Then raise the Detail value until you get nice thick edges, typically in the neighborhood of 9 for a 300 pixels per inch (ppi) image.
  3. To merge the lines with the original color image, choose the Multiply mode from the blend mode pop-up menu in the Layers palette. A filthy dirty result appears. Yes, ugly, but we'll clean it up.
  4. The subject will look like it's been smeared with graphite or something, so next do some cleanup. We'll start with the digital equivalent of a vacuum cleaner, and then do some hand-scrubbing. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, enter a Radius of 2.0, and click OK. The result doesn't look any better, but it gives you some gray values that you can trim away with the Levels command.
  5. Choose Image > Adjust > Levels. Increase the first Input Levels value to punch the blacks (make them darker), and then decrease the third value to drop out the whites. Try setting the first and third Input Levels values to 115 and 140 to start with. Click OK to accept the change. This step results in a much cleaner image, but not clean enough.
  6. Use the lasso tool to select the stray dots and pock marks. Then either delete them or make them invisible with a layer mask. You can also use the eraser tool if you like,or the paintbrush with white selected as color. You should expect to spend 10 to 15 minutes on this step. Keep just the most obvious edge outlines. Delete nonessential busy "fuzz".
  7. For reasons that will become increasingly evident as you work through the steps, you need to keep the original image around for reference. But as it stands now, the image competes with the black outlines. To lessen its impact, click the Background layer and make a new layer. Press Ctrl+D (Mac: Cmd-D) to deselect the image. Then press Alt+Backspace (Mac: Cmd-Delete) to fill the entire layer with white. Reduce the Opacity value in the Layers palette to 50 percent to let some of the original image show through.
  8. Now it's time to fill in the shadows with black. The approach is a bit more technical, but it's also vastly more automated. Create another new layer and fill it with black by pressing Alt+Backspace (Mac: Cmd-Delete). Double-click to the right of the black layer's name in the Layers palette to display the Layer Style dialog box. Go down to the last slider bar, which is labeled Underlying Layer. [Look closely - it's there]. Drag the white triangle to the left to force through the lightest colors in the underlying layers. I dragged my triangle until the right-hand value above the slider read 160, meaning that the black covers brightness levels of 160 and darker. That's all there is to this procedure. Click OK to exit the dialog box.

At this point, you have something that vaguely resembles a line drawing traced in velum over a photograph.

When you've cleaned up your image and are happy with the results, ask yourself if it's something that can be carved and looks like what it's supposed to. If so, make the lower layers (white and original color photo layer) invisible by clicking on the eye icon next to the layer. Adjust the size of the image to the size that your stamp will be (Image --> Adjust --> size), and then print it out to transfer to your carving material.

References

Creating a photo-realistic line drawing by Deke McClelland
How to use Adobe® Photoshop® to turn a Digital Picture Into a Rubber Stamp by Pungent Bob


Kodak Easyshare

If you don't have Photoshop, you could try Kodak's Easyshare.
It's free.

Instructions:

1. Open Kodak EasyShare
2. Choose a photo from your collection. It will appear in the middle frame and drag the photo into the "Picture tray" (the right hand frame).
3. Double click the photo that you dragged into the "Picture tray" area
4. Click "Fun Effects" in the top bar
5. Click "Coloring Book" in the left bar
6. Click the "Accept" button
7. Click the "Save" or "Save As" button


GIMP

Another free program is GIMP. It works very well if you want to do multiple stamps to layer them for a realistic photo like image.

1. Open Gimp.
2. Open a picture file that you previously saved.
3. Above the picture, choose Image>Mode>Grayscale. Your picture should be turned black and white.
4. Again, above the picture, choose Colors>Posterize. The default is three layers. Your picture will turn black, white and gray.
5. Adjust the Posterize Levels until you are happy with your image. Remember that you will have to carve one fewer stamps than the number of levels because you do not need to carve a stamp for the white. For 6 layers, you would need to carve 5 stamps.

