+majahack Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 My daughter has just launched 4 different TB's, each heading to a different family member scattered across the US. We have a family website and would like to have a page or block that gives the status of these TB's for the family to see. I could manually update our site with that information but was hoping there was a way to scrape the info from geocaching.com. Has anyone done anything similar? Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I think it's been kicked around before but I don't believe there is an easy way to auto-update a webpage with bug stats. Link to comment
+majahack Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 I figured that might be the case but I thought I would check. Thanks. Link to comment
+Eartha Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 It is the case. Scraping is extremely frowned upon. Why don't you simply provide link to your travel bugs? If anyone is interested, they'll click. Link to comment
sbak40 Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 If I release 4 TBs as a race, how can I put the information from the other 3 bugs on each one's log. I'm new to this, but with a little trial and error I can put together some decent HTML. Link to comment
+AtwellFamily Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I am not sure what scrapping is but I was wondering about something similar like the Profile box that I can add to pages. You know the one that shows my finds and hides. Is there something like that for bugs? I remember seeing it on some site before, I think it was for a race. Anyone help me? Link to comment
+Theseus Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 If I release 4 TBs as a race, how can I put the information from the other 3 bugs on each one's log. I'm new to this, but with a little trial and error I can put together some decent HTML. A tad off-topic, but luckily for you your question is precisely on-topic in this thread. Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 I have not done HTML in a while. But couldnt you open a page within a page? Or would that be considered scraping? Link to comment
+Eartha Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Moving to the geocaching.com website forums. Link to comment
+Trucker Lee Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Might be easiest to just provide link on the family website for each travel bug. You don't violate any "scraping" rules this way. Link to comment
+scavok Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Might be easiest to just provide link on the family website for each travel bug. You don't violate any "scraping" rules this way. If you can manage basic HTML then you can always use iframes for displaying a page withing a page. I don't think that would count as scraping, it isn't like your using PHP to yank it and change it. Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Can someone define scraping for those of us not so smart? Link to comment
BRTango Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Contributing to the post: Scraping is using an automated program to pull information off of a website for use somewhere else. Not Contributing to the post: For days now I've been seeing the headlines about the guy with TB traveling to Greece and all the trouble that has caused. For days... everytime I saw a headline my first thought was Travel Bug. Now... when I just saw this post... my first thought was why someone would want their Teberculosis status on a website about geocaching. Really people... we need to get them to rename the disease... it's causing all kinds of problems here!! Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Surely the best way to stop anyone scraping then would be to make information available to others to use as they wish. The new look to the site and the My Friends feature all seems to suggest a move towards a more community based site, and with so many people having their own site, why not let people access basic information such as location(or holder) and distance travelled. Other sites seem to be opening up whereas here they seem to be locked tight and not about to budge. Allowing people to feature info on their own site will actually encourage people to visit. If as the OP says you have 4 TBs and want a distance comparison i'd not click through 4 links, make a note of them all and work out whos winning a race. I'd like to see a tidy list. 1 Link to comment
+sTeamTraen Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Surely the best way to stop anyone scraping then would be to make information available to others to use as they wish. I suppose making all music available for free download would stop piracy too. Doubtless when Groundspeak's business model allows it, this will happen. For the moment, their "secret ingredient" is that people are prepared to pay $30/year for the info, and if it was readily available for less, it would put a big dent in it. Link to comment
+Markwell Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 You could do something like this: link That's a list of all of the Travel Bugs that I own and it shows their current position. Admittedly, it doesn't show a subset, but if you sort by name you can readily see that Challenge of the Superfriends: Aquaman, Challenge of the Superfriends: Batman, Challenge of the Superfriends: Superman and Challenge of the Superfriends: Wonder Woman are similar bugs - as are Ninja Force Black, Ninja Force Yellow, Ninja Force White and Ninja Force Red. Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 You could do something like this: link That's a list of all of the Travel Bugs that I own and it shows their current position. Admittedly, it doesn't show a subset, but if you sort by name you can readily see that Challenge of the Superfriends: Aquaman, Challenge of the Superfriends: Batman, Challenge of the Superfriends: Superman and Challenge of the Superfriends: Wonder Woman are similar bugs - as are Ninja Force Black, Ninja Force Yellow, Ninja Force White and Ninja Force Red. A fair point however in my case it is actually a race between several owners although I guess a seach on name would work only if we named them together in some way. I'd actually pay for 'Platinum' membership if there were an option for getting bonus data such as this. I think that currently this is the best $36 (I pay monthly) I spend! Bargin I say! Link to comment
