Mindat Mineralogy Messageboard - New Features

Re: Locality Determination based on Known Mineral Associations

David Von Bargen — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:10:04 +0000

Don't feel too bad, we do appreciate the ideas. About half of the new suggestions are for things that can already be done.

Re: Locality Determination based on Known Mineral Associations

Leor Goldberg — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:53:17 +0000

Thanks David! That's a little embarrassing that I didn't find it, but I'm proud none the less that I thought of the idea independently. Thanks though! :)-D

Re: Locality Determination based on Known Mineral Associations

David Von Bargen — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:32:38 +0000

"Search for Mineral Association" [www.mindat.org]

Up to 8 minerals

Its the first option on the locality section of the search pages tab
[www.mindat.org]

Re: Locality Determination based on Known Mineral Associations

Michael Hopkins — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:24:13 +0000

Wow great idea. Can you imagine the size of the program.

Locality Determination based on Known Mineral Associations

Leor Goldberg — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:59:14 +0000

I don't know if this feature is on the site or not, but if it is I couldn't find it. I had the idea the other day that a feature could be added to the site where one could input all the minerals identified on the piece they want to locate, and have mindat come up with a few places that match those criteria. After that I looked to see if the feature existed, but I could not find it. This would be pretty easy I think given that mindat already has all identified minerals from localities, this would simply be in reverse. I know that for me it would be a great help, and likely for others as well.

Of course there would be some occasions for which there would not be a very helpful answer (ie. where is this Quartz from), but naturally the rarer the mineral, the more likely it is to find where it came from. Along with this could possibly be some user-submitted (reviewed of course) pictures of different habits from the locale. I apologize if this in fact exists, but if it doesn't, I'm sure that this could be a very useful tool. :-)

Please let me know what you think!

Hashtags in Image captions

Jeff Weissman — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:08:03 +0000

#Don't #Like #Them

Why are #Hashtags now active in image captions.

I have been coding my images with a system to make keyword searching in my gallery easier, I have been delineating search terms in image captions with #1234# type of system. Since some change in the software now recognizes the use of the # as a hashtag qualifier, it totally destroys my coding. Any chance this could be deactivated on an individual home page basis?

Re: KMZ-Button for locations with coordinates

Vik Vanrusselt — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:33:56 +0000

Hi all,

I don't know whether this feature is already available (or is ever going to be), but i definitely second this feature!

Keep up the good work!

Vik

Re: Members lapidary services?

Tim Jokela Jr — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:42:18 +0000

You could try gemologyonline.com. Most pro facetors don't like cutting customers rough; it's a no-win situation. I'd strongly suggest finding a local cutter, or sending it overseas.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

D Mike Reinke — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 02:49:29 +0000

John and David,
I noticed when I went to 'users photo galleries' (middle, left column, well named since mindat is addictive) that you guys haven't uploaded yer stuff. After we pm'd I thought 'Cool, I'll suss out your collections.' Nope. I was kind of frustrated after I finally got some decent photos, eager to upload, and it was hard to figure the right proceedure, especially with locations. The Earth has probably a trillion sublocalities, so designating each one with clarity takes a lot of rules. There are also oodles of abbreviations, so 'county', for example, must be designated exactly one way. Mindat chooses 'Co.' , NO variations! That sort of thinking helped me realize where I was making mistakes. I have never thought like a programmer, and maybe never will, I really wish a member of management lived next door!! But once I learnt how they want 'yer stuff' uploaded, I really got to get a feel for it. I was rather thrilled to find that when I found a 10 lb chink of hematite at a worksite in a county that had no minerals uploaded from it yet, my picture went into the page of that county. So some of my photos are in my gallery, on a location page, and the minerals' gallery. I feel useful! I have looked at the counties where my friends live that I may visit soon, to see what is there, or, if nothing is there, see what worthy piece I might find to upload. Not that that is now my purpose in life (No?!) but the hobby takes on a new angle, since I'll always keep one eye on the ground...
So post what you find! I do understand though, that the photography is the problem. I got a lot of help there, or I wouldn't be this far along.

Mike

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

David Von Bargen — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:52:17 +0000

"I do know that many sites have an embedded Google search on their homepage. Would it be possible to offer this as an option?" - That option is available on every page of mindat at the very bottom - see the "Search Google" (you can also do a Google site search from the search area on the upper right hand of the front page (select Search For: drop down box and select Google site search)

" I typed Minerva Number 1, with no results again." - better option would be just to type Minerva.
Searching can be a bit iffy, especially if you aren't familiar with the site. Jolyon has just installed some new search programs on the server, so I think we will be doing some work on making things a bit more efficient.

"but now it looks a little cluttered and out of date now. " - It is really difficult to come up with a clean look that doesn't make things harder to find. (even things that are pretty prominent can be overlooked - see above)

"My data is in xls which of course could be easily converted to many different kinds of file-types. " - the major problem is matching locality strings to what is already in the mindat database and putting the new ones in the proper place in the location hierarchy.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

David Zimmerman (2) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:57:29 +0000

I'm not a big fan of proposing things when I am not volunteering here, so I guess I'd like to thank all the volunteers for spending their time to do a lot of the back-end stuff that doesn't get as much notice as it should.

