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Advanced Geocoin Trading Gallery and Tool


dimkasmir

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Recently while trying to put together a trade and using some of the existing online geocoin galleries, I had an idea: what if there was an online trading tool that went beyond allowing users to host their trading and seeking lists? One with an internal communications system that allowed to propose and arrange trades all within the site.

 

Thinking about it some more, I came up with a rough plan of a system in which one would be able to simply click on the geocoin(s) that he is interested in someone else's seeking list, choose the coin(s) that he's willing to offer and the trade would automatically appear in the other person's inbox, where he would be able to accept or reject it. It could also employ an algorithm similar to the math trade that would be continuously executed, such that whenever one updates his lists, complex trades could be auto-generated. This site would also act as a detailed catalog/gallery of geocoins, storing information such as mintage of a coin's different editions, the coins designer, etc, in addition to the usual title and picture.

 

I have experience in web development and would be willing to take on this project, but it will not an easy task, so I would like to hear some feedback from the community beforehand. If this ever comes to life, it would either be free, or might involve a minor charge (no more than a few dollars per month). Also, it would obviously take a community effort to populate the database with high quality information about the geocoins. So what does everyone think? Would you be interested? Any suggestions?

Edited by Eartha
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I'd give it some serious thought.

I've been looking for somewhere to host my collection since geocoincollection.com bit the dust a couple years back. I held out thinking they would return again stronger and better than before, but I gave up on that idea a long time ago...

 

I personally never thought that cointracking.com was user friendly and I could never make heads or tails out of the site navigations, so I've managed to stay away from there...

 

You never know until you try, I'm sure there is interest in the idea. I find myself asking "do I have that one" a lot because I lost track of some coins over time and have acquired a duplicate or two because I don't have them listed anywhere these days...

 

I say go for it...

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Sounds like a great idea to me. I have lost all track of what I have since the other coin tracking sight went belly up

 

I am in same situation. I had track through that dusted site and no I am not sure what I have and not, and if I can recall the coin I still am lost at what edition it might be. Well I have the info on my profile because I activate my keepers but it was easyer to see them on that other site. So yes, I would probably be on so I say go for it.

 

grodan Karin

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I'd also be interested, as long as coin adding is easy.

 

I guess there should be some settings concerning privacy - i.e. currently not accepting trade requests / direct trades only / chain trades accepted.

 

This is probably something that could be built in with time. I think that if you start by a really good system for entering, displaying and searching lists, you'll see how large your customer base is. Modules for automated searches/trades, chain trades etc could be added later on.

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We think it would be an outstanding tool for the geocoin community and we would definitely support it! However, your profile says your a student. You should consider when "life happens" in years to come will you be able to continue the work required to keep a project like this working. Folks supporting this would invest time and effort getting their collection organized and uploaded. Since it seems the world is going mobile you will probably get request to view this by a variety of devices. All this takes time, effort, and of course $$'s! Not to discourage you by any means but you should take a good look at those variables. Picture the townsfolk in the old movie Frankenstein with torches and pitchforks running up the mountain after completion of the site ..... and it disappeared. :lol:

 

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Edited by JoenSue
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I like it- it'd be really nice to have info in one place about who made the coin, versions available and such. I often have to just google around if I want to find that out. But I also really like the automatic aspects of it. I have SO many different websites that I go and need to "check-in" with, that even though there are a few coins out there I'd really like to find, I've searched on some of the coin database sites but I don't have the time to keep going back to look. So if that info was stored and I could just leave it alone til the site notified me that someone had what I wanted, I'd be all for that!

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I just wanted to update everyone about what's happening with this project. I have decided to go ahead and give it a try and have already started with much of the planning. Although it'll probably take quite a while, I really hope to eventually deliver a good final product. In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions, questions, or comments, please do post in the thread or contact me directly.

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So because personal things kept coming up, this project was put on the back burner for a long while, but over the last few months I have been working hard on it and am now excited to announce the GeocoinTrader.net beta!

 

I have already begun listing the coins that are in my own collection on the site, but in order for this to work, a group effort of crowdsourcing the data is integral. So, please, register and add Geocoins that are not yet in the database, or make changes to existing but incomplete entries. I really hope that over the next several months this app will grow, gradually becoming a nearly comprehensive listing of all the Geocoins out there.

 

The website already allows adding Geocoins to trading/seeking/keeping lists and contacting other users about trades. I have also started working on a more advanced trading system that I hope will become one of the most convenient features of the site. It will allow you not just to list your collection and contact others but to do so entirely through an online interface, which will support things like multi-coin trades as well as automatic multi-user "chain" trades. I hope to be done with this before the summer and will update you all about the specific features before then.

