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Offline kamstutz  
#51 Posted : 08 March 2019 21:46:49(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
A quick Friday "Wiki" update:

  • The new embedded eBay global search is now open for use by non-registered users of the Model Railroad Collector Wiki
    Originally the search feature was only open to those users that are registered. While I hope that those collectors in the forum register and have a look at the project, the Wiki Worldwide eBay search feature is now available to anyone and is useful to find that item you are looking for regardless of where (which country) the item is listed for auction. After all - we are worldwide collectors anyway...LOL Instructions on usage are posted in the previous Update #7 inside this thread or on the Wiki's What's New page here -> MRC Wiki What's New

  • Collectors of Maerklin analog locomotives rejoice - Thanks to contributions from many Wiki users the Wiki Directory now has ALL 3000 series locomotives and ALL of their versions entered into the public database. This is not a milestone to be lightly considered as there are more than 500 individual entries in this category - All entries contain, at a minimum, a thumbnail image, to visually identify the locomotive. What this means is that the collector only need search for the locomotive and click to add to their collection. No data entry is required to get these locomotives into your collection - just point and shoot and you add these to your collection(s) in seconds instead of minutes. Additionally most all entries have detailed versioning descriptions to help identify which version item (Koll's) you have. The English translations from German are not always 100% accurate, but thanks to online translators Unsure they are usually sufficient enough to version your item. Digital collectors don't despair either as the collection of registered digital locomotives continues to grow. Little by little we'll fill in the missing items with the continued help of crowd-sourcing the Wiki's model train Directory.

  • Maerklin 4400 series freight wagons - Thanks to contributions from California and across the pond in the UK, the number of registered freight wagons has grown with almost 100 new items added to the Directory. These include a number of Beer and Container wagons. If you are a collector of these type items then have a look and see what has newly been added to the database. New additions are always shown on the Wiki homepage


Happy Collecting !

Kurt
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Offline JWO  
#52 Posted : 11 April 2019 17:06:24(UTC)
JWO

Netherlands   
Joined: 08/12/2004(UTC)
Posts: 56
Location: Friesland
Hi Kurt, I tried to enter my own collection to the wiki. But something strange is going on. I have a collection, it says it has 12 items in it, but when I selected it and press the view button there is a message that there are no results. I didn't tick the selection boxes to hide sold items and so on. Maybe it is a bug in the system?

Johan
Offline kamstutz  
#53 Posted : 11 April 2019 17:12:59(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Originally Posted by: JWO Go to Quoted Post
Hi Kurt, I tried to enter my own collection to the wiki. But something strange is going on. I have a collection, it says it has 12 items in it, but when I selected it and press the view button there is a message that there are no results. I didn't tick the selection boxes to hide sold items and so on. Maybe it is a bug in the system?

Johan

Hello Johan - I'll bet that you have a filter set on the collection items - either in the search box or on a column - and no items in your collection fall into that filter. To resolve please try this:

In the collection Main menu button bar try clicking on the "Reset filter(s)" button. This will remove any search terms and/or column filters you may have added previously and you should see all of the items in your collection. If that doesn't work then I can help you with the issue offline via email. I'll send you a short message by email.

Thanks for trying the Wiki.

Kurt
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Offline White Buffalo  
#54 Posted : 11 April 2019 18:02:36(UTC)
White Buffalo

United States   
Joined: 29/12/2016(UTC)
Posts: 414
Location: South Dakota
I had a similar problem Jonah. It was an easy fix once I was shown what to do. After I reset the filters, I could see the whole collection again.
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Offline JWO  
#55 Posted : 12 April 2019 08:32:10(UTC)
JWO

Netherlands   
Joined: 08/12/2004(UTC)
Posts: 56
Location: Friesland
Kurt, thank you for the message. It was indeed the sticky entry in the search field. Once you're used to it it works perfect :-)

In the near future i will look into the description of how to add items. I'm missing a few so i would like to help to complete these items. Very nice database system you put together!

Johan
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Offline kamstutz  
#56 Posted : 28 April 2019 01:18:40(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - Update #8 - April 27, 2019
============================================================
Several updates to report on the latest progress for the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project. Big performance improvements and updated eBay searches highlight this month's updates.

A few highlights of recent changes include:

  • Calendars - It was brought to my attention that the calendar date pickers (used in personal collections for setting the "ordered on", "acquisition" and "sold" dates) had some anomalies especially with the international (German) version. All date pickers in the Wiki have been upgraded.

  • Date rendering in Directory and Collections - The formatting of dates in the Directory and Collection lists were not always consistent, nor correct - especially when viewed with the German version of the Wiki. Renderings now correctly reflect the English or German localization of date formatting.

  • Checkbox columns indicating if item is "In Collection ?" or "In Want List ?" - Now adding an item from the Directory to one of your Collections or Want List immediately updates these columns thus allowing a quick check if you have an item already in one of your collections or have flagged it as "Wanted".

  • Performance tweaks - Extensive reworking was done to the common processes of adding new records to the Wiki Directory and to User Collections as well as editing these same lists. Adding or updating records is now significantly quicker even when using slower internet connections.

