Interesting Scott...  Thanks for posting.

Will have to look into it.

Sounds intriguing.  All I have right now is a very crude listing on MS Excel, so something more sophisticated like this certainly seems worth looking into.  Unfortunately, when I try to view how you've used this website, I keep getting this error message.  (The "Want List" however, comes up fine.)  Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

TemplateSyntaxError at /mycollection/showcase/Scott_Smith/items/

Caught NoReverseMatch while rendering: Reverse for 'mycollection_showcase' with arguments '('',)' and keyword arguments '{}' not found.

- Mike

Template Syntax Error

It would not display "My Collection", but did show the want list.

Looks like a comprehensive tool.

Try this link;

http://shar.es/qzxZ0

 or this one

 http://www.collector-modeltrai...howcase/Scott_Smith/

Please let me know which works.

Scott Smith

Very nicely done Scott.  A great idea.

Strange, neither one worked.  But I could view "Scott Smith's Pictures" no problem, and I was able to watch "Scott Smith's Videos" no problem.  I thought maybe it was something to do with Safari, but I got the same result when using Firefox.  But if others can see it maybe the problem's at my end.

- Mike

Mike,

Will it let you click on the number beside "Items I have"?

Scott Smith

I just tried it, and I get the same result with clicking the number, or 'Items I have'.

Here's what I receive:-

Caught NoReverseMatch while rendering: Reverse for 'mycollection_showcase' with arguments '('',)' and keyword arguments '{}' not found.

Caught NoReverseMatch while rendering: Reverse for 'mycollection_showcase' with arguments '('',)' and keyword arguments '{}' not found.

['/var/www/django/dashserver',
 '/var/www/django/dashserver/account_management',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/setuptools-0.6c7-py2.5.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/simplejson-2.0.9-py2.5-linux-x86_64.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/MySQL_python-1.2.2-py2.5-linux-x86_64.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/boto-1.8d-py2.5.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/M2Crypto-0.20.1-py2.5-linux-x86_64.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django_haystack-1.0.1_final-py2.5.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xapian_haystack-1.1.3beta-py2.5.egg',
 '/usr/local/lib/python25.zip',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/plat-linux2',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/lib-tk',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/lib-dynload',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages',
 '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages/PIL',
 '/var/www/django']

I get that same Syntax error thing when I click the number.

http://www.collector-modeltrai...howcase/Scott_Smith/

Please let me know which works.

This link looks pretty cool. I like the page set up. I just have to spend a couple days looking at everything!!!

Hmmm, when I click the what I have page I see this for the error's reason:

You're seeing this error because you have <code>DEBUG = True</code> in your      Django settings file. Change that to <code>False</code>, and Django will      display a standard 500 page.

Maybe that's to keep the wifes out????

Why didn't you just ask Mrs Smith ?

SZ

Why didn't you just ask Mrs Smith ? 

 

They all look alike to her.

Scott Smith

I can see why it's free.

 Oh no, we all got the SS Train Virus while uploading! Buy every train we see!

 BNSF Mike's engines hmmmm I must resist, I must resist,  I must resist, I must resist,  I must resist, I must resist, ...

I loaded my collection and had no problems. I used the following website http://www.collector-modeltrains.com/dash/home/ 

Both links take you the main page. When clicking "Items in My Collection" you get "Template Syntax Error."

On the main page there is your own introduction. You may want to give that a look, there are some typos. Just constructive feedback - though you would want to know.

I alerted the folks at Collector Dash site and they have corrected the issues many of you are seeing. He is still trying to find out about the I-pad issue. So if you want to try this again let me know if it is working for you.

Thanks,

Scott Smith

It's better than it was!    I'm able to view your list of "Items I Have".  I imagine when you click on an individual item, such as Lionel 6-11271 2-6-0 Mogul Steam Locomotive Cheaspeake & Ohio, on page 1, you would see something more descriptive of that particular item.  But instead that "Syntax Error" message comes up again.

But it's nice to see the list is accessible for viewing.  Do you have to upload all the photos that appear next to their respective items, or does the website pull them from some internal database or something?

- Mike

It came right up yesterday when I looked at it - everything.

Mike,

If the item is already in their system it's as simple as clicking to add it to your inventory. You can upload an additional photo's if you want or add photo's to anything that doesn't have one now. You can add any item that they don't have listed as well. I did not add a photo to the Mogul yet, due to the fact it is at my local dealer right now.

Scott Smith

After a couple of pages, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the listings.

OK, I can see it now. Dat is a buncha stuff, Scott!

I was asked at the Richmond Children's Museum by a newspaper reporter "how much money do I have tied up in trains". I was honestly able to say "I don't know". If I did know and answered the question, the rest of Richmond would have known too. Sometimes ignorance is bliss....

Gilly

You do have me thinking about starting a spreadsheet, however.

Scott,

I've tried all the links above and all I get is:

503 Service Unavailable

No server is available to handle this request.

Same here....

Gilly you are so wise in that not knowing is bliss!  After coming home from train shows with duplicates I started to create a flat file database in Excel.  Added columns of info as time went on.  One of the columns is MSRP prices.  Then one day made the mistake of summing that column.  Ignorance sure was blissful.

Is there a way to put everything in some kind of order?

Yes there is. Click on 772 next to the items I have.

Then click on the Ogauge

T

Then click on the category you want to see:

You can then look at each classification by manufacturer.

