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Announcements & releases

Where we share what’s shipping, what’s coming next, and the occasional behind-the-scenes note on how the identification engine is improving.

Latest · Announcements5 min read·21 May 2026

Club Mode is live on DetectID — verified clubs get free Premium

Free Premium for the owner + 2 admins of every verified club, a free month of Basic for every member, and find tagging. Phase 2 builds the admin dashboard next.

Earlier posts

Announcements·21 May 2026
What DetectID can identify — the honest, complete answer
Coins by period, coins by country, artefacts, tools, and the gaps we're still working on — the honest scope.
Announcements·19 May 2026
What we're building next on DetectID
A roadmap of free additions coming to DetectID — built around what UK detectorists actually want, not what we want to charge for.
How-to·19 May 2026
How to identify your first find
Full walkthrough of the identification flow — sign in, upload photos, optional inputs, location precision, and what you see on the result page.
How-to·19 May 2026
Photographing finds for accurate identification
Five practical photo rules that get the engine to a confident verdict, plus the three most common mistakes and a 30-second routine that works.
How-to·19 May 2026
Understanding your identification result
Every section of the result page explained, including what the confidence levels mean and how to push back when you disagree with the verdict.
How-to·19 May 2026
Using the maps and pins on DetectID
Your personal map, the rally density map, precision settings, layer toggles, and the privacy guarantees — end-to-end.
How-to·19 May 2026
Detecting sessions: tagging finds to a permission
Group your finds by permission, rally, or trip with detecting sessions — labels, what gets auto-tagged, and what shows up in your stats.
How-to·19 May 2026
Running a rally as the organiser
From creating the rally to the post-rally summary — every screen, every option, including how to qualify for the Rally Captain perk.
How-to·19 May 2026
Joining a rally as an attendee
Two ways to join, what you see during the day, Anonymous mode and Group ID, plus what to expect at the end.
How-to·19 May 2026
Sharing finds publicly and the community feed
Share controls per find, attribution options, what becomes visible to the community, and the Find of the Week pathway.
How-to·19 May 2026
Privacy and location precision on DetectID
Exactly what we collect, exactly what becomes visible to whom, and the five precision settings detailed end-to-end.
How-to·19 May 2026
Reading your collection stats and exporting to CSV
Every tile on the stats strip explained, plus column-by-column documentation for the CSV export and the spreadsheet workflows it enables.
How-to·19 May 2026
The Treasure Act flag — what it means and what to do
What the flag means (and doesn't mean), when the engine raises it, and the responsible steps to take — calm and practical.
How-to·19 May 2026
Building your public profile on DetectID
Public username, bio, what appears (and what doesn't), the Rally Captain badge, and how to dial back if you change your mind.
How-to·19 May 2026
Free, Basic, Premium — understanding the three DetectID plans
Plan-by-plan breakdown of Free, Basic and Premium, the top-up packs, and the Rally Captain free-Premium path.
How-to·19 May 2026
Reporting your finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Who FLOs are, what gets recorded, the step-by-step recording process, and how a DetectID identification fits alongside the PAS record.
How-to·19 May 2026
Cleaning hammered silver coins safely
Water and a soft brush, and not much else. The full safe routine, what destroys hammered silver, and what to do with stubborn deposits.
How-to·19 May 2026
Cleaning Roman bronze coins safely
Patina types, the safe cleaning routine, how to recognise and treat bronze disease, and what storage protects bronze long-term.
How-to·19 May 2026
Reading the predicted grade on your DetectID result
Every grade explained in detectorist terms, with what each tells you about wear, condition and the rough value implications.
How-to·19 May 2026
The reasoning chain demystified
The six diagnostic steps the engine takes on every identification, with a worked example and practical guidance for when you don't agree.
How-to·19 May 2026
How DetectID handles worn and partial coins
Surface-worn, partial-flan, encrusted, bent love-tokens, fragmented finds — how the engine handles each, and what you can do to help.
How-to·19 May 2026
Beach detecting with DetectID
Tides, salt corrosion, the kinds of finds beaches produce, plus DetectID-specific tips for getting the engine working well on coastal material.
How-to·19 May 2026
The Rally Captain perk — earning Premium for free