  • Price History list - The Price History list (used to record the date and price items sell for) now supports entering dates and displaying them correctly in both the English and German versions of the Wiki. Previously there were issues choosing and rendering the dates.

  • User Collections - Moving items from one collection to another - Bug fix to correctly allow easily moving an item from a Want List to another collection or vice versa.

  • Multiple column sorting - Now clicking on a column header in either the Directory or a Collection will intelligently sort on multiple columns. It is now possible to do custom sorting on multiple columns simply by sorting on one column as usual (by clicking the column header title) and then holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on another column header with your mouse.

  • Adding New Directory items - Smart defaults - Prior to adding a new item to the Directory many users have discovered that preselecting a similar item, opening it for editing, and then immediately closing the edit form, will save those details and then PREPOPULATE the form fields with that item when creating a new entry in the Directory. This not only saves a considerable amount of effort when entering details for the new item (only change the fields that are different), it also ensures consistency when creating the same items with different versions. The update in the April release prepopulates the Railway company and prototype class from the previously selected item.

  • EBay Global search improvements - 1 - Custom search keywords You may now enter your own keywords for a custom eBay seach. The text box will prepopulate with the manufacturer name and article number that was selected when opening up a new eBay search, but you may change the keyword text to anything you like. The eBay search syntax is quite powerful for those users that understand the formation of search keywords and operators. It is not possible to go into detail of how this works in this forum post, but if you would like more information you can visit eBay for a technical summary of search syntax. https://developer.ebay.c...PIGuide.html#usekeywords . The important take-away is that the Wiki eBay search can now accomodate ANY custom search in the "eBay Search Keywords" textbox

  • EBay Global search improvements - 2 - Select if eBay search is related to Model Railroads or not While most of your eBay searches will be related to trains, the Wiki eBay search functionality has a configuration checkbox which allows a user to search for an item on eBay that is NOT related to the Model Railroad hobby - just uncheck the checkbox next to the text "Search is related to model railroads ?". Depending on the type of search you wish to do checking or unchecking this checkbox will produce more relevant results.


eBaySearchPopUp.jpg

  • EBay Global search improvements - 3 - Remove duplicates The global eBay search functionality which allows a user to search for an item in all countries (previously announced) now has a feature that tries to remove duplicate items from the same seller's auction in different countries. To make this feature work registered users may now sort the list of countries according to their needs by clicking on "Preferences" in the main menu and then select "EBAY SEARCH". A new list will appear with all countries. You may then drag and drop the country names from highest to lowest priority. The settings only need to be configured once and the settings are persisted. In the event that the eBay seller posts an item to more that one country - only the country at the top of the priority list will be shown and the others will be removed. Make sure to check the checkbox "Remove duplicates from results ?" to experiment with this new feature.


WikiEbayCountryPrefernces.jpg

Special thanks

  • Although many users have contributed several items to the public database of (mostly) Marklin trains, the MRC Wiki would like to thank collector Nic B., who single-handedly entered more than 350 items in the Wiki Directory in late March and early April covering most if not all Maerklin items from the 1980's. This is a significant milestone as it means that all collectors that own any items from this decade can easily add them to their collections in a matter of seconds WITHOUT having to register new items. If you have any items from this period or desire any for your Wish Lists then have a look (thank Nic for all his work.)


Closing Notes

Thanks again to all those collectors that have contributed to the public database. Each entry makes it that much easier for those starting out. If you have not registered why not register and give a try at managing your own collection. ? You might be surprised at how easy it is to do.

Happy collecting ThumpUp

Model Railroad Collector Wiki website - https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/
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Offline White Buffalo  
#57 Posted : 21 May 2019 06:43:03(UTC)
White Buffalo

United States   
Joined: 29/12/2016(UTC)
Posts: 414
Location: South Dakota
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Happy birthday Kurt and thanks again for all the hard work and long hours you put into the Wiki. It's a great product that I can not thank you enough for letting us share it.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Rich
Offline kamstutz  
#58 Posted : 24 August 2019 04:17:50(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - What's New - Update #9 - August 2019
========================================================================================
Item Maintenance - New functionality has been added to convert the collection Maintenance list from a simple list of completed maintenance tasks on a locomotive or car in a personal collection to a full blown Task List that includes TO DO tasks as well as already completed ones. To access this new functionality start by selecting an item to which you wish to attach a task. Click on the row of the item desired to enable the "Item Maintenance" button (identified with an icon of a "wrench"). See image below for location of the button.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance.jpg

Next click on the "Item Maintenance" button and a new table will open. You will see a list of previously attached tasks OR an empty table if no task have previously been created for the item. If you have existing tasks then you will notice the "Status" checkbox in the first column of the table. An unchecked box indicates that the task is in TO DO status and a checked box indicates that the task has been completed. See image below for a visual explanation.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance2.jpg

To add a new task start by clicking on the "NEW" button. A simple form containing 4 fields will open.

