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Ghost Hunters Web is a new online service created to manage and maintain a group dedicated to investigating the paranormal. Your web site can be added to an existing site using frames or a link and is customizable to brand it to match your current site. Also, if you do not have a web site, the service will provide you an online presence.

GHW's primary function is case and investigation management including:

• automating client interaction and gathering their activity log online,
• scheduling and confirming who is attending investigations,
• uploading of evidence and time and member-based investigation logs,
• limiting and disabling access to individual members based on the case settings,
• maintaining privacy by replacing the names of those who wish to remain private with a chosen replacement name,
• limiting access to case information and overview from the public with a single setting,
• logging the initial site visit with images and textual observations,
• allowing client access to information, ability to answer questionnaires and enter their activity log based on a generated password,
• track and maintain contact information for other family members, workers or witnesses who are on-site,
• a rating for group members to determine the general consensus if the site is haunted or not,
• an overview with the address, complaint and statistics for this case and its investigations,
• AJAX and Dynamic HTML used throughout to place the information in an easy-to-read format

The other sections of the GHW site include:

• creating polls which also can generate the script to copy and be placed anywhere on any web page or added to listings in your gallery.
• Member management with five different levels of access and individual accounts.
• Emails to and from the members and visitors of the site are completely anonymous and encrypted.
• CAPTCHA security check to ensure messages are not from internet spammers.
• An equipment list to enter your own list of your group's equipment and equipment in general.
  • A member of the site can add the equipment in the list to their profile displaying they own and use it.
  • Each piece of equipment has its own photo and link to the best price found or review. It also has your group's review of the equipment.
  • Also, it tracks who in the group owns which piece of equipment.

We are in the process of adding the gallery section for the application which will allow your site to have a category-based list of entries with uploaded evidence files you have such as: EVP's, photographs, videos, links and other possibilities.

[Ghost Hunters : Click for larger image]

CREATE A NEW CASE

A case is opened for each address. Then, you will schedule an investigation or multiple investigations at that address. This is the first step of the case creation process. After this step of the process, you select members of your group to assign to the case. These members either have full access and can manage the case, or basic access and can review the case, but not make modifications or schedule investigations.

ADD NEW EQUIPMENT

Every group has their own set of equipment. With the Ghost Hunters Web application, tracking the equipment has never been easier.

Here, you are creating a new piece of equipment to add to your list. Each member of the group who owns one of these can add it to their own list of equipment.

EQUIPMENT LIST

The list of equipment is shown here. The top image is the list closed. When you click on an item, the details of that item is displayed - as shown in the bottom image.

Included in the item details is the ability to place your vote for rating the piece of equipment. When members of the group decide they are in the market to buy a new piece of equipment, they can check the ratings to find which item other members like the best.

CREATE A NEW POLL

Gathering information is a great way of knowing people's opinions. Using the application, you generate polls which can be included with each item in the gallery.

The script for placing a poll on your web site is also generated so you can include them on other pages - myspace, facebook, etc.

LIST THE POLL RESULTS

The results of a poll you created is just a click away. The graph for the poll is generated by clicking the link in the list of polls.

Information about the settings for the polls is also displayed in the list.

MEMBER ACCOUNT

Each member of your group and your web site has their own details page. They can review their information and make changes as needed.

At the bottom of the list is the equipment owned by the member.

On the right are buttons to make changes to the member's settings and profile.

MEMBERS LIST

The members list works the same as the equipment list. You click on a member to open their details.

As you can see in this image, there are several different member types.

YOUR UNIQUE LOGO

On the login page is your group's logo which you upload using the site settings.

The file for this logo can be seen in the image below. Notice how the site automatically generates the rounded edges, drop shadow and reflection.

SITE SETTINGS

The person with the master account and the Web Administration access levels can control the look and feel of your site.

Some of the settings which are customizable are: the group's name and location, the time zone used to calculate times, the background color of the application, the logo displayed on the login page and email settings.

