+Gralorn Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Is there anyway of adding a County to a new cache. There are great lists of new caches, but all just state United Kingdom. Could it not be modified to say a county instead. Otherwise each has to be opened and read to work out its location in this Island of ours. Do the Americans just have USA? or do they at least state which State!!. I could look that up I suppose. Link to comment
+kitmonster Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Good question and I don't have the answer. I have wondered how G:UK works out how many caches you've cached in. Link to comment
NickPick Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 A lot of people around here seem to put the county name in brackets as part of the cache name, so we can tell that Hellfires Globe (bucks) is in Buckinghamshire. I expect G:UK tell the counties by comparing a GIS file of caches with a polygon file of county boundaries. Link to comment
+Birders Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 That would be a useful addition - we might then get some friendly rivalry going, or a "counties" ladder somewhere. The info on GC.UK regarding caches logged or set is far from accurate as various types of cache are not included. However, the other statistics are extremely interesting. Link to comment
+John Stead Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have suggested before on this forum that this problem would be answered by owners putting the County name in brackets after the cache name - it's easy enough to edit. Many of us used to do this but it seems to have fallen by the wayside. Link to comment
+Kelsborrow Wayfinders Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 It maybe slightly off-topic but is there anywhere that you can get a map of the UK showing the counties that you have found caches in? I have seen a map where you can do it manually but has anyone written anything that does the same thing automatically? Link to comment
+HazelS Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 It maybe slightly off-topic but is there anywhere that you can get a map of the UK showing the counties that you have found caches in? I have seen a map where you can do it manually but has anyone written anything that does the same thing automatically? Hi Chas GC:UK shows a map of where you've done caches... we've just kinda been able to suss out which trip which was on for us... but I know you've done far more than us, so you might find that a little too basic. Link to comment
+Kelsborrow Wayfinders Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 GC:UK shows a map of where you've done caches I know about that one thanks I wanted a map of the UK that showed the counties where I have found caches shaded in (no caches marked). I'm sure there was a thread recently that pointed to a map where it could be done manually but I wanted an automatic one. The GC:UK site tells you how many counties you have cached in but I wanted a visual representation of it. Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Not all of the UK has Counties, in Scotland it is Regions, I know being a bit pedantic, but it is all the same. As for America, they can search by State, you just have to look at the search page to see that. I'm interested to find out where the link is for the map that you can list what areas of the UK you have visited? Link to comment
+jochta Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Not all of the UK has Counties, in Scotland it is Regions, I know being a bit pedantic, but it is all the same. As for America, they can search by State, you just have to look at the search page to see that. I'm interested to find out where the link is for the map that you can list what areas of the UK you have visited? And not all of England has counties either! Now Unitary Authorities, e.g. Berkshire no longer exists as a county. Cambridgeshire doesn't include Peterborough (except for ceremonial purposes). Current County Council boundaries are thus... http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/county.gif And what do you count? Pre 1974 reorgaisation (classic counties), post 1974, pre 1996 counties (which included now discarded counties like Avon and Humberside) or post 1996 ceremonial counties (which is a mix of both) plus UAs etc.? Talking counties is not straightforward... Link to comment
+68 GUNS Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 (edited) Have a look at my profile, I have a uk map showing which counties I have cached in, it isn't automatic but you only have to tick boxes. There is a link on the map to the website it came from or you can try where have you cached?. With regard to having the county on the cache page, i'm sure it cannot be that complicated to add a drop down of UK (and Ireland) counties to the cache creation page. It should also be possible to retrospectively add these to existing caches (GC:UK show the county on the search list). If TPTB could just add the counties list I'm sure that as part of our regular maintenance, cache owners would be more than happy to select the county from the dropdown. After all most of us updated our caches when the new attributes icons were released, and we regularly add links or extra info to our pages, so one quick click would not be much trouble. I have used the user data field on GSAK to add counties to my complete database, to do this I export new caches to Autoroute and with the map set to terrain I can see where they are. The downside is that Autoroute is split by Political boundaries rather than counties e.g. Berkshire is split into Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead, Wokingham and West Berkshire. However, it gives me an extra item to filter by, so it can be quite useful. Maybe the GC:UK team could come up with a download which could be used to add the correct counties to GSAK? And if we all submitted a request to GC.COM maybe they could add the function to the cache page, after all with 8000+ caches in the UK and rising, we have probably got the highest cache/cacher density and the extra option could help to lighten the load on the PQ server too!! Edited August 9, 2005 by 68 GUNS Link to comment