1. Service Type - The first field, called "Service Type" is a dropdown list. If this is the first time your are using the Maintenance List then the Service Type dropdown list will be empty. To add new items select the dropdown option called "<< Not in list - add new >>". Selecting this option will pop up a small window which will allow you to create/add your own Service Task type. Enter the name in the text field and click "Save" to register your new custom type or "Cancel" to return to the Service Log form. See example below.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance2-5-ServiceTypeOptions.jpg

It is not uncommon to have many different custom service types. Below are some suggestions. Feel free to copy some of these or create your own.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance3-ServiceTypeOptions.jpg

2. Service Date - Use the calendar selector to select the date that the task was completed or, in the case of a TO DO task, the date by which you want to perform the task.

3. Notes - Use this field to enter any supplemental information that you need related to the task.

4. Status - Select either "Completed" or "To Do" from the dropdown list to indicate if the task has been complete or is scheduled for some time in the future. In this manner you may schedule future necessary service on a needy locomotive - perhaps, for example, to indicate that you need to add or replace a decoder, or change the tires or brushes. See below:

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance4-StatusOptions.jpg

Task List - To complement this new task status functionality a collection menu feature has been added called "Task List". The Task List summarizes in list form all of the completed tasks within a collection as well as all of the TO DO tasks. The Task List can be filtered by Completed or To Do items, sorted by date or type of task or service to perform, and, like all other lists in the Wiki, may be printed out for reference on your workbench. To access the Task List first make sure that no item is selected (highlighted) in your collection list. The new "Task List" menu button appears in the button bar as shown in the image below.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance5-TaskListMenuItem.jpg

Click on the "Task List" button and you will be presented with a list containing ALL of your tasks, both completed and TO DO for the selected collection. Once the list is displayed you may filter (using the Search box), sort (click on a column header), Edit (click on a row and then click the Edit button) or Print the Task List. TIP: When a TO DO task is completed simply edit the task record - change the Status dropdown to "Completed" and update the Service date to the actual date that the task was completed.

MRCWiki-2019-08-ItemMaintenance6-TaskList.jpg

=======================================

If you haven't seen the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project in action then have a look and if you are interested in contributing to the public database and/or managing your own collection(s) then register and explore the Wiki features. The entire project is community driven. All questions and or comments are encouraged and appreciated.

Happy Collecting ! BigGrin ThumpUp

Kurt

kamstutz Offline

https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki
Offline kamstutz  
#59 Posted : 29 November 2019 05:05:04(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - What's New - Update #10 - November 2019

One of the joys of model railroading is that our hobby is truly international. Because of the MRC Wiki project I have had the opportunity to correspond with MRR collectors like you from all over the world - expanding both my knowledge of model railroading and my understanding of other cultures. Currently the Wiki project has registered users from the 28 countries listed below. Since the MRC Wiki database contains mostly European (Marklin) items it is no surprise that the majority of users are from Europe, but there are also representatives from South America and Asia.

Model Railroad Collector Wiki - Countries with users

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bolivia
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • South Africa
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States


While it is a joy to welcome model railroaders from all over the world, this internationalization raises a number of challenges from an application development point of view. How to create an application that is useful for users that speak languages other than English? The MRC Wiki launched nearly 2 years ago supporting both the English and German languages. It is possible to add additional languages to the Wiki, but the time investment would be severe and dependent upon others donating a significant amount of translation time. One of our Spanish collector users recently reached out to me and pointed out that the date formats in the Wiki were in the American style for anyone using the English version of the application. Clearly few, if any, European collectors NOT using the German version of the Wiki, were satisfied using the formatting of dates in the US style (month/day/year).

With that challenge in mind I have created a solution, much simpler than would be required to add all new localized text, and added a new Wiki configuration that allows the registered collector to format the dates in their collection BASED ON THE LANGUAGE and DATE FORMAT of their choosing. This customization now includes language specific calendars as well with day of week and month names displayed in the language selected.

WikiCollectionWithGreekCalendar.jpg

In addition to choosing the language for the rendering of dates the collector has the option of choosing any one of four (4) possible display options. There are two abbreviated date options and two expanded date format options that may include the day of week and month names in their favorite language.

While is it not possible to completely localize all of the display text in the Wiki into all possible languages, the addition of custom date formats should provide a useful feature to all those collectors that wish for more relevant date fields in their collection lists.

To use this new feature follow these steps. Samples are shown for the Greek language.

1) Log into your Wiki account.
2) Navigate to the "My Collections" / "Meine Sammlungen" page.
3) Click on the row containing the collection you wish to customize. The row will become highlighted letting you know that it has been selected.
4) Click on the "Edit" / "Bearbeiten" button in the table button bar area.
5) The "Edit collection" / "Bearbeiten Sammlung" form will appear.
6) Using the dropdown selector select the "Language for dates" / "Sprache für Datumsangaben" and set your preferred language from the 75 different languages available.

WikiCollectionWithLanguagePicker.jpg

7) Once the language has be selected then, using the dropdown selector for the "Date format" / "Datumsformat", select one of 4 different formats available for the chosen language. The two abbreviated date formats at the top may appear to be the same, but the difference is that the first option will display months and days with a leading zero when applicable. Example January 5th will appear as "01/05" or "05/01" (European format) rather than "1/5" or "5/1". This difference will only be apparent in dates that contain months represented by only one digit.

