BlueEagle23

I forgot to follow up with the reply that I received from the local reviewer. I contacted him about the CO's claim that she was required to list her cache as a traditional and asked if he is requiring that all Mystery caches cannot be at the posted coordinates and that the posted coords must be bogus. His response:

Yup, I posted this back in January. However, while I couldn't login to my Studio account after July 1, I was surprised that the auras remained available until just recently. I checked on it occasionally and discovered today that the auras are gone. I disabled my cache and will attempt to recreate the aura using the mobile app. At least I wound up using a very simple aura that can be recreated using the app.

Thanks for the responses! I'm happy to have received various opinions and explanations. I started this thread as a vent seeking explanations and/or support after seeing the CO post on Facebook, stating that the reviewer said the cache would have to be listed as Traditional because the box is at the published coords. In compliance with that demand, the cache was published as Traditional: B&BNV Puzzle Box The listed difficulty is 3 stars, and it does have the Field Puzzle attribute. However, I know that many cachers see a Traditional on the map and go to it without reading the description (and hardly anybody looks at or even notices attributes.) They gloss over the cache title but might check the D/T ratings, if they even know what the rating is for. If they're on a cache run, they've forgotten any details in the listing and just see the icon on the map. They know a Traditional cache will be at the posted coordinates, and when they find the container, it should be easy to open. I feel the CO should be able to weigh the pros and cons of how the cache is listed, and be able to make their choice. I disagree that the cache has to be listed as a Traditional because it is at the posted coords.

The local reviewer is not allowing a Mystery cache to be published because the "final" coordinates are the posted coordinates, and he is requiring it to be listed as a Traditional cache. In this particular instance, the cache container is a puzzle box that requires solving how to open. This is not a simple, traditional cache. Anybody else have experience dealing with this issue? Emphasis added: "For **most** Mystery caches, the posted coordinates are not the actual cache location." https://www.geocaching.com/play/guidelines#physicalcaches "The posted coordinates are **usually** bogus coordinates." https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter... "A Traditional Cache is the simplest form of a geocache. It consists of a container with a logbook, and is located at the posted coordinates." https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter... If this cache is listed as a traditional, it will confuse "newbies" and most likely end up broken as well as receive DNFs saying unable to open.

Earth Caches can bring you to fascinating locations. I have been to a few that I didn't bother to log. I prefer putting pen to paper before claiming a geocache find, and not having to email proof to the cache owner.

The app can be used to create a very basic aura: take a photo using the app and then choose a media overlay. Either select something from the provided library or use your own image or video. The Reveal Studio allows multiple overlays and actions. Overlays can fade in; become visible or hidden, start or stop (if video), and/or load an URL after an event (time delay, or when overlay has faded in, or when overlay is tapped.) This allows for a more interactive experience. The AR cache I created uses simply an image overlay on signs in a park, so I should be able to replicate it using the app.

I just completed and submitted for review an AR geocache using HP Reveal to overlay my created content on signs posted in a park. The signage changes through the mobile's viewport to tell a story and reveal the geocache coordinates. I did see some cool non-geocaching things with the Metaverse app. Especially the spheres. However, interacting with floating content to select one of the options is indeed comparable to Wherigo. I wasn't impressed with TaleBlazer; I played a few "play anywhere" demos but didn't get to see the heads-up display. I did not get the impression that the HUD reacts to anything detected through the camera and provides applicable overlays. Therefore, I chose to work with HP Reveal because it does dynamically change content detected through the camera. The app itself can be used for a very basic overlay (take a photo with the app and then choose a media overlay.) However, the web-based Reveal Studio editor allows multiple overlays, user interactions and additional features. HP's Reveal Studio is going out of service As I finished up my creations this evening, I noticed a message at the top of the page saying that Reveal Studio will retire on April 2nd (I guess not to be taken as an April Fool's joke.) On July 1st, all content created with Reveal Studio will no longer be available. However, content created using the HP Reveal app will continue to be available. I went ahead and submitted the cache for review, figured I'd get five months out of it. As it is, I wound up using simple overlays that could be recreated using the app if feedback on the cache is positive in the meantime. The reviewer posted this note before publishing:

The reviewers are volunteers with regular lives, who tend to their reviewer duties when they have the time. The reviewer for my area has been publishing caches around 8 AM.

