Dawnkey and I were talking about the tools and tricks of letterboxing and using the Atlas Quest site. We thought it would be interesting to open up a discussion about what we've found helpful and hope that some of our Michigan friends might both learn from us but also teach the rest of us some of their ways of using the website.

So here goes...

CUSTOM LOCATIONS - I use this constantly! Once I know where I am going, I search the area. For example, when I do a search of Indianapolis, Indiana, letterboxes come up in a variety of ways and I adapt them to make finding them easier.

When [this box] comes up with the address but not the name of the place, I "customize" it by adding the name of the place along with the address.

When [this box] comes up with the name of the place but not an exact address, I google the address then "customize" it by adding the address along with the name of the place.

But the most helpful is when [a box like this] comes up and I need to find both the address and the name of the location. When I "customize" it, my future searches will put it where it belongs and I don't miss it when I'm at the location.

Does anyone else use CUSTOM ADDRESSES regularly?
Angel Winks

Thanks for getting the ball rolling, Angel Winks. I'm also a huge fan of the custom address feature.

We might want to mention at this point that custom addresses are a perk of an AQ premium membership. There are many perks and you can find them here if you're not already a premium member. (Disclaimer: Ryan is *not* paying us to advertise.) :)

One of my favorite premium features is custom menus. To use:

Go to My Page/Preferences. Select Custom Menu from the bar of options across the top of the page. It's just to the left of Premium Hat.

Under Add Menu Item on the left choose the submenu you'd like your item listed under (Home, Toolbox, Boards, People, etc.), type the way you want the item listed in the title box, and then add the link in the URL box. Once you click the Add Item button you'll be able to access your menu item from the menus that run across the top of AQ pages.

You can add links for AQ pages or external links like LbNA and Rumkin. I like to add links for events I'm signed up for under the People tab. It makes it easy to access the event page before and after event, and then I just remove it from the menu once all my finds are recorded.

I definitely do. And given your examples, I will often customize the Crown Hill Cemetery address to the 32nd Street address (Old Gates entrance). It’s the closest to my sweet daddy’s resting place. If anyone comes without a map, it is easily available at the 38th street entrance (offices).

I didn't know that. Thanks.

This is a great conversation to have. I'm sure there are many helps on here that I don't know how to use.

Thanks, Topcollector. That's what Dawnkey and I, and others, hopefully, have in mind. We will try to keep the conversation going over the winter months when there is less letterboxing to do.

And, we hope, anyone will feel free to jump into the conversation.

Angel Winks
*who is enjoying a relaxed Saturday afternoon at home after buying my last Christmas gift this morning.

I use custom addresses constantly as well. But I didn't know I could add the name of the address i.e., "Jo's Pool Hall" as well as the street address. Can't wait to try this out.

Wow! Didn't know this was available to us. Just added an event under the People tab just as you described. That's pretty cool, and easier to see my current sign ups. Thanks!

BBStacker,

The way I have found that works best is to first STORE the custom address. Once that is in, then I edit the custom address with the pencil icon. I add the name of the park or cemetery or pool hall :) or whatever and save it again. It should show up with both the name and the address! Love it.

That's pretty cool, and easier to see my current sign ups.

Not a Michiganer here but I do have a few AQ tricks up my sleeve also. For instance, in order to see my event sign ups, I just created a search for them and then saved it, calling it "My Upcoming Events". New ones are added in date order and as their date passes, they disappear from the list. That way they are all grouped together with the next one I will be attending showing up first. I have "Favorite Searches" as one of my widgits on My Page so the list is only a click away.

Once I know where I am going, I search the area. For example, when I do a search of Indianapolis, Indiana, letterboxes come up in a variety of ways and I adapt them to make finding them easier.

