I print out the images on mine and take them to a local library that has a xerox machine that uses toner. 10 cents for each copy. The local mailbox/UPS place also has a toner using xerox machine. I use those images for the acetone transfer.

Then I just use the other side of the original images from my printer to print clues so I'm not wasting paper.

as others have mentioned the rating is purely subjective as to the experience of the finder. me, i have never ever rated a box, nor do i intend to ever do so.

why? because i am thrilled to find any box. i am particularly fond of a good mystery with a totally awesome carve, and there are some truly some magnificent carvers out there. but you know what else thrills me? to find that carve by an 8 year old hidden 5 feet down a trail in a town park.

to me it is the fact that someone, often unknown or who i will never meet in person, bought the materials to plant a stamp (either store bought or hand carved) scored a container to put said stamp in. then proceeded to go plant it, come home and take the time to write out the clues and post them for others to find. think about it........ how cool is that?

who am i to judge what the rating of that box should be? i would like to believe that the person doing the planting is proud of their plant. i for one am grateful they planted.

smile

Can I agree more than once?

The planter has no idea how you rated something unless you tell them, so don't tell them. And if they demand to know how you voted, you can always fib to make them happy.

There's no hard and fast rule about how to rate a box. It's simply your opinion, on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1 being super-duper and 5 being super-lame).

You can see some statistics about your votes on the Rating Statistics page, which might give you some thoughts about your votes and how they compare to how other people vote.

-- Ryan

AQ ignores the ratings for attempts, so I wouldn't worry about that. ;o)


It's actually the other way around, but when you record the find, it's more obvious since 1 is labeled "worst" (in red) and 5 is labeled "best" (in green).

I'm thinking I might change them to stars, though, with 1 star being the worst and 5 being the best since that's so common and I think people mix it up. (If the scale was from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, I wonder if that would cause so much confusion?)

-- Ryan

Isn't the rating scale the opposite? 1= worst, 5= best?

Huh... Well, that doesn't apply to all of my plants. I am proud of some of them, but others.... not so much. =)

-- Ryan

For everyone saying that the planter doesn't know how you rated the box, there is a small exception to that. If the box in question had a blue diamond, and the finder rated it low, the diamond would disappear, and the planter would know. Years ago, we ran into a group of boxers who would rate each others boxes with all 5s, no matter what, to get those diamonds. When a real rating bumped the diamond off, they would get pretty mad.

Im horrible, I never remember to rate a box. I think I did it once or twice because for some reason I remembered to do it.

However, I would never rate a box low though. The fact that someone carved or even purchased a stamp, then spent time writing the clues, planting the box (even if its a drive by), I always appreciate the effort. 👍

Keep in my mind, someone could be new or doesn't plant that often, there is a huge learning curve on writing clues and planting. I found the more I planted, the better I got at writing clues. (well, at least I think i did) 🤔

Some people might guess who voted a box low, but they really don't know for certain. There are too many factors involved for anyone to be 100% certain who "tanked" a blue diamond, and it's deliberately designed that way.

• Ratings are only calculated once every month or two, so it's not like a blue diamond will disappear immediately after the find was recorded. And if two or more people recorded finds during that time, you'd have no idea how each of them voted.
• Blue diamonds are not assigned to boxes have been planted for less than 6 months (so lots of people can record finds and muddle up how individuals might have rated them).
• Blue diamonds are also not assigned to boxes until a minimum number of votes have been recorded to further muddle up the votes of individuals.
• Different people's votes are weighted differently depending on their voting patterns, so it's hard to pinpoint precisely how any individual's vote got counted. There are people who might vote a 5 which will actually not help a box get a blue diamond at all, while there are those who might vote a 3 that can push a box over the line and get it a blue diamond.
• I periodically tweak the calculations that make up the blue diamonds, and so even if NO votes have changed, it's possible for a box to lose a blue diamond.
• It's not unusual for people to look at their rating statistics page and readjust their ratings--particularly those who were relatively new to letterboxing and after finding more boxes, have a better sense of what they think should count as a "good" or "bad" box. So even people who found the box months or years ago might change a rating and affect the blue diamond.
• Blue diamonds are also a bit "sticky"--that is, those that have blue diamonds are given a bit of an edge if they are near the cutoff. They're allowed to fall a bit below the cutoff and keep their blue diamonds. So it typically takes more than one person to actually knock a blue diamond off. One vote could do it, but again, that depends entirely on the vote and how much weight AQ gives it.