 

In the meantime, I really hope that you find this website useful and contribute. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions whatsoever please reply in this thread, use the Feedback link on the website, or contact me directly.

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I got curious about this, so I registered an account and attempted to add a geocoin. Looking very promising!

 

However, when I had filled in the form, I got an error message that I had tried to upload an image that was too small. Hmmm... I couldn't find any information about how large the image had to be. And I didn't have access to any larger images. I ended up submitting the form without a front image, only a back image. Now, the coin does not appear in the database. Is it because I didn't submit a front image? Is there a validation process? Or did I do something wrong? Would be nice to know, before I attempt to submit more coins.

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I got curious about this, so I registered an account and attempted to add a geocoin. Looking very promising!

 

However, when I had filled in the form, I got an error message that I had tried to upload an image that was too small. Hmmm... I couldn't find any information about how large the image had to be. And I didn't have access to any larger images. I ended up submitting the form without a front image, only a back image. Now, the coin does not appear in the database. Is it because I didn't submit a front image? Is there a validation process? Or did I do something wrong? Would be nice to know, before I attempt to submit more coins.

Thank you very much for submitting! In order to ensure the quality of submissions, I've made it so that all coins added must be approved before they show up. I have now approved your coin, and you can find it in the gallery.

 

Also, now that the coin has been approved, feel free to add it to your keeping/trading lists.

 

Edit:

As for the size issue, I have made the system validate so that submitted images aren't too small. I'll check if this constraint is too strict and maybe will lower it. In the meantime, if you have a larger photo of the front, it would be great if you could submit it with an edit.

 

Edit 2:

I have loosened the constraint for image upload size. Please feel free to resubmit the front photo for the coin.

Edited by dimkasmir
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Thanks! Image uploaded. I would suggest to add the required image size to the submission page. And perhaps we could be allowed to upload any size for the "other" image? I understand that you need a quite large image for display in the gallery, but when you enter the coin's page, I believe a small image is better than no image.

 

The functionality for adding coins to keeper/seeker lists is really neat and efficient! This will certainly increase the likelyhood that people will bother with registering their coins.

 

I was wondering, is it worth adding a text field per coin, to be displayed on the coin page? In the case of the coin that I submitted, I would like to write that the total mintage number is 300, but this is divided between three editions, and the number of coins per edition is unknown.

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Thanks! Image uploaded. I would suggest to add the required image size to the submission page. And perhaps we could be allowed to upload any size for the "other" image? I understand that you need a quite large image for display in the gallery, but when you enter the coin's page, I believe a small image is better than no image.

 

The functionality for adding coins to keeper/seeker lists is really neat and efficient! This will certainly increase the likelyhood that people will bother with registering their coins.

 

I was wondering, is it worth adding a text field per coin, to be displayed on the coin page? In the case of the coin that I submitted, I would like to write that the total mintage number is 300, but this is divided between three editions, and the number of coins per edition is unknown.

That's a good idea. I will work on adding something along the lines of an "Additional Info" field for coins and editions tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback, and I'm glad you like the site so far!

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

 

The problem is with a generic name, when I try to add another version/edition of that coin (eg gold, silver, Ant gold... or Standard Ed, Limited Ed) using just the generic name it will not let me as the generic name already exists. Otherwise, how am I able to enter multiple versions of the same coin please? It is entirely possible I am doing something wrong, and it is your site so you get to make the rules (which I don't have a problem with - and I think is critical to its success for the exact reason you've raised here - consistency :) )

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

 

The problem is with a generic name, when I try to add another version/edition of that coin (eg gold, silver, Ant gold... or Standard Ed, Limited Ed) using just the generic name it will not let me as the generic name already exists. Otherwise, how am I able to enter multiple versions of the same coin please? It is entirely possible I am doing something wrong, and it is your site so you get to make the rules (which I don't have a problem with - and I think is critical to its success for the exact reason you've raised here - consistency :) )

Let me try to figure this out. I think the problem is that after you add a geocoin + one edition with the wizard, you cannot add any additional editions until I approve the geocoin. After I approve it you should be fine - try adding an edition to one of the geocoins that is already in the gallery. Does that sound like the issue that you are having? If so, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it for now - a geocoin just be approved once initially until additional editions can be added. I'll try to think of a workaround for this. Let me know your thoughts

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

 

The problem is with a generic name, when I try to add another version/edition of that coin (eg gold, silver, Ant gold... or Standard Ed, Limited Ed) using just the generic name it will not let me as the generic name already exists. Otherwise, how am I able to enter multiple versions of the same coin please? It is entirely possible I am doing something wrong, and it is your site so you get to make the rules (which I don't have a problem with - and I think is critical to its success for the exact reason you've raised here - consistency :) )

Let me try to figure this out. I think the problem is that after you add a geocoin + one edition with the wizard, you cannot add any additional editions until I approve the geocoin. After I approve it you should be fine - try adding an edition to one of the geocoins that is already in the gallery. Does that sound like the issue that you are having? If so, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it for now - a geocoin just be approved once initially until additional editions can be added. I'll try to think of a workaround for this. Let me know your thoughts

Yes - that may well bit it. Will see what I can do to test that...