That said though, I must say that I've been doing a workaround for searching things on this website for probably 10 years or more. I just did a test to make sure it hasn't been updated since my last test a few years ago. I placed a very popular site called Minerva #1 in the Location search box and had no hits on the search. I typed Minerva Number 1, with no results again. I then did the same query in the Keywords box and got a lot of returns. I've often found with the Mindat search that it doesn't take much more than 2 words to confuse it and produce zero results.

I guess I've really gotten used to doing Google Searches with one box and having the most relevant information put on top of the list. I also prefer having a single search box. I do know that many sites have an embedded Google search on their homepage. Would it be possible to offer this as an option? Maybe as a minumum, a help-box could be added next to the search areas to detail how best to search for things here. If that was implemented though, I'll admit that I would probably still just flip open another tab and do a Google Search. I just think it would be ideal to keep people on Mindat longer if possible.

I also have a hard time finding information on the homepage. It's probably because I visit the homepage once every 6 months or less, but things like this forum and articles that have been written are not overly apparent on the homepage. I think it was ahead of its time last decade, but now it looks a little cluttered and out of date now.

I know I spoke with Jolyon a year or two ago about trying to integrate my collections database with Mindat's. I'm not really sure how many locations I've got, but it's a couple hundred thousand. At that time, Jolyon advised that the only way to integrate the two was to log-on and input the data here one site at a time. Since that was a non-starter, the idea was dropped. My data is in xls which of course could be easily converted to many different kinds of file-types.

So, keep up the good work and please take any of my suggestions lightly. I know what it's like to be volunteering and having others make suggestions that end up creating more work for you!! I'm not making it to Tucson this year but probably will make it again next year. I'll look forward to attending the meeting at that time and meeting a bunch of you too.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

John Oostenryk — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:20:15 +0000

David : Thank you for the short lesson in getting around better re: message board. Much appreciated!
Debbie: I use the home/end key all the time on editing- but had no idea about pg utility- That is very cool!
And both of you- hmmm- You are totally correct- return from picture gallery IS to same place... I must admit some bafflement -confusion (and embarrassment!) Clearly a user error on my end... But hey, I will happily say: "Sweet! No longer an issue!"
Thanks folks,
JO:)

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

David Von Bargen — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:02:50 +0000

"1) When searching photo galleries: Clicking on a picture takes you to page. Clicking back returns you to top of gallery page..."

What browser/version are you using? I tried this in the latest versions of firefox, chrome,ie, opera, and safari and when I was in a photo gallery, clicked on a photo and went to the photo page. When I hit the back button, it took me to the same place on the previous page.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

Debbie Woolf — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:36:14 +0000

1) Yes I also find that a bit irritating, the same thing occurred when using the catalogue, I mentioned it to Jolyon & I think he fixed it to return to the bottom of the page. However, that may not be so easy for the galleries ?

There is an alternative, via your keyboard, the end button takes you to the bottom of the page & the home puts you at the top ! Or you could open the image into a new window so you stay in the gallery.

3) There is also the 'advance' link under the search box at the top right of the page, I find this useful.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

D Mike Reinke — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:25:58 +0000

John, thanks for bringing this up.
David, thanks for that feature; I had no idea it was there, great provision.

Re: Mindat Upgrade Features

David Von Bargen — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:35:05 +0000

"3) Ability to search(call up) all conversations by date/dates would be excellent addition "

You can go to recent messages
1) Select 100 messages
2) Change Group by Forum to Group by date
Page through to get dates

Mindat Upgrade Features

John Oostenryk — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:42:36 +0000

Hello Jolyon and Moderators,
First a hearty Thank You to all of you for a lot of unsung time spent keeping Mindat.org a useful resource. The amount of information that is recorded here is awesome! I certainly look forward to learning ever so much more through the collective efforts of ALL contributors!
WELL DONE!

Moving on to my wish list of feature CHANGES I hope the rest of the community has pondered too:) Pretty simple concepts, but how they mesh in code? I guess I will know by if they occur when the new rollout commences .

1) When searching photo galleries: Clicking on a picture takes you to page. Clicking back returns you to top of gallery page... Can we retun to same point/ place holder to avoid all the extra scrolling? My Number 1 wish!

2) Possible to choose number of results viewed on image page instead of 10 (or less.) (50 or 200 like ebay etc please?)

3) Ability to search(call up) all conversations by date/dates would be excellent additition
So if it is a busy day or I am out for a while, I can catch up on all the content/conversation that has occurred.
(I used to be able to click the RSS tab and get this for just the current day, but at some point that changed. (Maybe it is my machine that is altering or blocking that feature? Now all I get is a column of 'coding') I loved/miss the single day function, but the total search feature would be the best way to get it.

4) Figure out how to convert and retain the crystallography/3d lattice portion from mineral type pages. Those are so useful when you need them- hope you can save that in the move away from java utilization.(I agree java is hacktoast!)