I was going to use the Geocaching app for my cache run today, but then realized that there is no way to add a signature to the logs. I prefer to do one-click offline logs when doing cache runs, upload the drafts later and then complete the logs online. Therefore, I decided to add a seventh issue to my list in the first post. Granted, my offline logs after the first one won't have the current find number, but that's a simple edit, and at least the time will be correct.

Well, I can cross this one off the list! I noticed a few days ago that the summary now includes GC code, favorite points, Premium (if applicable), name, difficulty rating, terrain rating, and size. Thanks!

Regarding one of my biggest issues about not being able to import GPX files, I figured out how to do what I wanted to do. Sometimes I plan to search for a handful of caches, and either download the GPX files to my Garmin Oregon 450t and/or open a third-party app and save the select caches for offline use. I realized that I just needed to create an additional list (I named it "Cache Run") in my geocaching account (which I did on the app), add the desired caches to the list (which can be done from the map or cache listing from the "more options" context menu), then download offline data for that list. I should have thought of this earlier, but I had to rethink what I use the "bookmark" lists for (and touch the vertical "more options" icon more often.)

Thanks for the feedback. Are you implying that the official geocaching app is intended only for beginners? I understand that the app has limitations for basic members, such as limiting displayed caches to Traditional and Event, with Difficulty and Terrain ratings being no higher than 2. I'm not against a company making its app full-featured only for paying customers. However, I believe that a Premium member should be given all info that is visible in the cache listing on the website. Additionally, the app shouldn't be subpar to freely available third-party apps. Good point about the background image barely being seen in a mobile browser. My feeling is that anything intended to be visible on the listing page should be available to be seen in the app. The gallery would be a good spot to have it with a description along the lines of "Cache listing background image." Maybe the background is relative to the cache hide and maybe it provides a clue (regardless of cache type), maybe not. However, the cache owner wanted others to see it. Furthermore, I've always received a vibe from other cachers and Groundspeak that Basic members are newbies and Premium members are experienced. As an example, some cache owners make their hides Premium Only to weed out inexperienced newbies. However, Groundspeak highly promotes upgrading to Premium and consequently even newbies with little to no experience are Premium Members. I've seen numerous logs from geocachers with 0-5 finds who couldn't find the micro or mystery or high-difficulty cache. Then there are well-experienced geocachers who become less active and let their Premium membership lapse. Premium membership should not be used to categorize other cachers as beginners or experienced. It is acceptable for Groundspeak to provide limited features in the app for Basic members. It is acceptable for the app to have an "intro" feel for beginners. (Whether mobile app newbies have damaged the hobby is arguable.) However, it would be nice for a Premium member using the app to be able to switch from "intro" mode to "experienced" mode.

I have a few bones to pick about the Groundspeak geocaching app: 1) When selecting a cache on the map, the Difficulty, Terrain and Size is not shown in the summary. (D/T/S became available on the map a couple weeks after I posted this.) 2) When viewing a cache listing, the background image used on the website listing is not shown anywhere, when it could be listed in Photos. A particular third-party app lists "Spoiler images" in the Hint section. Touching that shows the image with the caption "Cache listing background image" 3) Hint button displays decrypted hint in pop-up and the original text can't be seen. Another app displays the encrypted hint and touching it will decrypt it. Not really a huge deal, but I have a cache with two hints where only one is decrypted while the other is encrypted. The user can alternate reading the hints by decrypting/encrypting on the website or other apps but is stuck with ROT13-encrypted text in this app. 4) There is not a Gallery feature in the cache listing to view all photos without having to scroll through all logs. 5) Can't import GPX files from other sources, such as GSAK creations or other cacher's PQs. 6) Photos button is greyed out when there aren't any photos, but the Trackables button isn't. 7) No ability to add a signature or template for logging caches. The third-party app that I'm use to using allows me to use templates in a signature, that automatically includes the specified content when logging. For example, I use the signature " TFTC! (#[NUMBER] [TIME])", which uses a template to automatically include the number of geocache finds (+1) and the current time at the end of my log.