EMAIL MANAGER

The site includes the ability to send and receive HTML emails. They are sent to the contacts set in the Site Settings shown above.

Email addresses and names are not displayed to anyone who uses the site. They are encrypted even in reply emails.

A CAPTCHA is used to prevent people spamming using the email application.

If your access level is high enough (web administrator or group officer), you have the ability to email to individual people or all people in a group - such as all members or all associates.

GROUP CALENDAR

A calendar is generated for the group or a member. It displays the dates of investigations and if the member has responded to whether they will be attending the investigation or not. It also displays the date and time of group meetings.

The grayed areas are previous and next months and the yellow date is the current date.

CREATE A NEW INVESTIGATION

After a case has been created, you can schedule an investigation choosing the date, time and who you would like to attend from your group.

The group is colored based on their account status and status of participation in the case. There is a legend explaining the colors below the "Members" list.

EMAIL MESSAGES

Here are several of the different emails generated by the site.

INVESTIGATION INVITATION

When a new investigation is scheduled, all members who are invited to attend are emailed an invitation with details and a link to the case overview. Also in this email are two separate links which allow them to confirm they will be attending or decline the invitation. This updates their status in their calendar and also in the investigation overview - notifying members who will and who will not be in attandance.

CONTACT MESSAGE FROM SITE

This is an example of an email message generated when someone needed to report an error with the site.

The email has been sent to the Tech Support contact. There is a link to reply to the message anonymously - though you are able to see all their information.

REPLY TO CONTACT MESSAGE

When you reply to a message and it is not a reply to another member, your information is witheld. The person recieving the reply can send you another message by clicking the link.

Unless you provide them with your contact information within the body of the message, your privacy is maintained.

REPLIES ARE REJECTED

If a user tries to reply to the email directly, as a courtesy, they are sent a message explaining they must use the link within the original email. No replies are accepted directly by the server.

REQUEST FOR NEW EQUIPMENT

Members who do not find a piece of equipment they own in your master list of equipment can enter the information for the new equipment for your review.

If you approve the equipment addition, you can return to the list and add their new equipment to the list.

ONLINE CASE REPORT & OVERVIEW

Here are images of the online case report generated for each case. It uses tabs to separate the sections of the case.

The only change expected to this section is the inclusion of which equipment is used on an investigation and used to gather the evidence submitted.

CASE OVERVIEW

This includes a brief overview of the case. Sections include:

• Client information,
• Family and Workers on site,
• The initial complaint,
• Case settings,
• Last date the case was modified,
• Name of lead investigator,
• Case statistics, and
• Ranking of members on how confident they are the location is haunted.

LOCATION DOCUMENTATION

This section contains both written descriptions and photos of the site being investigated.

Images can be clicked to open the full-sized image for greater detail. Also, there is a short description of the image location below each photo.

CLIENT ACTIVITY

The client is provided a password and link for their case where they can enter an activity log of their experiences.

The three buttons next to the Description label open links displaying the weather conditions, solar activity and lunar information at the time of the activity.

The second section is the client's response to questionnaires they are sent when the case is generated. They enter their answers online with the password and link provided as mentioned above.

INVESTIGATIONS

As investigations are scheduled, they are added to the list of investigations in for the case. Here, there are two investigations.

Here, we have opened the first investigation seeing that there are two investigators who were invited, but only one attended. That investigator made two investigation log entries.

Opening the first log entry, the member has not uploaded their evidence, but it has already been marked as being debunked.

With the second log entry, the member has uploaded images as evidence. Images can be clicked to see the full-sized image. Other types of evidence accepted are:

• Audio files (.wav, .mp3, .wma)
• Video files (.mov, .wmv, mpeg, and other common video formats)
• Text files (.pdf, .doc, .rtf, .txt)

If an investigation has no members assigned and no log entries, it still appears in the list because it has been scheduled.

This is the case with Investigation 2.

CLIENT'S WEBSITE

When a new case is created, the client is emailed a login address and password. Here are several of the interactions we have completed for the client.

