Followup to: Fmt Changes

The new version of FmT 2.0 will soon be here - in about 2 weeks. As detailed in the previous announcement, many of the old FmT features like Train TT, Speedometer, Geo Location, etc. will be REMOVED. It will be a bare-bones simple app, focused on trip blogging.

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will be a much smaller and lighter app, focused ONLY on trip blogging. FmT is NOT a Rail Info app. It will be focused on making your Trips more enjoyable and for sharing your Trip.

1. All Trips will be posted to the IRI Trip Diary. You may edit blogs, etc. and the same will also be updated in the IRI Trip Diary.

2. Both Train Trips & RailFanning will have separate categories.

3. The aim is: ALL trips in the new FmT app MUST be enjoyable for the travellers and enjoyable for those who like to follow trips. We CANNOT have boring Trips and inactive users.

4. After the rollout of version 2.0, FmT will NOT be open to all. We ONLY want active travellers and users who actively enjoy following Trips. We CANNOT have tens of thousands of inactive users.

5. ONLY selected IRI members will be able to use the app. All other users are free to uninstall the app. We want ONLY a FEW Selected Active IRI members in the app, who are interested in logging trips and are interested in following other Trips, and who provide Active Encouragement and post interesting blogs.

6. I shall personally work with our pilot users to make their Trips more engaging for others. Just like our FM group, FmT pilot users will be active daily either in tripping or following Trips.

7. I shall be personally inviting some of our IRI members to use the app. Other members will NOT be able to use FmT.


Once again, the main focus will be to make your Trips more ENJOYABLE. ONLY invited IRI members will be able to use FmT.

Many new blogging-related features will be introduced in the weeks/months after the initial rollout.

Thanks.

Today, we are introducing a new Topic called NEWS-CRITIC.

These days, everyday, we are bombarded with spam news, exaggerated news, misleading news, fake news, useless celebrity news, click bait with misleading headlines, etc. Also, much of the news is copied and rewritten from other news outlets, instead of being written first-hand. Everyone is doing it!!!

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of quietly suffering under this onslaught, we need a way to express our anguish. Anytime, you are dissatisfied or frustrated or angry with incompetent news reporting on ANY media - website, TV, youtube videos, etc., please post a link or screenshot, along with your criticism, under the NEWS-CRITIC topic.

Please note that this Topic is about criticizing the NEWS reporting itself, and not the content of the news.

Thanks.

We shall be having the IRI Moving Convention this year - ONE week long.
Route: BCT -> ADI -> JP -> NDLS -> BSB -> HWH -> MAS -> SBC.
Dates: July 9 to July 17
Jul 9: BCT -> ADI
Jul...
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10: ADI -> JP
Jul 11: JP -> NDLS
Jul 12: NDLS -> BSB
Jul 13: BSB->HWH
Jul 14: HWH->MAS
Jul 16: MAS->SBC
BSB->HWH and HWH->MAS are already fixed. Other train schedules will be announced shortly.
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1. A few of us will be travelling/RFing the entire distance, and writing our Trip Diary. En route, it is hoped that other members congregate for joint Rail Fanning sessions and use this opportunity to socialize with each other, either at the stations or for short train rides along the way. ALL IRI Members are invited to participate.
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2. We shall dedicate a complete, separate section/Forum of the site for the weeklong "festival". Myself and anyone else who is part of this Convention will write our travelogue/describe our experiences, who we meet, what we do - either IRI members or other travelling passengers. Maybe we'll also do "interviews" of other travelling people (if they consent), how they use trains, etc. All the RF Fun we are having will be logged in our Convention tab, so that people who are comfortably sitting at home are able to take part in the joy of travelling.
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3. We shall have a separate "Registration" for this event. NO fees, commitments or any other payment is required. ONLY, members will be expressing interest in meeting the "IRI Express" at their specified nearest station. If you would like to travel with us, then you will have to do your OWN ticketing and reservations. Registration is required so that other members know who they can EXPECT to meet at the spots.
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4. At BCT, ADI, JP, NDLS, BSB, HWH, MAS and SBC, IF we have critical mass (more than 20 Registrations at that city), IRI will host a banquet lunch/dinner at that city, so that all of us can sit together, enjoy good food and have some good old-fashioned RF talk for a couple of hours.
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We have about 3 months left for the Convention - so there is adequate time for discussion/planning/deciding. There are no deadlines for you to make up your mind, but you have to do your own ticket bookings. More details will be available shortly.
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TL;DR.
1. One week long Moving RF Convention.
2. Full section of the site devoted to the Convention.
3. No Fees. No commitments. No deadlines. Make up your mind whenever you want - even at the last minute. Members make their OWN bookings/travel arrangements to participate and socialize with each other.
4. Banquet/lunch hosted by IRI if we have critical mass (more than 20 attendees) at the different cities.
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Thanks.

To help with the issue of mass tagging of members, we shall soon be expanding the RF Club feature to Pvt Clubs:
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1. Any member will be able to create a Pvt Club and invite other members to join. Joining of any Club is voluntary - members cannot be forced to join any Club. Invite is sent and members need to accept to join.
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2. All Club posts will also be visible publicly to ALL members.
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3. Whenever a Club member posts a message to any of his/her Clubs, all other Club members will be notified. The post will also be visible publicly.
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It is like a Group, but all posts are also public and Club members get separate notifications.
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This will be an experimental feature to eliminate mass-tagging, while also building engagement among members who closely follow each others' posts.
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Thanks.

We are unifying the Bookmark scheme for Blogs & PNRs. Previously, we had different systems of "Followed Blogs", "PNR History", "My PNR Posts", "My PNR Post Predictions", "Stamp Alerts", etc. which were somewhat confusing. Hereafter:
For PNRs:
1. You may add ANY PNR to your bookmarks through the "Add Bookmark" link in the Actions menu.
2. Whenever you post a fresh, blank PNR it...
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will automatically be added to your bookmarks.
3. All your bookmarked PNRs can be accessed through the /pnr/bookmarks link.
4. You will get a notification every time there is a PNR Prediction or whenever the PNR is stamped.
5. You will get a notification every time there is a Reply on that PNR.

For Blogs:
1. Any blog may be "bookmarked", through the "Add Bookmark" link in the Actions menu.
2. All bookmarked blogs will be available through the /blog/bookmarks link.
3. You will get a notification every time there is a Reply on that blog.

ALL previous schemes of Stamp Alert, My PNR Posts, etc. are GONE. There are only PNR Bookmarks & Blog Bookmarks.

Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause, but the new scheme will be easier to maintain.
Thanks.