How to Create a SPOT shared page Updated March 11, 2010

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1 How to Create a SPOT shared page Updated March 11, 2010 This HowTo assumes you have already signed up for a SPOT account, and have also signed up for the full time tracking option. Launch a web browser and navigate to the SPOT website at as shown below 1. Click on the My Account link (highlighted above) and log in using your username and password. This should take you to a page similar to the following screenshot. Note the recent TRACK hits showing my location over the last 24 hours or so these may or may not be present on the actual screen you are viewing. 2. Click on the My Devices tab to view the services associated with your SPOT device, and verify that the Track Progress service has a green checkmark. If it

2 isn t, then you should strongly consider adding it to your subscription. Even without the tracking service you can still gain many of the benefits of a SPOT tracker, but messages must be initiated manually. With the Track Progress service enabled, all you have to do is to put the SPOT unit into tracking mode at the beginning of the day, and it will automatically send out position reports every 10 minutes. This mode is obviously more advantageous for our type of activity, and certainly for the case of an incapacitated pilot! 3. Click on the Share tab. This will bring you to a page similar to the one shown below, where you can manage existing shared pages and/or create new ones. The first screenshot below shows the situation when there are no existing shared pages, and the second one below shows the Shared Page area of the same screen but with an existing shared page. If there are no pages present, the Manage Shared Page link doesn t do much, but if one or more shared pages have already been created, then they can be adjusted/edited via the Manage Shared Pages link. For purposes of this HowTo document, it is assumed that you don t have a shared page and need to create one.

3 Note: the same page with an existing shared page. You can manage an existing page, or create additional ones at will 4. To create a new shared page, click on Create Shared Page, which brings up a page like the following. a. The first image below shows the default page before any changes have been made. i. The Shared Page Name: field is blank by default. You can edit this freely. I recommend you use your competition ID in this field. ii. Note that the single messenger unit on this account (The one labeled TA ) has been automatically selected. If there were multiple messenger units on a single account, then one or more could be selected for edits.

4 iii. Location Types to Share: All are selected by default, and I recommend this not be changed. That way, if you decide to cancel tracking and manually send a Check-in (OK) or Help message (generally used for the bummer I ve landed out message), those messages will be available for display on the tracking map. iv. The Share GPS locations from the last selection is set for 7 days by default. I recommend changing this parameter from 7 days to 24 hours to reduce clutter on the tracking map. Messages older than this setting are filtered out from the public shared page (but all messages for the last 30 days are available to the account holder) v. Share message detail: Check the yes option so your message text is available. vi. The Security choice must be set to Public to make your shared page available to concerned individuals and/or SAR responders. vii. In the Share My Page section, note that neither radio button is selected. When either one is clicked, then a Create Now! button will be shown at the bottom of the page. I recommend that the Send the shared page myself selection be picked, as this causes the complete URL to the shared page to be shown in an edit box so that it can be conveniently copy/pasted to the SSA member profile Tracker URL field or other application (like an to your 50 closest friends ;-)). b. The first image below shows the recommended options with the Create Now! button shown. 5. Click on Create Now!, and wait a few seconds. When the creation procedure completes, some new fields (one of which is the field containing the new URL in very small print) are added to the bottom of the page, and you may have to scroll down on the page to actually see them (I do on my web browser). The second image below shows the page just after clicking on Create Now! Note the addition of the Information block at the top, and the URL at the bottom (highlighted here in yellow)

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6 6. Copy and & paste the shared page URL (very small print at the bottom of the page into the Tracker URL field of your member profile, making sure to highlight the entire URL. If you are pasting into your SSA member profile area, use the Test button to verify that the link is valid. I also recommend that you paste the URL into an to yourself, so you can test the link to make sure it was created properly. Once you verify that it is correct, you can send it to your favorite crewperson and/or significant other so they can access it whenever they like.

7 That s it you should be good to go. If you have any questions contact me (Frank Paynter, TA ) at paynter.5@osu.edu. Happy tracking! ;-).