Wild Cat Bud

Congratulations Jon & Miki! not only on winning, but also on all the wonderful accolades and testimonials about all you do for geocaching. There are some great folks on the East Side of the country!! WoW! Only 3 votes seperating 1st from 5th place!? *They* always say your ONE vote DOES count, now I really believe it!!! Congratulations again, (and to tands, also on winning the essay). Cache on................... WCB

Geocaching at gc.com can be analogized in as many ways probably as there are cachers. Personally, I consider it Entertainment. Never been into the numbers game, as can be seen by my almost 4 years caching, and my barely over 300 finds at gc.com. I think the idea of having a choice to hide one's number of finds is a good one. If Jeremy truly thinks it is not a scoring game..... Then why not allow members to remove/hide the one number at gc.com that can be viewed as a score--the find count? I've never been hassled one way or the other about my find count, but was scathed once by another geocacher who thought I hadn't attended enough events to be allowed to have an opinion. WCB

New Forum, but not exactly. I use to co-admin on the old Southeast Texas Geocachers Forum which was formed in the early part of 2003, but was part of the Houston Cachers web site that was around earlier than that--I don't know how long, it was before I started geocaching. The old forum and web page no longer exists. I missed the old forum and decided to start over from scratch with East Side Cachers. Found several files on my hard drive of old Southeast Texas Geocachers Forum stuff which I have linked on the new forum to, I hope, help preserve some of the earlier history of geocaching and geocachers in the Houston, Texas area. Everyone is East of somewhere! Even though this is a Houston area forum, you don't have to be from Houston or the East Side of Houston to join and participate in the forum, you don't even have to be a geocacher. This is a G-rated, family/kids friendly forum. Drop by and pay us a visit!

>>>clip<<<Anyway, it may be water under the bridge, and I'm prepared to work with the new look -- I just need to know that this is settled, so I'm not wasting my effort. I agree with Alethiometrists, however it is going to be, we need to know. There's really only ONE opinion that matters here, (here=at geocaching.com) and he needs to address this background issue and tell us which way it is going to be, so we can act according to the decision in whatever ways we feel necessary.

Cheesy midi music, aye? I'm not going to argue or insult you back. I've seen those Leprechauns movies.

I agree WZK, I don't care for the backgrounds on cache pages. I'm interested in what the page says, not for the 'decoration'. Well, then I can only guess that those who do not like the "decorations", the "eye candy", the "bells and whistles", are also not too interested in how creative the physical cache itself is. IMO creativity spills over, by far NOT ALL great caches have a "fancy" page, but many do, and not all "fancy" page caches are great, but many are. I enjoy both the creative page and the creative cache. However, I will admit many also enjoy the micro-on-the-light-pole-in-the-WalMart-parking-lot type caches, on the plain cache page, when often the only description is: "Bring your own pen." All I'm asking is, can't there be a choice...... Yes, you'd only be guessing. In my experience, a flashy cache page sometimes translates to a poorly planned hide. Some folks show their best talents at the keyboard, not in the woods. In my experience, a short cache description full of typos sometimes translates into a spectacular cache. ("In the state forest. tuff hike, take lots of water and watch the skeeters, their bad. good luck.") Some folks show their best talents out in the woods, not at the keyboard. There's also a group in the middle, that have nice cache pages AND a nice container. That's great, but I regard the fancy cache page as wholly unnecessary. Fundamentally, this is a game that gets me *away* from the computer and out into the world. I care much more about what I find out there. In fact, because of pocket queries, the only time I'm likely to see the cache page is when I log my find. At that point, having already found the soggy log, the music and animated gif's on the cache page are just an annoyance. I'll thank folks kindly not to generalize about what I care about. Again, I ask, can't read, or can't comprehend? Of course there are always exceptions. Greatest most creative cache page ever, and the cache reeks. or the stupidest cache description you've ever read, turns out to be the cache finding experience never to be forgotton. But, generally, those are exceptions. Okay, so you're saying what YOU care about is the most important thing here. Having choices doesn't matter as long as YOU are happy. All I'm asking, is can't there be a choice........

