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Terminology


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In other threads, people are struggling with the terminology to be used in Waymarking. Most of us are so used to geocaching terms, which may or may not make sense for this new activity. And the site is organized differently, so that simple concepts like "owner" and "finder" don't fully capture the essence of what's going on.

 

Let's use this thread to talk about what to call things. To start off:

 

1. At the highest level, someone proposes a new waymark category or subcategory, and the community agrees that this would be a cool one to add to the directory. We could call that "someone":

 

A Manager

A Category Owner or just Owner

Something else???

 

I like "Manager." I manage four categories. I do not "own" the iron furnace ruins in my category, in the way that I own my geocache containers. Those furnaces are just places out in the world that I am interested in, and I want to collect information about.

 

2. Once a category or subcategory is set up, it needs to be filled with new waymarks. Someone needs to go out and get coordinates, take pictures and do whatever else is necessary to meet the criteria of the category. We could call that "someone":

 

A Waymarker or just Marker

A Pointer (points others to visit the spot they found which meets the category requirements)

A Reporter (a good suggestion from a reply post below)

A Guide or Waymark Guide -- another good idea posted in a reply

Something else???

 

3. Once there are Waymarks in the category, someone else can go to them and also write about them, in the form of "visit" logs -- a huge improvement over locationless caches. We could call that "someone":

 

A Finder (hmmm, that sounds like geocaching)

A Visitor (this ties in with the "visit" log terminology)

A Pointer (in another thread, Jeremy said he liked this; I disagree and think "pointer" might better describe someone who creates a waymark)

A Sightseer (hmmm but can' Waymarking be more than that?)

Something else???

 

And what other terms do we need to coin?

Edited by The Leprechauns
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I noticed the need to clarify this when I was posting my proposal for a WOW!!! category that offended Lep.

 

Seems the site is using manager for the person that owns or manages a category and waymark reporter for the person that reports a new waymark in a category.

 

A waymark can then be visited but not found. So I guess someone who logs a visit to a waymark would be a visitor.

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1. Of those you suggested, I like manager best. But I think some users might not like the connotation of superiority that word may suggest. What do you think about something like the term "dispatcher" for the individual who is responsible for setting the overall mission and sending others out to locate the waymarks?

 

2. I like Pointer best. Marker is a word more closely associated with "targets", but because this is called "Waymarking" I see that leading to a lot of confusion. [Way]marker would describe anybody participating in this activity in any capacity, so I think Pointer would most clearly differentiate someone as the person who creates a target for a category.

 

3. I think visitor makes the most sense.

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I noticed the need to clarify this when I was posting my proposal for a WOW!!! category that offended Lep.

 

Seems the site is using manager for the person that owns or manages a category and waymark reporter for the person that reports a new waymark in a category.

 

A waymark can then be visited but not found. So I guess someone who logs a visit to a waymark would be a visitor.

So, since those are the accepted terms at the moment, would the generally accepted terms then become:

 

1. WayManager

2. WayReporter

3. WayVisitor

 

??

 

:blink:

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I like the term manager rather than owner because it takes away any "ownership" syndrome that may get in the way. We don't want personal plots to become the objective.

 

I think the term "Guide" should be used for the one who list the waymark(s).

 

And when we're not Guides, we can be the "Sightseers".

 

I made a post in another thread that considers the idea of Travel Bugs moving around in this new expanse. I suggested that they be called "Tag Bugs" rather than Travel Bugs. This idea was criticized because the term "Tag" portrayed a gang activity. That's fine. Instead of calling them "Tags" then maybe the can be called "Hikers" or "Hiker Bugs". I don't see where this alludes to anything other than someone who travels, unless you think of someone who is inflating the gas prices.

 

My suggestions are:

 

1. Managers

2. Guides

3. Sightseers

4. Hikers or Hiker Bugs or maybe Hitch-Hikers

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I like:

1. Manager

2. Guide

3. Visitor (indicating you have to "visit" :laughing: )

 

Wayfinder instead of cacher.

 

And from the thread I am closing in favor of this one plus some new thoughts:

 

WayMac - lame waymark.

FTV - First To Visit

TFTW - Thanks for the waymark.

TPPS - Took picture/posted same.

 

And you have to keep Markwell and standardize it so that one of these days I might have a chance of being immortalized as in "That's such a FtMgAl posting!" :laughing:

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I like guide much better than pointer (which seems likely to end up being the punch-line of a lot of jokes).

 

In that vein, could we consider:

 

TRAVEL AGENT (the person who manages the category)

GUIDE (the person who adds a waymark)

VISITOR (The person who visits the waymark)

 

TOURIST- a travelbug that accompanies the visitor to help them keep track of their personal miles

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TRAVEL AGENT (the person who manages the category)

GUIDE (the person who adds a waymark)

VISITOR (The person who visits the waymark)

 

TOURIST- a travelbug that accompanies the visitor to help them keep track of their personal miles

 

Ugh. That terminology trivializes it for me. It turns it into something commonplace, instead of new and interesting. I voted no.

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I like:

1. Manager

2. Guide

3. Visitor (indicating you have to "visit"  :laughing:  )

 

Wayfinder instead of cacher.

 

And from the thread I am closing in favor of this one plus some new thoughts:

 

WayMac - lame waymark.

FTV - First To Visit

TFTW - Thanks for the waymark.

TPPS - Took picture/posted same.

 

And you have to keep Markwell and standardize it so that one of these days I might have a chance of being immortalized as in "That's such a FtMgAl posting!"  :laughing:

I think WayMac should be for a commercial waymark or one placed in Boston, not necessarily a lame one. But I'm biased of course.

 

May I offer "WhackMark" as a replacement.

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