CLIENT LOGIN

When they enter the address found in their email, they are taken to a login page as shown here.

CLIENT HOME PAGE

Here, the client can do several things. They can:

• Fill out questionnaires relating to their case
• Check the basic information about their case
• See the results of investigations for their case
• Contact their case manager

INITIAL CLIENT QUESTIONNAIRE

The initial questionnaire lets the client give more detail about their case. This is where they can add all the family members and others who either live or work at the location.

These questions help determine some of their background, some of the location's history, their views on the paranormal, their ability to provide access to the location, etc.

They can fill out the form and come back later and modify it or add to it. It is always available to them.

ADD CLIENT'S FAMILY / EMPLOYEES

Adding people who live or work at the location is as easy as filling out a simple form. Here is the form the client sees when adding to their list of people on-site.

ANOTHER CLIENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Here is the second questionnaire. It is called "Is your house haunted?" It is based on a set of questions my Ghost Hunting group asks new clients to determine the activity taking place at the client's location.

The image to the right is an example of the second questionnaire for your client. They choose the frequency and then, if they would like to explain why they made their choice or tell about their experience(s) they have the option.

Their explination is limited to 254 characters because we are not looking for an entire story here, just an explination.

In the example, you can see the progress bar showing how much of the allowed 254 characters I have used. With this form, you can help us out...

[Ghost Hunters : Click for larger image]

Provide Us Some Input

The client tells us the frequency and can expound on each possible event. Here are the events in our list:

• Creaking boards that sound like someone is walking across the floor,
• The cound of boxes being dropped or moved in the basement, attic or empty room,
• Mist-like apparitions appear,
• Items turn up missing and suddenly are returned within a few days,
• Strange odors, especially the scent of tobacco or a strange flower-like perfume,
• Electrical appliances turning on and off, such as lamps, lights or fans,
• Low, muffled voices coming from empty rooms,
• The feeling of being watched by someone,
• Brief peripheral glimpses of white shapes moving about,
• Dishes or glasses sliding across counters, levitating or swinging on their hooks,
• Cabinet doors opening and closing on their own,
• Objects placed in one location show up in another area of your home,
• Invisible creatures or things jumping onto the bed sometimes leaving an impression in the sheets,
• Human-like apparitions that appear and disappear in the blink of an eye,
• Strange scratches on the skin that appear without reason,
• A cold spot which "floats" around without apparent reason,
• Physical sensation of being touched by an invisible hand,
• New batteries suddenly losing their charge after being installled,
• Strange white streaks captured on film,
• Strange balls of light that appear and disappear during an electrical storm,
• An unseen child crying or calling out when no children are present,
• Anything strange and unusual that is happening you cannot explain, and
• A dog or cat will react strangely to an unseen presence.

If you have any other common occurrence, let us know. We have tried to cover most common occurances, but acknowledge that there are probably many we have forgotten. If you have one we might have forgotten, tell us using the form below and we might add your suggestion to our list.

HAD TO TAKE A HIATUS FOR SEVERAL DAYS

I have overhauled and redesigned my group's website. With the completion of this, I can return to working on this application. In the meantime, you can check out my group's new look at www.tnghosthunters.com.

THIRD CLIENT QUESTIONNAIRE

The third questionnaire focuses on the basics - Who What When Where and How. Initially, it proposes the client answer 11 questions, but as they select "Yes," the questions expand to get further information and allow the client to explain why they answered "yes."

Watch the video demonstration for an example of the form's usage.

CLIENT ACTIVITY LOG

To help determine severity and frequency of activity, as well as determine if there are any pattens to the activity, we included an activity log for the client to complete each time they have a new experience.

Over time, your team will see if there exists a pattern or if something seems to instigate the activity using the reports generated by your clients' completion of this form.

If the client has forgotten to add some bit of their experience, they are able to view and edit their entries into their activity log.

CLIENT INVESTIGATION REVIEW

Clients are able to view the results and findings of investigations held at their business or residence. Results of the entire investigation can be witheld or kept private from the client, as well as individual log entries.