I have been doing this for years and loving it. It is amazing how many people are not aware of it. But I do take it a step further. There are areas that I box in regularly such as Florida, eastern PA, Delaware and Maryland, so I have searches set up to notify me of new boxes for each of those areas. (I am a big user of searches!) I have chosen to receive emails when there is a new box added for those areas. When I get an email, I simply check to see if there is a good address and if there is not, I add the custom address right away, even if I don't have plans to visit that area at the moment. That way, when I DO plan on going somewhere, I have the info all ready and I just need to choose a box and then click on nearby boxes and my trip is planned.

Janila,

Welcome to our AQ conversation! I'm interested in learning more about how you do this. How do you actually create the search for them? I've saved several searches I've done by states, but not events. Do you do this under Advanced Search?

Thanks!

Janila, you are a letterboxer after my own heart :). I do the same thing. My husband and I are often dreaming about the next trip we are going to take, so I begin customizing addresses already at that time. I've found many boxes I wouldn't have found if I didn't customize it.

I even go a step further. I search for boxes that are only listed by the state. Here is what I mean:
I do an AREA SEARCH under SIMPLE SEARCH. Under REGION, I'll go to the state I'm looking for. For example, I'll type in MICHIGAN. Once I've done that, all the Michigan boxes I haven't found are listed. But then I will EDIT SEARCH. I will change the DIST (MI) to 0 and run the search again. All the boxes listed with simply the Michigan location will come up and I'll have access to several other letterboxes. I then customize those locations and, hopefully, find those letterboxes while on my travels.

These letterboxes are often mystery boxes and are well worth the time and effort it takes to figure out the location and solve the cipher/puzzle if there is one.

Do you do this under Advanced Search?

Yes. Then on the Search Type in the upper right, choose Events (listed under Miscellaneous). Then there's a check box for events you're signed up for.

Do you do this under Advanced Search?

Yes, Advanced Search, change the search type to Events, check off "Include only events that I'm signed up for" and "Include only upcoming events". Set Sort Order to Start Date. Voila!

Did I mention that I LOVE saving searches? :-)

Thank you!

We do the same, I have alerts set up for Michigan to send an email.
The other locations I track, Rhode Island, Maryland, Grand Haven, MI I have set up as a widget on my menu!

We use the custom address feature regularly. We then change the address at the top of the page, that way when we do a search of the area again, the boxes show up.

Fun! I'm sure there's a lot of things! I like the notes feature, particularly for personal travelers, but it's helpful for other things like mystery boxes. Once I solve the PT clue, I add a note. When I print the list of PTs prior to the event, the note will print as well. I'm not sure if that is a premium perk or not.

One of my other favorite things is the trip planner. This is a premium perk, too. If I'm planning a road trip, I add a trip with my starting and ending destinations. Then I do a search using that trip, customizing distances off the main road (1-5 miles), type of boxes (driveby, stroll, etc). This makes it easy to grab some finds along the way.

I haven't used the custom locations much that Angel Winks mentioned, but this would come in handy with the trip planner to make sure things are really within your desired range.

Another thing I used a lot is the countdown widget. (not sure if that is a premium widget or not!) I add it to the very top of my page so I can easily see what I have coming up that needs to be done.

This is really helpful to keep track of things that are due by specific dates like postals, LTC swaps, stamps that need to be carved for events or whatever else.

I like the notes features also for PTs. Another thing I use them for is to copy and paste LbNA clues. Lastly, I use it if I read over comments on the letterbox and there is something important to note that someone mentioned. Another great feature!

I have never used the trip planner. I need to try that.

One of my other favorite things is the trip planner.

Mine too. Although I have to admit it has some complexity to it (my small brain???). I travel a lot and am always looking for boxes 1 mile at the most off my route. Trip Planner along with custom addresses helps me find them. In conjunction I use tags. As a premium member I'm given eight of them which I've edited to fit my needs.
The green apple is "Good to go" - the box should be there
The red box is "Warning - Do not Attempt" - the box is most likely missing
Plus I have others for Long hike, Might be missing, Not this trip, Needs more research and Out of area.
I like the idea that I can edit those tags.
And with those tags I can edit my search to only include those that are Good to Go limiting the amount of paper I need to print.
I've wondered if there is a way to use tags on Clue Tracker.