Several years later and the list of "VALID HTML TAGS" is still erroneous. These tags are listed as valid but still get removed from the listing page: abbr acronym bdo blink dd dl dt del ins label nobr q tbody thead tfoot wbr Additionally, "allowed attributes" such as style, span, or title get removed from some tags.

Sounds to me like it is what will be displayed on a cache page when you aren't signed in.

On the Report a new Cache page, if you check the box under Details for "The descriptions below are in HTML", a list of "Valid HTML Tags" and allowed attributes are displayed. However, some of these HTML tags are filtered out anyway. I'm not going to test every tag listed but the tags I attempted to use are abbr and acronym. Example: <acronym title="Cache In Trash Out" lang="en">CITO</acronym> However, the HTML tag is gone on the listing page but is still there when editing.

My Android Geocaching app of choice is GeoHunter, which uses Pocket Queries (requires premium membership.) Does everything well, even field notes that can either be saved to a file and uploaded to geocaching.com later or sent on the fly via SMS (text messaging.) I use c:geo to load a few caches on the fly from geocaching.com without having to run a PQ or transfer files, but this requires a data connection with a good signal and drains the battery faster. (You can store the caches for later and/or import PQ/GPX files.) Comes in handy to touch the cache URL in an email and have it load up on the device right away, especially for FTF attempts. However, to mark a cache as found, you must log an entry that is posted real-time on the geocaching.com cache page (again, requires data connection and drains battery.) You could save the log to post later, however, apparently there isn't a field notes feature. Another program that I pretty much keep just for backup is Columbus. It has an attractive interface and nice features, now even shows live online map like c:geo as well as post logs directly to geocaching.com, but it does not show recent logs for imported PQ/GPX files. I don't know why, but you have to press the Logs button from the menu and then it will download the last few logs from geocaching.com. If you want to view the cache hint, you must press the Hint button in the menu. The hint will then be displayed on the screen for three seconds. No field notes and buggy GPX import process (required third-party file manager that converts spaces in the folder/file name to %20 that you must then manually change back to a space.) Two things that I really like about Columbus: 1) all waypoints can be shown on the map along with the geocaches, which is useful for locating parking and other points of reference at a glance without having to go through each cache; 2) in addition to the list of imported/saved caches, Columbus also provides a Travel Bug inventory list from all of the caches.

I had the same experience on my Omnia. However, I found a solution here by searching the forum. Save the following code in a text editor with the filename wigconfig.config and store it on your mobile device in the folder "\Program Files\Groundspeak\Wherigo\Player\". This will disable the 'AutoDetectGps' function and allow the program to launch without locking up the device. You can then delete this file after Wherigo has successfully launched. <configuration> <appSettings> <add key="AutoDetectGps" value="False" /> <add key="BaudRate" value="9600" /> <add key="Units" value="Metric" /> <add key="CartDirectory" value="My Documents\Groundspeak\Wherigo\Cartridges" /> <add key="CommPort" value="COM4:" /> </appSettings> </configuration>

Some email preferences can be selected here: Manage E-Mail Address

Premium members have access to the Instant Notification Service. I have it set so that I receive an instant alert via a text message on my phone I use BasicGPS on my Verizon Omnia Windows Mobile smart phone, however this requires a premium membership to be able to download GPX files from the Geocaching website. Other programs are listed at Geocaching Software.

I just started Geocaching today and used my TomTom One to find a cache. This GPSr isn't meant to be used off-road, but the coordinates can still be followed. Once you have navigated to the area, go to the main menu, touch "Help me!", then "Where am I?" A map as well as your current coordinates is displayed. Just walk around to match up with the cache coordinates.