KRnlKilR

Experience will teach you to always carry a pen/pencil. Even if a cache has a pen it can wear out. Ditto...

Yes you could, but then you have to be standing at the cache to tell how far away another one is. I am wanting this to help plan some of my caching trips. There are a lot of trails near where I live that have caches all along them, and I would like to get an idea of how far I will be walking. Besides your GPS gives you only a straight path distance, where with GE, I can use the ruler path tool to follow a curvy trail. My post was in response this, about placing caches: Yes, your GPSr is a useful tool. But my GPSr doesn't allow me to see satellite photography of the area. Therefore, I would have to be standing at the spot to see if there was even a suitable hiding spot that was still outside of the minimum distance required for the hide. Now, obviously I'm not going to be able to see fallen trees or stumps with the google maps, even in satellite photo mode. But I could tell if I was going to be standing in the middle of a forest, where I may find a suitable hiding spot, or the middle of an open field (or a baseball diamond, city park, etc.) where I would likely not find a suitable hiding spot.

This would also be useful when deciding where to place a new cache, as you could measure the distance from existing caches to make sure you are at least the minimum distance required by the placement guidelines. No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing. Could be a useful tool.

No, I knew that. I am a huge RUSH fan.

Reading through the forum, I can't help but notice that what one person thinks is a great idea, the next person thinks sucks. And I'm wondering if modularity is the solution for this? What I'm thinking is that during the next code rewrite, if Groundspeak would consider making the My Account page more dynamic and modular, allow people to turn off/on features that they like or don't like. Think "My Google" or "My Yahoo!" I know that I have asked several times in the past for an on/off switch for stuff on the site, because while I don't find it useful, or find it confusing, I respect that others find it a great feature or really like the functionallity. I know it's not something that is going to happen tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But, perhaps in the years to come Groundspeak could consider it when they go back to the drawing board to discuss the next "version" of the GC site. KRnlKilR

I think what Groundspeaks needs to do on the next version (v4?) of GC.com is to completely rewrite the My Account page so that it is completely customizable by the site user, allowing them to turn off/on features, details, etc that they like or don't like. Then as new features are brought online, the user could turn it on from a control panel. Think modular, like the My Google or My Yahoo! sites. Perhpas that would make everyone happy.

Hi, Not everyone has a Garmin GPSr either, but someone thought the Send to Garmin link on every cache page was a good idea. At least everyone can sign up for a free Google Calendar account if they want too... Not everyone can afford a Garmin GPSr. I don't see how the calendar link in the Forums would help with keeping track of Event Caches. I use Google calendar to organize dates/times for just about everything because it is available from any web enabled computer and/or device (mobile devices). I don't know that is the case with the Groundspeak forum calendar. Plus, I don't want to have to maintain multiple calendars. KRnlKilR

I could see this being a helpful tool for both the cache owner and the cache seeker. Abuse could be negated by allowing only X number of verifications per hour. I don't think the daily limitation would be nice because the cacher may go back to the puzzle and come up with the correct coordinates later in the day. I'd hate to have to wait until the next day (Pacific time) to check if my new coords were good. KRnlKilR

Good luck telling Yahoo anything. Trying to find the contact link is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And their responses are sloooow. I would just get a Gmail account and forget the yahoos at Yahoo. KRnlKilR

Hmmm. Looks like nobody's interested but me.

I have been using Google Calendar since November since it is available from anywhere I can get a connection to the web. I used to use the calendar function of my mobile phone (and still do), but it is not as robust as Google Calendar. Google Calendar offers quite a few features through "Gadgets", is viewable from web-enabled phones, and can send alerts through email or pop-up on your screen (if the calendar page is open in your browser). I add all of the events that I plan on attending to Google Calendar so I can organize my time and plan my attendance. But, I have to do this manually for each event, copying and pasting the details from the geocaching.com page to Google Calendar. This can be time comsuming, especially for a month or area that has a lot of events, and leaves room for errors. I would like to request an "Add to Google Calendar" link on event pages. Using the Google Calendar API, clicking this link on the geocaching.com website would quickly add the event to the user's calendar. I don't know (since I am not a programmer) how much time or effort this would take, but I think it could be a beneficial feature. Does anyone else feel this could be a beneficial feature? KRnlKilR

I liked it very much, and would like to see it return. Maybe it could be a check box on the side of the map for "bundle caches" or something like that. Another thing I would like to see is the ability to turn off the white squares around the cache icons on the maps. While some may appreciate them more than I, I liked the map more without them. The maps could be made more robust with client-side scripting, thus not increasing load on the GS servers. KRnlKilR

You already know I'm gonna be there!!!

