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OpinioNate

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Posts posted by OpinioNate

  1. 5 hours ago, noncentric said:

     

     

    I noticed the blue banner was gone from the new lists page a while ago, maybe a couple months, but I had the 'old list page' url in my browser history and was still able to use it through Monday (Seattle time zone).

     

    Now, that url redirects to the 'new' page?  Really?  Is the 'old page' really gone, with no advanced warning or announcement or improvements to the new list page (sticky sort options, description field, other things mentioned in the relevant Release Notes thread)?

     

    Apologies for being OT regarding Send to GPS, but the 'old lists' change seems to be concurrent with this latest website release, and so somewhat on topic.

     

    The retirement of the old lists page happened a couple days ago and it was a big "miss" by us for not communicating that change out to everyone. I apologize for that. Our analytics showed extremely low usage for the page but I am sure that is no consolation for anyone who still used it. It's not coming back, but we have collected feedback on the old vs. new and have it in mind for future consideration. 

    • Upvote 2
  2. 25 minutes ago, noncentric said:

    If a cacher is included in this 'test', then should that cacher see the same thing every time they go to the Search page?  The Filters button is appearing intermittently for me.

     

    Looks like you found a bug in the test code. We are able to reproduce this on our end. Thank you! That would have affected the results if we didn't catch it. Give us some time and we'll have a fix. 

    • Upvote 2
  3. A very small number of people (~1000) are randomly included in a trial of of a new feature we're developing, and it sounds like you made the cut. Pretty low odds of that but there you go! Buy a lottery ticket today*. More information can be found in our Help Center, including instructions for opting out if you'd prefer to keep the old functionality for now. 

    *don't actually play the lottery at my suggestion please

  4. 13 minutes ago, thebruce0 said:

    Can you add the map widget feature to use the mousewheel for zooming? I've always hated having to keep going back to the +/- buttons after panning, rinse repeat... (especially when you habitually use the wheel to zoom but end up scrolling the map way off the page)

    I'm in the process of a publish, and my first impression of the new page is otherwise pretty good.

    I see where you're coming from, but the trouble with enabling the mousewheel for the map on such a long page is that it creates an awkward experience for people scrolling. You begin to scroll down the page with the wheel and then come to a jarring halt once your curser is over the map. 

    • Upvote 1
  5. Send it back to the kitchen, this isn't cooked right.

     

    Seriously, no captions?

     

    Seriously?

     

    Something is wrong at Groundspeak, and I'm worried about the fate of this game.

     

    We're still collecting feedback and discussing the best ways to address photo captions. I admit it seems simple on the face of it, but when you factor in the mobile app and draft logs it complicates the solution a bit. Just know that we're considering all the options and listening to your concerns.

  6. So as an experiment, I decided to explore the "hiding a cache" section. I ended up on the "Learn about cache types" page:https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=127&pgid=277I control-clicked on the Challenge caches, Challenge checkers, and Challenge Cache Subjectivity links to open them in new tabs. Except that it didn't work, because they aren't real links.If you want some fancy whizbang JavaScript behavior, then fine. But don't break basic link behavior in the process.

     

    What browser are you using? I don't see this behavior.

     

    BTW, some of your two-column page menus don't divide evenly. For example:https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=105The left column has two menu items, and the right column has four.

     

    That is very odd. We'll look into this, thanks.

  7. Congrats! You were lucky enough to be selected to participate in a limited beta test for a feature enhancement currently in development. Only around .004% of geocachers have access to this alternate logging process. Thanks for the feedback - it's exactly what we're looking for! - but the general forums isn't the best place to deliver it since it makes it difficult to collect everyone's thoughts into a single place for analysis. When you logged a cache through the flow, did you notice the success banner on the next page? There is a button there that says "Let us know what you think". It would be great if you could add your feedback there. Thank you!

  8. Thanks for the lists feedback so far, everyone. We’re reviewing all of it and hoping to make some tweaks. For today I have a couple things to discuss.

     

    First, as many of you have discovered there is a workaround to adding a comment and editing the title of a cache when you add it to a list - just right click “Add to List” and open in a new tab or window. That was left in place intentionally and we have no plans to close that particular loophole any time soon.

     

    Second, the sort order of the saved lists in the popup has come in for some valid criticism, so I’d like to sit with one of our designers and test out some other options. It feels valuable to surface the most recent list that was modified, but there are diminishing returns once you get to the 2nd, 3rd, and so on. Maybe there is an option that can elegantly address some of the difficulty in quickly locating the list you want to add to.

     

    We also have some UI bugs to swat for issues such as text alignment, and some introduced bugs like the coordinate edit popup on cache details being transparent. Some of the other things mentioned like ignore list functionality and broader List hub enhancements I think it better to wait, since later this year we are planning to carefully build out a new overall mapping solution, of which I imagine Lists will be a large part.

     

    I’ll continue to keep a watch on discussions about this new feature. Thanks again for the feedback!