WikiCollectionWithLanguageFormatPicker.jpg

8) Click the "Update" / "Aktualisierung" button.
9) Repeate steps 3-8 for any additional collections you have (including Want Lists / excluding Shared Collections)

When viewing and or exporting collections the three date fields - order date, received date and appraisal date will be rendered in the language and format selected. The created on and modified on dates will be rendered in the language chosen, but the format is fixed.

WikiCollectionWithGreekDateFormats.jpg

Column sorting continues to be maintained regardless of the language and formats selected. Click the column header once to sort the column dates in ascending order, click it again to sort in descending order.

Let me know what you think about this new feature for your Wiki collection(s). Configure one of your collections and see if the dates are much more relevant for your collection management needs. Keep the suggestions and comments coming...

Happy collecting.

Kurt ThumpUp
kamstutz Offline
https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki
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Offline kamstutz  
#60 Posted : 01 January 2020 20:53:25(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Happy New Year to my Marklin collector friends!

As the Model Railroad Collector Wiki passed it's second birthday this past week I thought that I'd like to provide you with a bit of insight into the project and how it has grown since it was lauched in December 2017. Below is a table showing some interesting facts about the Wiki Directory database and the collections built using it. Many thanks for all of your contributions this past year. (Were there really over 4,000 images added to the Directory photo galleries this year?).

Early plans for 2020 call for adding in a feature to associate one item with another/others, thus allowing you to see, for example, what locomotives might pair with your coaches OR which coaches might be pulled with your locomotives. These associations are a pre-requisite for a planned integrated Train Consist Builder on the development horizon.

December marked a milestone in the Wiki Directory - 99% of all Marklin steam engines produced over the past 80 years are now registered in the Directory. What that means for Wiki users is that adding almost any Marklin steam locomotive to&nbsp;your collection is as easy as searching for it by model number and clicking one button to add it to your collection. Plans for 2020 include adding more items to both the Electric and Diesel locomotive categories.

If you haven't seen the latest updates to the MRC Wiki browse the "What's New" page for a listing of all major features added since the project launched. Link here:

www.ModelRailroadCollector.Wiki-What's New ?

... and if you have any questions or suggestions for the project please feel free to reach out to me by email.

Kurt

2019WikiRetrospective.jpg
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Offline kamstutz  
#61 Posted : 31 January 2020 21:33:00(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
I'm very pleased to announce that the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project has just been released in Spanish!

I would like to thank Javier E. for translating the more than 800 words and expressions required to create the MRC Wiki's third supported language (English and German were already supported).

Many thanks also to the Marklin collectors in Spain - especially Antonio M. and Fernando M. who have begun to add Spanish item translations to the more than 8,000 items in the Wiki database and multi-language model railroad dictionary.

The work of these passionate Marklin collectors will now help the Spanish speaking collector's community from both Europe and the Americas.

If your native language is Spanish have a look at the new language version of the Wiki. If you don't read Spanish then continue to use the English or German versions.

The MRC Wiki project continues to evolve with contributions and suggestions from it's users.

If you are not familiar with the "Wiki" then have a look. Register and contribute new items and translations to the public database, create collections of your own items, and share them with other Wiki users.

Spanish version here: https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/es-es

Kurt

MRCWikiEspanol.jpg
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Offline HerrDoktorBD  
#62 Posted : 21 August 2020 17:19:13(UTC)
HerrDoktorBD

United States   
Joined: 10/07/2019(UTC)
Posts: 25
Nice.

Entering Locomotives/250 entries/37421 in the search box shows "No matching records found." Either it's not in the DB or the search function is just filtering items displayed on the page. If that is the case, a global search function would be great (or improve the error message).

Thanks and regards,

Tony
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Offline kamstutz  
#63 Posted : 21 August 2020 17:44:16(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Originally Posted by: HerrDoktorBD Go to Quoted Post
37421 in the search box shows "No matching records found." Either it's not in the DB or the search function is just filtering items displayed on the page. If that is the case, a global search function would be great (or improve the error message).


Tony - The 37421 was not in the database. The search function will filter the entire category group (in this case locomotives) and not just those items displayed on the page. If the item does not show up in the search then the item is not in the category being searched. It is possible to appear in another category group (boxed sets ?), but you would need to search that group as well to confirm it's non-existence.

I have added the missing rail car to the database Directory so you should be able to find it there now.

I hope that you find the database useful and can use it to build up a list of the items in your collection. I will be publishing a users guide very soon and since you are now registered you will receive notice when it is available. Please contribute to the public database if an item you own is not in the Wiki. You help yourself and others by doing so. If you have any questions please feel free to continue to post them here in this thread or send me a PM. If your question would be useful to forum readers then post here - if more specific then send me an email and I'll answer any questions.

Have fun.

Kurt

Offline joyofmarklin  
#64 Posted : 26 August 2020 17:42:53(UTC)
joyofmarklin

United States   
Joined: 25/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 116
Location: phoenix
I am indebted to Nicolas Boutiinon who directed me to Kurt’s site, as I wanted to catalogue my collection. Kurt was very helpful and guided me through the process and answered my questions promptly. Also advised of local members offering repair services.

