Chapter 25. What you see and what to do
Part 4. When something goes wrong. Most problems have a one-touch answer, and none loses your work. What you typed is never cleared, and a report's link always brings back whatever has been gathered so far.
Messages beside the boxes on the front page
These appear next to the box they belong to, beginning "To fix:". Here is every one, word for word, with what to do.
| The message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Township needs a number, like 9." | Type the number only, without "South" or "North." |
| "Choose North or South for the township." | Touch North or South. Most Oregon land is South. Only the northern strip of the state, north of a line through Portland, is North. |
| "Range needs a number, like 6." | Type the range number. |
| "Choose East or West for the range." | Touch East or West. Land west of the Willamette Meridian, which runs through Portland, is West. |
| "Section needs a number from 1 to 36, like 33." | If your deed names no section, use the claim or lot box, or your tax lot. |
| "Township [number] [North or South], Range [number] [East or West] has no Section [number]. Check the section number on your deed." | Some townships along the coast, the Columbia and the state lines lack some sections. Check each number; a slip between North and South, or East and West, is the usual cause. |
| "We found Section [number] but not "[part]". You can go on with the whole section, or check the part on your deed." | Touch Go on with the whole section, which includes your land, or fix the drop-down lists. |
| "We could not find claim [number] in Township [number] [North or South], Range [number] [East or West]. Check the number on your deed." | Check the claim or lot number on your deed, or empty that box to use the whole section. |
| "We could not find a township and range in what you pasted. Type them into the boxes above. Your pasted words are still here." | Find "Township" and "Range" (or "T." and "R.") in your words and type the numbers in. |
| "Choose your county." | Pick your county from the list. |
| "Map number is missing. Copy it from your statement, like 9S 6W 33." | Type the map number as your statement prints it. |
| "Add the direction letters: N or S after the township, E or W after the range, like 9S 6W." | Add the letters, as in "9S 6W 33." |
| "Tax lot needs a number, like 01400. Keep the zeros." | Type the tax lot with its leading zeros. |
| "We could not find tax lot [number] on [county] County map [map]. Check both numbers on your statement." | Check the map number, with its letters, and the tax lot, with its zeros. Or type the township, range and section from the map number into Legal description. |
| "Account number is numbers only, like 123456." | Remove any letters or dashes. |
| "Give the map number and tax lot, or the account number." | Fill in the map number and the tax lot. The account number is not used yet. |
| "We can't look up land by account number yet. Use the map number and tax lot printed on the same statement, or your legal description." | Type the map number and the tax lot from the same statement, or use Legal description. |
| "Type a house number and street, like 123 Main Street, Monmouth, Oregon." | Type the address with its house number. |
| "We couldn't find that address. Country roads are often missing from the federal address list we use. Try your tax lot or legal description; both are on your property tax statement." | Use Tax lot or Legal description. |
| "That search did not answer just now. Please try again in a minute. What you typed is still here." | Wait a minute and touch Find my land again. |
Everything else
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "We can't search [county] County's tax lots yet..." | Touch Use the legal description. You will get an area history of the section, which includes your lot. |
| "We can't make a report in Township [number] [North or South], Range [number] [East or West] yet..." | Nothing you did is wrong. Try again later. Meanwhile, Chapters 6 and 7 of Knowing Your Land show how to find your township's survey notes and patents yourself, free. |
| The outline on "Is this your land?" is in the wrong place. | Touch No, that's not it. Check North or South and East or West first, then the section number. |
| The outline covers a whole square mile, not your own lot. | Go back and choose the part of the section from your deed, or use your tax lot. Or say yes to the area history, which includes your land. |
| The place line on "Is this your land?" says Washington. | Touch No, that's not it, then check the township number and North or South. Your Land History covers Oregon only. |
| A part says "Not finished," or "We stopped this part before it was finished. What we found is kept." | Touch Try again. If it stops again, come back later. Nothing found so far is lost. |
| "One source did not answer today: [source]. The rest of this part is here." | That source's website was down or slow. Touch Try again, today or another day. |
| The page seems stuck. Nothing has changed for ten minutes. | Reload the page. If parts are still waiting, come back in an hour through My land or the report's link. |
| Open at the source does not open, or opens the wrong page. | The office's website may be down or may have moved the record. Try later, or touch Copy citation and search the office's site for the record's name and number. |
| The site is slow. | Pictures arrive as you scroll toward them. Choose Detail: Brief for a lighter page. |
| The sample report has no Look deeper into this, Add to my research list or Forget this land. | The sample is the same for everyone, so it cannot be searched further, listed or forgotten. Make a report of your own land to use those buttons. |
| "We can't send corrections yet. Your sentence is still in the box above, so nothing is lost." | Copy your sentence and email it to drdavesullivan@gmail.com, or try again later (Chapter 26). |
| Copy my link does not say "Copied." | Copy the address from the bar at the top of your browser instead. |
| The words are too small. | Touch Larger text in the header (on a phone, under Menu), or use your browser's zoom (Chapter 24). |
| My research list on the sample is empty and points to buttons the sample does not have. | The sample cannot be added to. Make a report of your own land; its "If you're hooked" and its appendix have Add to my research list. |
| A report is missing from My land. | You may be in a different browser or device, or the browser's data was cleared. Open the report from its link. |
| The printout has pictures missing. | Pictures load as you scroll. On the print page, scroll to the end before touching its Print button. |
| A sentence in a report seems wrong. | See Chapter 26. |