  9. Thanks for your continued work towards improving the tools intended to make Geocaching fun & easy. :D

     

    I can see the merit in an in-system chat function but my question here is whether you have a working group of "in the field" (i.e.: not lackeys) geocachers you are working with to understand various important workflows in your development process.

     

    We gather insights through a number of different channels. This hasn't always been the case, with the expected missteps, and geocachers have a long memory so I don't blame people for being skeptical. In my 11 years as a Lackey, however, I can say that what is happening now is totally new.

     

    The requirements gathering for this project began almost a year ago in this thread. Since then we have gone out into the community to speak to geocachers, hosted innovation games at HQ, ran surveys, invited geocachers to the office for in-person usability testing sessions, and set up a playtester group of active forum participants to help us vet out new features before they are released. I am sure as we mature in this process we'll add other channels as well.

     

    It seems a current theme in this thread (with which I agree as it was my #1 concern in testing the tool) is the mismatch between end-user need and developer expectations. Most specifically around the point advertised as the chat system to be used for submitting answers for EarthCaches (and virtuals). So let's take virtuals right out of the discussion for the moment as they are grandfathered ergo the assumption is Geocaching.com would like them to just go away eventually.

     

    It seems to me that there would be several of us out here willing to work with your development team (business/process analysts?) to help you understand our expected workflow in not only discovering & logging, but also approving answers for EarthCaches. These are - and assumedly will remain - an important part of the game.

     

    Agreed, they are important. Perhaps we jumped the gun by advertising the Message Center as a solution for EC/Virt communication before several planned features are implemented. The release yesterday is only the first phase (a beta) of a multi-phase plan that lays the foundation for a robust system of communication. It's not done, and we're not either. We are setting aside ample time to continue iterating on this new feature until it works for you.

     

    Perhaps the bigger question is why there is a feeling from the user community that we are "out here" and not deeper engaged in the development of functional requirements? I thought a role had recently been hired at Geocaching.com to do exactly that? Perhaps we need a bit more exposure to that person and how we can collaborate earlier in the development process.

     

    You're talking about Jayme, and she's awesome. We blogged about her a few months back. I appreciate that people want more access and participation in the development process, so we'll keep thinking of ways to be inclusive. One way to participate today is to visit the User Insights subforum and put a watch on it to be notified when there are active threads.

     

    Erasing those feelings of being "out here" while HQ is "in there" is one of my top priorities. For some those feelings are deeply imbedded, but I feel like the decisions we're making today and the actions we take tomorrow will create a new historical record that geocachers can look back on and know that we're listening.

     

    All that said, I personally am very happy to help however I can in making the game better, so please feel free to contact me if that's of any value.

     

    Thanks, and have an awesome week.

     

    Cache safely, and cache often.

    LANMonkey

    (Vancouver, BC)

     

    Podcaster, vlogger, & IT Project Manager.

     

    Thank you!

     

    Nate

    Product Manager

  10. however all my existing PQs still go to the alternate address which I set up when they were created, and there's no way to change them back to the default Email.

     

    Have you tried to copy one of the old ones to a new PQ and running that? That may reset the email addy.

    Yes I did. No it didn't.

     

    I suspect (and hope) this is a bug/oversight and the option to specify alternate Email addresses will be reinstated. If it's been deliberately withdrawn for some reason it should have been documented in the release notes.

     

    This was indeed an oversight and will be returned to normal very soon.

  11. If the whole concern is bandwidth, GS please be so kind and stop sending me notifications about caches which I've found. I am not interested. This will be very appreciated and I am asking this for several years. If I am mistaken and this option already exist, I apologize and would like to know how to set this thing up. Thx.

     

    Strange, I never get notifications on caches I found. Do you have those caches on a watch list?

     

    No, I have nothing on the watch list. One of my notifications is for Traditional caches - published, enabled, disabled. That's it. I.e. GS is spamming me about enabled listing of the cache I've found 2 years ago. Why??? I don't want this.

     

    You actually have 3 notifications setup for a variety of cache types. Check it out here:

     

    http://www.geocaching.com/notify/default.aspx

     

    Also, you appear to have a secondary email address associated with your account which is shared by as many as 32 other geocachers.

     

    Yes, I have setup 3 notifications, and ???? Why are you keep sending me notifications about my found caches? I would appreciate any type of kind help, not to point at me "hey, you have 3 notifications etc. etc.". I assume, I can have more than one e-mail address, right?

     

    You were given some leads to follow in the last few posts, but if you need more help please send us an email with a link to the cache so we can assist you. This thread is focused on the latest release. Thank you.

  12. If the whole concern is bandwidth, GS please be so kind and stop sending me notifications about caches which I've found. I am not interested. This will be very appreciated and I am asking this for several years. If I am mistaken and this option already exist, I apologize and would like to know how to set this thing up. Thx.

     

    Strange, I never get notifications on caches I found. Do you have those caches on a watch list?

