There's always some new project that I'm working on, and this is the latest one...I got tired of trying to figure out SPOT links for people cuz the URL looks like this: Code: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0eq7Lo7Cj9OntoAqhOfUfFEIgcpTQqrcd Who's gonna remember that? Rainman? I wanted a better way to remember that link and to help others so they could send a simple link to family and friends that was easy to remember off the top of your head. Well, this is what I came up with... WhereAmIRiding.com is now live and will be a work in progress. Looking for some input, maybe adding more info to the registration or edit details page, etc. If you have a SPOT with tracking and want a simple link, check this out: Go to the SPOT site and copy your SPOT URL from the "Share Page Name" cell (https://login.findmespot.com/spot-main-web/share/list.html) Go to: http://www.WhereAmIRiding.com Register an account (http://www.whereamiriding.com/register) Fill out the appropriate information. Keep in mind, your 'Username' will be the link used for your subdomain. Eg: http://strega.whereamiriding.com That link will forward to your profile with your SPOT link, simple and easy. You can edit your profile at your convenience, change your SPOT link, profile image, details, etc. If ya have a SPOT with tracking and you can help me by registering and setting up your account and giving me feedback, that would be great! Thanks :)
I'll give it a go. Haven't used my spot for awhile, but I registered and entered my info. Just need to get the link. Thanks!
Why bother? The link goes out to our email list when we set up the public site. I've never had to type in the URL.
For me, there are a couple reasons why... 1) You can only setup 7 people on your email list 2) What if I'm not on a buddy's email list and still want to see if he's ok when he's riding? 3) Posting the new link on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc, for my friends to see is easy. I don't ever have to remember my long SPOT link. Typing in http://strega.whereamiriding.com is easy for me. Maintaining a list of SPOT URL's for my friends is what I do currently in a notepad file on my desktop. This makes that problem go away. Hell, most of the time I don't know my OWN url for my SPOT and have to log in to find it. I completely understand this won't be something for everyone and I do appreciate the input :)
Can also use tinyurl.com. Free and no need to register. Not quite as easy to remember as your site's url will be. I do not want to rain on your parade as I think it is a good idea. But I just hate to "register" to use a web site. I understand it keeps spamers away but by the time I learn of a new site all the good user names are gone. LOL
I'll reserve SCExpat for ya :) Yeah I agree with ya, getting the right URL is key. That's why I created this site with 'WhereAmIRiding'. I figured it was really easy for people to remember and made sense for riding. I agree with you about the 'registering' part, I do hate that. Since I run the site, I can create profiles for people without the need to register, but you'd still need to 'sign in' to edit your profile if you wanted too. The ONLY piece of information I would need is the SPOT url. The only information you're giving up during registration is your email address, and if you're worried about that, I can get around that.
Added a new feature today...your page has it's own map (If you have active coords from the last 7 days) Example: Crawdaddy's Profile This map will work until 09/24/2011 when the 7 days are up. Any profile with no active waypoints in the last 7 days will just have text that says, "** No Active Trip Avaiable **" I'm pretty proud of this one :) (Does not yet work in Internet Explorer, but works fine in FireFox and Google Chrome Browsers - I REALLY REALLY REALLY hate IE. =\) One added bonus, you DO NOT need to have the 'Tracking' feature ($49.95/yr) for your coordinates to show up on our map. Each time you hit the "OK" button, we'll see that coordinate and drop it on our map as well.
Just remembered another reason why to 'bother' :) SPOT™ only shows your data for 7 days. SPOT™ only stores your data for 30 days (You can download a KML, csv, etc - when it works...) We will store your data indefinitely so you can go back and look at previous trips. Might even make it so there is a way to download your old data in a KML (Google Earth) or .gpx file as well. Work in progress!
A lot of motorcyclists use Spotwalla from Jason Jonas- it's integrated into several of the multi-day long distance rallies like the Iron Butt Rally and the 1088.
Spotwalla is great, but it's a different thing than I'm doing. We actually have a SPOTWalla page for 'WhereAmIRiding' as well, it's HERE Jason has done a great job with Spotwall, and my hat is off to him. Spotwalla does a very cool thing and drops a marker for your last position on a map and does for for each person that 'opts in'. My site does basically what the SPOT site does but it makes a simple to remember URL and has some profile features so you can check out other like minded folks. The site has some community features which are kinda neat I think. Just think of WhereAmIRiding.com as a simple to remember URL that links to your SPOT account with a couple extra bonus features :)
Don't ya actually have to sell something or be making money to be a vendor? I do all of this for FREE. Actually it's not free, costs me quite a bit of money every year for hosting, domain names, etc etc.. I rarely if ever look at the 'Trip Planning' forum, which is why I opted to post in the WEST forum where most of my posts are... *sigh*
Registered. I like where this is going. Please keep it up. MUST get the Map working for Internet Explorer though! ;-) Cheers S1