I have used his Wki Marketplace and bought some great additions to my collection.

Congratulations to Kurt for providing a very useful platform
Thank you
Chris
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Offline kamstutz  
#65 Posted : 20 September 2020 03:42:02(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - Update #11 - September 19, 2020
===================================================================

It has been a while since the last Wiki newsletter (Nov 2019 to be exact) so I wanted to update you on what has been going on with the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project since the beginning of the year.

ThumpUp The Wiki User Guide has finally been published to help both existing Wiki users and newbies understand some of the basic features of the application. Download your English language copy here:

MRC Wiki User Guide Download


Plans are underway to translate the User Guide into German and Spanish.

A few of the project highlights so far this year in the Wiki application include:
  • Jan 2020 - Full translation of MRC Wiki website into Spanish
  • Jan 2020 - Bug fixes for back/return button, Firefox rendering issue and international number formatting
  • Feb 2020 - Bug fix for saving records in non-USA time zones
  • Feb 2020 - Model Railroad Collector Wiki wins website award (Experimental Category) - http://www.dnnwards.com
  • Mar 2020 - Collection improvement - Allow registration of more than one original box/packaging.
  • Mar 2020 - Collections list improvement - Included column for collection owner&#39;s name (useful with Shared collections)
  • Apr 2020 - Worldwide eBay search fixed and redeployed.
  • Apr 2020 - Bug fixes for filtering, and sorting within Want Lists and Shared Collections
  • May 2020 - "Associations" set implemented (soon to be released)
  • May 2020 - Launch of Advanced Search to Directory database (see user guide for explanation)
  • Jun 2020 - Collection Photo Gallery launch (see all photos of a collection at once)
  • Jun 2020 - Improved display of prototype Eras all in one column.
  • Jun 2020 - Launch of Advanced Search with user collections.
  • Aug 2020 - Added ability to share a link to an internal database page. "Link Sharing"


There has been a good amount of community contributions to the Model Railroad Directory database so far this year. The numbers continue to grow thanks to all the collectors that help improve the Wiki project. A few statistics on changes since January of this year...

2,914 New items added to the Directory database (Total of 11,398)
7,720 Directory database records have been updated
15,368 Images have been added to the Wiki photo galleries
126 New collectors have registered and 147 new collections have been created.

Special shoutout thanks to Antonio M / Heinz B / Dave C / Will F / Peter F - Each of these collectors have contributed large groups of new items to the Directory database in various categories.

The Directory database still contains a majority of Marklin European items, but recently there has been an influx of items from other manufacturers. A number of Fleischmann, Roco, Bemo and Trix items have been added recently that are sure to help any collector that owns items from these manufacturers.

Do you collect beer cars ? Thanks to an initiative by Antonio M. there are now more than 1,000 different Marklin model #4415's with photos and searchable descriptions in the database. Find yours and add them to your collections.

Did you know that the Wiki has a free Marketplace (click to visit) where you can post items for sale and look for items to buy? Recently several collectors reached out to let me know that they sold several items from their collection due to their listing in the Marketplace. Read more about the Marketplace in the MRC Wiki User Guide.

Collection sharing has started to gain more momentum this year. This feature of the Wiki allows you to privately share one of more of your collections with any other Wiki user. This is a great way to share your Want List or privately share a For Sale collection with another user. The possibilities are endless with this feature. Check out how to share a collection in the MRC Wiki User Guide.


As always I am open to suggestions for how to make the Wiki more useful to those that are using it. With few exceptions, all of the new features and bug fixes have come about because of comments and suggestions from collectors like yourself. If you are using the Wiki and something doesn't work the way you expect or you have an idea then reach out to me.

Happy model railroading !

Kurt

Model Railroad Collector Wiki
Offline kamstutz  
#66 Posted : 13 February 2021 05:29:21(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - Update #12 - February 7, 2021
===================================================================

It has been almost 5 months since the last Wiki newsletter so I'd like to bring those interested collectors up to date on the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project's latest news.

2020 sees a more than 300% increase in new Wiki database items and collections compared to 2019.

With the repeated lockdowns and home isolations due to the pandemic many model railroad collectors used their idle time to organize their collections. Note in the table below that in comparison with 2019 there was a three fold increase in the number of items added to the MRC Wiki database and items added to personal collections in 2020. Thanks to all those collectors that added new items as each new item enriched the master database and made it that much easier for new collectors to build up their own collections. 181 collectors registered on the Wiki in 2020 and they created more than 200 personal collections containing more than 6,000 articles. Nearly 20,000 new images were added to the Wiki photo galleries increasing the total number of model railroad related images to over 34,000.

MRC Wiki stats through 2021-02

MRC Wiki receives award for best "experimental" website.

How do you classify a free website with a crowd-sourced public database ? The judges at the annual DNN convention categorized it as "experimental" and their votes earned the Wiki a first place award. There was no financial compensation for the win, but the bragging rights are priceless...

