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A Letterboxing Community

Atlas Quest

Letterboxing Glossary: F

F-count
The running count of how many letterboxes a letterboxer has found. This number can be controversial since not everyone always agrees on what should count as a find or not.
first finder
The first person to find a letterbox.
findability

The findability of a box is a rough measurement of how likely that the box is still in place and the clues will lead you to it. It is only a rough estimate, however, and not a precise science. As a general rule of thumb, boxes with a good findability are more likely to still be alive and well than those with average findability, which in turn are more likely to be there than those with challenging findability, which in turn are more likely to be there than those with a findability of impossible.

The findability score of a box is based on the status of the box, how many strikes it has and how long it’s been since anyone visited the box. You can check out the box listing to get additional insights. (Box comments, in particular, are a rich source of information about the current status of a box which is not reflected in the findability score.)

Logging an attempt or a find on a challenging box will increase one’s Challenge-count.

flea
A flea is a non-restricted form of a cootie. You can plant it in letterboxes as if it was a hitchhiker, or on a person like a traditional cootie. You can log in with a thumbprint signature or use your signature stamps.
flinger
A box that people seem to plant for the sake of planting or getting rid of a carve... like it was flung out the window of the car.
flugged
Flugged. When you missed saying goodbye to someone when they leave the chat room.
fostered box
An abandoned box listing on Atlas Quest that someone else volunteers to maintain. If you foster a box, you will receive notifications about all finds and attempts on the box and you can add an addendum to the box to communicate information for future finders, but otherwise you cannot edit the listing in any other manner.
F-summary

An F-summary gives you a proverbial bird’s-eye view of the 10 most recent finds and attempts on a letterbox. For instance, it might read something like FfXxxx. (To be honest, this is a totally contrived example that shows every possible state that can show up in an F-summary. Real ones will tend to look much more random!)

The F’s represent finds and the x’s represent failed attempts, in order from left to right. A capital, bolded letter means it was recorded by someone who planted the box and therefore is more authoritative than those represented with lowercase letters.

Successful finds are always colored green.

An attempt by a planter or a high-confidence attempt are red. A mid-confidence attempt is a yellowish-brown. A low-confidence attempt is blue. As the confidence level decreases, so does the size of the X. Attempts with a zero-confidence level are not included in the F-summary.