You can now create categories.

Go to your Lists control panel:

http://garden.org/lists/manage...

Then on the right side, click on "» Add categories" and off you go.

You can create as many categories as you like, edit and delete them, and change the order in which they will appear.

For now, that's all you can do. Soon I will add the code to let you file your plant list items into those categories.

I'm delirious with happiness.

I made some categories.

Tomorrow I will add the code to let you put your plants into those categories that you're making.

I'm also going to try to get started on viewing other people's lists.

That is pretty darn nifty!!!

I have updated the system yet more:

You can now edit your plants and assign them into the categories you have created. You can put a plant into multiple categories - just check off all that apply.

Then on your lists management control panel, click on the category name (on the right) to view only the plants in that category.

Oh happy happy joy joy! I am thrilled!
And will you also be adding the option to add our own photos or select from the existing images to represent our entries? It would pretty them up!

Photos will display on the public side of the list.

OK, I just looked at my public list. In most cases, it seems one of my photos is the display one but in several others, it seems to grab the main thumbnail. Can the option be changed where I can either add my own or select from the database which image I want displayed in my public list?
I should be out gardening while it's still cool but I am distracted big time with this new feature, been waiting for it for so long!

Calif_Sue said:Can the option be changed where I can either add my own or select from the database which image I want displayed in my public list?

That is possible, but keep in mind that while we want this to be a powerful feature, we also want it to be simple enough that we don't throw too many options in front of people. Many of us "power users" know what we're doing and have no trouble understanding how this works, but many new people will get lost and confused the more options we add.

So, I'd propose that we keep the interface as clean and simple as possible for now. In time (during the coming days and weeks) I would like to go back and add in as many advanced features we want, while working hard to keep those advanced features "on the side" and hidden from view from the newer members.

Sounds great to me!

I love the fact that images are automatically displayed for entries in the Plant List. One of the more tedious aspects of the journal on another site was importing images for each entry.

Dave, I have plants like lantana that I have several variety of, but have no clue as to what cultivar they are, so there would be no data base photo available. It would be nice if I could just list them as Lantana #1, Lantana #2 etc. and upload my own photos to match each plant.

Right now the system is designed around the plant database, so the plant must exist in the DB in order for it to be in your plant list. Now a generic lantana exists in the database, that's no problem, but duplicate additions to your list are ignored. Maybe allowing duplicates of the same plant to be in your list is the right solution (since you can use the "Comments" field to indicate #1, #2, etc.)

dave said:Right now the system is designed around the plant database, so the plant must exist in the DB in order for it to be in your plant list. Now a generic lantana exists in the database, that's no problem, but duplicate additions to your list are ignored. Maybe allowing duplicates of the same plant to be in your list is the right solution (since you can use the "Comments" field to indicate #1, #2, etc.)

Allowing some to add a duplicate should be fine, but have the system warn them that it is a duplicate entry, just in case it was a mistake. Even allowing duplicates would still have the problem of the wrong picture. I would still need to upload my own picture to match each plant, not the generic one in the database.

That would be yet a separate feature - letting you upload a photo that over-rides the other one. But I'm not afraid of new features for our lists.

>> Maybe allowing duplicates of the same plant to be in your list is the right solution

That would have another use for seed saver/traders: older seed and fresher seed, or seed for what is nominally the same variety, but difgferent colors or from different sources.

I tend to list the same variety separately :
- commercial seed
- my saved seed batches, by color or by year or by cross-polination risk
- received by trade, from different people

I think that seed savers create genetic drift, perhaps not entirely new cultivars, but selected for adaptation to different climates or practices.

Probably my biggest use for categories, at least at first, will be "I've got lot's, will send for postage" and "I only have one little trade pkt, BUT if you have something to trade, let's negotiate".

Would that be a common enough desire to be worth being a field in everyone's list? Like a numeric value instead of a Boolean, for "Is this available for trade?"

Sometimes I WANT to give something away freely, like Bok Choy seeds that I have 5,000 of, or a big pkt of tomato seeds from Hazzards that is a 20-year supply for me.

In other cases, like a Salvia variety that I only have 10-15 seeds of, yet no room to grow them: "would give to a good home that has room to grow them".