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

 

The problem is with a generic name, when I try to add another version/edition of that coin (eg gold, silver, Ant gold... or Standard Ed, Limited Ed) using just the generic name it will not let me as the generic name already exists. Otherwise, how am I able to enter multiple versions of the same coin please? It is entirely possible I am doing something wrong, and it is your site so you get to make the rules (which I don't have a problem with - and I think is critical to its success for the exact reason you've raised here - consistency :) )

Let me try to figure this out. I think the problem is that after you add a geocoin + one edition with the wizard, you cannot add any additional editions until I approve the geocoin. After I approve it you should be fine - try adding an edition to one of the geocoins that is already in the gallery. Does that sound like the issue that you are having? If so, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it for now - a geocoin just be approved once initially until additional editions can be added. I'll try to think of a workaround for this. Let me know your thoughts

Yes - that may well bit it. Will see what I can do to test that...

 

Yes - that is definitely the issue.

 

Feel free to edition away my entries (sorry for creating extra work for you)

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I too am adding a few geocoins to get more in there for you.

 

Your site reminds me a little of GeocoinCollection - that was a great site and is still sorely missed. So if I can help you grow your site with recommendations I will. Somewhere I have some written notes about what made GCC so great and where it was weak when compared to cointracking. A site that is made of the best of both of those sites would truly be a good site. Will try and find them for you. :)

Also, I see that you've been putting the name of editions as part of the geocoin name. My idea was to have the geocoins be more generic and the editions more specific. I'll update some of the ones that you've submitted so far, but let me know if that makes sense. Thank you!

 

The problem is with a generic name, when I try to add another version/edition of that coin (eg gold, silver, Ant gold... or Standard Ed, Limited Ed) using just the generic name it will not let me as the generic name already exists. Otherwise, how am I able to enter multiple versions of the same coin please? It is entirely possible I am doing something wrong, and it is your site so you get to make the rules (which I don't have a problem with - and I think is critical to its success for the exact reason you've raised here - consistency :) )

Let me try to figure this out. I think the problem is that after you add a geocoin + one edition with the wizard, you cannot add any additional editions until I approve the geocoin. After I approve it you should be fine - try adding an edition to one of the geocoins that is already in the gallery. Does that sound like the issue that you are having? If so, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it for now - a geocoin just be approved once initially until additional editions can be added. I'll try to think of a workaround for this. Let me know your thoughts

Yes - that may well bit it. Will see what I can do to test that...

 

Yes - that is definitely the issue.

 

Feel free to edition away my entries (sorry for creating extra work for you)

Alright, I have made it so that geocoins don't have to undergo approval - only editions. I think that is the best way to go with this. From this point on you can create multiple editions for a geocoin right away. Let me know if there are any more problems, and I'll fix the ones that you've added already. Thank you so much for the help!

 

Edit:

Never mind, the fix is harder than I thought. I will do this tomorrow though.

Edited by dimkasmir
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Submit a new Geocoin to the gallery

Step 1 of 3

 

This page should make it clear not to enter an edition like "Bronze" to the coin name. I've already screwed up my first entry by adding "Bronze" to the name. Now that I've submitted my coin, I can't find it to edit out the edition as part of the name. Can you make unapproved coins editable by the person who uploaded it?

 

You should show unapproved coins to the uploader, in the gallery, just add some "Unapproved" text or an icon overlay to signify the state.

 

Do we receive an email, or have the option, when a coin is approved?

Edited by fbingha
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Submit a new Geocoin to the gallery

Step 1 of 3

 

This page should make it clear not to enter an edition like "Bronze" to the coin name. I've already screwed up my first entry by adding "Bronze" to the name. Now that I've submitted my coin, I can't find it to edit out the edition as part of the name. Can you make unapproved coins editable by the person who uploaded it?

 

You should show unapproved coins to the uploader, in the gallery, just add some "Unapproved" text or an icon overlay to signify the state.

 

Do we receive an email, or have the option, when a coin is approved?

