Changes in 27 Crags - April 2020
During the past months we’ve been working hard on a massive update on our website and apps! We’ve got a lot of questions related to this and with this article we want to explain what’s happening, why, and what it exactly means for our users.
27 Crags mission
To understand our motivation behind the update, have a look on our mission stated below:
"We are devoted to documenting all the crags and boulders in the world. We understand we cannot possibly accomplish this by ourselves so we're asking for your help. Our mission is to create the best software tools for documenting climbing areas, and to make them available on the web to the community of climbers." - Mission of 27 Crags since 2008
Our mission has remained the same since the beginning of 27 Crags. This update is the biggest step on the path towards our mission since the beginning!
Update number 1: Make topos with the 27 Crags app
After six months of design and development work, we’re proud to introduce topo making in the app.
You'll be able to take photos, draw lines, and fix locations straight in the app - no more need to wait until you’re back at home on your laptop!
The new app makes your work with topos smoother, faster and easier than ever in the history of climbing guides.
We’re excited to release the Android version for beta testing on 27th of April. The iOS version is under development and the estimated release date is in June 2020.
If you want to be among the first ones to test the new Android app - Sign up for beta here!
Update number 2. Free topos have a limit of content
From 27th of April free topos can include a maximum of 20 topo lines and 7 topo images. What does this mean in practice?
When the 21st line or 8th picture is added to a free topo, the new line and the new topo picture are visible only to the author and to the team maintaining the topo.
The line and the picture will remain hidden from other users until the topo is published as Premium.
Those free topos which have already exceeded the limit won’t automatically turn into Premium. But in the future new updates will be visible only after it’s updated to Premium.
The update brings also improvements to the team collaboration. We will tell more about this in the part 3 below.
Why there needs to be a limit in free topos?
We completely understand that this change may affect how you decide to use 27 Crags. Making this change wasn't an easy decision for us, but we were forced to do it purely because of financial reasons. We want to build the best software tools for making climbing topos, but it's not possible without a sustainable business.
We have explained before the problems and challenges of free topos, and we have thought very long and hard for all the possibilities on how to fund 27 Crags. If you want to read more about this topic, please have a look on our blogs here and here.
Update number 3: New Premium topo payment policy
It’s common to have many people contributing to topos when developing a big climbing area. When free topo is updated to Premium, you can now easily create a new team and invite everyone who has been part of making the free topos. As has been the policy of Premium since the beginning, 50% of all the Premium subscription income goes straight to the topo authors every month.
With the new update, team members can get paid based on the amount of content they have personally added.
By selecting “Topo income > To members” from your team settings, you will ensure that the profit of the topo will go to those who have made it.
This option is especially great when publishing a previously free topo as Premium. Find more information about the team collaboration here.
Donate Premium topo income to bolt fund
Over the past years, Premium topos have generated more than €100.000 to the authors. The income of Premium topo depends on the amount of people who use it, and from the size and quality of the topo. Some small and rarely visited areas might get only a few euros per month, while big areas can make over €1.000/month.
After the update in 27th of April you can choose to get the income for yourself or to donate it to access or bolt fund of your choice. It’s up to you!
Choose the receiver of the payments from your account settings and help your favourite climbing destination.
Thank you for reading this long message all the way until here. I hope this gives you an overview of the upcoming changes.
If you have questions, you can find links to the most commonly asked questions below! If you don’t find the answer there, get in touch with us!
We hope you’ll soon enjoy topo making even more. 🙏
On behalf of 27 Crags team,
Ville Muittari
Cover photo: Marko Kauko
