Trip Report Improvements

[kohldad]

We are working on transferring the Trip Report Sticky. During the transfer process, it would be a good time to make changes to the format. So, if you have any suggestions, please let me know and they will be taken into consideration.

[Naio]

kohldad wrote:
Some of y'all probably noticed I have started the Truck Camper Trip Report using the same format as before. After looking at options and time to implement, they were going to take at least 400 hours of effort. I decided the gain wasn't worth the pain so left it as before.

ISTR the last person said the same thing when they started.

Thank you so much for doing this job! It is invaluable. I don't think you will ever hear any of us complain about how you choose to do it. We are grateful.

I did add the recent trip report section as that was easy to add and maintain.

Cool!!!

[c_traveler2]

kohldad, I've tried to PM you with new links for my 2015 Summer Journey series and it just disappears, there is no indentation that they have been sent to you or you have received them. this is day 2 trying this.

[kohldad]

Some of y'all probably noticed I have started the Truck Camper Trip Report using the same format as before. After looking at options and time to implement, they were going to take at least 400 hours of effort. I decided the gain wasn't worth the pain so left it as before.

I did add the recent trip report section as that was easy to add and maintain.

[kohldad]

Obviously, the most user friendly way to go would be to have a table where we could click to sort all the TRs by date, state, author, etc... but I assume that would be too hard to set up!

Funny you should mention that because I'm working on an excel file that will allow just that type of sorting. One will be able to filter and sort by any column. Only downside is I need a place to host the file and one would have to download it before using it.

Found a way to automate grabbing a lot of the data yesterday only to discover there are over 800 trip reports! Of those, about 150 of have broken because of a change in the directory structure. Those will be fixed when the new TR sticky comes out sometime in May. Still have a lot of data manipulation to do but it's progressing nicely.

[Naio]

Looks good! Including dtates, not just regions, looks very useful.

How will you list the authors who only ever wrote one TR? The current setup, grouping them by location, seems ok to me.

Obviously, the most user friendly way to go would be to have a table where we could click to sort all the TRs by date, state, author, etc... but I assume that would be too hard to set up!

[jefe_4x4]

Looks good. Are you developing software or have a template to make this automatic? To bring all the old TR's into the new regime will take a lot copy and pasting. My son Matt is a big time I.T. guy and uses as many short cuts as he can to keep his 50 servers going and up to date. I hope you have the big pipe and 100Meg speed to make all this work. Our puny Hughesnet satellite can hardly get out of its own way and then you run out of data allowance.
Let us know what you decide to do.
jefe

[kohldad]

So I'm thinking the new layout is going to be a bit more straight forward while easier to search. This will add being able to search by state and make determining where to place the TR easier.

All the TRs will be sorted by author listed by date with keywords as to location. Location will include both region and state. Below is an example. Please give me some feedback.

Recent Trip Reports

Apr 17 Snow Over by Apple
Mar 17 Tasty Treats by Eggplant

TRIP REPORTS

Apple
2017 Snow Over (Southeast, MS, LA)
2016 Having Fun (Southwest, AZ, UT,)
2015 Snowed In (Southeast, FL,)
2014 Sun Stroke (Midwest, KS, OK, SD, ND,)

Coconut
2015 Hidden Home (Canada, BC, WA,)

Egg Plant
2017 Tasty Treats (Central, KS, OK,)
2017 Garden Tour (Northeast, Canada, MA, NC, NS, NY, PA, VA, VT, WV,)

Blogs

Cucumber
Around the world blog (Africa, Canada, Europe, Greenland)

White Ratany
Desert Travel Blog (XTC, Africa, Southwest, AZ, NV)

[Naio]

I, too, want to thank you for taking this on! The TC TRs here are a treasure!

[jefe_4x4]

Kohl,
Thanks for taking this on with a clear eye as to organization and the way you will leave it for the next person.
The problem is maintenance. As of now, the TR file is just like Steve left it a few years ago. You are correct in trying to set up a system that will be easy to self-perpetuate.
I do think that some of the TR's in the dim dark past (some 10 years ago) are classics because of either the subject matter or the spectacular writing and deserve a special place as they are timeless and have no expiration date. I see kind of a, "Best of" file with just a few examples of the best of the best TR's, even if the posters are no longer with us. Many of these have faded into the mists of time. I remember one from a guy who camped out along Hwy 80 in CA at Cisco Grove and withstood a ten foot Christmas snow fall, and the antics by the Camp owner using, by degrees, every piece of snow removal equipment he had, from a walk behind snow blower to the biggest 6 yard bucket Hyster ever made, until there was no where to put the snow, and no way to get the customers out of camp. Snowbound. It was so well written I hated to see it disappear.
One other thing: since I have posted the latest TR, I had a lot of trouble keeping up with the RV.net April 17th security upgrades for up loading and found myself chasing my tail at times. I'm not particularly tech-savvy and was to the point where I was going to abandon the TR project entirely after hitting the security wall over and over again. There must be a slicker way to upload.
On another forum, "The Pirates of the Rubicon", of which i was member number 106 of about 45K members, they were severely hacked and made everyone re-up their subscription. They made the security fence so high that I gave up trying to get back over it. Just a thought.
Thanks again for volunteering to do a thankless job.
jefe

[c_traveler2]

All my links to my 2015 Summer Journey don't work, I've been saving them in than other way so when the time come to re-link them I can send them to you. Plus I would really like all my TCTR in one place and not split up like it's now.

Thanks, c.traveler2

[kohldad]

The recent trips reports in the top or second post is probably workable and easily done.

I have some other ideas too, but I need to make sure it's easy to maintain. I figure I will only have it for a few years and need to make sure the next volunteer can easily keep it going.

The idea is to improve upon what is being handed over to me, not re-inventing the wheel as I think the current organization works well.

Keep the ideas coming, I like what I've heard so far.

[silversand]

Steve has arranged all the trip reports chronologically by geography/contributor...

Given enough time, a new top page (thread) could include trip reports sorted by recent date only (this will rotate out say by oldest, every month, to seed a geographically titled chronology?).

The issue may be: 2 sections must be maintained: the geographically relevant sections, and the top page chronological listing....a bit more work (12 rotational JCL instances per year, if you will)...

[cewillis]

ticki2 wrote:

A big thanks to all who created , maintained and contributed to this sticky .

x2 (or more) to that!

[ticki2]

If it is possible it would be nice to have a list of the most recent TR's at the beginning , maybe 6 or 12 months worth before they are absorbed into the general format .

A big thanks to all who created , maintained and contributed to this sticky .