What I Used to Put This Site Together
Here is a list of resources that you may also find useful whether or not you are creating a website of your own. It includes things that make stuff work in the background of this site as well as things that simply provide some of the information I have collected here. I hope you find something you can use.
WordPress
WordPress is the framework (for lack of a better word) that I work with to create posts and pages on this site. It was created years ago to help website administrators’ jobs easier. No longer do you have to (unless you want to) work with html to code a website from scratch. I used to do that back in the day. No I only touch html occasionally to tweak something here or there that doesn’t look just the way I want it to and let WordPress to all the heavy lifting.
Google Drive
I used Google Drive to store documents, like my GeoTrax Compendium and Checklist, until they are ready for prime time. I also use Drive for spreadsheets that track inventory and financials.
Google Email (Gmail)
Gmail is handy for creating new email addresses such as GeoTraxPacks@Gmail.com. If I want, I can have Google forward emails sent to that account to my main personal email account. That way, I don’t have to check multiple email accounts every day.
DSLR Camera (Canon T3i)
Cameras are not free, however – unless you happen to win one in a sweepstakes (which I did not). I use my Canon to take all the pictures of GeoTrax sets and pieces you see on this site. I often use it in combination with…
Light Box (home made)
…my light box. You can spend a lot of money on one of these, and I almost did. Or you can make your own for cheap. Mine is a large cardboard box that has 3 sides cut out and replaced with tissue paper. It has a piece of my wife’s wedding dress on the inside and a white light I bought on the outside. For what all of that cost, it works beautifully.
PhotoStudio 5
I got this photo editing software (free) several computers ago and have copied it to each new machine along the way. I use it to make my photos a uniform width, to shrink and sharpen them, and to increase their brightness sometimes. There are many other photo programs like this out there, and many of them are free too. UPDATE: I used this when I had a Windows machine. Now I use a Mac. (See below.)
iPhoto and iMovie
Both iPhoto and iMovie came installed on the Mac that I’ve been using starting in 2014. I use iPhoto instead of PhotoStudio 5. I use iMovie to create the videos.
Pixlr Editor
I have tried using Gimp several times, but I just can’t get the hang of it. Instead, when I need to edit a photo’s features in some way that iPhoto either can’t handle or can’t do easily, I use the free online editor called Pixlr. It reminds me a lot of the PhotoStudio program I used to use.
Craigslist
Craigslist has become a chief source of inventory for my GeoTrax collection. Sometimes it’s just fun to look at what people have for sale.
MaxGeoTrax.com
This site had a partial list of GeoTrax sets. I used it to get started on this site. It was helpful in sorting through what I had bought on Craigslist.
GeoTraxWorld.com
I used GeoTraxWorld.com at first too for GeoTrax information, but the last time I checked it was no longer working correctly.
Service.Mattel.com
Mattel / Fisher-Price lists most of the GeoTrax sets on their site too, but not all of them! I wrote to their support people once to see if they had a complete list of all their sets. They do not, but they thought creating one sounded like a good idea. (You’re welcome.)
eBay
I have both bought and sold GeoTrax on eBay.
Amazon
I use Amazon (like everyone virtually else) to buy and attempt to sell GeoTrax. I also use it as a source of information for putting sets together.
UniSquare
UniSquare is an auction site patterned after eBay. The main difference is that all their income is derived from advertising. They don’t charge sellers any fees (like the other guys do), so sellers, like me, can price their items a little lower and still make a similar profit. [Update: I no longer use this site.]
OnlineAuction
OnlineAuction was another auction site similar to the others mentioned above.