Help Home > Carving & Mounting Stamps

How can I meet letterboxers in my area?
Last Updated: June 26, 2008 10:12:26 AM

First, start communicating with other letterboxes though websites such as this or the LbNA talk lists容specially boards dedicated for the region you live. Atlas Quest has boards for every state and province in the United States and Canada along with a message board for every country supported. Many of the busiest regional boards are on the Yahoo Groups! talk list and new ones seem to pop up all the time including boards for the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes area, New England, and others.

In addition to the AQ boards for states and provinces, one of the best comprehensive lists of regional talk lists elsewhere can be found on Silent Doug's website. See http://www.letterboxing.info/ (then "Links" section for "Discussion" and "Regional" Groups.) Most are Yahoo Groups! and you'll probably need to join the group to view all contents and post. To thwart spammers, some groups may have been set up to moderate first postings, so be patient if you try to post and nothing happens right away.

Additionally, when you find a letterbox, e-mail those responsible for planting the letterbox and fill them in on the status of it. It's a great way to introduce yourself and start forming connections with the letterboxing community.

The next step is to hide letterboxes yourself. Thousands of people letterbox, but the vast majority never hide a box. When people start looking for your boxes and either cuss your clever clues or rejoice at finally finding your box, they'll remember you. =) They'll also frequently e-mail you to give you updates about your box.

And finally, go to letterboxing events. Events and gatherings occur all over the United States and recently even started happening in Canada. Invariably you will meet some of the very people you've been talking to through e-mail and message boards and finally be able to put a face to the name.

On rare occasions, you might bump into other letterboxers on the trail. You'll recognize them because they will usually all be studying a piece of paper and acting 'suspicious.' When confronted, they will usually offer some lame excuse about looking for mushrooms or bird watching. Don't be fooled葉hey're letterboxers in disguise. Bumping into letterboxers on the trail is fairly rare, however, and it is possible to go months or even years without ever crossing paths with another letterboxer on the trail.

Help Home > Events & Gatherings

What do I need to make a postal?
Last Updated: June 23, 2008 09:00:36 AM

You need a stamp and logbook. just like traditional ones. You can also have a postal tracker which is an mascot that goes around the world (bb)

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How do you create stealthy containers?
Last Updated: June 20, 2008 02:56:32 PM

Camouflage:

There are different ways to make your container more stealthy and ultimately less likely to get found by accident or mistaken for trash.

Pre-made boxes:

Dixie has pre-made containers for sale, using Krylon Fusion Camo Paints.

Discussions and articles:



Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals > Planting

Is there a way to organize or sort my tracker signups?
Last Updated: June 19, 2008 12:11:46 AM

Hover your mouse over the "My Page" menu item and select "My trackers". On the bottom of the "active trackers" list on the left side of the screen, click the "my trackers" link. This will bring up a complete list of trackers you've signed up for.

Click on each individual tracker and on the main page there's a drop down "your status" bar. This can be changed to your own personal liking. For my LTC trackers, I use "active" for cards I still need to make, "waiting" for cards I've made and sent to the hostess but haven't received the cards back and "completed" for swaps that are done and returned. You can use these statuses however you see fit and their meaning may be different based on the type of tracker this is.

Go through each of your trackers and make sure they're set to the status you want. (Don't forget to update the status on each of your trackers as they progress). Once the status on all of your trackers is set, your "active trackers" list will be storted in order of launch date. So the LTC swaps or postals that are due the soonest will be at the top of the list. That's the only way you can sort this list.

But, if you click at the "my trackers" link near the bottom of the active trackers list, you'll get a list of all the trackers you're signed up for. From there, in the top right corner, there's an "edit search" link, click that and you can change the sort to whatever you want. Plus change any other options you want, like select "LTC trackers". Once you have all the options set, click "search" and when that next list comes up, click "save search" and name it something you'll remember. Then, next time you want this info, just go to "My page" and the search option will be in your top right corner of "my searches" and you can run it anytime.