That is it off the top of my head. There is still a lot of this site I have not utilized yet. Uploads to my personal page of photos/articles is actively pending. I am looking forward to contributing a little data from the IL/IA border region!

Thanks again!
John O:)

Members lapidary services?

Paul Hewitt — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:21:25 +0000

As an example, I have a nice chunk of amethyst that I would like to have faceted. I am sure there are people here on site that are capable of doing it and would be willing to do it. If you had a forum dedicated to that members could take advantage of it and get some lapidary services taken care of.

Re: Additional filter option in My Photos on personal homepage

Branko Rieck — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:45:44 +0000

"...Boy I sure felt like a dummy..."

So do I!

And once you get the spelling correct it works as desired!

Re: Additional filter option in My Photos on personal homepage

Rock Currier — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:56:51 +0000

Branko,
I have been able to search sub localities or general localities in my gallery by using the keyword box which will search not only the captions, but the locality strings for hits. Just found out about this myself after several years as a manager and struggling to find certain images I knew I had uploaded among thousands. Boy I sure felt like a dummy. I think that we may need to put a little description of the keyword function in the personal collection search box. I suspect that many others don't know about how to work this feature. Is this related to your problem?

Additional filter option in My Photos on personal homepage

Branko Rieck — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:45:08 +0000

The “My Photos“-section of my Mindat Home Page allows me to filter and sort the photos I have uploaded over time after certain criteria:

What Photos to Show
Which Locality
Which Mineral
Keyword(s)
Which Order

There is one feature that I miss:

If I select “Lavrion District Mines” in “Which Locality” it will show me just one photo, namely the one where I do not have more information on the locality and hence have it under the topmost hierarchy level for this district. It will not show me however the other photos from sublocalities of the “Lavrion District Mines”. From this I deduce that the search algorithm looks for an exact match.

A very nice feature to come in handy here would be a checkbox “Include sublocalities” which, if checked, would allow me to filter my photos after the selected locality and all sublocalities under the selected one.

Branko

VIDEO in articles

Jolyon & Katya Ralph — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 19:54:43 +0000

For a little while we've had problems with video playback in articles.

This is now fixed.

Changes:

1. Google Video support removed

2. The tag name has been changed from to in order for it to not clash with HTML5 VIDEO tags.

"Wanted" topical area?

Henry Barwood — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:26:59 +0000

Would it be possible to have a Wanted heading? Would be useful for someone like me looking for oddball stuff to analyze.

Re: When a thread was first posted.

Uwe Kolitsch — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 15:58:08 +0000

I support this suggestion.

When a thread was first posted.

AJMI — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:59:20 +0000

Suggestion:

In the Mindat sub-forums (General, Scrapbook, Rockhounds, etc.), it would be nice to know, without clicking into it, when a thread was first created and by whom.

That way I can tell if it's an old thread that's simply been revived with a new post or if it's a new thread that's just recently been created.

So perhaps a "First Created", "First Post" or "Started By" column that includes the date of the first thread post and who created it could be put next to the "Last Post" column in each Mindat sub-forum.

Many other forums include this kind of information which makes it easier for users to figure out how "fresh" a thread is without having to click on each thread to find out.

Mineral Without Valid Locality

Barry Flannery — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:42:47 +0000

I suggest that the photo upload tab "mineral without valid locality" be merged into the main mineral tab. The current system does not allow you to input names for a mineral species and all the other data of the specimen.

Consider the case I find myself in. I have several hundred photos from my local museum where I know the species but locality information is vague at best.

Can there be a simple drop down selection in the main mineral upload tab for (incomplete locality data)?

Thanks,

Barry

Re: Photo of whom mineral is named after

Amir C. Akhavan — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:48:06 +0000

Re: Photo of whom mineral is named after

Aleš Tomek — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:19:51 +0000

Hello,

could someone fill in the heading after what/who was the mineral named for?

Poubaite

In honor of prof. Zdeněk Pouba,(8.6.1922 - 27.12.2011), czech mineralogist, chair of deposit and economy geology (from 1953 to 1982) in Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

Thanks,

Aleš

[www.mindat.org]

Photo is from pages of Czech association of deposit geologists (http://calg.atlasweb.cz/htm/prof-pouba.htm).

Mineral counter

Pavel Kartashov — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 23:38:57 +0000

It would be very useful to make mineral counter on personal pages of users.

What means 2457 photos? May be they contains photos only 25 minerals (800 quartz, 750 calcite, 400 fluorite, 200 beryll, 100 anatase, 90 topaz, 80 "thourmaline", 75 selenite and 52 chalcopyrite).
Or for example, this gallery contains 20 photois of 20 minerals - [www.mindat.org]

For me more interesting to know, how much minerals user had upload, rather then how much photos he made.

And it is interesting for me, how much minerals in my own gallery.

Counter can to be shown as fraction x/y where x - IMA species, and y - varieties, synonims etc.

Show Tool Bar Button

Wayne Corwin — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 02:24:22 +0000

Thank you Jolyon for adding the "Show Tool Bar Button"

Nice feature !

KOR
Wayne Corwin