Help:FAQ
From Trail-Finder -- Dedicated to getting you outside
General
What is Trail-Finder.com?
Trail-Finder.com is a community-driven web site dedicated to giving your the information, skills, and tools needed to getting you outdoors, and to making the most of the time you do spend outdoors.
Trail-Finder.com is set up mostly as a Wiki. This means that, unlike many web sites, most of the content is actually entered by visitors to the web site. In that way, it's more like a clubhouse than a web site. Maybe you came here to find information on water filters, but since you know a lot about camp stoves, you wrote an article about those while you were here.
What geographic area is covered by Trail-Finder.com?
So far, only planet Earth is covered. If, in the future, travel to other planets becomes more convenient, then other planets may also be covered.
Seriously, though, all parts of the planet are covered. If you look for information specific to your country or region and don't find any, it just means no one has put any information in yet. That means you should start, then tell everyone you know.
What kind of information is in Trail-Finder.com?
Trail-Finder.com is still in its infancy. Today, you can find information on all kinds of outdoor activities, outdoor groups, specific skills, product reviews, and product recommendations. You can also enter your favorite trail information, and search for new trails based on location, and even upload and download maps and GPS files.
What activities are allowed on Trail-Finder.com?
Nearly any non-motorized, outdoor activity which causes no harm to people or animals is allowed. Hunting, fishing, trapping, and motorsports are now allowed on Trail-Finder.com.
WikiStuff
What is a wiki?
Back in the old days, the mid-90's, for example, web pages were not only relatively static, they were also entirely created by one person or one company. Information flowed from them to you, never the other way. Then came wikis. With wikis, the most famous being Wikipedia.org, not only can web sites be dynamic, the information flow was changed. Not only does information flow from the web site operator to the visitors, it flows from them back to the web site operator and from visitor to visitor. In fact, most information is from visitor to visitor.
Why? Simple. I know a lot about some things, but not a lot about others. You know a lot about some things, too. Put our knowledge together, and there's more than either of us knew. Now bring in a few dozen people, a few thousand... You'll never cover everything, but you'll quickly cover more than any non-community-driven site could ever have.
Why are some pages protected? Isn't that non-wiki?
System pages (like this one) are protected from editing, but the article pages aren't. If you see something that needs to be changed on one of the system pages, just go to the Discussion tab, where you can always enter comments, even on protected pages.
How do I get started?
Just jump in! Check out the list of short or wanted articles (on the Navigation bar on the left). If you know something about any of those topics, go write it.
What if I don't know something needed for the article?
Let's say you're writing an article about backcountry cooking and you realize that it really needs an article about backcountry stoves, but you know nothing about them. First, see if there's already an article. If there is, just link to it. If not, just link to it anyway! When you put a link to a non-existent page, that page name will appear on the list of wanted articles.
What if I don't know everything about a topic?
If there's no article on a topic, you can still get it started. Write what you know. Link to related topics covered elsewhere, or to related topics that need to be covered but aren't yet written. It's ok to write half an article and say something like, "This article needs to be extended with...." Come back later to work on it more, or let someone else finish it for you.
What articles can I write?
All articles which are on-topic are welcome! Whether you want to write about something general, like mountain biking, or something specific, like selecting the right gear ratios for your mountain bike, your article is welcome. In fact, the nature of wikis means that, even if you don't know everything, that's ok. Just get it started, then watch it grow!
What types of trails can I write about?
You can write about any trail for any activity in Trail-Finder.com.
What types of maps can I upload?
The following types are currently supported. If you need other types, please use the Community Portal to recommend them.
- JPG - Screen captures and scanned maps
- PDF - Files produced in Adobe Acrobat, or compatible programs. Many maps are available on-line in this format
- GDB - Garmin's proprietary GPS data format.
- GPX - GPS manufacturer-independent data format.
Costs/Support
How can I support Trail-Finder.com?
There are two ways to support Trail-Finder.com.
- Add your knowledge. No one knows everything, but everyone knows something. Even if you're not a great writer or don't know any topic in-depth, write what you know. Enhance other people's articles, or start your own.
- Buy from our advertisers. When you follow a link to an advertiser and make a purchase before leaving their site, a percentage of the purchase price comes back to Trail-Finder.com to help run the site.
What is the cost to use Trail-Finder.com?
Right now, Trail-Finder.com is completely free to all users. I hope to keep it that way. The site is supported by people making purchases from our advertisers.
What can be purchased? How?
You can purchase nearly anything from Amazon.com, even if you don't see it pictured. Click on any of their links on this site to take you to the their site, find what you'd like to purchase, add it to your card, and proceed to the checkout.