Help Home > Trackers

What is the difference between a postal single and a postal ring?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:13:12 AM

In a postal ring, each recipient makes a postal. So instead of one box going around to a handful of people, every person involved in the list gets a box created by everyone else. Postal rings are often built around a theme, such as games, books, pets, or movies and each person's stamp and logbook must relate to that theme.

A successful ring usually has a list of participants with their addresses arranged in any order the ring creator decides. Each participant sends out the postal that they receive to the same person on the list. For example, let's say Fred, Joe, and Andy are in all participants in the same ring. The postal Fred made would be sent to Joe. Joe's box would go to Andy, and Andy's box would go to Fred. After they have all stamped in, they each mail the boxes back out again in the same order. Fred would have the box that Andy made, and would send it out to Joe. Joe would have the box that Fred made, and would send it out to Andy. Andy would have the box Joe made, and would send it out to Fred. And the process repeats until everyone in the ring has received all of the postals that make up the ring and the postals finally return to the original owners.

As you can see擁n the case of Fred, Joe, and Andy容ach person paid for shipping three separate times. Be sure that if you get involved with a postal ring that you can afford the shipping costs of however many participants are involved! If 15 people are signed up in the ring, you will need to pay shipping for 15 different postals. It can get expensive if you aren't careful.

Help Home > Trackers > Postal Trackers

What should NOT go into a postal?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:11:13 AM

Do not put these items into a postal:


Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

What is a postal?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:10:26 AM

A postal, often referred to as a PLB (short for Postal LetterBox) is a stamp and logbook mailed from person to person. A postal should contain a stamp (usually handmade) and a logbook (often handmade). Sometimes, the creators of a postal include extra goodies容ither for the recipient to use while they have the box or to keep such as key chains, certificates, small toys, stickers or pictures, but putting extra items in the box is by no means required.

The box itself is usually not a plastic container, as in the case of traditional letterboxes. Some people use padded envelopes, some people use cardboard boxes, and some people use tubular containers. A postal is limited by only your imagination.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

I can no longer participate in a postal ring, who can I contact for financial support?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:08:36 AM

Contact Littlemonkey or Kaaren of DavidandKaaren. They'd be happy to send you a prepaid box and get the postals to their proper owners. There is no shame in asking for help, just the fact that you ask is awesome]

Larva Lady of the Zelie Zips will be willing to help as well.

Help Home > Trackers > Postal Trackers

When starting a tracker, who can I contact for advice?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:06:59 AM

Some experienced previous ring leaders to contact include:
mudflinginfools
Hales Angels
Autumn Whispers
Nitrocat
Turtlelove
HG of the Shoebee Crew(Happy Gemini)
Littlemonkey (open for any questions, but be warned I tend to babble :) (I do write my directions for 5 year olds too...step 1 turn on the computer...woohoo!)
Trekkie Gal
Larva Lady of the Zelie Zips

Help Home > Trackers

How do I search for trackers that I've signed up for?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:02:55 AM

The easiest way is to go to your logbook and change the 'Letterbox Action' pull-down box to Tracker. Alternately, the tracker's Advanced Search page includes an option to return only trackers that you have signed up for.

Help Home > Trackers

Why can't I add a box to a tracker?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 11:01:04 AM

Most of the time, it's because you aren't supposed to. A singleton postal or LTC tracker, for instance, is an organizational method where only the owner of the tracker can add boxes.

Additionally, remember that the type of box must match the type of tracker. Only postals can be added to a postal tracker, only LTCs can be added to an LTC tracker, and only other boxes can be added to an other tracker.

Help Home > Trackers

How do I sort the participants or boxes of a tracker?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:57:56 AM

The owner of the tracker can add or sort the participants from the 'Edit Tracker' option on the tracker details page. Boxes in a tracker cannot be sorted manually, however Atlas Quest will auto-sort them based on the person who owns the box so they show up in the same order as the participant list which is what most people intuitively expect anyhow.