UserPostedImage

User Guide available in Spanish and German

Many thanks to Wiki users Javier E. and Kristian B. who translated the recently created User Guide into Spanish and German respectively. Many thanks for donating their bilingual experience to help others and enrich the Wiki ecosystem. The User Guides may be downloaded directly from the English, German and Spanish Wiki homepages.

Noteable contributions

A special callout in this newsletter to two users who have made recent standout contributions to the Wiki project -

  • Antonio M. completed registering more than 2,000 Marklin refrigerated cars (ie #4415 type beer cars) and is currently registering #4680 wagons.

  • Dwight L. is taking on the task of registering a large number of Z-Scale (Mini Club) models.

  • At least 6 other collectors have made 100 or more new item contributions during the past 6 months.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed.


Collection Spreadsheet Importer undergoing beta trials

A number of collectors have asked why the Wiki project doesn't have an import process that allows them to quickly ingest their collection lists from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into the Wiki. We now have an import tool that we are currently testing. If you would like to participate in testing please enter in contact with me and I will provide more detailed information. Early tests look very promising and allow matching of spreadsheet items with those same items in the database. The process is not perfect, but expect a 60-75% percent success rate for most Marklin standard catalog items after about 1990. There are 4 fields columns that must match the database columns -manufacturer, scale, article number and version/variant number. We will have a blog post with more details coming soon.

Feature updates and bug fixes.

New tutorial videos created. - See all the videos here on the Wiki YouTube page - New tutorials

MRC Wiki - YouTube tutorials

Jump to page directly by entering page number instead of clicking on arrows repeated times

MRC Wiki - Jump to page

- Series, Set Contents, and Functions fields localized by language (no longer share the same field)

- Advanced Search picker support added for "In Collection" and "In Want List"

MRC Wiki - Advanced Search updates

- Graphical bar graph display of years an item was or is in production</span></p>

MRC Wiki - Graphical production year display

- Bug fix - Prevent saving a new or edited record if sub-category is empty (not selected)

- Add in context sensitive pop-up help to form fields for Directory and Collection item details. Help text is pulled directly from the User Guide's.

MRC Wiki - Context help

- Add sorting by database items without images (click on images column header to activate)

- Bug fix - Alphabetically sort list of collections in pop-up collection list

- Set default table view in Directory to show manufacturer logo and hide production years. (Can still be enabled via Column visibility buttons)

- Bug fix - correct broken rendering of German and Spanish translations containing double quotes.

Update your Profile

If you have a MRC Wiki account please update your profile to include your country, region (state), city, and language preferences. &nbsp;On our roadmap for future development we have a task to put pins on a world map showing where Wiki users are located. &nbsp;The names will remain anonymous, but we'd like to know where you live. You do not need to provide any address information, but please provide information to the city level to help us understand where our users are located. To update your profile click on your user name in the upper left of the page, then click on the "Manage Profile", and click on "Address" title to open the address form fields. Erase the name in the Country field and re-enter it by slowly typing the name of the country where you live. You should see country suggestions that appear based on the letters that you type. Select the country from the dropdown list. The region list will then be populated with the regions (or states) for the country you have selected. Choose the correct region and then finish by entering the name of the city in which you live. Optionally add in street information (not required). Open the Preferences section verify that your TimeZone and (IMPORTANT) Preferred Locale settings are correct Futures plans include having a newsletter in German and Spanish in the future so setting your preferred language will assist us in sending you our newsletter in the language you best understand.
Finally, click the UPDATE button to save your changes.

What ? You're not registered ? Have a look at the database of model railroad items to see just how elaborate it has become. Free registration allows you to create your own collections for access anywhere you have internet access and share your collections with friends. Want to buy or sell? Check out the free Marketplace where you can post collection items for sale for free.

As always we appreciate any comments or suggestions to help guide the project and make it that much more useful to the collectors using it.

Happy model railroading.

Kurt

Model Railroad Collector Wiki

Edited by user 13 February 2021 16:05:21(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

thanks 1 user liked this useful post by kamstutz
Offline kamstutz  
#67 Posted : 22 August 2021 00:43:36(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Model Railroad Collector Wiki - Update #13 - August 21, 2021
============================================================

Many times we look to our collection of trains to put various locomotives and wagons together to make complete trains. We look at what we own and what we need to put together a (usually) prototypical train.

Based on suggestions from current users of the application I have integrated a new feature into the Wiki that allows collectors to do just that - build complete trains (CONSISTS) with items that they own (or want) and then share these "consists" publicly with the MRR community.

The "Consists" feature was just launched last week and there are nearly 50 complete train consists to view and get ideas for your own layout.

I have added an integrated search feature so that you can search the list for specific railways, prototypes or eras. This search will really become useful when there are hundreds of consists to choose from. Have a look at the public consists here https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/en-us/Consists

Click on a row containing the consist you wish to see and the entire train will appear below the main list showing the locomotive and all of the coaches or wagons.

Registered users of the project can create their own consists to manage those trains that they can build with their existing collection items or figure out what they need to create a new train.

Here is an example:

MRCWiki-Consists.jpg

If you are a registered user here are the steps to create a consist.

