From GasBuddy Guides
Jump to: navigation, search

Station Data Changes for Newbies

This is a quick guide for newbies to find out what to do when they think they have discovered missing stations or incorrect station data.


Legend:

  1. Numbered notes are shown at the bottom of this page. The arrow at the beginning of each note is a backlink to the point where the note originated.
  2. System parts (functions, forms, buttons, etc.) are shown in italics.
  3. System input that must be entered by the user and output that the system displays is shown in monospace type with a light gray background.


Missing Stations (Mobile Apps)

It is unlikely, except in lightly-traveled areas, to find a station that is not already in the GasBuddy Organization (GBO) system. If you are using a mobile phone app, the most likely reason that you can't find an existing station is that the Current Station Status field contained in the station's record in the Master Station List (MSL) has blocked the station's appearance; because of status, the station is missing from lists and maps and is therefore invisible to the user.

Here are the possible Current Station Statuses and how they effect stations' appearances in the mobile apps:

Current

Station Status

Status Meaning Station Appears in Apps? Future Member Action
Active / Open for business Fuel is being sold Yes Monitor for closures
Closed - Temporarily Expected to reopen as fuel seller sooner or later No Change to Active when reopened
Closed - Permanently Fuel-selling equip. removed w/o replacement No Monitor for new construction
Deleted - Duplicate Record created in error; a good record exists No, but original station does None
Deleted - Abuse/Fake A malicious record; a good record may exist No, but original station may Monitor for more abuse
Deleted - Other (Unknown; observed once) No (Unknown)

As you can see, the Current Station Status field in the MSL record would need to be consulted for a definitive answer. If there is no record for the station, then the station would need to be added. To ask for help in determining the true status, use the message-posting instructions in Part 1 of the next section.

Adding a Station

  1. Until you have earned 10,000 points (see how here), you do not have the ability to change the MSL. You can ask a Sr. Member to do it for you by posting a new topic in the local discussion category of the forum. Here's how:

    1. Click the Forum tab on the banner menu (at the top of every full-site page).
    2. Click the yellow-starred [your-site-name-here] discussion category, to open the Topic Index page. This is where you communicate with the members of your assigned GBO site.
    3. Click the Post New Topic button to open title and text dialog boxes. You will compose a message to your local members here.
    4. In the narrow title box at the top, type a title that will distinguish your topic from all others, e.g. Request to add station in BoPeep, MI. Compose this carefully, because after five minutes it cannot be changed. Avoid titles that will not convey the topic meaning, e.g. Newbie needs help. TIP: You may have to type a few letters in the text box in order to get the title box to accept input.
    5. In the fat text box at the bottom, which will become the so-called Original Post (OP) of the topic, request that a Sr. Member add the station for you. Include as much of the data as you can obtain that would appear in the station record. A blank record form can be seen here.
    6. After five minutes passes from clicking the Post Message button, you will no longer be able to edit the OP. However you can create as many replies to the OP as you wish in order to supply additional data, to supply corrections, or even enter an amended version of the data. Hopefully a local member will respond to your topic and add the data for you, possibly asking for more details.

  2. After you have earned 10,000 points and become a Sr. Member, you will be able to access and edit the MSL yourself:

    1. Review a blank edit form and gather the necessary data.
    2. Log in to your GBO full site.
    3. Click the Gas Prices tab in the menu banner (at the top of every full-site page).
    4. Click the menu item Master Station List, producing the MSL home page.
    5. Click the CLICK HERE TO ADD A NEW STATION button to bring up the Add a New Station page.
    6. Enter the station data and click Add Station. Or if you have sufficient doubt about something, you can click the Cancel button and seek further information from your local members. Also, for general procedural questions (not pertaining to local matters, in which case the locals should be consulted), you can inquire in the national Talk Back to Us category.
    7. After adding a station, you can review your work in several ways, all involving looking at the station's MSL Edit page; no changes occur unless you click Save Updated Station Information.
  • From the MSL page, use the Search the list for your station section to search for the record.
  1. Until you learn the finer points of the search, enter as little as data as necessary to define the station, e.g. Station [Name] and a word of the station's [Exact] Street [Address].[1]
  2. Click the Find My Station button to produce a list of all stations meeting the entered criteria.
  3. Examine the one or several pages of stations to find the desired station.
  4. Click the Edit button of the desired station record to produce the Edit page.
  • From any price list where the station can be seen, click the Station Name and, from the resulting Station Detail Page, click the Update Station Features button to produce the Edit page.
  • From the Map Gas Prices map, selected from the Maps tab of the banner menu and properly positioned, locate the station.
  1. Click the station's marker to open a balloon.
  2. Click the View Details button to open the Station Detail page.
  3. Click the Update Station Features button to open the Edit page.


Changing Existing MSL Station Records

The procedure is much like adding a station. Either request a Sr. Member to do it for you or edit the record yourself after becoming a Sr. Member, using the methods of 7), above.

Editing the MSL from the Apps

Any editing facility seen in the apps is merely a request for an edit that may or may not be granted depending on many factors. Contrast with the full-site edit of the previous section, which is a real edit with immediate effect.[2]

Notes

  1. Names of site pages and parts thereof are not always consistent throughout the site. Where incomplete names (in the author's opinion) appear, they are shown in this guide accompanied by completing words in square brackets ([) and (]). For example, field Station in the MSL search menu is field Station Name in MSL records, and so could be expressed as Station [Name] for clarity.
  2. There is a problem with the Different Cash/Credit Pricing feature, which although correct in the MSL, does not always transfer its effect to the apps. See the GBO Bug List for details and status of this problem.)



Version: 20150405 2:13 PM PST --CampKohler
Backup: 20150405 --CampKohler

Template:Reflist