Help Home > Trackers

What's a postal tracker?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:53:30 AM

A postal tracker is a listing of boxes and people. It is most often used for rings, but has been used for singles. Postal trackers make it easier to see all of the boxes in a ring and there for making it easier to log finds. When a new tracker is listed it is advisable to reorder the tracker so that people are not confused by where the boxes are.

Help Home > Trackers > Postal Trackers

How do I start or create a tracker?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:52:46 AM

The short answer: Use the Add Trackers link, which you can find on the My Trackers page, which is found under the My Page menubar option.

The long answer: You'll likely get a hundred different answers if you ask a hundred different people. Some people will suggest announcing it to the appropriate message board (either Postals, Letterboxer Trading Cards board, or Boxing Buddies, for instance)—especially if signups are slow. Others will give you advice about how many people you should allow in your tracker, or how to organize and keep track of everything. Once the tracker is listed, however, do what feels right to you. There is no one right way to run a tracker (although some might argue there are many incorrect ways to run one!) One good piece of advice, however, is to sign up for a couple of other trackers to get a better sense of how they work and what to expect before creating one of your own.

Help Home > Trackers

How can I prevent postals from going missing?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:48:07 AM

Sad but true, some postals go missing. A postal with many signups can take up to a year or more to reach all of those signed up for it. In that time, people move, leave the hobby altogether, become overwhelmed, or suffer a change in their personal circumstances that inhibits continued participation. An address that accumulates many postals, that do not get sent on, becomes known as a "black hole." Just like with placing a box in the wild, loss is one of the risks of the hobby.

There are some techniques for decreasing missing postals. You can limit the number of initial signups to decrease the time period, then send it out again for more. Some postal creators will only send special postals to people they already know. One of the best methods is to ask each person write to you, after they receive the box, for the next destination's address. You then write the next recipient to confirm both the correct address at the time of the mailing, and that the recipient is ready and still interested. This is much better than sending out a long list of addresses, one of which may go stale by the time their turn comes up. But it does take more work on your part. If you track via AQ it is easier. You get a note when the recipient logs the find, which reminds you to send a confirmation note to the next signup on the Postal Tracker list.

In a postal ring, the ring organizer should keep track of the postals' progress around the ring and be alert for pile ups. Ring participants should pay attention to the status of the person they send to. Both can monitor the progress via postal trackers with the receipt grid. If boxes accumulate at one address, and are not moving on, you should politely bypass that address until it is resolved. You can always catch up later. However, make sure that you communicate with the ring leader about how you're handling a situation.

If postals do get held up, and the recipient is not responding, sometimes the best approach is to be very polite and encouraging, assume that something has happened beyond their control, and politely ask if you can help. Life happens to all of us. Some postals have been recovered after sending prepaid, easily returned envelopes or boxes to the problem address.

Unfortunately, postals also do sometimes become lost in the mail. It is a very good idea to write your address on the logbook with the words Return Postage Guaranteed. Some ring leaders and box owners will require delivery confirmation so that boxes can be traced if they are lost.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How do I find postals that are open for signups?!
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:42:55 AM

Besides watching the Postals message board closely for new announcements, the Advanced Search page for trackers will get you everywhere. A tracker is Atlas Quest's way of keeping track of postals (among other options) sent among a group of people. Narrow down your search so only open and limited postal trackers that are still available show up. Currently available postal trackers

The results page will display the status of the tracker. Those marked as open are available for anyone to sign themselves up, and those listed as limited means that spots are open, but you must contact the owner of the tracker to be included. Closed trackers are still active but no longer accepting new participants, and retired trackers are already over.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

What do I do with my postal once I finish making it?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:34:45 AM

First, decide how many people you want to mail your box to. Be aware that the more people you mail your postal to, the longer it will take for the box to come back home to you. Shipping can take up to 2 weeks between recipients. In addition, a postal that has a long list of recipients has a better chance of getting lost in the mail, accidentally misplaced or forgotten about by a recipient, or sent to the wrong address (perhaps because a recipient moved and forgot to notify you of their new address). Because these types of accidents can happen, the creator of a postal often asks the recipients to use USPS delivery confirmation or check-in with them via e-mail upon receiving a postal. If the creator of the postal knows the last location of the box and where it is headed next, then they have a better chance of making corrections to addresses or other modifications to the recipient list.