Scott Smith

Pretty cool. Scott, when you upload a photo they don't have does it go into the Trainz database for their use in their listings? Did you upgrade to the premium service? I looked at the 180 or so items for sale and virtually all of them I have seen recently listed on eBay. I have all of my stuff in a spreadsheet with the date I bought it, msrp, and the price I paid. I wrote some stuff that calculates totals by manufacturer, item type, etc so I know, for example, how many passenger cars I have; how many MTH steamers I have; etc. can you summarize the advantages you see vs. a spreadsheet for managing your collection this way? 

Seems to me, and I may have it wrong, but it's a clever way to leverage the investment Trainz has made in their database of products with pictures. 

quote:

Yes there is. Click on 772 next to the items I have.

Scott,

Inside each catagory, there is no order. MTH is mixed in with Lionel is mixed in with K-Line yada yada yada. Can items be listed by like manufacturers and/or by part numbers. Can order be made to enable a way to find something quickly without having to scoll through the entire list to find something?

Inside each catagory, there is no order. MTH is mixed in with Lionel is mixed in with K-Line yada yada yada. Can items be listed by like manufacturers and/or by part numbers. Can order be made to enable a way to find something quickly without having to scoll through the entire list to find something?

If you look at the white box above the engine listings you see it manufacturer click on any of those and you get the list by manufacturer.

Scott Smith

Pretty cool. Scott, when you upload a photo they don't have does it go into the Trainz database for their use in their listings? Did you upgrade to the premium service?

I don't think my pictures go to the Trainz data base--but they do get added to the Collector-Data base. I upgraded to the premium service; however their values listings are not complete...they could only give me values of 56% OF my collection.

Scott Smith

Is it a good idea to have your entire collection posted "on-line" for all to see?  Just wondering what the issues might be.

Is it a good idea to have your entire collection posted "on-line" for all to see?  Just wondering what the issues might be.

Without the link no one sees it. Outside the hobby no one cares. Being that my collection is modern trains, it's not going to get some evil pre/post war collector to break in and steal the collection. If someone does break in steal the collection my wife will celebrate with the insurance money. Also keep in mind stealing my collection would be like trying to steal the gold in Ft. Knox...there's to much to move in a short amount of time. Very little of it is boxed up so you would have to find the box match it up, it would be a several day job.

Scott Smith

Scott with all due respect I am sure folks regardless in or out of the hobby could care.

And you'd be surprised how fast they could empty your house.  Have you ever seen the show with the ex con empties a house in less than an hour?

Scott with all due respect I am sure folks regardless in or out of the hobby could care.

No offense taken. Being a 'tall pygmy' doesn't mean anything. I enjoy looking at other people trains. If they have more than I do good for them, if they have less that's even better for them it shows they have more common sense than I do. What my point is that modern trains have nearly zero collect-ability. Why steal something that has limited value, limited demand and hard to get rid of. If you can move my stuff in a day then you have damaged the items to the point no one is going to want it.

Scott Smith

FRANCIS, don't take the fun out of everything...just Scott's way of letting US know he passed the BABE'S "714"

Aside from probably high end art thefts, home break-in thieves don't care or know what they will grab.  Not the brightest of the bunch, they will take what they "believe" will get them some quick cash; enough for a quick score or just a carton of smokes ...unless they're carrying a Greenberg Price Guide and those are also arguably worthless.

Hi folks, this is my first post to OGR.  I run Collector-ModelTrains, and I really appreciate your use and feedback about our new site.  The showcase page that Scott pointed folks to is really cool, but it used to be a "premium" feature on our platform before.  We decided to make it part of the free user set of features, so I apologize for the bugs we found (and corrected) after Scott sent out his note.  Also, although we've been live for action figure collectors for a while with NO downtime, we did see about a 2-hour service interruption two days ago (the 503 errors).  Again, sorry about that!  We work really hard to deliver a quality product.  (By the way, you can easily opt-out of making your collection public, and you can also very easily click "Private" on any items you don't anyone else to see in your showcase page.)

A couple of points about some comments made earlier.

1. We are well into a pretty massive project to improve the depth of the "taxonomy" of the Catalog.  When we roll it out, you will immediately see a MUCH better and deeper structure than we have right now.  I'm sure you are going to really like it.  It will automatically reorganize and improve existing collections and marketplace navigation too.

2. The Catalog will never be complete or perfect.  We're beginning to work pretty closely with some manufacturers to be sure we get the best info up there, and that's pretty cool.  However, the Catalog is YOUR resource...not ours.  We work on it, but DASH puts all of the power to edit and add to the Catalog in your hands, as a community.  PLEASE feel free to edit the catalog...add pictures, add items, add subseries, etc.  I suggest that you wait for a week or two until we can get the taxonomy update complete, but then please edit away.  When we launched Collector-ActionFigures.com, we had only 35,000 items in the Catalog.  We're now live with more than 48,000!

3. The value guide is a "living" tool too.  We update the values based on sales data from our partner, Trainz, as well as from sales that happen in the DASH Marketplace.  No, we don't have complete coverage today (heck, there are more than 90K items in the Catalog, and keeping that up-to-date is hard!), but we're set up to keep ourselves as current as possible, and that's a really great thing for the community.

4. We aren't really turning up the volume on our presence yet until we work out some of the kinks still in the system.  After that, watch out!  :-)  We're very excited, despite our very limited exposure, how many collectors have found us, updated their collections and many people have upgraded to get the premium features.  (My favorite is the way we make trading really useful.)

Please let us know if you have comments or ideas about how we can make DASH even better for the model train collecting community!

- Bill, from DASH