     

    No, I have nothing on the watch list. One of my notifications is for Traditional caches - published, enabled, disabled. That's it. I.e. GS is spamming me about enabled listing of the cache I've found 2 years ago. Why??? I don't want this.

     

    You actually have 3 notifications setup for a variety of cache types. Check it out here:

     

    http://www.geocaching.com/notify/default.aspx

     

    Also, you appear to have a secondary email address associated with your account which is shared by as many as 32 other geocachers.

  13. Personally I am aware, but its a bandaid. It would be nice in time if this was not needed to be done.

     

    Yea, I can appreciate this. Given the choice I would certainly have it just work like every other geocache. The problem is that Lab Caches are not fully baked yet, and aren't integrated with Geocaching.com in a way that would make it possible. Provided Lab Caches continue to be successful we will track toward full-fledged cache-ness and all the wonderful benefits that confers such as stats and PQs.

  14. I do not understand the nature of the problem though. Lets say you had 10,000 finds and you had 10 lab caches. Once you hit 10,000 caches, are you saying your milestones would be blank for 10k until you get 10,010? Seems strange if it counts in your totals.

     

    Am not talking about third party stats of any kind here, Geocaching.com milestones.

    That is exactly the problem! My personal example: While in the Las Vegas area in October, I found the 6 lab caches placed for the Geocoinfest event. My indicated find count on Geocaching.com was increased by 6. After I got home, I was only a few caches from my major milestone of 10,000 finds. So I did some research and decided which specific cache I wanted to be my 10,000th find. I found that cache and my online Found It log reflected that it was my 10,000th find. However, imagine my surprise when I looked at my statistics page on Geocaching.com and saw that my 10,000th find was NOT that cache, but another, less exciting cache found afterwards. It happened to be on the same day, so at least the date is correct. But it was - you guessed it - the 6th cache I found after the one that I thought was my 10,000th.

     

    Based upon this, I really don't like this unexpected consequence of the lab caches. Either they should count fully toward your finds, including statistics, or they shouldn't increase your find count at all. Having them affect your total find count but not your statistics is not right. As it is now, if I find any lab caches in the future, I will need to keep careful accounting of how many total I have found and then mentally correct my find count as I approach a milestone so that the cache I select for the milestone is the one I intended.

     

    Are you aware that you can edit your milestones to display any cache? It's in Your Account Details. Find the section for Statistics and click "change".

  15. If the Cache Lab caches are ONLY going to count towards your total finds and not to your milestone finds then I would like the option to delete them.....I really enjoyed doing the 5 that I did recently....BUT...If they are not going to count towards milestones then are they really a find? It would be nice if just maybe goecaching.com could address this as I am sure I am not the only one that feels this is a mistake....

     

    Kinda feel like I have been hoodwinked.....This should have been publicized better...If is was at all.

    Seems no one really answered the original post.

     

    It appears as though you can delete your Lab caches.

     

    Go to: labs.geocaching.com

    Log in using your Geocaching Lab credentials.

    There is an innocent looking down arrow on the upper right of the screen. Click on it.

    Click on ">> View Your Logs"

    Your logs will appear with a trash can icon on the right side.

     

    I'm assuming the trash can icon allows you to delete your log but I haven't tried it since I figure you won't be able to get your find/log back (at least if the time for logging them has expired).

     

    This is correct. As of yesterday you may now delete your Lab Cache finds. Bear in mind that this action cannot be undone, and since Lab Caches are temporary in nature you will not have the opportunity to re-log later.

  16. Wouldn't hurt to try it however, a subscription less then one year will AUTOMATICALLY rebill your credit card after the 3 months. The year option gives you the option of choosing not to autobill after the year is up.

    I believe you can cancel the auto bill straight away though? Of course that may have changed and it wouldn't be below providers of some web services to make it difficult to do so - but I would be surprised if that were the case here.

     

    Correct. The auto-renew can be cancelled within seconds of subscribing.

  17.  

    I have some basic operational questions:

     

    Firstly, is the only way to find one of the active Lab Caches by visiting the "labs." website? Is a functional way to view this information going to be provided to cachers via any other methods (i.e. existing Geocaching.com maps, Weekly Geocaching email server list, or the "List Newest in <state>" feature)? Given that these are only going to be offered at Mega Events at this time, will some sort of separate link from within a Mega Event cache listing show these as available?

     

    Secondly, I'm wondering what the icons look like that are mentioned in Nate's OP? While the find count may go up, how does this display within the "Statistics" tab of a cacher's profile?

     

    Thanks!

     

    Any word on the answers to these questions (bolded by me above)?

     

    Regarding your first question, it's yet to be decided how (or even if; it needs to succeed as a concept first) Labs will fully integrate with the rest of Geocaching.com, so all those things you mentioned will come into being when they are ready, and not before. The goal of a Lab Cache will always be to "graduate" to real geocaching. That is when you would start seeing them on a map.

     

    As for the second, it displays in the statistics tab as other cache types do. Once we fix the display bug you'll be able to view other cacher's stats tab and see for yourself (to be released next week).

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