State Map Problems

[Silver Zebra]

Is anyone else having problems using the State Maps? (From the Home Page, select a State, and then select Map.) You can then zoom/pan within the state. If I am going on a road trip, I like the state maps to find convenient caches along the route. The last couple of times I have tried, the state maps basically don’t work – the browser just shows the missing image icon. Maybe it is just Pennsylvania. Maybe it is a feature of my ISP/firewall.

[+Polar B's]

Do you not get any of the map? or do you just not get a map when you try to pan/zoom?

 

If it's the after trying pan/zoom, that probably has to do with the fact that your not a premium member.

 

Other wise I can see the maps fine, including pennslyvannia

[+The Leprechauns]

The OP is referring to the "old" state maps, not the pannable and zoomable "new" maps. I've noticed problems with the performance of the old maps from time to time. With the new maps, there is just the issue that they don't get updated sometimes to show the new caches and checkmarks for found caches, and sometimes an icon just plain goes missing.

[+Polar B's]

not sure what you mean "old" and "new" maps. If you follow the instructions on where the OP is going to get to maps....What maps are they?

[+The Leprechauns]

Link to "old" Pennsylvania map. Sure enough, I didn't see a map when I first accessed the page, just the little red X for a broken image. Sometimes this can be cured by panning or zooming. After about six random clicks I was able to get the map to show up.

 

Here is an example, from a saved image of Southwestern PA/Southeastern Ohio, of what the old maps are supposed to look like:

 

 

It is always interesting to look back at old saved maps and marvel at how many more caches there are nowadays! EDIT: You can tell that this map is really old because it includes checkmarks for the caches I'd found -- which at the time, was most of the caches available in the area. That feature has not been available since the new maps rolled out.

Edited September 26, 2005 by The Leprechauns

[+Wrench&Wench]

I didn't even know this feature exsisted. Can anyone tell me how to access these maps? I've searched the site with no luck. Learned something new today, Thanks for any help.

[+The Leprechauns]

I didn't even know this feature exsisted. Can anyone tell me how to access these maps? I've searched the site with no luck. Learned something new today, Thanks for any help.

1. Go to the main Geocaching.com homepage.

2. From the dropdown menu at the upper right corner of the page, choose your state.

3. Go to your "state homepage."

4. Click on the "Map" link directly to the right of the State name.

[+Wrench&Wench]

The Leprechauns, Thank you. I don't know yet how useful this will be, but it's kind of cool. Thanks again.

[+The Leprechauns]

Back in the old days, that is all we had by way of maps here on the website. We also got by with a maximum of five stored pocket queries. And, sometimes you had to be out of sight of your car before you could find the caches.

[Silver Zebra]

Yes, it is the “old” maps. The maps are zoomable/panable without a premium membership. It’s a great way to locate new caches in rural areas. When caches are 10 or 20 miles apart, the new maps are completely useless without the premium membership. It’s pretty much the opposite in popular areas. The old map overlays so many caches that it is often hard to identify anything – the new maps are much better.

 

Usually I get a map on the first click or two. But about the time I have located an area and zoomed in, they completely stop loading. Once they stop loading, it is typically hours or days before they will work again. It’s almost as if there was some “feature” that made them unusable. I had thought that maybe the server was just overloaded, but that theory doesn’t really seem to fit the long-term pattern.

[+The Leprechauns]

I don't think that there's anything intentionally engineered into the "old" maps to make them perform poorly. Rather, it's likely a case of Groundspeak not actively supporting them anymore -- they're hidden away on a corner of the server, while active development efforts are devoted to improving the performance of the "new" maps."

[Silver Zebra]

I agree it is not likely they are “engineered” to work poorly. But they sure seem to have a teaser performance. Just when you think you are close, they stop working.

[+The Leprechauns]

I agree it is not likely they are “engineered” to work poorly. But they sure seem to have a teaser performance. Just when you think you are close, they stop working.

Perhaps you've never been in a "champagne room"?

[tossedsalad]

I don't have any problem with the maps. What you guys call the "old" maps are the only ones I see and they always load ok. I also have no trouble with them in urban areas since you can zoom in to any amount and separate the caches. The only issue I have is that when you select "identify" to get links to the caches, the area around your click does not depend on your zoom level. I think it should be limited to the caches within an inch on the map or possibly every cache shown at that zoom level. When I am zoomed in a lot, it will list many caches that are outside what the map shows. In urban areas finding the right link in a list of 20 or 30 can be a lot harder than looking through the 5 or so that are listed in rural areas.

 

Any idea if gc.com would be interested in changing this?