FAQ Using the Betabase

These FAQs are subject to change as the community grows and the process evolves. Please feel free to contribute to these questions below.

Who can contribute?
Any member of the Canyon Collective can submit betabase entries. After the canyon has been submitted, it will go into a moderation queue where regional admins can proof the submission for general accuracy, formatting, and standardization of the data. Once approved, the canyon will be publicly viewable.

The following checklist is the bare minimum of information you should have compiled before submitting a canyon.

Betabase Checklist:

• Have you read the betabase submission worksheet?
• Overview text
• Photos (and Videos optional)
• Vehicle Access
• Approach
• Canyon Logistics
• Exit
• Red Tape
• Additional Resources (links to trip reports, other beta sources, etc...)
• Google Maps Lat,Long Coordinates in decimal format (XX.YYYYYY, XX.YYYYYY)
• ACA Rating, longest rappel, exposure considerations, best seasons, physical difficulty, navigation difficulty, vehicle required, and vehicle shuttle options.
• SAR contact information

Betabase Submission Worksheet
Please follow the outline in the betabase submission worksheet to standardize formatting and styles between guides. The betabase is designed to be a basic beta submission, in depth stories should be published as a separate trip report, and linked to from inside the betabase page.

How accurate is the beta?
We recommend that all members use any available sources of beta at their disposal for a given canyon. Crowd-sourced beta will often lack continuity between different pages and authors, and some information will simply not be as accurate as some users would hope. Please use discretion when using public beta, and if you are not sure the information is complete, ask questions of the community in the betabase discussion thread. The beta posted here reflects the experience of the author, and Canyon Collective makes no claims about the accuracy of the information contained here. If in doubt, please ask questions and consult other sources.

I noticed an error on the map. How do I correct it?
If you notice an error on a specific canyon, please post in the correct betabase discussion thread for that canyon so that the page owner can make the correction.

If there is an error on the main betabase map, please post a comment in the "Betabase Map Improvements" thread.

How do I edit or improve pages within the Betabase?
Crowd-sourced beta will often vary in accuracy and detail, and there may be times when you would like to add detail or suggestions to a given page. This can be done in two ways. First, you can post in the canyon's respective "betabase discussion thread." Secondly, you can send the page owner a private message.

How do I add links to the resources list on individual pages?
If you would like to add a link to a specific canyon page, send a PM to the page administrator and they can add the link, either to trip reports or other sources of beta. We encourage links to as many freely available sources as possible, but please do not post links to sites where content is premium or behind a paywall.

How do I generate an interactive map file for my page?
Currently, to add kml and gpx files to the map, members must email in their files to an admin. We are developing a solution to automatically create these files, and hope to have it launched within the month.

In the meantime, there are 3 options for generating an interactive map.

The first option autopopulates the maps simply by entering the google maps latlong coordinates for the head of the canyon in the "Stats" tab of the betabase page. This is the least preferred method, and will create a map with a single marker until a KML or google map has been created.

Secondly, you can create a KML file from google earth and upload it to the canyon collective. The google maps API allows this file to be rendered onto a map with satellite imagery, topo tiles, or terrain views. If you would like to learn how to generate a map with google earth, please refer to this thread for more information "Google Earth and KML files."

Third, if you have a GPX track or list of waypoints, you can email these to the respective area admin, who can then convert them to standardized KML files for upload to the collective's servers.

What happens if a page owner stops maintaining their page?
There are likely times when an owner of a page is no longer capable of maintaining their page. In that case, area admins will have the ability to reassign ownership of it to another member. We don't foresee this happening very often, and will only change ownership of pages when all other options have been exhausted.

Is it possible to have multiple entries for the same canyon?
In theory, this could be possible down the line. In the meantime, we encourage members to communicate with current page owners to continually improve individual pages.

Why isn't my submission showing up as a yellow dot on the map?
We are very close to being able to auto-populate the betabase map. In the meantime, yellow map icons have to be added by moderators, and can take up to one week before being added. Please see the thread for "future developments" to contribute to the development of the map.

Can I add photos to current betabase entries?
Currently, it is not possible for anyone other than the page owner to add or delete photos from a given canyon. This is a feature we are currently researching for further development. Think you can help? Post in the "future development" thread.

What if I want to add a canyon to a region that is not yet defined on the Betabase map?
New areas can only be created by moderators. If you would like to create a canyon and add it to a particular area, please send a note to a moderator to create that area. However, if there is only one or two canyons in a given region, it may be easier to simply add it to a parent region.

Last updated: Feb. 15, 2013

There are some canyons that are near and dear to my heart for which I would like to be the "owner" of the beta page. Unfortunately I don't have the bare minimum of information available for them at this time. Is it okay to start the beta pages for these canyons with the info I do have in order to "reserve" the pages? Or is this bad form?

Anything is possible. And somewhat flexible at this point. I think stating your intentions and perhaps asking for help from a few folks to help fill in the gaps on things you need would work quite well. Also, at some point, hopefully people will volunteer to be "area admins," basically responsible for maintaining the pages in specific areas. There's a couple of areas you might want to be that person?

Perhaps we could start a thread where people could "claim" canyons they are interested in developing into pages. And ask for assistance on things they might need, like photos or gps coordinates, or whatever.

Ultimately, the owner of a page will have a bit of responsibility to keep that page maintained over the long run. This might include updates in conditions (say a rock fall?) or perhaps someone wants to upload a great video of the canyon, or a few more photos. Those updates are made by the page owner. But everyone can contribute, if that makes sense.

Love to hear thoughts on how to make it work, but it seems fairly easy to me.

Awesome, thanks Yeti. I'll throw up the section, but it might take me a few days to get the map icon added.