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Using the Wishlist (& other site features)

Shaft

Moderator
Joined
Aug 30, 2021
Messages
531
I think I'll be starting a series of guides on how to use this website. Rigo has built in a ton of features but many of them appear to be unused, or at least unhighlighted, by the larger community. This is an effort to change that, to integrate all various parts of this site into a cohesive whole. Wish me luck! Just a heads up, this is a tutorial for the desktop version of the website. Those using mobile will likely have a differing experience.



1) Logging In
The first thing you'll want to verify is that you're logged in to the system. You can see the Login / Register links in the top right hand side of the main screen of the website. You will want to login with your account information before proceeding or, if you do not have an account, please register one. This is a different account than your forum account; if you have a forum account but not a main site account you will need to Register one.
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Once logged in, you will see a My Profile link, with a messenger icon next to it. I have circled this in red in the following image. Please click the link labeled My Profile.

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2) Your Profile & Wishlist
Clicking My Profile will immediately bring you to your wishlist, which is also where you can make customizations to your account information. More on that last part later, let's focus on your lists for now. There are four major lists.

My Wishlist: This list, circled in red, collates all of your desired varieties into one simple list for distribution or just for your personal records. It makes it easier to send someone information about what you have, and what you want in exchange.​
My Collection: Circled in blue, this is a list of all the fig tree cultivars you currently own. Not ones you wish to own, or ones you used to own -- what you own RIGHT NOW.
Tasted: If your friend down the road has a fig tree they let you try -- but you do not own, and for some reason have not added to your wishlist -- this is the list for that fig. This is a list of items you aren't seeking, and do not own, but have some passing familiartiy with. This is circled in lime green.​
Owned: Our last list of the bunch, this is circled in a lovely shade of yellow. There are many reasons we may have had a tree in our possession but do no longer. Perhaps it was in-ground and we moved, perhaps it was an unfortunate hurricane or a terrible winter. Perhaps the fig was just subpar, and not worth keeping. This is a list of figs that meet any of those criteria, and more.​


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Generally-speaking, the photos tend to be in bright, crisp colors, particularly the thumbnails on the site. However, when you highlight over a potential fig of interest, it will turn grayscale. Do not be alarmed, this is simply a mouseover effect that acknowledges you're considering clicking the link.

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Circled in red on this Peter's Honey fig example, you can see a blue background with white text depicting an "X". If I were to click that, it would remove this item from the list. This is the delete function.

Circled in blue you see the name of the fig cultivar, as well as its rating by figdatabase users.

The yellow-circled text will take you to a much more extensive article on this cultivar, or offer you the chance to contribute to it.
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Were you to click Read More this is what you would see on the left-hand side of your screen. The first thing is a QR code. Try taking a photo of this with your phone: it will provide you all the information you see before you and more. This is a very useful thing for busy nurseries to label their plants with, as it makes in-person sales a lot easier. The customer can use the QR code to obtain more information on a listing without having to ask a member of your staff. It's also faster for ringing up items than traditional bar codes, as well as opening up alternative methods of payment like Cash App or BitCoin.

Following the QR Code, you see a listing of Possible Synonyms. This section can, at times, become a bit of a hot-take, as many people have very strong feelings about whether this fig is the same as that fig, etc. Here at FigDatabase we maintain that if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and shits like a duck, we're comfortable calling it a duck until new information comes to light. As with anything, a responsible mind changes opinion in light of new evidence, but barring that, changes nothing.

There is a list of other items, and we shall quickly go through the most important ones:

Main Flavor Group: There are many flavor groups -- it largely depends on who you ask, and when -- but the ones I find most definitive are Sugar/Caramel, Honey, Figgy, Light Honey, Spicy or Bitter, Fruity Berry, Melon Berry, Bordeaux Berry, Tropical, Cherry, Fruity Honey, Elegant Berry​
Origin: Many people prefer collecting figs from a particular region, whether that be the fanciful French figs of the mediterranean, or the cold-tolerant monsters of Croatia, or even Nicky's fantastic figs from Italy.​
Collected By: Much like people fixate on the location of a fig, people also have an attachment to the fig's original distributor. Sometimes it's someone like the esteemed Montserrat Pons of Catalonian fame, othertimes it's hard-working, gritty fig hunters like Lee-Ann from Sacred Origin. Support the people you care about.​
Type: Common, Smyrna or San Pedro, this will be very important information depending on where you live​
Main Season: Main season is important for a variety of factors. Perhaps you're up north, so late crop figs just aren't an option. They won't ripen in time. This is then useful information to you. Perhaps you, like me, want figs for as long as possible. Figs, figs, figs. So you get early season figs, mid season figs, late season figs and extremely late season figs to extend your harvest. You may get more or less figs from the later varieties depending on the year, but diversity always increases your chances. In this same vain, I like to plant crops that do well if it's a really cold year, but also crops that'll do really well if it's not. I like to hedge my bets.​
Eye: Splitting is always a major concern, particularly for those of us on the hot and humid east coast. An open eye tends to be more common, but some varieties have an eye sealed shut, where others have tiny eyes that are less susceptible to rot and splitting. The larger the eye, the more chance of splitting. This is also a really useful characteristic to use when ID'ing figs.​

