Hey, all!

I've decided to make a rather substantial change in the way new box notifications happen for a number of reasons. How does this affect you?

In a nutshell, new box notifications will no longer be mailed out immediately. Instead, a summary of all new boxes that match your search(es) will be mailed out each night.

I've tested the code on my own favorite searches and it seems to work well enough, but there are SOOO many variations with searches, I can't check every possible combination. If you find any boxes showing up as favorite searches in your notifications (or some that were listed but are not showing up), please let me know. =)

In a nutshell, starting at midnight (pacific time), AQ will run through every favorite search that's set for notifications, one at a time, checking for matches against all boxes listed the previous day. If matches are found, you'll get an AQ mail. The name of the search being matched will be in the title, and all new boxes that match will be included in the body of the message. If you have multiple searches, you'll get a different AQ mail for each search that has matches.

At least that's the way things are supposed to work. Let me know if it does not seem to work correctly for you, though. =)

So why the change?

• If you want notifications for new virtuals (for instance), you'll get no more than one AQ mail per day instead of dozens or hundreds (!!!) of them as each one is listed.
• It generates fewer AQ mail messages, which is good for keeping the database small and running fast. =)
• For technical reasons, I wasn't able to match clue searches with the previous system, but I can make it work correctly with this system.
• The new system uses significantly less code, and should be less prone to bugs and problems (in the long run--in the short term, any change can cause problems!) Less code is just good, since there will be fewer bugs and less code I have to test.

So there you have it. =)

Happy trails!

-- Ryan

Oh, almost forgot--another benefit with the change: It means if people add a box, then immediately edit it or delete it (at any point during the day), the matches will match the edited box--not how it was originally (incorrectly) listed. =)

-- Ryan

Thanks GT! :) But should not you be either sleeping or walking?;) T

But should not you be either sleeping or walking?;)

At this time of night, I should be sleeping. =)

-- Ryan

oh my, does this guy ever quit? At least there is no such thing as virtual 'toe jam'.
thank you Ryan.

I LOVE IT !!!!

Did not see this post until after I read my mail and got the new mail notification

Great change !

THANKS ....... now get to walking !

Holly

Oooooh! This is really nice. I generally prefer summary and digest mailings to a gazillion of individual notices. Thanks Ryan! :) Though it did take me a minute to figure out why I was getting mail from myself....

-AG

Yeah, the mail from myself was a bit confusing this morning. I do like the change. Anything to cut down on the amount of e-mail in my inbox.

Knit Wit

Hmmm, less e-mails AND they're already sorted and organized. Very cool! Thank you!!!

Florida Sunsets

PS. How do you like this little cold snap we're having?

PS. How do you like this little cold snap we're having?

I don't know about Ryan, but I would rather have a cold snap than a heat wave when hiking. Less drinking of questionable water at least.

Larva Lady/ZZ

Love it Ryan....thanks!

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

Love it !

Thanks, Ryan!

MLR

Wow, what a change! I was wondering what was going on when I opened my inbox....neat stuff Ryan, AND while in the 'wilderness' of Florida!!!!!

Jaxx

Yes, this is VERY nice! Thanks, Ryan! 8~D
BL47

Great update!

Thanks!

Box Hunters

Ohhhh! This new email feature is cool! Thank you, Ryan

So why the change?

• If you want notifications for new virtuals (for instance), you'll get no more than one AQ mail per day instead of dozens or hundreds (!!!) of them as each one is listed.
• It generates fewer AQ mail messages, which is good for keeping the database small and running fast. =)
• For technical reasons, I wasn't able to match clue searches with the previous system, but I can make it work correctly with this system.
• The new system uses significantly less code, and should be less prone to bugs and problems (in the long run--in the short term, any change can cause problems!) Less code is just good, since there will be fewer bugs and less code I have to test.

I've found an issue (and maybe it's just me...) with this new way of notifications:
If I have two or more searches set up that overlap qualities--which I do--then I end up getting two or more (however many searches the box fits) notifications in my inbox.
Used to be that I only got ONE notification on a new box that fit more than one search! And now I'm getting three notifications for one box!

Is there a way to fix that?

thanks!
Wander Woman

I also get notifications of my own boxes....???

If I have two or more searches set up that overlap qualities--which I do--then I end up getting two or more (however many searches the box fits) notifications in my inbox.... Is there a way to fix that?

Stop having overlapping searches? =)

But seriously, there's not really an easy way to prevent multiple notifications if you have overlapping searches. It used to be that AQ would find all searches that matched a box, and if more than one match came from the same person, it would only send out the one notification. I've reversed it now so that searches are run, one at a time, and any matches found are sent out as notifications. There's not really any easy way to merge the match searches this way, though.

If multiple notifications bother you, you should really consider ways of reducing the overlaps. In most cases, you shouldn't be having a lot of overlaps to begin with.

As for notifications of your own box plants.... that's to be expected unless your search explicitly hides your plants. It does match your search, after all. You can edit your search to hike your plants and the notifications of your own boxes should stop. (If you still get notifications even though your plants are hidden, I'll have to look into that, but I'm at a library and can't do that now.)

-- Ryan

I had a notification of my own plant on a search called "Close to Home" . It is set to ignore my plants and my found boxes...
~Mrs. V

thanks GT....I figured I'd have to adjust my searches :) I think I can handle that without too much pain ;)

Green Tortuga, after hiking a few miles to many, said: ...You can edit your search to hike your plants...

That's a good one!

Key Note Sneakers

hehehe

The poor boy does have hiking on the brain