Boaters that buy gas at gas docks, please help!

[Rich]

I know some of you are familiar with the WinniGas.com web site, as I first learned about it here on this forum myself.

I've used it for years, and always thought it was handy and useful.

For those that don't know about it, WinniGas.com allows you to easily see and report the current gas prices on the lake. This could save you time or money (or both).

The idea is to allow you a simple, easy to use method to report gas prices as you see them, no matter if you're buying gas at the time. Report the price so everyone can see the current prices available.

Last year, I noticed that the owner was looking for someone to take it over. Not wanting to see it disappear, I volunteered to take it over and keep it running.

I revamped it a bit, and added some features that I hoped would make it more useful for everyone.

Previously it was a very basic, text only based site, that only had a listing of the prices as reported by you. But there was no way to sort the data, nor any way view it in different ways. Some of my 'improvements' were to add the ability to sort the information in different ways, as well as a way to easily locate the various gas docks on the lake. But I tried to keep the main functions simple and quick, that is the price listings and price entering screens.

Everyone on this forum is so helpful, and (most of) you seem to have good suggestions and ideas, so I'd like to ask your help to take a look at the new site and see if it's working well for you. I'm more interested in it working well on mobile devices such as your cell phone, than on your home PC, as I think this it the way it is the most useful on the lake, but I'm happy to take any suggestions.

I know it's not boating season now, but if you would take a moment to try it on your cell phone (and PC), and report back here if you see any issues, mentioning any problems, or maybe providing a screen shot if it's hard to describe, I'd truly appreciate it! Obviously there is no rush, as it's still quite some time until Ice out! Note that the menu system is a bit dynamic and will change, depending on if you are using a phone, or a tablet or your computer.

One thing that I could definitely use some help with is reviewing the new "Gas Map" feature. My goal there was to place a marker at every Gas Dock, right at the pumps themselves. So if you can zoom in all the way, switch to the Satellite view and take a look, is the Pin located right at the gas pump itself on each gas dock? After I implemented this, I found the Gas Map very useful, I was surprised to find some gas dock on the lake, some I never knew existed. This could save time and money if I was ever in need of fuel. Instead of making a long run to a gas dock I'm familiar with, I could just look at the map and find one close to me.

Please check your favorite gas docks and let me know if any of the map Pins need to be adjusted. Note, if you don't switch to the Satellite view, many of the pins will look like they are out in the water. You can also see them located on each Station Detail page.

For some docks, I wasn't sure where the pumps were located, so I just put a pin at a general location, For example, "Lanes End" in Melvin Village is not at the specific location of a pump, as I've never been there myself and couldn't see what looked like a pump in the satellite view.

Please don't enter any bogus gas prices. Knowing that we're now at "Ice In" I'm pretty sure that no one is selling gas on the lake at this time.

Note: If you would like a "WinniGas" App on your smart phone, if you go to the "About" page, there are some instructions there that tell you how to install it on your phone's "Home" screen for both iPhone and Android users. This is really handy for use when you are on the lake. If you try it but don't want to keep it on your phone, it's easy to delete it as it simply places a shortcut on your home screen, along with an easily identified ICON (at least I hope it does).

Another feature I added is a Twitter Feed. If you subscribe to the @WinniGas Twitter handle, whenever someone submits an updated gas price, you will be notified via a Twitter message. I don't know how many people here use Twitter, but I thought it may be useful to some.

There is also a WinniGas Facebook page. Right now I'm not sure how to make that useful, and perhaps in the future I can add automatic price notifications via FaceBook also. For now, it can allow easy feedback for users that love FaceBook.

Thanks for helping with this. If you have any suggestions for improvements, I'm happy to take suggestions, but I can't guarantee that I will implement every suggestion.

I hope people will find it useful and continue to use it.

Thanks!