CleverTrail:FAQ

These are Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question that is unanswered here, do the following: Add the question, Watch the page by clicking the Watch tab (you must be logged in to do this), and you will be notified when someone answers it.

Finding Trails

• What are the different ways to find trails?: An easy visual way to find trails is the Map Of Trails (link on the left and the homepage), which you can narrow by filtering by trail use and searching for a specific place on the map. If you know the name of the trail, you can search for it in the toolbar search box. If you know the name of a category (like "Yosemite National Park" or "California") you can also use this same toolbar. For more information on finding trails, see the Finding Trails page

• What are categories?: Categories are ways to group similar trails. Many categories are geographical, for example Category:Yosemite National Park, while others are a particular aspect of a trail, for example Category:Multiday Trails. Categories include a map, just like the Map Of Trails, which allows you to visually see trailheads and filter them as well.

Adding Trails

• How do I even start adding a trail?: Simply click the "add trail" button on the Toolbar at the top. You DO NOT need to sign up for an account to add a trail - just go ahead and get started (the same goes for editing trails!).

• What if I don't know all the information for a trail?: That's OK! Just add what you do know and other trail editors will add more information in time.

• How do I properly name a trail I want to add?: See CleverTrail:Best_Practices#Naming_Conventions for details on naming trails.

• What if the name of a trail I want to add is already taken by a similarly named trail?: See CleverTrail:Editing Trails#Disambiguation_Pages for information on how to create disambiguations for trails with the same name.

Editing Trails

• How do I add photos to a trail?: Because of the way a wiki works (we need to keep a history of photos and their changes), in order to add a photo to any part of the trail (Main Photo, in the trail itself, or to the Photo Gallery) you must upload it first before you can then reference it. To upload photos, click the "Upload Photos" link on the left side. When you've uploaded any photos you want to reference, make sure to spell and capitalize exactly as you named it. See CleverTrail:Editing Trails#Uploading_Photos for more information.

• Can I use photos that aren't mine?: You cannot use copyrighted photos (or even photos with no explicit copyright) for on CleverTrail, without the permission of the photographer. Some photos, however, are licensed for commercial use (Google Images has an option for finding photos like this) and these you can use. However, you must give credit to the photographer if using this type of photo (give credit in the Edit Trails page in the appropriate box, Photo Credit).

• What if a trail has multiple trailheads or routes?: For the trail's Quick Facts, add information for the most common route. Make sure you mention which you have used in the Quick Facts in the Overview. For the Map, add all appropriate trailheads and a description to distinguish each one. For descriptions of the different routes, add subsections in each main section (see Mount Le Conte for an example).

Accounts

• What Hiking Titles can I attain and at how many trails?: By mousing over the Hiking Title image you can see how many trails you need until you get "promoted". To see the full list and trail ranges, check out CleverTrail:User_Accounts#Hiking_Title.

• Is there any benefit from marking trails as complete?: The Trail Map and Hiking Title on your User Page are just for fun and your own information. There is no benefit other than that.

• Can't people just mark trails as complete to increase their Hiking Title without actually going on the trail?: Certainly people can just lie about their trails. But we hope that people just use this feature for fun and don't take it too seriously.