Next, you list your box on Atlas Quest as a postal, just like you would a traditional letterbox. You can use the section for clues to leave instructions for recipients to e-mail you their postal address and trail name. Once you have listed your postal, go to the Postals message board and post a message about your box. Your post can include any information about the postal that you want to list. You can also list it on the Yahoo Groups postal talk list.

Once your sign up list is full and you have everyone's postal addresses, create a list with the order that recipients should receive your postal. Some people go from east to west across the United States, and other people make a list in the order that recipients signed up. Print the list and include it in the box so people will know who to send it to after them, or else ask recipients to e-mail you as they receive the box to get the next person's address. By asking the recipients to e-mail you, it is easier to track the box and you won't be passing around everyone's address among recipients. Be sure to include delivery instructions such as delivery confirmation, first class mail, or priority mail in the postal box so that the recipients will know what method of shipping to use to mail the box. Then seal the box well and mail it to the first recipient.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How can I make a postal?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:32:11 AM

Once you decide on a theme for your postal, carve or purchase your stamp and prepare your logbook. Because this box won't need to withstand the same elements as a traditional letterbox in the wild, you can experiment with unusual logbook construction techniques, papers, sizes and more. When creating a stamp and logbook for your postal, size is not as important as it would be with a traditional letterbox that must be hidden in public places.

Do keep in mind, however, the more weight you add to the box, the more expensive it becomes to ship. Many postal participants strive to keep the weight reasonable so that shipping is affordable to all recipients. Generally, if a box is heavier and more expensive to mail, it's a good idea to let potential recipients know that information before they sign up and to mark the heavy attribute when listing the postal.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How can I sign up for a postal?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:26:25 AM

Usually, the owner of a postal will create a [/aboutlb/wiki/browse.html?gCatId=41 tracker] for it indicating if it's part of a ring or just a single and any rules or restrictions associated with the postal. Sometimes they may post a message on the Postals message board or on the Yahoo Groups Postal Letterboxing talk list asking for participants. When you see one of these messages, read it thoroughly to make sure you want to participate, then follow the creator's instructions to sign up for the box. The creator will then typically send you a confirmation e-mail with additional instructions for the postal and what to do next.

In addition, you can also request to be added to the Newbie Pool for new Postals by emailing Littlemonkey. The Newbie Pool is a pool of postals used for the express purpose of introducing people to postals. Signing up for the pool requires only that you provide your trail name, real name, mailing address, and an e-mail to contact you. You will NOT be required to make a PLB for the pool- it is not a 'ring' in that sense. Two or three other 'newbies' will be in the pool with you, as well as an experienced mentor, and you will each receive a few postals that you will pass amongst yourselves to 'experience' what postals are all about. After you 'graduate' from the Newbie Pool, you should be more than ready to fully participate in postals!

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How do I see the trackers I'm signed up for?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 10:17:55 AM

Hover your mouse over the "My Page" menu option in the top right corner. Select the "My trackers" option. The left side of the screen title "Active Trackers" will display all the trackers you are involved with that you have marked as "active". At the bottom of this list, you can also click on "Waiting trackers" to see a list of trackers that you've changed your personal status to "waiting", or click the "My trackers" link at the bottom to see a complete list of your trackers, regardless of your current status.

Help Home > Trackers

What do the attributes on an 'other' type of box represent?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 12:10:07 AM

Stamp Types

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


Help Home > Letterboxes > Others

What do the attributes on an event stamp represent?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 12:08:55 AM

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.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Event Stamps

What do the icons for stamp types represent?
Last Updated: June 18, 2008 12:01:21 AM

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.


