It would also be nice if "side dish" were added to the list.

It would also be nice if "side dish" were added to the list.

I'll include it in the Next Big Update, but I have to admit I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between an appetizer and a side at a potluck. =)

The request to be able to list things in multiple categories would take quite a bit of coding so that will have to wait until I work on a Big Update of the event code. However, I will add a "multiples" category--which is pretty quick and easy to do--so at least you can mark your entry with several items that cover more than one category. Not ideal, but at least it'll highlight the fact that it doesn't fit neatly into a single category.

That too will be in the Next Big Update. =)

-- Ryan

I would consider appetizer and snack the same and side different. But thanks for adding sides :)

A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order, side item, or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.

That's kind of my point.... At a potluck, when people normally bring one item, how can it be a "side" if they didn't bring a main dish to go with it?

I could bring a salad and might call it an appetizer thinking it comes before the meal while someone else can bring an identical item and call it a side because they think it should go with an entrée.

And, apparently, someone else will call it a "snack" but I tend to think of snacks as being finger foods that are sweet or salty like cookies or potato chips which I don't consider to be sides or appetizers at all!

Yes, these new options will totally prevent confusion in the future. =D

-- Ryan, who senses that he might need to start providing glossary entries for this stuff....

Green beans, baked beans, corn on the cob, potatoes au gratin, or other cooked vegetables would be side dishes, but not appetizers. But I didn't check, and maybe you already have a vegetable category. I don't know how often people bring those to events. Raw vegetables, cheese plate, bread and butter, olives/pickles, and other cold things would likely be appetizers. Much easier for picnics!

Hah! I thought bread would be an appetizer, but see it is listed as a side dish.

Hah! I thought bread would be an appetizer, but see it is listed as a side dish.

That's okay--I think it's criminal that someone would include corn-on-the-cob as a side dish. It's totally an entree. ;o)

-- Ryan

Just wondering or suggesting if there could be a way to search our finds by which state they are located in. Thanks!
-The Gamecock

Go to Advanced Search and put the state name in the location field with your name in as the finder at the bottom of the search page. I didn't choose any other fields and it successfully brought up my finds in each state I tested.

I will add a "multiples" category

Thanks Ryan! Multiples are always good! Heh. ;)

Thanks! It worked!

My New Years wish--

I wish I would not find the words "Webpage Not Found" when I click on the link to see the post of one of "Wassa's Random Daily Funnies". I wish, I wish, I wish......

I wish I would not find the words "Webpage Not Found" when I click on the link to see the post of one of "Wassa's Random Daily Funnies".

You aren't supposed to, but I need more information if you want me to fix it. I'm not going to spend all day trying to find an example of a broken link when you can just send it to me.

-- Ryan

Okay, I found the problem. Those links are no longer valid. =)

Which, I know, seems obvious, but I assumed you were talking about the link from the widget not working--and that should always work properly! Links in message boards can (and do) get moved, updated and changed and clicking them will get you a 404 file not found error if the file is no longer there. Message board posts do not update links automatically when they change.

But I can give you this tip about links that point to photos in the AQ photo gallery.... if the URL ends with "lg.jpg"--that's pointing to the "large" version of the photo which are usually deleted after a month or so. But if you change the URL to remove the "lg" part, it'll display the "normal" sized version of the photo (which never gets deleted--unless the entire photos is deleted from the system)

So in this case, you could try https://www.atlasquest.com/images/gallery/06/31/69931.jpg and https://www.atlasquest.com/images/gallery/06/30/69930.jpg to see if it's still there.

In this case, they are, but if the photos were deleted completely, you'd get another 404 error. For the record, I don't recommend ever linking to the "large" version of photos for this reason. Given the fact that the photos appear to be ones I took, I suspect the post might be before AQ started auto-deleting the large-sized photos to save space. (I'm well aware that links to large photos are not permanent and--now, at least--try to avoid using them.)

-- Ryan

Those links are no longer valid.

I guess I didn't state the question clearly. I just wish that whomever posts the Funnies might perhaps check to see that any links in the posts are still working and not post items that have non-working links. Just a New Years wish is all....

So i dont have a smart phone, actually i don't have a phone at all right now because i'm having a fight with the universe because i don't want a smart phone but the universe is not cooperating. Anyway. . . .

I was letterboxing with Flying Armadillo and had the idea that it would be great to have an app where if you find your self somewhere unexpected with time to kill. Or you find yourself in an expected place with unexpected time to kill but you can't get to a computer or printer, you could do a search of your location for any letter boxes near you and it would pull up the clues.

I dont know anything about technology or apps or if that could even work but if any tech saavy folks out there could do it i feel like folks would find it useful.

Maybe the app could format the clue to make it easier to read on a fancy phone?

Box Radar works just like you describe. It is not currently being actively supported and the current version is several years old but it works just fine for me to search for AQ boxes on my Android phone. It used to also work to display LbNA boxes but something changed a year or more ago and those boxes no longer show up for me. I'm looking at Box Radar right now and I see quite a few boxes in and around New Paltz that I have not yet located.

There is also a different app available for iPhone users.

Good luck with your dispute with the universe. I think I know how you feel.

PI Joe

If you have a smartphone, you have that ability without an extra app. Just click on ‘simple search’ and next to the location box click the word ‘Here’. And it will bring up all of the nearby traditional boxes radiating from the point you are standing. You can make that search function a button on your home screen that makes it even easier.

Also, there are a couple of apps already out there. “Clue Tracker” is one.

I fought getting a smartphone at first, but after owning one I would never be without one again.

The box radar app doesn't work with newer phones. It was nice because it organized the boxes neatly and made it easy to log then as found.

Everyone else answered the app question pretty well, but I'll also point out that there is information in the help pages about app support.

Maybe the app could format the clue to make it easier to read on a fancy phone?

The clues on AQ already are formatted a bit differently to make it easier to read on fancy phones. I know a lot of AQ is not smartphone friendly--I've been updating subsystems for years now and fixing that as I go along, but the options to search for boxes and read clues have already been through that process. And with the "here" button on the search pages, it's actually pretty easy to run a search for nearby boxes in a readable manner on a smartphone. As long as you have cell phone coverage....

-- Ryan

I think my phone is pretty new and box radar still works for me. (Samsung s7 I think)

Here is another example of item not being view-able.

http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=79070

Hi!
I have no idea if this has ever been brought up, as I tend to not hang out on this board.

Anyway, on different box of the months, might there be a way to rate each box in the rotation differently? A staged ranking system, as it were, so a person can rank each stamp as they get it, over the year, as opposed to one ranking for the whole thing, collectively, for 12 months?

That's my idea for the day. Thoughts?

I thought that's the way it worked. When I log, say, the January box, wouldn't I be ranking that box only?

Not sure, when I mark my finds, it has the same rating that I'd left in the past, right there. Not sure what's the what.

Hmm. I wonder if you're just rating the box/location/clue and not the individual stamps. But sometimes the boxes get moved and clues change. I usually don't rate the boxes, so I didn't notice.

It matters if the boxes were listed separately or as a 12 box series.

If separately, nothing needs "fixed".

If a series, then yes, you get one rating that applies to all boxes. To "fix" that, the planter needed to list them individually.

I didn't say anything about 'fixing' anything, but thanks for the info. I didn't know there were different ways of listing it, and like I said, I don't rate boxes when I log them anyway, I was just trying to throw out some ideas to estella_naparella who posed the question.