Well, here is some relatively definitive proof that someone at Backcountry reads Going Prepared. OK, maybe he did a google search, but I can hope!
Rocky and anyone else, join the board and make yourself known. We love BC and you might even receive some marriage offers from the womenz (possibly some of the more gear hungry men as well) in exchange for gear or employee discounts. If BC has a policy against posting on forums, tell us you work for a secret government agency or something. Womenz like mysterious men too!
Discuss in forums
I just received a shipment of Pocket Chainsaws for the store. If you are not familiar with the pocket chainsaw, here is a thread about them from a while back.
Discuss in forums
My store is up and running!
I have been threatening this for a while, but test orders have been placed, items have been added, and shipping calculations are working (I think). I have been working on this off and on at night for a couple of months, making sure that everything is working properly. There is not a ton on there right now, but I have added several different firesteel sizes and a neat little zipper pull whistle. More is on the way, so you’ll keep on hearing me shill my stuff for the foreseeable future.
Yes, I know I need to change the logo, update the policy pages, get product pictures, etc. I’m working on it!
Discuss in forums
Cat (from the forums) suggested that I create a better way to share and organize our pictures for the members of GP. PHPBB (the forum software) is not really set up to do something like this, but Flickr is!
I just created a Flickr group called Going Prepared. I left it as invite only to keep the riffraff out, so PM or email me your email address if you want to be added to the group.
Discuss in forums
Talk about a get together in the forums made me start wondering where the five people that read this blog are from. Please do me a big favor and add yourself to the map below so I can satisfy my burning curiosity. IP addresses only tell me so much!
Discuss in forums
I have been slack lately in the useful posts. I have a couple of already requested ones queued up after I figure out some technical issues, but not much after that. Is there anything anyone wants me to write about? I’m sure my areas of semi-expertise are pretty obvious, but I can write for days on fire, sharp things, flashlights, outerwear, or anything else you see me post about. Anything I don’t know about, I can research. Let me know and I’ll get to work!
Discuss in forums
I finally got my lazy butt around to upgrading the forum software over the last few days and finished it up tonight. If you are new to the site, be sure to check out the forums, since there are some great people over there that have some very interesting discussions. Everyone is helpful and will do their best to answer any questions that you have. I plan on making some of the forums’ posts viewable by registered users only, so now is a good time to join!
More info in the forums
I was looking through my previous blog/forum posts over the past few days for information that could be converted over to wiki articles. I was dismayed to see that not as many of them could be converted as I would like. Basically, I was not conveying information in the way I originally intended for this site. I wanted this to be a place full of tutorials, beginners’ information, step-by-step guides, etc.
Well, I am going to tilt the balance back toward the useful side. You will start seeing a lot more how-tos, videos, basic information posts, etc. from me. I started this off with an article on merino wool, a subject near and dear to all of us. There are corresponding blog and forum posts to go along with the wiki article. I am working on articles on packing a backpack, making a survival kit, starting a fire, and several others. My intent is that I can post information in the wiki at the same time as the regular blog and forum posts, so I need to have some actual content in there somewhere. You all are being very anti-wiki, but I still think that is the best way to get more people involved in the site, so I am going to plow ahead with new articles. I’m awfully stubborn, so it will be a while before I give up on the wiki.
Just so you know, I’ll still have plenty of pointless posts. You won’t be getting away from those that easily.
Discuss
Well kids, we now have a wiki. Setting it up was a giant pain in my booty thanks to the way my host’s servers are configured, but good ol’ google came to the rescue in the form of a french support forum that had a few lines in english with exactly what I needed.
Anyway, go to town and write articles about whatever you want. All I ask is that they pertain to the outdoors in some way. In true wiki spirit, I left it completely alone, so feel free to edit the home and any other page with something you think is appropriate.
Discuss
phpBB (the forum software) gives me the ability to create ranks for users with a certain number of posts. I am trying to find some plugins that will let me use more criteria, but post count is all I have to work with right now. I am thinking about creating ranks for new users and people with 100, 500, 1000, and 2500 posts. I have some retarded amount (2500, I think) of free email addresses with my hosting package, so people that make it to the 2500 level would get their own @goingprepared.com email address. I know, free email addresses! I am at the forefront of 1995 Internet technology!
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