I think it would be neat to have a page or something that has a few photos of the Groundspeak data center and a little information about the brand/models of servers, switches, routers, etc that are used. I'm not talking about specifics or trade secrets here, or information that could lead to a breech of security, but just general info like: Dell Quad Xeon running a 3.2 GHz with 32 GB RAM, Windows Server 2000, Red Hat Enterprse Linux, blah, blah, blah. Also, traffic stats and graphs from the router's logs would be cool that shows how much data is in and out and from what countries/states/cities the most traffic is coming from. Kind of like a Webalizer or MRTG. I work in IT and just love seeing what other data centers look like compared to the one I work in. Anyone else care? KRnlKilR

Actually, London Rain brings up another issue that I had with the feature. The fact that events stayed on the list for 30 days, whether they were old - already attended, or new - not yet attended, events. I liked having a central place where I could see all of my upcoming events that I posted I would attend, but if the event was in the future, it would disappear from my list before I attened. The only way to get it back on the list was to post another "will attend" log. I know I could use bookmarks, but this list feature would be great as it could be "self-cleaning". KRnlKilR I'd like to see it come back too. But only it it would be implemented in a way that the note is shown from the time your write your will attend until either the event is archived, you logged a find on it or after special amount of time (one or two weeks since the event). One more thing is that it should work for all three types of events (normal, mega, CITO). On a side note: Is there a reason why the log type "Found it" is still available for CITOs, while an "Attended" should be more appropriate?

Me too. I liked the feature, and I do, in fact, miss it. I didn't like the fact that it kept the old, already attended, events on the list for some time with no way to remove them. KRnlKilR

I, also, would prefer the maps NOT have the numbers turned on by default. I think having all of the numbers turned on clutters the map even more than it is already. KRnlKilR

I would like to suggest collapsable navigation for the items on the right side of the map. The list of caches may be helpful to some, but not to me. I like the pop-up bubbles, which contain all the information I need, and a link to get to the cache page, if I need more information. The selection boxes for types of caches maybe helpful at times, but I don't use them all of the time. The bubbles around the cache icons don't really do it for me. I liked the old way without the bubbles. Perhaps if the navigation and selection aids on the right side of the map were collapsable, then they wouldn't be displayed for everyone by default. Perhaps that could eliminate some server load, as the page could be "smart" enough to determin if the collapsable navigation were opened or closed, and only query the db or the web server for that information if needed. Also, a check box to turn on/off the bubbles around the cache icons would be nice so I could turn them off. My suggestions may or may not be beneficial to the map project, but these are things I would like to see. And since you guys are so talented, I'm sure you could make then work if they are beneficial. Thanks for the great work on the project, Raine, and GC.com crew. You guys ROCK! KRnlKilR

Will do. Thanks, Nate.

Hmm. Why did GC put the little white squares aroung the cache icons? I don't really think they are necessary, and cause caches close together to overlap each other. Then again, I can see where they make it easier to mouse-over the cache icon, without having to point your mouse exactly to the center of the icon. But I liked it better without the square. Any chance others would like to see the little squares go away? KRnlKilR

Thank you GC.com for bringing us the AWESOME new maps, and for fixing them to bring us the tools we need to "rake in the cache!" My hats off the to GC.com team for a job well done. "What else did you get me?" KRnlKilR

The new map size is dynamic in relation to your browser size and screen resolution. I noticed immediately that the map now expands to fill my browser window on my larger, high-resolution monitor (21 inch @ 1600x1400), and shrinks when I make the browser window smaller. Try maximizing your browser window and see if the map gets larger. KRnlKilR

Yes, that is something I posted before. I really liked it when the map could be expanded to fill the page. I have a 21" monitor running 1600x1400 resolution, and all I can see is this "letterbox" map near the top of the page. Seeing as much of the map, at the selected zoom level, is important when considering routes to caches without heading down the wrong roads or crossing private property. Not that the map shows "private property," but it does allow you to best plan your route to the cache if you don't have a turn-by-turn GPSr. Please Nate, bring back the expandable map. KRnlKilR

Great news! Thank you! KRnlKilR

I don't usualy post in the forums, but I just wanted to say that I like the new maps! The only problems I see are: 1) I can't expand the new map to utilize my whole screen. This is especially important to me when I can attempting to plan my route to a remote cache and looking for the shortest route without following dead-end roads or crossing private property. 2) The 15 mile limit is annoying. I like to find clumps of caches so I can best utilize my time/gas. With gas being $2.50 to $3.25 per gallon, I really don't want to drive a long distance for just one cache. I like to find a clump of caches to do, and then pick up the here-and-there strays on the way out or back from my caching excursion. Currently, that's the only issues I really have with the new maps. If those two issues were addressed, I'd be thrilled to pieces with the new map interface. Looking good, Groundspeak! Keep up the good work... But please, keep us posted. Communication is one of the most important tools in geocaching! KRnlKilR