Here is a peek at the investigation review as seen by the client.

INVESTIGATION REVEIW EXPANDED

Each log entry can be expanded for further detail. Here, we see an expanded log entry with a single evidence file. It is a photograph.

Each of the log entries can have as many evidence files as needed. There is no limit to the number of files for each log entry.

The important field, "Debunked File?" has three potential options. They are: Unknown - meaning no determination has been made, Yes - meaning the file and log entry has been debunked, and No - meaning this is a likely candidate for captured paranormal activity.

With evidence files that are photographs, the client can click the file to view the full-sized image as shown here to the right.

The larger version of the image is closed by either clicking the 'X' in the top right corner, or clicking the image itself.

As for evidence files which are audio files or video files, a link is provided to either open the file in a new window or load the file in the appropriate program on the client's computer - Windows Media Player, Real Player, Apple Quicktime, etc. This example is demonstrated here on the left.

INVESTIGATION EQUIPMENT

Also included on the investigation review page is a list of the equipment used during the investigation and who used it. This includes an icon of the piece of equipment which is expanded by placing your mouse over it.

SIMPLE MEMBER SEARCH

In implementing the member search features, it was determined there may be a need for both a simple search and an advanced, or more specific, search.

In the simple search, you can enter keywords such as last names, first names, email addresses, keywords from biographies, etc. It will return any member who matches the keywords entered.

ADVANCED MEMBER SEARCH

The advanced member search allows you to be more specific when searching for members. You can specify dates between which member account were created, or the last time they logged into the site. You can search for active accounts or for a specific sex. The point is to create as much flexibility when searching as possible.

ADD MEMBERS TO CASE

After creating a case, you add members of your group to the case. Though anyone in your group can review the case, you add members to the case to give them certain permissions and preferences when choosing your team for investigations on this case.

PERMISSIONS FOR CASE MEMBERS

After adding members to the case, you can give them permissions - full and basic. Full permissions allow them to modify case settings and basic allows them to review and post things like location documentation and images.

Here, you can also control their access to the case. Making them inactive removes all priveledges with the case besides reviewing it.

REDESIGNED EQUIPMENT LIST

The equipment list has been redesigned to rely more heavily on AJAX and JSON. Instead of a seperate search page, it is now all incorporated in a single page.

Included on the page is a filtering function. The two options for filtering are by equipment type or brand.

Selecting the equipment type or brand populates the data grid with pieces of that type or brand of equipment. The values in the list to choose from are taken directly from equipment you have saved in the database.

The equipment in the database can also be sorted by any column on the page by double-clicking the column header. Clicking it again alternates from ascending sorting and descending sorting.

To view the details for a piece of equipment, you can double-click the row, or click the part number.

Also, included on the page is a search feature. Clicking the magnifying glass in the bottom-left corner of the data grid opens the search panel.

Along the bottom of the data grid is also record navigation buttons, a refredh data button and a return of how many records are in the database.

REDESIGNED EQUIPMENT DETAILS

The new details page for equipment contains the same inforamtion as the previous. We have changed the look somewhat and have reworked the rating system.

EVIDENCE ARCHIVAL UTILITY

There may be a need to archive all evidence on your group's site. We developed a utitlity to compress all the evidence files in your account into a single ZIP file.

After the file is created, you are able to download the file to your computer and finally the file is cleaned off the server - freeing up the space it occupied.

There is no limit on the number of archives or times you may download it.

FILE BROWSING UTILITY

We have developed a quick way for officers and full memebers to examine the evidence files on the website. This popup page allows the user to look and see what the upload / case / user / evidence folder contains.

It generates a list of the folders and files which have been uploaded to the site. There is a direct link to the file so the user can preview the file.

There is a toolbar to expand or collapse all folders, or you can open and close each folder individually.

Links to Ghost Hunting Groups

ARIZONA

GEORGIA

INDIANA

MICHIGAN

MONTANA

TENNESSEE

WISCONSIN

MISCELLANEOUS