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3) Fig Variety Entries
Each fig variety has as much information as we have managed to collect on them. When you first click on a variety like Peter's Honey, you will be taken to the Descriptions & Photos page. You can easily add or remove a fig from any of your lists on this page, based on your opinion of the fig once you've finished the article. In this case, this fig has no official description and very few images, which beckons users to enter a description of their choosing and to submit their own photos as well. This project is largely crowd-sourced as no one person or even group of people could realistically trial every fig variety known to man. As you can see, many of our wonderful members have already added their contributions to this variety, and we are all better off for it.

In the gray at the top of the page, you see links to common social media platforms where you can share this variety that you now want to tell others about.

Circled in dark green, you can see the Ratings & Reviews of each fig, which will give more specific information based on zones. (See post #2, coming soon)

Circled in purple, you can see Who's Searching for this fig in addition to you. Or, if you own this fig and are interested in gifting cuttings, you can find some potential recipients via this method. (See post #2, coming soon)

Circled in lime green, you can see Growing Locations that currently exist for this fig. Meaning you can find people near you who own this fig, reach out to them and arrange a meetup or trade fairly painleslly. (See post #2, coming soon)


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Shaft

Moderator
Joined
Aug 30, 2021
Messages
531
4) Reviews & Ratings
When this area is filled out by more of our wonderful community, it will ultimately have ratings and reviews organized by zone. Figs, afterall, are known to be widlly different based on where it's grown, and what conditions it's grown in, not to mention being a total diva about the smallest changes from one location to another. Two figs, unless they are grown side by side under almost perfectly similar circumstances, just cannot be compared fairly according to most people in the fig community. That's fine, which is why we want to roll out this feature for widespread use.

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Productivity: This refers to how many figs the tree produces in a season. Some types are known for producing a lot more fruit than others, with some like Celeste being known as "everbearing" because it has time to produce up to a third crop. The more figs a tree produces the higher the score here.​
Ripening Time: A fig might be the best tasting fig in the world, but it would still be a 1/5 if it never properly ripens in your area, where the first frost comes before the fig is ready for harvest.​
Taste: This includes taste and texture, and while that can be kind of subjective, there are objective measures as well. In some zones where a fig might not receive enough heat, sugars may not develop properly. This is worth noting the differences by region, but there are likely other factors as well.​
Fruit Size: Some figs are just small, will always be small, no problem. But other figs can grow larger if they receive enough sunlight and/or heat. The idea of tracking this information is to see what effect zone has on the size of the fruit, so we would like to track it.​
Overall: This is an average of the other four categories to give you an overall idea how good a fig might do in your area, or someone else's.​

In addition to this numerical score, you can also give a written description of your experiences with the fig, why you think you had success (or failure) with the fig, and would you recommend that fig to a friend? You can also include any notes you've observed.


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5) Who's Searching?
So how useful might it be to know which members of FigDB are looking for a tree variety that you have? I think it's pretty darn useful because, afterall, I like to send people surprise gifts. Knowing I could message one of these people saying "Hey, I want to send you a surprise cutting of something I KNOW YOU WILL LOVE. I know you don't know me, but let's be fig friends!" is a really good feeling. It's that type of pathos that makes me love being part of a community of plant propagators. This is the opposite side of the wish list: if you wish it, you will be inserted into this page. People can find you, and send you what you wished for. Wouldn't that be a great community to be part of? It all starts with you and me.

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6) Growing Locations
The Who's Searching feature is to the Wishlist what Growing Locations is to My Collection. If you are growing it, you're placed as a pin in this little GPS map right here. If nothing else, this should give you a rough indicator of which cultivars are hardy to where... but there is so much more.
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7) Contacting Those Who Have This Variety
Hovering over one of the pins nearest you will give you a name. I would remember this name, maybe even write it down, if you're willing to go on a figtastic adventure.
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Once you have the person's username, go to the Members section of the site. I like to sort by the first letter of whatever name I'm looking for, and then finding that person. You can see both highlighted in yellow below.

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Once you confirm that this is indeed the person you were searching for, look in the gray banner at the top of the page where it says SEND MESSAGE. Give that a shot, and arrange a trade.

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Please let me know if you have any suggestions for future articles. This is the first of a series I want to start showing off different features of the site, or explaining things people might have questions about. Please post that in the comments below. If you require clarification about anything within this article also please share that so I can maybe make the article as clear as it is humanly possible to be. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Except from you. Screw you. You know who you are.
 
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