Steps:

Navigate to your personal Consists page here - https://www.modelrailroadcollector.wiki/en-us/My-Consists

1) Click on "New" to create a new consist.
2) Provide a name (suggested is to use the locomotive class and railway in the description)
3) Select a "scale" from the dropdown list - "H0" for example
4) Select a Railway company from the dropdown list.
5) Select a "Type" of Composition.
7) Select a Prototype class from the dropdown list
8) Check one or more Era checkboxes to identify when the consist might have been in operation.
9) Add any notes (optional)
10) Click "Save" to save the consist.
11) It should now appear in the "My Consists" list. - Select the new consist by clicking on the row.
12) A new table will appear below it.

13) Click on New to add an item to the consist.
14) Type a model number or other reference in the "Product" text box. The auto-complete search will return a list of possible options based on what you typed. Select one. (start with the locomotive for example) The full description of the item should appear in the text box after you select something.
15) Click "Save" to save the item to the consist. After saving the item it should appear in the consist list.
16) Repeat steps 13-15 to add all of the items you want in the train composition.

When you are finished you can drag an item up or down in the list by clicking on the "Position" column and dragging the item above or below it's current location. Suggested is to put the locomotive at the top in position 1.

When you add an item to the consist you will see that the "No. of Elements" and "Length" columns in the main consist table will update accordingly. (assuming the length of all the individual items have registered lengths in cm.)

If you need to delete an item from a consist then before you delete it you should move it to the bottom of the list and then select it and click Delete.

All consists will be shared in the Public list unless you don't want one to show. In this case you'll need to check the checkbox "Is Private ?" in the main consist edit form.

Add a few consists from your collection or make up a few and share with others. Let me know if you have any questions.

Kurt



thanks 4 users liked this useful post by kamstutz
Offline kamstutz  
#68 Posted : 18 June 2022 04:40:33(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Update #14 - Wiki Newsletter June 17, 2022
==================================


It has been over 6 months since the last MRC Wiki Newsletter so I thought that I would update you with the latest news about the Model Railroad Collector Wiki project.

If you have not visited the MRC Wiki recently and have forgotten your password then you may recover it by clicking "Login" and then the "Reset Password" button.  You will be asked to provide your email address that you used when registering.  An email with a link to reset your password will be sent to you by email.  Should you have any problems please contact the administrator via the Contact page.

Need to get started again ? - Follow these simple steps.

  •  Click on the My Collections menu option and then create one or more empty collections for items you own and optionally an empty collection to contain your Want List.
       
  •  Click on the Model Train Directory menu option and, using the Search box, locate an item you own.  If you cannot locate it in any category then you will need to add it to the database.
       
  •  Click on the row containing your item.
       
  •  Click on the Collections menu button and then select the collection you wish to add the item to
        
  •  You have now added an item to your collection.  Repeat for each collection item


The MRC Wiki in numbers....
Many thanks to all of the contributors to the public database.  It has seen considerable growth since the beginning of the year and, with currently more than 25,000 registered items and more than 61,000 images in the photo galleries, we are on track to reach 30,000 items by the end of 2022.  The user base has grown to more than 560 registered collectors who have added more than 20,000 items to the 600+ personal collections in the Wiki repository.  

WikiTotals-2022-06-17.jpg


The diversity of the MRC Wiki project is demonstrated by the fact that we have users from 46 different countries.  Model railroading is definitely an international hobby.

MRC-Wiki-UsersByCountry-2022-06-17.jpg

The MRC Wiki is a constantly evolving model railroad collecting database and therefore new features and bug fixes are added regularly based mainly off of user suggestions.

A full list of updates since December 2021 can be found below in the Update Log

12/2021 - Update Year Introduced selector to include future year 120 days before end of current year.
01/2022 - Add sorting of thumbnail images in Owned collection
01/2022 - Search panes and Search builder updates for Spanish and German versions
01/2022 - Category translation fixes
01/2022 - Bug fix - Currency formatting error that saved currency amounts in Spanish and German 10x higher than correct.
01/2022 - Added UPC column to user collections
01/2022 - Update screen refresh after adding or updating items in Directory
01/2022 - Fix paging immediately after collection item update.  Now refresh does NOT take you back to page 1.
02/2022 - Security patch applied.
02/2022 - Added new column to Directory - Quantity of items in all collections.  Find out how many other of the same items are in other collectors collections.
02/2022 - Update column sorting for Directory list
02/2022 - Pagination control updated
02/2022 - Consist feature added
02/2022 - Add consist sharing via URL copy function on btn click
03/2022 - Add paging to public Consists list
05/2022 - Intl date format fixes for non localized languages (collection preferences)
05/2022 - Date Received and Date Ordered updates on collection Item edit form
05/2022 - Bug fix for custom item collection properties for German and Spanish versions.
05/2022 - Global railway administrator created (custom role for advanced users)
05/2022 - Page length defaults standardized for locations, origins, service types and price history sources
06/2022 - Directory item form field dropdown lists for railway companies and prototypes updated to include embedded search.

