Getting Started:

For the Cruiser

Thanks for trying out Farkwar. I hope it is super easy for you use, if it's not, please do let me know. Here are the basic steps to get you started

  1. The first thing you will need is a boat. Click here to set one up. (You will be asked to sign-up if you aren't logged in already) (note: When setting your destination, a single city works best. This field is used to calculate 'distance to destination')

  2. Next you need to go to your new boat and click the "click here to show email" link. This will give you a secret email address that you can send your position reports to.

  3. Next you want to set up Air Mail (the free, Windows software for HAM/SSB email). You could probably use another client, but I've set up our position parser to know about Air Mail's format, so your milage may vary.

  4. 1. Open up AirMail 
  5. 2. Open your Address book
  6. 3. Create a new entry with a name like farkwar and a to of the secret email address you got in step 2
  7. 4. Check the "Add position footer for this address"
  8. 5. Click OK


Submitting your position report

Now compose a message using your new address book entry. You won't see the position in the footer, that's ok!  Wait a few minutes and reload your boat's map. You should see a new push pin. Whatever you put in the body will be automagically added to the pushpin as a note. Cool huh?!
Note: We have discovered that it is possible to tell winlink/sailmail to suppress all footers or truncate footers. Clearly this would cause problems for us. If your position reports aren't showing up, you might try adding -footer to the bottom of your message.



If you aren't using Airmail you can try a format like this
A Place I never was
-----
At 13/05/2014 04:36 (utc) our position was 27°27.22'S 153°01.55'E
In this example the 5 -s are important (as is the new line after them) and the entire line starting at At is important (though you may replace the º with a space if need be.


Farkwar will set the position report timestamp at the moment we receive your report.

If you would rather we respect the Airmail footer, please become a subscriber, and then you will find an option for it in the Edit Boat page.

Updating your Destination

Your destination is used to calculate "Distance to Destination" on your boat's page. If you are near fast internet, you can change it by clicking on the pencil icon . If you don't have fast internet, you can update your destination by adding a line to the bottom of your position report email. Any line that looks like .
Destination: A new city
will be parsed by our server and automatically added to your boat.
Some captains have tried to be cheeky and used "Paradise" or "The World" for their destination. While this show's a certain spirit and creativity, it will produce unpredictable results. Your choice ;)

Note: If you use this feature, don't forget the rest of your position report. Farkwar rejects any message that doesn't contain a position!

Embedding: To embed your map in your own website or blog, just add this code (changing your boat name of course)
<iframe src="https://farkwar.com/boats/<boat name>.map" height="500px" width="100%"> </iframe>

For the Friends & Family

You've got the easy part. Just:

  1. 1. Sign Up
  2. 2. Find your boat
  3. 3. …and click the follow switch (blue is follow)


    4. Now you will get an email whenever they report their position


Other Farkwar HowTos

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