Why new features take us time

Do you ever wonder why we don’t add new features and jurisdictions more quickly? I can answer this question with one word: Reliability.

Creating a tool to scan parks for openings isn’t that hard. Eric Shelkie built the prototype for Campnab in less than a month. At the time, I thought most of the heavy lifting was done. (I thought wrong.)

You see, parks don’t all use the same booking system. There are many different booking systems out there. So, every jurisdiction we add makes our job more complicated. Each system works uniquely, classifies information differently, and has its quirks.

Here’s an example: This spring, folks were receiving alerts at 2 AM, for spots they couldn’t yet book. It turned out that one system started to release new availabilities at 2 AM, but restricted the booking of those “available” campsites until 7 AM. (As you can imagine, some members were a little displeased to receive alerts for those.) So, Eric tweaked Campnab to work around this quirk.

This is just one of the thousands of such peculiarities that Eric’s resolved. Someone might wonder why we wouldn’t have built around these in the first place. Fair enough, but you just don’t know these issues exist until you’ve incorporated as many parks—and sent as many alerts—as we have.

What I’ve mentioned so far doesn’t mention carrier outages or pandemic-related booking idiosyncrasies. There’s always some new issue to consider and resolve. Honestly, I’m thankful to be on the design and support end of things. My job is waaay easier than Eric Shelkie’s.

We’re continually working to add new jurisdictions and features—and communicate accurately with all of you. I’m not exaggerating here. I’m writing this post on Easter weekend, while my family’s out for a walk. As for Eric Shelkie… he never stops. He’s often awake in the wee hours to investigate an issue as it happens.

We don’t mind, though. We enjoy making this product better. Additionally, we have the support of thousands of members (perhaps you’re one of them) who’ve spotted issues and contacted us to point these out. This is hugely appreciated! When you spot a bug, we’re able to narrow down the issue—and fix it.

I know some are unhappy that we haven’t yet added their state or favorite park. Others are wondering why we haven’t rolled out features they asked for ages ago. This is all understandable. However, our priority is to provide the most reliable scanning possible, on the parks we monitor. Adding features, and scanning for new jurisdictions, take second place to that.

That’s it for me. Have a great holiday weekend! (I hope a campfire and some good eats are a part of yours!)

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