+jochta Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 The downside is that Autoroute is split by Political boundaries rather than counties e.g. Berkshire is split into Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead, Wokingham and West Berkshire. However, it gives me an extra item to filter by, so it can be quite useful. Maybe the GC:UK team could come up with a download which could be used to add the correct counties to GSAK? See my post above Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 Classic Counties and Scottish regions would suffice nicely, it would at least then give you enough information to know approximately where the cache is situated in the UK. Would you need to fill up the car or not with this expensive liquid to get there. It would just be nice to know if you going to be headed for Cornwall or Suffolk at a glance. I agree with the comment above 'Just add one more fill in field under UK'. KISS, keep it simple surely! Link to comment
+MarcB Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I stick the county in brackets at the end of my cache names Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Have a look at my profile, I have a uk map showing which counties I have cached in, it isn't automatic but you only have to tick boxes. There is a link on the map to the website it came from or you can try where have you cached?. Just what I have been looking for, cheers Link to comment
+Birders Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Have added our county name to all our caches now.. Link to comment
+Pengy&Tigger Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 If people are adding the county name to their caches, then great. Just use a map to make sure they are the right one. I've seen a few which are wrong (at work so no examples), where the placer has obviously just put the county of the nearest town or where they live, and the cache is actually over the border into another county. T Link to comment
+jochta Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Although somewhat useful to have the county name, I think it makes the cache names untidy to have to add them in brackets afterwards. Maybe someone with GreaseMonkey skills could write a small app that uses the coords and a small bit of jiggery pokery to place the county name on the cache page? Link to comment
+Alibags Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I generally scan down the list of new caches and make assumptions about general locality based upon the setter. However, now thanks to this groovy new notifications thing, the message tells me "no, it's too far away, you cannot simply nip out to get this one at lunchtime". I too noticed that a number of local caches were in the wrong counties (mostly archived now...kharma?!) Also, if a cache tells me it's in Hertfordshire, that may actually be no use to me at all, as it's a big county and it could well be at the Essex end. I shall add (Dacorum) to my caches and confuse you all Link to comment
+jochta Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Also, if a cache tells me it's in Hertfordshire, that may actually be no use to me at all, as it's a big county and it could well be at the Essex end. Blimey if you think Herts is big... Ranked 36 of 48 current ceremonial counties http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cerem...England_by_Area Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 I must say that adding the county in brackets after the name is bitty and spoils the look. I agree that some techie should be able to fix up something to add it to the page somewhere. Also if counties are so big, perhaps, just perhaps !! Nearest Town as well as county!!! Come on IT Whizz people, feel sure that you can crack it. That Greasemonkey map idea was brilliant, so this must be achievable surely. Link to comment
+Bill D (wwh) Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I also put the county in brackets at the end of the cache name. It may be untidy, but I feel its usefulness is more important. Link to comment
+McDeHack Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 (edited) We had this question/problem a couple of years back. So we started to add area/ location to the cache name. But it slowly got forgotten but still a few do add a location. Good idea, and should be adopted more, maybe a 'Rule' that caches 'Must have a location? Edited August 9, 2005 by McDeHack Link to comment
+Pengy&Tigger Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 maybe a 'Rule' tha caches 'Must have a location? They do, they're called co-ordinates! Sorry, couldn't resist T Link to comment
