Van Secrets is an web application which is meant to find free camping sites on a map. The campsites can be filtered depending on Country, Location, and various facilities available. This is an open application where users can make their own addition and contribute to the general community. The interface is simple and easy to use which makes this application really popular among backpackers around the world.
Let us explore this tool and see how to make use of this awesome utility.
Home Screen Of This Tool To Find Free Camping Site On A Map:
This is the home screen, which has a neat design, with lot of information scattered in it. On the top left hand corner of the map, there is a search bar, where you can type in the name of a country or area. This tool would then provide you with all available free camp sites on that given location. When you open the home page, there are numerous blue, red and green dots which appear indicating different camp sites throughout the world.
You can simply click on any one dot and the application would show you all available information on that spot. You can use the navigation bar on the top of the side bar to get directions to your chosen site.
How To Apply Filter To Find Free Camping Sites:
There are two ways of applying filter. On the top left corner of the filter side bar, there is a check box which allows a user to filter campsites based on the current map selection. You can minimize or maximize the filter window using the ‘-‘or ‘+’ button at the bottom of the map. Alternatively, you can do away with map selection and uncheck the box, which will then give you the option to filter the results depending on country and type of facility one is looking for.
There are various criterion depending on which you can filter your results which includes location details, services, environment and activities.
How To Edit Campsite Or Add New Campsite Information on Van Secrets
As a user you can edit or add the new camp location on Van Secrets. The edit option is available on the top right hand side of the screen. After you click on the edit option, the application asks you to click on the map to choose a spot. Once you chose a spot you are taken through a series of steps, where you are required to add pictures and furnish details about the spot to other users.
When the edit is done, the application takes you to the spot and shows all relevant information on the left hand side bar.
Manage You Van Secrets Account
The account tab appears right next to the Edit option and is denoted a grey icon. This tab allows you to edit your profile and see all your locations from the drop down menu. Right at the bottom left hand corner, there is a tab which allows users to give their feedback or follow the developer on Twitter.
Verdict
Van Secrets is a wonderful website to find free camp sites on map all across the World. It has a lot of scope, given the fact traveling is a big industry.
The interface is very simple and interactive and it is very easy to use and edit. The only downside of this application is that in the edit mode, the developers ask users to pinpoint a location on map which is not often done to scale. As a result a slight difference of one or two inches can lead to big difference in real life. It would have been really nice if users had the option of locating something from Google maps, instead of pointing them on their map. Lastly, as a user, one cannot help but doubt the authenticity of the information provided on this application. Overall as a concept Van Secret is really wonderful and has really good potential.