Help Home > Letterboxes

What do the icons on a virtual represent?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:41:35 PM

Stamp Types

AttributeDescription
The creator promises you'll find a genuine, 100% hand-carved stamp in the final solution
The solution uses a custom-made stamp.
The solution uses a store-bought stamp rather than a hand-carved or custom-made stamp.
The owner painted, drew, sketched, or used some sort of physical medium to create the artwork used in the solution.
The owner created a unique image with computerized tools such as Paint Shop Pro.
The solution uses a photo they took, probably with the help of a digital camera.
The solution uses a photo that was taken from a public website—often referred to as a 'drive-by' virtual since it takes little effort or creativity to use.

Attributes

AttributeDescription
Interactive virtuals typically require personal websites that use some sort of feedback to help someone narrow down a solution. (Can anyone give a better definition here, please?!)
Solving these virtuals require looking up information in books or something in the non-Internet world.
You'll probably have to solve a cryptogram or some other mentally challenging task to solve this virtual.
If you solve these virtuals, the solution will give you a clue to a real, live letterbox! Woo-who!


Help Home > Letterboxes > Virtuals

What do the icons on a postal represent?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:26:54 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
If a postal weighs one pound or more, it gets this icon so people realize it might cost a bit more to snail mail.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

What do the icons on a personal traveler represent?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:25:18 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 trail-only personal traveler means you must find the owner while on the trail in order to nab the stamp.
A limited time traveler means you better get the stamp soon, because it won't be around much longer!
The brain represents a mental challenge, perhaps research ahead of time or a tricky puzzle to be solved.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Personal Travelers

What do the icons on an LTC represent?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:20:09 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 card is a one-of-kind LTC.
The listing is a set with limited numbers.
There are essentially an unlimited number of cards for this set or more will be made as necessary.

Attributes

AttributeDescription
The stamp used for the LTC has been previously used in some other box, and not necessarily another LTC.
The cards are unusually thick, perhaps because of beads or buttons glued to it or because the cards folds open, and otherwise may not lie flat.


Help Home > Letterboxes > LTC

What do the icons on a hitchhiker represent?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:02:45 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.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Hitchhikers

What do the icons stand for in a traditional letterbox?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:01:32 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.
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.

Attributes

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 eyesite 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.
An urban letterbox, as defined here, is located in an area where one is unlikely to experience "The Great Outdoors". 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用erfect for those cold, wet days when you really do not want to go outside.
A kid friendly letterbox, as defined on this website, is one easily accessible by kids from ages 6 to 12. The clue should be simple enough for them to understand and the trail should be easy enough for them to walk.
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.
You'll be expected to use your head on this one in order to decipher the clue. The code might be easy or hard葉his image promises nothing on that count葉he 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 maintenance, 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.
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用robably a parking or entrance fee擁n 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.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals

What do the icons stand for on a cootie?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 11:01:16 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 flea can also be planted in traditional letterboxes like a hitchhiker if there aren't any letterboxers around to be cootied.
A thumbprint signature means you stamp in with your thumbprint, then use a pen to turn it into some sort of picture.


Help Home > Letterboxes > Cooties

How do I list a postal bonus box?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 10:25:14 PM

List it as a regular postal, adding the word Bonus to the end of the name and mark the status as unavailable. Once you join a ring, you can add the bonus box—but be sure the owner of the postal tracker approves before doing so.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Postals

How do I add a tracker?
Last Updated: June 17, 2008 08:12:59 PM

You can add a tracker for Postals, LTCs, Boxing Buddies, and Others by hovering your mouse over the My Page heading, clicking My Trackers, and clicking the Create Tracker link.

