Ok, you can now view each others' lists! Go to the main Swap area control panel and you'll see a new link:

"Check out everyone else's list"

Click on that and it'll show you everyone in the group. Click on their name to view their list. We're not ready for you to start selecting what you want, of course, but at least now you can start looking at what is actually being offered in this swap.

To make sure everyone sees this, I'm tagging everyone involved:

@bxncbx @chelle @Chillybean @christine00 @Danita @DogsNDaylilies @duane456 @Emquinn @gardengus @greene @Horntoad @luvsgrtdanes @poisondartfrog @RickCorey @valleylynn @Weedwhacker @wildflowers @Windigo

Feel free to use this thread to chat amongst yourselves about what's being offered. Ask each other questions and/or make suggestions, etc.

Shortcut to the page:

http://garden.org/apps/swap/sh...

I found everyone's list, thanks!

Just to be clear...I/greene did not sign up to join the fun. This will be a virtual swap for me; I'll be participating in spirit only.

@Dave, I can already see that having images is going to be a HUGE time-saver for people scrolling through long lists. I'm already noticing I'm most drawn to the listings with pictures and so I'm wondering if you might be willing to allow us to 'use database picture' for our listings (for when we don't' have or don't' want to use our own).

I need to get my list updated this weekend! Between work, houseplants, and dogs, I'm behind on my list!

@luvsgrtdanes - you are on the ball! 72 listings! Whoo-hoo!

My initial inclination is to say no because if the plant is linked to the database (not all are) you can click to see the photos. Plants not linked to the database would have no nice picture and that would make them appear bland and less enticing to the other traders.

dave said:My initial inclination is to say no because if the plant is linked to the database (not all are) you can click to see the photos. Plants not linked to the database would have no nice picture and that would make them appear bland and less enticing to the other traders.

I might make it so that:

1) You can optionally add a photo of the plant itself

or

2) If it's linked to the database, then automatically show the thumbnail from there.

I'll need to give this a little more thought.

dave said:

2) If it's linked to the database, then automatically show the thumbnail from there.

I'll need to give this a little more thought.

Thank you. #2 was what I was hoping for.

Looking forward to checking out everyone's list.

Well, #2 is not going to be a standalone concept. It's both or neither.

As I said, I'll have to give it more thought.

@Dave -- why is it that some "comments" in the lists show up and others have the rollover question mark?

I thought maybe it was only really short comments (like "collected in 2015") were showing, but that's not the case -- it's particularly obvious on Poisondartfrog's list.

It the comment has more than 10 words, it gets put into a rollover icon.

Sandy, it looks like it is based on word count as opposed to character count. Entries with 9 or less words (numbers not included) show the text. Poisondartfrog's longer view-able entries include a website address. Since there are no spaces in the website address, it is considered as one word by the program. That's my guess anyway.

edit: cross-posted w/Dave

Oh. I'm too long winded... I'll fix it.

Alana, if you want your entries to automatically link to the plant database, then as you're typing the plant name, be sure to actually click on the actual plant in the little pulldown menu that appears once you start typing. As soon as you see your match, just click on it. And then, don't change the name once you've picked it.

poisondartfrog said:Oh. I'm too long winded... I'll fix it.

Alana, that's not what I was getting at, at all!

I think your entries are great -- and I think Danita is right that the website addresses are counting as one word so that's why those all show in the comments box.

Actually, I think it would be nice if ALL the comments showed in the comment box instead of having to mouse over the question mark, but it's not a big deal to me either way...

I probably should just stop "adjusting".

Dave, could we please get the lists to default to having the listing order alphabetically by scientific name (or have the choice of choosing that viewing option.) Having it ordered by common names is total chaos to my mind. It would cause me problems even if it was static. However, the fact that anyone giving a thumbs-up to any of the common names in the database could cause the order of my swap list to completely change might completely fry my brain cells. I'd also prefer to see the scientific name listed first for each entry, followed by the common name.

I think that may also be the reason why Alana didn't link her entries to the database.

Thanks much!

Danita,
I started by linking to the database and for me that was too distracting. I often don't even look at common names and my eyes danced around like fireflies. So, I went back in and deleted each one of my entries and re-entered them by by scientific name; time consuming but I feel much better now.