sets on Walmart, not listied in ixbyix

31 Replies, 39781 Views

(10-13-2016, 12:23 AM)Pablo392 Wrote: One question, is it possible for you to put an indicator, or maybe an option in settings so we can see what was added? Maybe an option to compare updates like how wiki does. This way we can see what was added, especially when they are added into Unnumbered areas or in Blister pack areas. Maybe color difference or maybe asterisk or footnote/superscript 1-2-3 etc..?

I'll think about that a little. It's not automatic, since the checklist page is just a plain text file without any application running behind the scenes to track changes. If it helps, new engines will only ever be added to the end of any list: I can't insert them into the middle of a list without messing up people's checkmarks (since it is the position of the checkmark in the list that is saved, not the name of the engine).
(10-13-2016, 05:18 AM)drewbenn Wrote: I'll think about that a little. It's not automatic, since the checklist page is just a plain text file without any application running behind the scenes to track changes. If it helps, new engines will only ever be added to the end of any list: I can't insert them into the middle of a list without messing up people's checkmarks (since it is the position of the checkmark in the list that is saved, not the name of the engine).

Hi Drew,
When you add a new engine to a group or wave that is collapsed by the user, will it expand by default or does it stay collapsed? Thanks!

One more option I just thought of, although I am not sure how complicated it would be to implement.
"Collapse completed groups" Check/Uncheck. Smile
(This post was last modified: 10-18-2016, 07:05 PM by Pablo392.)
No, the list will stay collapsed; since there's no detailed revision history (I know, I know! Wink) there's no way for a list to know something has changed inside itself. Also once I insert a new wave, you'll see that it inherits the collapse-state of the wave it was inserted before, and everything after it will shift over one. You'll see what I mean when we get a little more info about 2017/1 and I get around to adding it.

Auto-collapsing is a neat idea, but I also worry about irritating people with it. "I just checked the last engine in that wave and instead of being able to sit back and enjoy all the checkmarks, they all disappeared!" Smile Actually the way I originally envisioned the collapsible tables was as a way for new collectors to hide all the 2015 waves so the stuff they find in stores would be up at the top for them.

Actually the new 3-digit numbers in 2017/1 are kind of a problem, since I made some assumptions about codes always having exactly 2 digits. I think I've got a solution but it means extra testing to make sure I don't break anything or slow down the page load time, so that's what I'll be concentrating on for a little while.
(10-19-2016, 04:36 AM)drewbenn Wrote: No, the list will stay collapsed; since there's no detailed revision history (I know, I know! Wink) there's no way for a list to know something has changed inside itself. Also once I insert a new wave, you'll see that it inherits the collapse-state of the wave it was inserted before, and everything after it will shift over one. You'll see what I mean when we get a little more info about 2017/1 and I get around to adding it.

Auto-collapsing is a neat idea, but I also worry about irritating people with it. "I just checked the last engine in that wave and instead of being able to sit back and enjoy all the checkmarks, they all disappeared!" Smile Actually the way I originally envisioned the collapsible tables was as a way for new collectors to hide all the 2015 waves so the stuff they find in stores would be up at the top for them.

Actually the new 3-digit numbers in 2017/1 are kind of a problem, since I made some assumptions about codes always having exactly 2 digits. I think I've got a solution but it means extra testing to make sure I don't break anything or slow down the page load time, so that's what I'll be concentrating on for a little while.

Here is another thought (again, please don't think I expect you to make all these changes, please consider it brain storming, just tossing some ideas out there Heart), how about making the Wave/Collection number conditional color, if they are (XX/XX) complete they can stay black but if they are anything else (XX/XZ) they can turn Red? This way, if you add something to an already collapsed wave/category (although you won't be adding anything to waves usually, but this would mostly apply to unnumbered, special, etc.. like if they release some Power Rangers first, then others later, etc..) and collector already collapsed it, they can easily spot something changed and expand the collection to see what was added (obviously the one without a checkmark) Big Grin. Would this work?

Instead of auto collapsing on complete, maybe it can have a toggle at bottom "Collapse all completed waves/releases" so if the set is marked complete (all checkmark) it can collapse or expand, but I don't think this is too important, I only thought about this because I am keeping my completed waves collapsed, but when a new pack is released (like 30-pack).. I have to go back and expand them all one by one to easily highlight & mark the duplicates on my hardcopy.

I thought about something else just earlier, about the duplicates.
How about adding a 2nd checkmark to all engines (or have an option, again at the bottom, saying Allow Duplicates). Bu adding 2nd checkmark, we can mark which ones we have duplicates (regardless of how many) and this would help tremendously with trading. As long as there is another one (or 5 more) in our collection of the same engine, we can have 2 checkmarks. This might be a nightmare, but I thought it would be easier than notes/numbers/etc.

[Image: 4c133b17e1396eb8150dc40f45abea7e.png]

Sorry, I uploaded wrong one, can a Mod remove above picture (I don't want to clutter) since I can't edit here.

[Image: 91f1be7942e4d6ef0f9d808335745c8d.png]
(This post was last modified: 10-19-2016, 05:04 AM by Pablo392.)
Yeah I've been thinking about all these things the last few days. I will probably change the color of the heading of completed waves (probably Thomas-blue or a dark green, do you have a preference?). I don't want to mark incomplete waves red because I think most users *don't* have complete collections and I don't want to punish them by marking up the page with lots of extra red text.

