dave said:My thinking (and anyone can please correct me if I'm wrong) but the general concept is that when you join, you look at the lists of all the other participants and pick out what you want. Then others will also be looking at your list and choosing what they want.

When the time comes, you'll be notified by me of what was picked out of your list, and you then pack up those items and mail them to me.

That does save a HUGE amount of bookkeeping for the participants, accepting requests and keeping track of what they agreed to send.

I guess we would state at the start of the swap how many packets of each thing we have, and your software will "know" when all of them have been requested and approved.

(But if the "balancing" and approving only occur at the end of the process, and you cap the approvals of each variety when N people have requested all N of the available packets, the "balancing" may make some of the requested seeds available again. Probably just "that's too bad, keep them for the next swap".)

dave said:...
When I get them, I sort them all, and then send back to you the items you requested.
....

I hope you don't mind unasked-for advice TOO much ... but I would suggest that you ask each participant to do some pre-sorting.

If they have several pkts all going to HARRY, they should put all those pkts into one sandwich baggy and label it "TO HARRY". That way you don't have to peer at every seed packet hoping they labelled it "TO HARRY" in readable though small handwriting.

I guess I am assuming that we will know who is getting each of our packets. I like knowing that, but your design goals might go the other way.

RickCorey said:


I hope you don't mind unasked-for advice TOO much ... but I would suggest that you ask each participant to do some pre-sorting.

If they have several pkts all going to HARRY, they should put all those pkts into one sandwich baggy and label it "TO HARRY". That way you don't have to peer at every seed packet hoping they labelled it "TO HARRY" in readable though small handwriting.

Absolutely right! If you have more than one pack going to a single person, they should all be combined into a single bag and labeled for that person. Without that, it would be a nightmare for the host to sort.

Good advice.

RickCorey said:I guess we would state at the start of the swap how many packets of each thing we have, and your software will "know" when all of them have been requested and approved.

Yes and in fact, it's already programmed that way. When you enter a new seed item into your swap list, it specifically asks you exactly how many offers you have to give. Once they are all claimed, the system will indicate that to the participants who are looking at that list.

Not signing up; just following closely to see how this all works. I'm still in "wait and see" mode which some had thought of as negative. If the swap looks like fun I'll most likely join the next one.

Very exciting stuff. I like all the suggestions and rules so far. Getting back as many seed packs as you are offering seems like a fair and reasonable way to go. I for one expect to have more seeds to offer than I want to get back.

Although having said that, please don't judge me if I get big eyes and ask for the maximum I can!

For those of you who have signed up, have you entered your seeds into the swap list area? If not, how long do you all estimate you'll need to get your seeds entered? Once we get everyone's list ready, I can move to the next step of letting everyone see each others' lists.

All my seeds are in my swap list. I'm ready for the next step!

Give me at least a week. I'm a slow typer.

I'll need a few more days. I only listed one that I knew I have available.

Glad y'all are getting your lists underway. No huge rush here but please do get your lists ready. As you do so, if you think of improvements that I could make to the system to make things easIer and faster, do make the suggestions.

Although I'm very excited about the development of the seed-swap feature, I don't think I'll be able to join this time. However, I do have a thought for you regarding when to open the lists for view. I think that a lot of people (myself included) like to snoop around to see what is being offered in a swap before joining. People have varied interests so it helps to know ahead of time if there are people with like interests involved. Even if someone is already committed to a swap, they may get excited about what is being offered and start upping their game, so to speak, by adding some of their better seeds to their list and getting more stuff packed up for the swap. Being able to see what others will be offering builds up excitement which helps a swap to grow.

All my seeds are from daylilies. Do I need to list each cross separately?

Danita said:... I think that a lot of people (myself included) like to snoop around to see what is being offered in a swap before joining. People have varied interests so it helps to know ahead of time if there are people with like interests involved. ... adding some of their better seeds to their list and getting more stuff packed up for the swap. Being able to see what others will be offering builds up excitement which helps a swap to grow.

Great point, Danita!

I think that a lot of future swaps will START by focusing on some seed types that excite the first few participants. Often, we only have that "theme" to go on, but your point is very well taken. If I saw the "Offer" lists before even joining, I would know whether I was mildly interested, eager, or hot Hot HOT.

I think I have a minority opinion, but I really like seeing Wish Lists too. Knowing what's popular steers what I take the trouble to pack and list ... or even buy. Sometimes a 100 gram pkt is cheaper than three 30 gram packets on sale.

My take is that Dave's new feature will support many different styles of swaps ... soon we'll be able to host swaps with whatever themes, quirks and tweaks we each think might be cool.

THAT'S what I think is second-most cool. Flexibility.

The MOST-cool thing is that HAVE lists will persist form swap to swap. I can enter my Offer list once, and then use it in as many swaps as I have time for. Hurray!

(I don't know whether the Beta HAVE lists will carry over to the final system. Probably much easier if Dave doesn't have to worry about that! Easy for us to re-enter a little data.)

dave said:Glad y'all are getting your lists underway. No huge rush here but please do get your lists ready. As you do so, if you think of improvements that I could make to the system to make things easier and faster, do make the suggestions.

I'll work on my list (just placed a third seed order, this time with Franchii).

Would it be possible, when you get impatient to start, to give us a one or two week warning to hurry up and get it done? Or, I'm guessing, you might already wish we could be ready in less than two weeks? For a "practice swap", we don't need to list EVERY seed in the known universe.

Maybe ...

I entered a few items, and find myself bouncing back and forth between my plant lists (various categories) and the form for "enter into seed swap list".

I would wish for a way to "stay in my plant list", but add multiple items into my seed swap list.
Then I don't even have to remember which ones I have already added.

Then I would go back later and fill in the details like # of packets, quantity, source and year.

I find that I will usually have to go back later to fill in info.
(I have to physically dig into my stash to find # of packets and pkt size.)

Maybe I'll find another process where I START in my stash and take notes on paper, then go to my plant list and populate my swap list.

Thanks for the robust search-and-complete feature for names! I was dreading typing name accurately and guessing whether to start typing "lettuce", "Lactua" or "May Queen" ... but it looks like any old inout will bring up a list of what I should have typed. Bravo!

Will my list be on file somewhere once I get my seeds entered? I'd like to use it again in case I do another seed swap and just have to edit it for the next time.

OK, I'll take the plunge, but please forgive me if I make any mistakes. I will try to get my list up after I figure how to divide the seeds. I am going to give myself a deadline of Saturday to get this done.

RickCorey said:

I'll work on my list (just placed a third seed order, this time with Franchii).

Would it be possible, when you get impatient to start, to give us a one or two week warning to hurry up and get it done? Or, I'm guessing, you might already wish we could be ready in less than two weeks? For a "practice swap", we don't need to list EVERY seed in the known universe.

I have added a few more but for a relatively small swap with a maximum of 20 participants a giant have list might be counterproductive . I'm making myself stop after I add a few I put out on the desk to list when I get home.

I completely agree with Danita and Corey. Having a bit of knowledge about what might be available in a swap where participants select their own "purchases" drives participation and the quality of what is ultimately offered up.

I will need from now till the end of the weekend to get mine sorted and listed. I haven't even begun to get organized for this year yet.

The single entry I made yesterday went in very quickly though.

I should have my list completed by Saturday afternoon
at least that is my plan