Perhaps there's already such a thing, but a Quick Reference Guide (QRG), or a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, about RTTs functionality and how to use it would be really helpful - especially for people like me, who sometimes don't really understand some of the questions asked on this thread, nor their purpose, let alone the answers provided!
Many thanks
I agree. Though Realtime Trains does have
a FAQ page, the only mention it makes of the Quick Search Box (in particular) is:
How do I find the next trains from my station?
Enter the name of the station in the Quick Search box at the top of the page, or on the homepage.
The only mention made of any non-obvious search functionality is on the Detailed search page:
You can select the location you wish to view, you'll need to know its name or the three letter CRS code.
For some reason, nowhere does the site mention any of the following functionality:
- Searching for unit numbers in the Quick Search box (e.g. "756102")
- Searching for a location at a time other than "now" in the Quick Search box (e.g. "Cardiff Central at 1300", "CDF at 1300")
- Using the "detailed" suffix in the Quick Search box, which works to enable detailed mode while searching for unit numbers (e.g. "756102 detailed"), location names "now" (e.g. "Cardiff Central detailed"), location names at a time (e.g. "Cardiff Central at 1300 detailed", CRS codes "now" (e.g. "CDF detailed", CRS codes at a time (e.g. "CDF at 1300 detailed" and headcodes (e.g. "2T16 detailed")
Searching for headcodes in the Quick Search box
is mentioned, but only if you enter an invalid location, a unit number or a... headcode, into the Location search box:
We cannot find the location you asked for. Did you want to search for a headcode? You need to do that in Quick Search, at the top of every page in the menu.
I've always wondered why the functionality in the bulleted list in particular is "hidden" - I only found out about it from either this thread here on RailUKforums (a site external to Realtime Trains), or fellow enthusiasts who somehow knew about the functionality. Why isn't it mentioned on the site itself, and can it be?
Also, in the "Basics" section of the FAQ page, why does the "How do I find trains in the future or the past?" section still say, with regards to the past:
Make sure that it’s within the past week
...even though the "How far in the past can I look up a service?" section does say the correct, up-to-date dates depending on registration/membership type:
You can look up information for services that ran up to 14 days ago if you haven't registered. Registered users can search up to 1 month, and RTT+ users can search up to 5 years in the past.
In addition, why are there only English and Scottish stations in the "popular departure boards" links - no Welsh ones? Not even Cardiff Central? Can Cardiff Central be added at least, so there's at least one Welsh station in the "popular departure boards" links?
Finally, could a feature be added where RTT+ members can be sent STP notifications? A rival site has this feature, but with it only being on that rival site, I'd have to purchase a separate subscription for those in order to get them directly (currently, the ones I'm interested in, for Cambrian 197s, are forwarded to me by someone I know, who doesn't pay for STP notifications, as someone who's been getting them from that rival site since before they started charging for them).
(as always, I still very much appreciate Realtime Trains and I'm now an RTT+ member)