Ah, shouting. That always makes for a compelling argument. I was not shouting, just enlarging the text so it could be more easy for some to read. You clipped the quote, it also contained the question: "Can't read, or can't comprehend?"

That's true, the area isn't that much wider, it is that gray bar down the side covering up the background graphic. It does make the logs area look centered up now is all the difference I can see. Never did understand either why those "backgroundless" links weren't up in the white table under or adjacent to the current time and other info, where they could always be read.

I agree WZK, I don't care for the backgrounds on cache pages. I'm interested in what the page says, not for the 'decoration'. Well, then I can only guess that those who do not like the "decorations", the "eye candy", the "bells and whistles", are also not too interested in how creative the physical cache itself is. IMO creativity spills over, by far NOT ALL great caches have a "fancy" page, but many do, and not all "fancy" page caches are great, but many are. I enjoy both the creative page and the creative cache. However, I will admit many also enjoy the micro-on-the-light-pole-in-the-WalMart-parking-lot type caches, on the plain cache page, when often the only description is: "Bring your own pen." All I'm asking is, can't there be a choice...... So, let me make sure I understand this. The only way a cache can be creative if the cache page is creative. And the only way a cache page can be creative is if you can use fancy backgrounds. Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Can't read, or can't comprehend? NOT ALL great caches have a "fancy" page, but many do, and not all "fancy" page caches are great, but many are.

I agree WZK, I don't care for the backgrounds on cache pages. I'm interested in what the page says, not for the 'decoration'. Well, then I can only guess that those who do not like the "decorations", the "eye candy", the "bells and whistles", are also not too interested in how creative the physical cache itself is. IMO creativity spills over, by far NOT ALL great caches have a "fancy" page, but many do, and not all "fancy" page caches are great, but many are. I enjoy both the creative page and the creative cache. However, I will admit many also enjoy the micro-on-the-light-pole-in-the-WalMart-parking-lot type caches, on the plain cache page, when often the only description is: "Bring your own pen." All I'm asking is, can't there be a choice......

Of course this is true, that is a provider's prerogative, but the complainer also has options and choices........

I live and cache in Houston, Texas. A big city, and very cache dense. There are many great and creative cachers here, both hiders and seekers. We're probably 'kings' of the puzzle caches. We enjoy participating in our brand of oneupmanship. We even enjoy taunting each other with our annoying songs, sound effects, and graphical displays. So I'm not just in mourning here for the loss of my own modest by-Houston-standards efforts, but for my friends and fellow cachers as well. This change affects MANY of us here in the Houston/Southeast Texas area. Not to mention the great cachers across the rest of state, in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus, and just all over who are also affected.

Interesting quickie poll, but 1) I doubt that its scalable, and 2) you kinda glossed over the fact that some of the people who posted that they like the new pages better have lots of finds and hides. Even so, Wild Cat Bud's point that those who don't create cache pages aren't impacted as much is still valid. Many owners will have to spend many hours (as noted by the Alethiometrists) revamping web pages to re-create the look/theme because of today's changes. Most changes were great, but this one needed more flexibility as it seemed to come without warning. I have a feeling many will be heard from after the upcoming weekend of caching when they find their pages have changed, though they may not visit the forums. I've hidden a few and found a few. I agree with Lep 100% on this. I personally think it's MORE important what the person that has to see the page thinks. I wish there was a way for me, the cache hunter (viewer), to turn that it off so I NEVER had to see it. It's not a supported feature, it's hacked in html, and J has warned people in the past that it might get "broken" by future website changes. (I wonder if this is the one he was talking about - I seem to think not since it seems to have been an oversight). Keep it as it is NOW. southdeltan Supported "feature" or not, hacked, or whacked or whatever. It WAS allowed, and it WAS NOT discouraged, and it happened to be something some of us enjoyed. "I personally think it's MORE important what the person that has to see the page thinks." Then you must also believe that the cache Seeker is more important than the cache Hider. Neither is true, the Hider (and how they create their cache page) is just as important as the Seeker and (what they have to look at), in geocaching, neither one works without the other....... "I wish there was a way for me, the cache hunter (viewer), to turn that it off so I NEVER had to see it." I do too, that would be a great option.