Basically.... people will make guesses and assumptions about who knocked a blue diamond off their box, but that's all it is--guesses and assumptions.

I've had people email me swearing up and down that someone "sabotaged" a box--convinced that someone had a personal vendetta against them and voted it badly so it would lose a blue diamond, and when I checked the actual votes, they were completely and utterly wrong. The person they were convinced sabotaged their blue diamond had actually rated it a 4 or 5, and it was a bunch of 2s and 3s from other people that tank the blue diamond. Or maybe the person did rate the box poorly, but looking at the other votes, I can see that other people did as well and there was nothing particularly unusual about the low vote.

So.... I don't really think there's any "exception" that people don't know how you voted. People might think they know, but they really don't.


If that is true, I can't really say I feel all that bad if they got upset when real ratings bumped the blue diamond off. If they had to cheat to get a blue diamond, it can't be a surprise when real votes cause them to lose it.

It's also a reason that blue diamonds are not permanent. If, for any reason, a blue diamond is "mis-assigned" to a box, it will eventually be removed to more accurately reflect the fact.

-- Ryan

unless you planted at a landfill in transylvania then you are good and be proud.

smile

Awesome info, GT! Thanx for that. And no, I didn't feel bad for them. I did appreciate that they were planting in an area that hadn't had many boxes at the time, but I could do without the competitiveness. We all just want to have fun doing what we love!

Huh? This seems to be a contradiction. It's not the other way around! 1 is least favorite and 5 is favorite. Did I miss something or am I just late for dinner?

I think GT just misread what dawnkey wrote. He and she both know 5 = good 1 = bad, but he doesn't know that she knows, and we know that they both know, and then everything was what we think we know. You know? 🤭

Excellent!! Thank you.

We signed up for a stamp swap and was given a name to mail our stamp to... we got a really cute one ♡

I actually snorted and laughed out loud at that!! 😂😂

There is absolutely no reason to feel horrible because you don’t rate a box.

I have never rated one. I’m sure lots of people never do either. And I don’t expect or care about anyone rating mine.

I can’t remember when rating was implemented but boxing was around for many years without it. And without diamonds. You weren’t here when war broke out over the addition of diamonds.

These things are totally subjective and :::totally::::optional. Do them. Don’t do them. It’s a personal choice.

Fortunately that’s the way 99.999999 % of our community feels. I think the only person I’m competing with is myself. Can I solve that mystery? Can I do that hike? Can I climb that hill?

I never do swaps so I don’t know how they work. But wouldn’t it specify in the swap about planting or keeping or whatever?

We all grow and change...
At the time you planted them were you proud of them?

It was during Christmas time and didn't give specifics other than acknowledging the carver ♡

And a trump is a fart in other places, appropriate for the blowhard that he is.

So far so good

It's also valid not to rate boxes at all.

Lalalalalalalala

and if he uses a trumpet it can be a musical fart.
smile

If it's not right then do not plant! I have what is perhaps an unhealthy close relationship with all the boxes I plant. Gave up on making them all perfect, but they are all close to that ideal, at least that is the intent. Very proud of all the plants I am associated with.

Fine in Raleigh/Knightdale.

No, this isn't a plug for the Stevie Ray Vaughan album, I just wanted to assure everyone that I'm okay with no flooding on the Blanco River since several people have asked. Also, because some have asked, my Adventures in Letterboxing box, along with others in the Wimberley area , are high and dry.

My heart goes out to all the families who lost lives and homes just a few dozen miles from me. After experiencing the Blanco River food in 2015, I know how devistating it can be. Hang in there and know that just like in Wimberley, friends and neighbors will provide help and support.