What's New at Peakware?

In February 2012 we unveiled two major new sets of features:

Users can now edit content

The majority of Peakware content is, and has always been, added to the site by its users, but historically only Peakware staff and a select group of volunteer guardians were able to edit content. Now, anyone can edit the factual details and descriptions of any peak, as long as they have contributed content that other users have rated favorably. Here's how it works:

  • You contribute content to Peakware (e.g., add a peak or route, upload a photo, or share a summit log).
  • Other users rate the content you have added using our 5-star rating system.
  • If your content receives high enough ratings, you will automatically be granted edit privileges on Peakware.
  • If you have edit privileges, you will see an Edit link adjacent to content that you're allowed to edit, such as the Overview, Description, and Links sections on peak pages.
  • When you click the Edit link, you will be able to edit that content.
  • Backup copies of all content are preserved, so if you or someone else makes a mistake, no worries—you can revert back to a previous revision.

If you don't currently have edit privileges, you can work toward attaining them by sharing your knowledge and contributing more content to Peakware. However, it's important to be sure the content you're contributing is high quality. When you add a peak, be sure the details are complete and accurate. When you write a description of the peak, be sure it's informative and reasonably well-written. When you submit an entry to a summit log, provide information that will help other users as they're preparing for their climbs. The better your content is, the more likely it is to receive high ratings by other users.

Videos

Each peak page now has a Videos tab. When you select that tab you'll find videos from YouTube related to that peak. This is an experimental feature that uses the YouTube API to search for and display videos. For well known peaks, the results tend to be accurate and relevant. However, on some pages, particularly for lesser known peaks, you might see videos that are poor quality or not relevant at all. You can help by clicking the thumbs up icon if you like a video, or the thumbs down icon if you don't. If you tell us that you like a video, that video will always show up in your results, and is more likely to always show up in other users' results too. Conversely, if you tell us that you don't like a video, that video will never again show up in your results, and if enough people agree with you, it will never show up on Peakware again.

As someone who loves the mountains, this is your site. Thank you for your help in making it a truly helpful, informative, and inspiring resource!

Slightly Older New Features

If you're new to Peakware, everything on our site is new! With that in mind, we've decided not to discard our previous list of new features. See below for various features we've unveiled since our 10-year anniversary in 2008:

  • 5-Star Rating Widget

    Registered users can now rate photos, summit log posts, route pages, and overall peak pages on a scale from 1 to 5. Please rate the content you view! The more ratings we have, the more useful this feature will be. For example, you'll be able to filter content so that only those items with ratings of, say, 3 or above, are displayed. We've already added the ability to sort summit logs by average rating - now we just need you to rate the content you view in order to make this feature truly useful!

  • Add a Route

    Registered users can now add routes on any peak. After selecting "Add a Route" from a peak's Actions menu, you will be prompted for a name and description of the route. Then, you can either draw the route on the Google Map using the drawing tools, or upload a GPX file. If you upload a GPX file, it will display on the map and you can edit it using the drawing tools:

    screen shot of the Add-a-Route interface, showing a terrain map of Mount Rainier, drawing tools, and a route plotted on the map.

    Detailed step-by-step instructions are provided on the Add-a-Route page. Once the route is finished and approved by us, visitors can view it on any of the map types that are available on Peakware, including Google's terrain or satellite maps, or on the topo map provided by MyTopo.com. The route can also be downloaded as a KML file for viewing it in Google Earth.

    As with all of our features, we depend on you for content. So if you have knowledge of climbing routes, please add those routes to our collection!

  • Share Your Favorites

    We now have added support for popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and others. If you find something you like on Peakware, you can now share it with friends, family, and colleagues by clicking on the relevant social networking icon in the Actions menu.

    Facebook logoAnd while you're at it, if you're a Facebook user, please drop by our Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia group page and introduce yourself. It's a great opportunity to get to know the folks behind the scenes at Interactive Outdoors, Inc., and to get to know others who enjoy hiking, climbing, and exploring the earth's high country.

  • RSS feeds. Virtually everything you see on Peakware can be accessed via RSS. You can subscribe to the entire site, which gives you updates whenever new content is added; or you can subscribe to updates related to a particular peak, or new content (peaks, photos, summit logs, or routes) submitted by a particular user. If you're on a page that supports RSS, you'll find the standard RSS symbol in your browser's address bar. the RSS symbol
  • New, cleaner and simpler navigation menu. Everything related to peaks (including photos, maps, summit logs, and routes), plus the Highest Peaks, Custom Search, and Add-a-Peak features, is now contained under the Peaks menu. screen shot of the navigation menu
  • Larger Google maps, making it easier to navigate, explore, see relationships between peaks, and plan approach routes. Terrain map of Mount Whitney, showing the route to the summit, with markers for key landmarks along the route
  • Support for the Google Earth plug-in. Just click on the Earth button on any Google Map, to explore a 3D version of that map. Most maps additionally include a downloable KML file that can be used to display the same map data in the fully featured Google Earth software application. screen shot of a 3D satellite view of Mount Kilimanjaro, as seen in the Google Earth plug-in
  • Improved Add-a-Peak feature, that now uses Google Maps to make it easier for users to confirm the accuracy of latitude and longitude of the peaks they're submitting.
  • Improved "Highest Peaks" lists, supplemented with Google Maps.
  • Improved photo gallery. To explore photos for any peak, just navigate to the home page for that peak, then select Photos. screen shot of the Mount Everest photo gallery, showing an organized collection of thumbnail photos
  • Profile pages for users. Over 10,000 people have contributed to Peakware over the years by sharing photos, signing Summit Logs, and adding new peaks. Now each user's contributions can be consolidated onto a single home page, customizable by that person. Each person can also collect and display the peaks they've climbed, the peaks they plan to climb, and their favorite features from the Peakware site. All of this is individually customizable.

You'll find additional improvements as you use the site, and there are still more new features on the way. Thank you for your contributions, and for helping to make Peakware a one-of-a-kind resource for exploring and celebrating the world's high places.

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