Well, you know how it is, the no censorship thing, "if you don't like it, don't have to look at it"--or listen to it.....

Interesting quickie poll, but 1) I doubt that its scalable, and 2) you kinda glossed over the fact that some of the people who posted that they like the new pages better have lots of finds and hides. Well, I could make a list of the names and the # of hides, for both those for and those against..... Was not my intention to "gloss over" anything, but to merely indicate that most of the time, opinions are biased--mine certainly is. I want the old background width back because all my cache pages make use of it, a lot of time and effort was spent on making those pages and I hate to see it come to naught. For those that have never made use of the feature, whether because they have no hides, or because they just don't like it, or don't want to use it, they have nothing to loose by saying they like the less background better. They don't see their hard work being "glossed over" with the bigger, wider table in the new format.

I did a quick check of some of the profiles of members in this thread who say they like the new less background better. Many have few hides (less than 10 not counting event caches and travel bugs), and several had none. So, of course, it's of no importance to the people who never create cache pages.

Like many who have already posted, I liked the wider visible background. All my caches are themed and the most fun part about placing a cache for me was/is creating the cache page. Now all that work is destroyed if the changes remain in place. Is there not a way to have some sort of HTML switchit code to add to our cache description that would allow those who wish it, to continue to have the use of the wider background space available in the old version. WCB

I can't get to "Edit Your Profile" from my profile page. It sends me to "New Member Sign-up". How do I get to my Profile to edit it? EDIT: Thanks.....Sorry for not reading before I posted........

Congratulations to Muddy Buddies, FTF on the Krugerrand Run and winners of the coin! Ya'll done good!!! WCB & CJ

A personal invitation from Captain J to all cachers. Who: YOU! What: Krugerrand Run When: Saturday, March 27, 2004 Where: Houston, Texas You can read more about the navigational series of caches here. ! ! Come join in the fun of the run the GOLD ! !

quote:Originally posted by CO Admin:You cant embed sound files in your cache page anymore. you just have to provide a link to them and host them off site IMGs for cache files are still ok I work for the QOFE that works for the Frog The Frog is my friend I'm not overly knowledgeable about coding. How do you do that? How do you link a sound file? Can you link a sound file that will play automatically. Do <BGSOUND> and <META> tags (which are being allowed either, I saw after I tried to use them), do they embed the sound file or does only the <EMBED> tag embed the sound files? I am SOOOOO confused now!!! I was using both <BKSOUND> <EMBED> tags to cover the two major browsers.

quote:Originally posted by Rusty O Junk:Same thing here, my images aren't showing at all, just a placeholder. I store my images right on the cache page. >>>clipped<<< I have one other that used invisible tags and it was so bad I just deleted the entire html and disabled the cache for the time being I had an image that wasn't showing up, just the place holder. The image was a linked .jpg file. I checked the HTML code and found the pg of .jpg was broken off the end of the URL, there was a space there and I deleted the space and now the image shows up.

quote:Originally posted by Jeremy (Admin):With great disappointment, we have removed the use of Jeremy Irish Groundspeak - The Language of Location I'm not sure I should post this under this topic, but I did a forums search and couldn't find any information on sound files. What about the background sound (.wav files) on the cache pages. I noticed that mine weren't playing. I checked some other cacher's pages that I knew to have sound and theirs weren't playing either. I went to one of my cache pages and did an edit to see if something was wrong with the HTML code, and when I submitted the edit, the sound codes were stripped out. So, I am assuming background sound is no longer allowed?? What about images on the cache pages, the ones in the cache descriptions, are those IMG tags going to be allowed to remain? WBC