You're right - more detailed instructions are something that I will put up ASAP.

 

That is an interesting idea about showing unapproved coins. I'll think about how I can implement it. Same thing goes for the email notifications. :)

 

Thanks for the feedback!

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All Geocoins that have submitted have now been approved.

 

I have also also added a clarification about naming conventions to the first step of the Add Geocoin wizard.

 

Next, I will work on:

 

  • Adding a "Vendor" field for Geocoins
  • Adding "Additional Information" fields for Geocoins and Editions
  • Not forcing new Geocons to go through the approval process (see above posts)

 

Keep the submissions and suggestions coming!

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I suggest adding a "Add New Edition" link to the coin page or to the "Other Editions" drop down.

 

Also, I can not add another edition of the Scooby coin as I receive: A Geocoin with this name has already been submitted but has not yet been approved

I can see the existing coin though.

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I suggest adding a "Add New Edition" link to the coin page or to the "Other Editions" drop down.

 

Also, I can not add another edition of the Scooby coin as I receive: A Geocoin with this name has already been submitted but has not yet been approved

I can see the existing coin though.

Should be fixed now. It appears that after first submitting it you changed the thickness value and that put it back into the pending moderation queue. All this won't be an issue once I make the fix that I've mentioned.

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Is it worth adding a Vendor field also? Often the geocoins are designed by an individual and the the vendor will have the coin manufactured and will sell it?

I was thinking of that. Will do tomorrow :). Should that be a geocoin or edition thing?

 

Good question. By and large usually it is always from the same vendor, BUT... I know of a couple of examples with the Compass Roses where some editions were from CoinsandPins and some were from USA Geocoins... Make it a geocoin things and where the oddities come up then both vendors can be listed against the geocoin.

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Need clarification on how the coins are supposed to be listed.

 

I have three Scooby coins, Bronze, LE (AS), and LE (BN).

 

I assumed I list one coin with three editions so I listed the bronze. I then added an "LE" edition with AS finish. I then tried to add an "LE" edition with BN finish. I am stopped by the duplicate name of "LE".

 

So are we supposed to put the finish as part of the name if that is all there is to signify a difference?

 

Suppose I should have listed as LE (AS) and LE (BN). I was assuming that maybe duplicate edition names would be allowed and the selected finish might be pulled into the name when listed.

Edited by fbingha
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All Geocoins that have submitted have now been approved.

 

I have also also added a clarification about naming conventions to the first step of the Add Geocoin wizard.

 

Next, I will work on:

 

  • Adding a "Vendor" field for Geocoins
  • Adding "Additional Information" fields for Geocoins and Editions
  • Not forcing new Geocons to go through the approval process (see above posts)

 

Keep the submissions and suggestions coming!

  • Adding a "Vendor" field for Geocoins
  • Adding "Additional Information" fields for Geocoins and Editions
  • Not forcing new Geocons to go through the approval process (see above posts)
  • Adding a "Add New Edition" link to the "Other Editions" drop down

 

Vendor field has been added.

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Need clarification on how the coins are supposed to be listed.

 

I have three Scooby coins, Bronze, LE (AS), and LE (BN).

 

I assumed I list one coin with three editions so I listed the bronze. I then added an "LE" edition with AS finish. I then tried to add an "LE" edition with BN finish. I am stopped by the duplicate name of "LE".

 

So are we supposed to put the finish as part of the name if that is all there is to signify a difference?

 

Suppose I should have listed as LE (AS) and LE (BN). I was assuming that maybe duplicate edition names would be allowed and the selected finish might be pulled into the name when listed.

The way I was thinking was adding the finish/color name if there are multiple of the same "type" of edition. Does that seem OK to you?

 

Edit: I've approved the LE that you'd submitted reflecting this change. Let me know what you think.

Edited by dimkasmir
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Need clarification on how the coins are supposed to be listed.

 

I have three Scooby coins, Bronze, LE (AS), and LE (BN).

 

I assumed I list one coin with three editions so I listed the bronze. I then added an "LE" edition with AS finish. I then tried to add an "LE" edition with BN finish. I am stopped by the duplicate name of "LE".

 

So are we supposed to put the finish as part of the name if that is all there is to signify a difference?

 

Suppose I should have listed as LE (AS) and LE (BN). I was assuming that maybe duplicate edition names would be allowed and the selected finish might be pulled into the name when listed.

The way I was thinking was adding the finish/color name if there are multiple of the same "type" of edition. Does that seem OK to you?

 

Edit: I've approved the LE that you'd submitted reflecting this change. Let me know what you think.

Yes

 

 

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