The principal new feature (added in February) is the Consists.  The Consists feature allows you to build complete trains (Consists) using items from the public database.  You also have the ability to share your consist creation publicly with all other users.  In this manner collectors can consult the list and search for ideas for building complete trains.  If you have not yet played with this functionality please have a look in the "Consists" section and create your own in the "My Consists" section.

MRC-Wiki-Consists-2022-06-17b.jpg

Current popular features to explore:

    Marketplace - Want to sell something from your collection?  The MRC Wiki has a free Marketplace where you can post For Sale listings.  Consult the user guide for the simple instructions on how to mark a collection item so that it shows in the Marketplace.
    
    Collection sharing - Easily share the contents of one or more of your collections (owned collections or Want Lists) privately with any other MRC Wiki user.  See the user guide for instructions.

FAQs - Commonly asked questions...
        Q: I just uploaded an image.  Why doesn't it appear immediately in the Directory
        A: Thumbnail images are moderated.  Once a photo is uploaded one of the photo administrators will resize and optimize it for display in the Directory.  You may use the uploaded image immediately though in any of your personal collections.
        
        Q: Why can't I add this record? I get an error when trying to add a new item to the database
        A: The most common reason is that you cannot add a duplicate.  Always search for the record in the appropriate category and make sure it doesn't exist before adding to database.  
        
        Q: What constitutes a duplicate item?
        A: Any item with the same manufacturer, scale, item number and version number in the same category group is considered a duplicate.  You can, however, have duplicates in different categories.

        Q: I have my collection currently in a spreadsheet (such as Microsoft Excel).  Is there an import function to get me started?
        A: The MRC Wiki does have a utility to help with importing from a spreadsheet.  The utility is not really user friendly nor is it 100% successful in importing from a spreadsheet.  If the majority of your items are Marklin then you might expect maybe 50-60% of your list could be imported.  If you have several hundred items then this is a possible consideration.  Please contact me via the Contact page if you are interested in experimenting with the importer and I can provide more details.

        Q: How can I help the MRC Wiki project?
        A: The Wiki is entirely supported by it's contributors.  If you can please contribute by adding new items to the Directory database and update existing items to provide the most accurate data for all to take advantage of.
        
        
That's all for now.  As always if you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve the project please reach out to me. 

Happy collecting.

Kurt
thanks 4 users liked this useful post by kamstutz
Offline kamstutz  
#69 Posted : 21 December 2023 05:21:51(UTC)
kamstutz

United States   
Joined: 27/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 192
Location: Orlando, FL
Update #15 - Wiki Newsletter December 20, 2023
=======================================


Hello to my Model Railroad Collector friends -

As we come to the end of 2023 I reflect on the past 6 years since the Model Railroad Collector Wiki was launched back at Christmas time in 2017. The application has undergone a number of changes as the project evolved based on feedback from the community of users. I am humbled by the positive reaction to the "Wiki" project from our model railroad community and have enjoyed the journey which has given me the opportunity to make friends from all over the world.

No project can succeed without the generous (non-monetary) contributions from the community. I will not specifically thank certain individuals whom have contributed more than their share of time ensuring a wide variety of items in the public database - but you know who you are and I thank you for believing in my dream of providing a free tool to help model railroaders. Besides those that contributed to the database of model railroad items I cannot neglect to thank Applied Innovations (https://www.appliedi.net/) for their continued support with hosting the website. The physical assets that make up the MRC Wiki database photo gallery alone (with more than 80,000 images) involve file optimization and storage which incurs more cost than I alone could support.

2023 in Retrospect -
This past year has seen the continued growth of two addtional scales in the Wiki database. Both Marklin Z scale (Mini Club), G scale LGB and N scale item categories have shown growth this past year. As you probably know the MRC Wiki database started as a mainly Marklin H0 scale directory, but most of the Marklin H0 items have already been added and current growth continues with other H0 manufacturers and the above mentioned new scales. The primary focus of the database items does continue to heavily feature European trains and accessories and this reflects the collector interests of the Wiki users. As we move into 2024 I expect that the database will see growth with new manufacturers and other scales. The Marklin H0 section, however, continues to be updated with new items and special series models.

The MRC Wiki in numbers - Follow the growth of the Wiki database during the past 6 years with some key metrics.

MRCWiki-Stats-2023.jpg

There have not been as many programming updates this year as compared with past years. This fact does not indicate waning interest on my part, but rather that I am currently satified with the feature set that the Wiki provides. There are a few tweaks that I would like to do, but the basic functionality has been pretty stable and the site has seen "uptime" of greater than 99%. Special thanks to those users that have advised me when the site has gone offline briefly. Our webhost has been very quick to resolve the few "hiccups" that occured in 2023.

Many thanks again to all that have been involved with the MRC Wiki project. It is very gratifying to hear feedback about the project and I continue to follow up with all questions, comments and suggestions. If you haven't visited the MRC Wiki website in some time have a look. There are always new items added and updated and the collection management features are very powerful.

Happy Holiday to all and may Santa leave a model train under your Christmas tree this year.

Regards,

Kurt

Model Railroad Collector Wiki
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