In general I don't like adding options because it doubles the amount of things I need to test (as opposed to being one more thing to test). So the longer the page lives, the higher the bar to add an option. But I've been thinking about how to allow duplicates, and I'm thinking of doing something like what you showed (maybe with the checkboxes after the engine names? not sure yet) with an option to select how many duplicates columns to add. The big thing I'm worried about is how to preserve that info in a link (e.g. to send someone else or to keep for yourself if you're moving between browsers) and I'm sort of thinking of a new 'name=highlight' option that would *highlight* all the trains in the URL instead of selecting them [or, hmm, maybe I should have been doing that from the beginning for 'name=share'. Now you've really got me thinking!], and possibly a "check all highlighted engines" buttons. I'm going to keep thinking about this, but it will probably be a while before I get anything implemented.

Collapse/expand all is a good idea, I understand now that you've explained why.

FYI there is an undocumented feature where you can change the value of the 'name' parameter and it will save those checked engines as a separate list. It was one of the original features but I never came up with a good UI for it and after I used it myself for a couple weeks it was just too difficult for me to keep all my lists straight (and by all, I mean 2) and I just never bothered finishing it. So it might go away or stop working at any time but you are welcome to try it out and see if it helps you track duplicates.
(10-21-2016, 06:57 PM)drewbenn Wrote: Yeah I've been thinking about all these things the last few days. I will probably change the color of the heading of completed waves (probably Thomas-blue or a dark green, do you have a preference?). I don't want to mark incomplete waves red because I think most users *don't* have complete collections and I don't want to punish them by marking up the page with lots of extra red text.

In general I don't like adding options because it doubles the amount of things I need to test (as opposed to being one more thing to test). So the longer the page lives, the higher the bar to add an option. But I've been thinking about how to allow duplicates, and I'm thinking of doing something like what you showed (maybe with the checkboxes after the engine names? not sure yet) with an option to select how many duplicates columns to add. The big thing I'm worried about is how to preserve that info in a link (e.g. to send someone else or to keep for yourself if you're moving between browsers) and I'm sort of thinking of a new 'name=highlight' option that would *highlight* all the trains in the URL instead of selecting them [or, hmm, maybe I should have been doing that from the beginning for 'name=share'. Now you've really got me thinking!], and possibly a "check all highlighted engines" buttons. I'm going to keep thinking about this, but it will probably be a while before I get anything implemented.

Collapse/expand all is a good idea, I understand now that you've explained why.

FYI there is an undocumented feature where you can change the value of the 'name' parameter and it will save those checked engines as a separate list. It was one of the original features but I never came up with a good UI for it and after I used it myself for a couple weeks it was just too difficult for me to keep all my lists straight (and by all, I mean 2) and I just never bothered finishing it. So it might go away or stop working at any time but you are welcome to try it out and see if it helps you track duplicates.

In reference to colors, I understand, most people will have more incomplete sets than complete ones, so it's better to highlight completed ones. As for color, I thought about Red because it can somewhat be a bit different than black when printed, but I suppose any color will work since most people use color printers (now that I think about it..) And I doubt a lot of people print and make marks on the list like I do, any color would be fine.

I didn't quite understand what you meant by name parameter? I tried it, yes it creates a new list but when you go back and save or create a new link, it creates with "share" name again, unless you keep using the same link. While this might work for duplicates for some people, it's still not a easy solution for most, keeping track of both in same browser. I would try two browsers, maybe explorer for duplicates and chrome for main collection.

No matter what, even if you don't change a thing (other than adding new minis) it's still amazingly useful, invaluable to Minis collectors.
[-] The following 1 user Likes Pablo392's post:
  • drewbenn
Wow! Updated colors look great. Thank you drewbenn.
[-] The following 1 user Likes Pablo392's post:
  • drewbenn
Hi drewbenn,
Just received two sets not listed on your website.
http://www.blueplastictracks.com/showthr...9#pid24809

I think there will be two more sets released soon, I'll keep an eye on them.
I am not taking these out of packaging until you add them to the list Smile
Hi Drew,
Are you are waiting for the series "Aquatic" in order to list them by their individual names (for example Starfish, i/o Aquatic Thomas)?
Also,
I don't see Jellyfish Iron Bert listed (part of same pack as Starfish Thomas and Cargo Car Snake)
Night Time victor picture doesn't match the package.


[Image: a675ee7068a65e787ab3a1a61c17de87.png]

Also for reference:

[Image: b23fcf8c1fa477e63588525fda6f3cf4.png]
(This post was last modified: 12-15-2016, 10:47 PM by Pablo392.)
Thanks, I'd used the wrong picture. I've fixed it now (though it may take a while to show up correctly depending on how your browser caches images).

Jellyfish Iron Bert is 97 Aquatic Bert in 2017/1.

I do plan to continue listing the aquatic engines as Aquatic (just as I list "Alien Paxton" as Space Paxton). So far, the only places I've listed individual names instead of group names are the affiliated engines DCSF, SpongeBob and Tootsie (DCSF and Tootsie both reusing engines for different affiliated characters), and Core Moments (because that label is pretty unobvious: I wouldn't expect even a long-time Thomas fan to see a black-and-yellow James and think, "Core Moments!" (though I do sort of regret not using the group name and may change it in the future)).



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