Help Home > Trackers

What do the attribute icons for LTC trackers mean?
Last Updated: June 10, 2008 10:19:54 AM

Subtypes

AttributeDescription
A singleton a single LTC card that the tracker owner has available for distribution. Only the tracker's owner can add cards to the tracker.
An LTC swap is an efficient way to trade many cards with many people. Each participant in the tracker provides enough cards for everyone else in the tracker. The cards are usually sent to the tracker owner, who redistributes the cards and mails them back, making sure each person receives one of everyone else's card. Everyone in the tracker is expected to add their own LTC to the tracker.
No subtype is the wild, wild west of LTC trackers. It's not a singleton nor a swap, which are the most common organizations, but what it is is anyone's guess. There may be strange and unusual rules involved, so read the description of the tracker closely to see if it's someone you want to get involved with. Anyone can add their own boxes to such a tracker.


Help Home > Trackers > LTC Trackers

What do the attribute icons stand for in a postal tracker?
Last Updated: June 10, 2008 10:07:45 AM

Subtypes

AttributeDescription
A postal single is a single postal box that will be mailed to a group of people, one at a time. Only the owner of the tracker may add boxes容veryone else is just along for the ride.
A postal ring is a concept where each person who joins the ring contributes a postal to be mailed in a circular fashion. Person A mails a postal to Person B who mails to Person C, and eventually returns to them from Person Z. All members of a postal ring can add boxes, but they can only add postals that have them as the listed owner. The ring leader may add postals from anyone.
No subtype is the wild, wild west of postal trackers. It's not a single nor a ring, which are the most common organizations, but what it is is anyone's guess. Any participant can add postals they own, and the tracker's owner can add any postal they need to, much like a postal ring, but the organization of who mails what to whom may not follow conventional rules of rings.


Help Home > Trackers > Postal Trackers

How many pages can I cram in a logbook made with my Bind-It-All?
Last Updated: June 9, 2008 05:29:46 PM

It depends on what wire size you are using and the weight of the paper in the cover and pages. The table below has some basic guidelines. If you are using heavier stock for covers, remember to subtract some pages to accommodate the cover.

Wire SizePaper Type/WeightCover MaterialApproximate Max Page Count
3/8"index cardsmat board10
3/8"20lb (standard copy paper) 20
1/2"60 weight paperplastic gift/credit cards40
1/2"index cardsmat board40
1/2"index cardsfancy paper w/cereal box backing 50
1/2"20lb (standard copy paper) 100
3/4"index cards 50-70
3/4"20lb (standard copy paper) 100-140
1 1/4"index cards 110
1 1/4"20lb (standard copy paper) 220


Help Home > Tools of the Trade

Is it all right to change my trail name, and how do I do that?
Last Updated: June 4, 2008 08:11:43 PM

Most people end up changing their trail name at least once, because when they first get into letterboxing they pick the nearest available stamp, usually store bought, and make up a trail name that goes with the stamp. After you've been letterboxing for a while, and decide you are going to continue with it, they realize their name and/or stamp isn't a perfect fit, and many times they have the desire to carve their signature stamp.

I advise you to think carefully to find the name that will be the perfect fit before you make the change, so you won't need to change again for a long time.

When you're ready to make the change, hover over "my page" and choose "account info". You can change your trailname there. All references to your trail name on Atlas Quest will change when you change your name. This includes all of your posts, boxes, emails, and find reports in other people's logbooks. You will keep your planted and found counts. Your former trail name will appear on your profile as an alias.

Be prepared that nobody will know who you are. Some people will have difficulty recording finds on your boxes. You should send emails to all participants of every postal and LTC tracker that you are a member of, as well as to your friends. You should make an announcement on the boards of your new trail name, and for at least a couple of weeks, you should sign posts with both the old and new trail names. Even then, you will find the suddenly confused people who somehow missed the announcements and think that you are a new friend rather than an old one.