+McDeHack Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 maybe a 'Rule' tha caches 'Must have a location? They do, they're called co-ordinates! Sorry, couldn't resist T Yes I know. Some of us clever more experienced ones can tell the area by the co-ords. Link to comment
+Alibags Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 maybe a 'Rule' tha caches 'Must have a location? They do, they're called co-ordinates! Sorry, couldn't resist T I was going to say that in my post, but thought they may sus that I was being sarky! Link to comment
+The Spokes Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Is there anyway of adding a County to a new cache. There are great lists of new caches, but all just state United Kingdom. Could it not be modified to say a county instead. Otherwise each has to be opened and read to work out its location in this Island of ours. Do the Americans just have USA? or do they at least state which State!!. I could look that up I suppose. A lot of States don't forget are a lot bigger than England. I know if its 30 miles away its 30 miles. If its 6 miles it could be in a different county. If its 60 it could be in scotland. But I may be thick but what use is the county the cache is in? Link to comment
Leoness Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Also, if a cache tells me it's in Hertfordshire, that may actually be no use to me at all, as it's a big county and it could well be at the Essex end. Blimey if you think Herts is big... Ranked 36 of 48 current ceremonial counties http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cerem...England_by_Area If you think Herts is big, try finding every cache in North Yorkshire! Link to comment
+Sensei TSKC Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 At the end of the day, adding the county in brackets is more useful than not! My mentor did and suggested I did and I do. in a list, it stands out, otherwise for a quick scan the only way - not foolproof of course - is to go by the setter. Problem is: New cachers! if you don't know them... Alibags has the other solution of course - sign up, become a Premium member and use the Insta-notification option. You set the limits! Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted August 11, 2005 Author Share Posted August 11, 2005 Still think that we need a techie to add a County and nearest Town slot. It would be such a bonus for the occassional geocacher, not perhaps the obsessed who has every other means at his/her disposal. For instance if one was to contemplate going to say, Suffolk, how do you segregate those caches out when you do not have a waypoint or Postcode even?? Link to comment
+kitmonster Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 maybe on of the grease monkey chaps could do us the honours? Link to comment
+ryme-intrinseca Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Someone above asked why it would be of any use to know the county. I live in Swansea (Well, for half the time anyway - the other half I'm in Dorset!). As the crow flies,' North Devon is only about 25 miles away from Swansea, meaning that on the 'new caches' list, Devon caches are listed as being closer than those in Carmarthenshire. However, by road, Carmarthen is 30 miles, Devon is more like 150+, so it would make a big difference to me if you could search by county - or even if there were a search to tell me which caches are in Wales, rather than England. We have dial-up Internet access at home, so to go into each cache page to see where it is located takes ages - but until someone builds a nice big bridge from Swansea to Devon, I suppose I'll have to keep doing that. Or get Broadband, I suppose... Link to comment
+John & Hazel Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) For instance if one was to contemplate going to say, Suffolk, how do you segregate those caches out when you do not have a waypoint or Postcode even?? Use the interactive map over at GUK Edited to add image Edited August 11, 2005 by John & Hazel Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted August 11, 2005 Author Share Posted August 11, 2005 I'll have a look at the interactive map John, but still looking for a techie to give us two extra fields County & Town. Got to be cheaper than a Wales to Devon bridge!! Link to comment
Remote Part Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 It could be worth posting a request for this on the Geocaching.com website forum. Seeing as the US and Canada (and Belgium) are divided into states / provinces it should be possible to divide the UK into counties / regions. It has been discussed there several times before, but not within the last few months. Link to comment
+Gralorn Posted August 11, 2005 Author Share Posted August 11, 2005 I'll throw in the proverbial pebble into that very pond, good idea. Link to comment
+Wadders Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I'll have a look at the interactive map John, but still looking for a techie to give us two extra fields County & Town. Got to be cheaper than a Wales to Devon bridge!! We don't want another bridge into Wales, do we??? I use "where have you cached" too but i do find there are some discrepancies on the counties. Geocaching.com should be able to sort this one out for us. Link to comment
+alma Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 due to the suggestions i have now added the countie my caches are in next to the cache name Link to comment
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