I've wondered if there is a way to use tags on Clue Tracker.

Yes, you can search for things like tag:red or tag:red,blue if you want boxes with your red AND blue tags. See the near bottom of https://cluetracker.pearlcrescent.com/ios/faq for more info.

I experimented with tags early on, but you've inspired me to use them again.

You've given lots of good ideas, BBStacker; I especially like the "puzzle needs to be solved yet."

I'm curious what others use tags for.

I use it if I read over comments on the letterbox and there is something important to note that someone mentioned.

I do that also!

I will also put the link to any trail maps or significant websites that I find while doing research for the custom addresses. This can save time when I am actually prepping to go find the boxes later.

And, since many of my own planted boxes are ciphers, I put the actual uncoded clue in the notes so I don't have to go back and solve my own clue to answer questions.

I'm curious what others use tags for.

I use tags all the time. The ones I currently have are:

• Mystery/need info - means I have to do some sort of homework before finding
• Scared to get it - at least I'd be scared to look for it by myself.
• Tried box - for boxes that I made some sort of effort to find without qualifying as an "attempt." I may have run out of time or the clues were vague at the end. It's interesting to see if people find it after my "try." I generally write a note about when I looked and why it didn't pan out.
• Fun day - for boxes I'm planning to find on a particular outing
• Want box - general boxes that look interesting to find
• MI Counties - boxes that look like they'd be good candidates for my continuing quest to find a box in every Michigan county
• Last finder - after I find a box I give it this tag. Then I have a saved search I run that lists boxes with this tag in reverse chronological order of when they were last found. Generally when a box pops to the top of the list it means that someone found it after me and I can say, "Oh look, Angel Winks found that fun box in the library in Kalamazoo too!" (Of course 9 times out of 10 Angel Winks has already found the box before me.)

That leaves one tag. It was most recently pulled into duty for "Virginia Trip." Self-explanatory. Now it's generic again waiting for a new assignment.

Wow. That really gives me food for thought. I like the Last Finder tag. I had never thought of that.

I use tags a lot for trip planning. I use the trip planner and city searches to see what boxes are in the area I will be passing through and staying in, and then I start to tag the boxes that I think I most want to search for. It helps organize the mass of boxes that might come up with any given search and helps me keep track of an oddball box that I notice but that doesn't fit the main search parameters.

So I'll have green for the route to my destination. Green plus red for boxes around my destination. Purple for short day trips. So when I'm on the trip I'm just choosing from boxes I've already checked out and thought would be good.

I also have orange for boxes I'd like to find in one nearby city and blue color for another city. When I get ready to spend a day in either city, I'll add a second color.

Then doing an advanced search it's easy to make a list of just the boxes I want to look for. I usually map just those boxes, and it's easy to print all the clues from that list. I'll run the list again afterward to record them. It helps me find what I want quickly.

I'm curious what others use tags for.

I used to use them a lot when I was doing LTCs a lot. I don't remember what they were.

But, I love all the ideas listed above! Thanks for starting this thread! Great ideas here already!

I use tags for:
Caution - go for it if plenty of time (while traveling), but likely not there
Stop - multiple attempts, likely not worth time adding another
Go for it - used especially if I've attempted it in the past, and someone else has logged a find
Printed - to avoid duplications
Trip Planning - used in advance trip planning to an area I don't regularly get to for flagging 'boxes to find
Solved - to note that I've figured out the mystery, puzzle or clue
Dad's Letterboxes - my Dad'll go out 'boxing with me occasionally, and doesn't log his finds on AQ, so I track them with a tag
Box Type Changed - Ryan occasionally changes the type of listing of 'boxes, and I tag those 'boxes