Help Home > Etiquette, Conventions, and Rules

How do I see everyone's profile question answers?
Last Updated: June 3, 2008 08:12:22 AM

Answers that Atlas Quest letterboxers have submitted in their profile questions can be found here.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Profiles

Is there any way to post a letterbox that has TWO planters and TWO authors?
Last Updated: May 31, 2008 03:20:07 PM



Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals > Planting

What happens to abandoned letterboxes?
Last Updated: May 28, 2008 09:24:52 PM

For a box to qualify as abandoned, the owner of the letterbox must not have logged into Atlas Quest for at least one full year. About one month before their boxes go up for adoption, Atlas Quest will try to send an e-mail to the owner to notify them of their seemingly abandoned status and the fact that the boxes will be put up for adoption unless they log into their AQ account soon. Keeping your contact information up-to-date will help insure you receive such notifications.

Any letterbox without a designated owner can be adopted. This can happen because the original owner can no longer maintain the letterbox and has opened it up for someone else to adopt or, more often, Atlas Quest has determined that the original owner has abandoned the letterbox and puts it up for adoption adoption so it will not become litter.

Once a box has been adopted, the original owner can reclaim full ownership of their boxes at any time.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Adding/Editing Letterboxes

How can I tell if there are any geocaches near the spot I want to hide my letterbox?
Last Updated: May 28, 2008 11:59:16 AM

  1. go to http://www.geocaching.com
  2. click on "Hide & Seek a Cache"
  3. do a search by zip code
  4. at the top of the search page that comes up, there's a link to 'Search for caches with Google Maps'.
Click on the link to get a map that will show you all nearby geocaches. Here's an example of a map for zipcode: 92802 (Disneyland California)

Caveat: if there are nearby mystery/puzzle caches (? icon) or multi-caches (double cache icon), you won't know where the final cache or all the stages are located (you'll only see the starting point of the mystery or multi). The rule for mystery/puzzle caches are, the posted coordinates should be no more than 1-2 miles (2-3 kilometres) away from the true cache location. There is no proximity rule for multi-caches except that the stages and final must not be closer than .1 miles from another cache or stage in a multi.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Traditionals > Planting

Why did the secure login stop working?
Last Updated: May 28, 2008 11:53:44 AM

For some strange reason, occasionally Atlas Quest has a hiccup and the secured pages stops working. This includes the secure login page, the account info page, and the registration page, all of which use Secure Socket Layers (SSL) to insure your password is not transmitted openly.

Don't panic--you can still use the insecure login, though admittedly your password will be sent over the Internet without being encrypted. This is probably not an issue for most people since it's very unlikely that anyone seeing your password will try to hack into your Atlas Quest account, but the possibility is there.

When this problem happens, a webmaster needs to restart the web server, so contact a webmaster to let them know the secure login stopped working and the web server needs to be restarted. Usually the problem will be identified and fixed within a few minutes to a few hours.

There are no insecure versions of the registration or account info pages, so you will have to wait until the server is restarted before you can make use of those two pages.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Registering & Logging In

What is a BIA?
Last Updated: May 27, 2008 03:58:12 PM

BIA's refer to Zutter Bind-It-All machined logbooks.

Help Home > Glossary Definitions

How do I add more than one photo to an AQ hosted clue?
Last Updated: May 27, 2008 08:49:59 AM

You have several options. Atlas Quest will accept just one picture for the clue, but you can do anything you want with that picture. Using your favorite photo editing program, you can merge several photos into a single photo that can be uploaded.

Another option is to host the pictures somewhere else, then link to the photos from your clue.

Or, of course, you can also create your own website and use all the photos you need.

Help Home > Atlas Quest > Adding/Editing Letterboxes

What's the difference between a Cootie and a Flea?
Last Updated: May 21, 2008 02:33:05 PM

A flea is a non-restricted form of a cootie. Where cooties must be passed from person-to-person, fleas are a little easier to... "get rid of." You can plant fleas in letterboxes like hitchhikers, or on a person like a traditional cootie. You can log in with a thumbprint signature or use your signature stamps.

Help Home > Letterboxes > Cooties