Two thresholds, three months per qualifying rally, stacking semantics — the full mechanics of the Rally Captain perk.
How-to·19 May 2026
Find of the Week — how it works and how to be chosen
The editorial selection criteria, what helps your find get noticed, and how the weekly archive builds over time.
How-to·19 May 2026
Magic-link sign in — why DetectID has no passwords
No-password auth explained — how the flow works, why it's safer, and how to handle email changes and lost access.
How-to·19 May 2026
Your settings page, explained tile by tile
Every control documented: profile, detecting defaults, plan and billing, email preferences, privacy and data, account deletion.
How-to·19 May 2026
Hearts, comments, and community etiquette on DetectID
How the community surface works, the soft etiquette of comments, how moderation handles reports, and what we deliberately don't run.
How-to·19 May 2026
What emails DetectID sends, and why — keeping your inbox clean
Three categories of email, each one explained, plus the controls to opt out — total volume is deliberately low.
Behind the scenes·19 May 2026
Behind the scenes — building the stats dashboard
Why these six tiles, what we left out (and why), how the numbers are computed, and what we'd reconsider.
Feature releases·19 May 2026
Tagging your detector — Minelab, XP, Nokta, and the brand leaderboard
Two new optional fields on the identify form, the autocomplete brands, profile defaults, and what the upcoming brand leaderboard will surface.
How-to·19 May 2026
Your first month with DetectID — a structured onboarding
Week 1: first identification. Week 2: share publicly. Week 3: sessions and map. Week 4: review and decide.
How-to·19 May 2026
Setting up DetectID for your metal-detecting club
From committee sign-up to running your first rally, plus charity tracking and what to avoid as a club organiser.
How-to·19 May 2026
A detectorist's year with DetectID — seasonal patterns
Practical seasonal guidance — when to detect what, when to subscribe at which tier, when to share publicly, when to plan ahead.
How-to·19 May 2026
Frequently asked questions about DetectID
A comprehensive FAQ covering everything from accuracy to billing to whether DetectID could disappear. Honest answers, not marketing.
How-to·19 May 2026
For Finds Liaison Officers — what DetectID offers and what it doesn't
How DetectID's reasoning chain works as a pre-drafted first-pass for FLO write-ups, what we deliberately don't do, where the engine is strong and where it's weak, and the free institutional account offer.
How-to·19 May 2026
Using the historic OS map overlay — finding lost field boundaries and deserted villages
The NLS historic OS overlay explained — Six-Inch and One-Inch series, what to look for, and a worked example of spotting a Hertfordshire DMV on the 1888 map.
How-to·19 May 2026
Reading the auction valuation badge on your Premium identifications
Real-sales-driven price ranges on every Premium identification — how they're built, why grade matters more than reference, and a worked Edward I example.
How-to·19 May 2026
The Roman roads overlay — why detector finds cluster near them
The Margary network on /finds/map, why both Roman AND medieval finds cluster along the lines, plus a Hertfordshire worked example 1.5km off Watling Street.
How-to·19 May 2026
Nearby PAS finds — using public archaeology data on your DetectID map
1.7 million PAS records, sampled within 5km of your pins — period filtering, use cases, and the biases worth knowing.
How-to·19 May 2026
Exporting your collection — KML for Google Earth, CSV for Excel
Premium KML + CSV exports — what they contain, step-by-step imports to Google Earth and Garmin, and how privacy precision is preserved.
How-to·19 May 2026
Insurance-grade PDF reports — protecting your collection on your home contents policy
Generating named-collection inventory PDFs for insurers — location-stripped, dated, photo-illustrated. A worked example of an £8,400 hammered hoard adding cover to a Direct Line policy.
Feature releases·19 May 2026
Detect together: groups, rallies and how to use both
Overview of Detect together — Groups (2–10 regulars, three-word codes) versus Rallies (event-day, alphanumeric codes), with a comparison table and the heat map mechanics.
Feature releases·19 May 2026
Detecting groups: 2–10 friends, one three-word code
Persistent groups of 2–10 detectorists, joined by codes like amber-coin-meadow. Creation, joining, the shared session, and what Groups deliberately don't do.
Feature releases·19 May 2026
Rallies on DetectID: organising an event, joining as an attendee
How rallies work end-to-end: short alphanumeric codes, QR posters, the live shared session, productivity stats for organisers, the 10-attendees + 20-finds Captain perk.

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