+Davis5 Miami Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 How about http://tbrace.com ? Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 How about http://tbrace.com ? Neat. Anyone got any info on this site? Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 How about http://tbrace.com ? Its not a bad site. However it still seems strange that its down to 3rd parties to provide this kind of service. (And should I ask how that site can display data when i'm not allowed to?) Link to comment
+markz68 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 How about http://tbrace.com ? Neat. Anyone got any info on this site? Looks like a cool site. I'd like to try it out. Maybe I'll start my own little race with my dad or something. Link to comment
sbak40 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 (edited) tbrace.com looks like they've been scraping. All I'm asking for is the option of locating the same info on the bug's page at GC.com. The info is already available to anyone who's logged in, why not make it convenient for us to diplay it on one page. See the thread from the creator of tbrace http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...amp;pid=2613683 Edited June 6, 2007 by sbak40 Link to comment
Jeremy Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Try this out: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.htm It works like this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] for example: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...5d-9e2a63df15a5 These don't work in this forum since images can't be dynamic. But you can include them on your own page. Link to comment
+Cache Liberation Front Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Try this out: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.htm It works like this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] for example: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...5d-9e2a63df15a5 These don't work in this forum since images can't be dynamic. But you can include them on your own page. Tagging a good post for later. Nevermind me. MrW. Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Try this out: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.htm It works like this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] for example: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...5d-9e2a63df15a5 These don't work in this forum since images can't be dynamic. But you can include them on your own page. Very cool. Now if i could just figure out how to duplicate... I cant seem to get bugs to work that have no picture on the main page. Link to comment
BRTango Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Try this out: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.htm It works like this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] for example: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...5d-9e2a63df15a5 These don't work in this forum since images can't be dynamic. But you can include them on your own page. Very cool. Now if i could just figure out how to duplicate... I cant seem to get bugs to work that have no picture on the main page. Where do I find the GUID? Link to comment
+Markwell Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 You can find the GUID by clicking on the "Edit This Bug" link as an owner. The GUID will be in the URL. Just as an example, I've got a page here. Only problem I see is that most of the images seem to be shots of the bug characters' ---umm--- naughty bits. Link to comment
+Markwell Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 It would also be neat if the "Last Logged" were something that I didn't have to add in, but rather automatically updated within the graphic. Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Is there a legend anywhere for the TB icons? Link to comment
+SUp3rFM & Cruella Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 (edited) Great feature. Thanks! [] Hmm... It seems to be working only on some TB. For example: Works on this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...de-a74ac6387d86 But not on this one: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...17-0c372de159b1 It's also working on some geocoins. Am I doing something wrong? Edited June 7, 2007 by SUp3rFM & Cruella Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Is there a legend anywhere for the TB icons? No answers so i will guess. I see 2 things. Smiley faces and Boxes. Boxes are caches i assume. What is the difference between a green smiley and a grey smiley? Link to comment
+SUp3rFM & Cruella Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 One more thing that... While editing this geocoin: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=580007 I select any of the available images on the gallery and get this message. Server Error in '/' Application. This image does not exist in the system. Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. Exception Details: Groundspeak.Web.Exceptions.ImageNotFoundException: This image does not exist in the system. Source Error: An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. Stack Trace: [ImageNotFoundException: This image does not exist in the system.] Groundspeak.Web.Gallery.GalleryImage..ctor(Int64 ID, ImageDataSources DataSource) +292 Groundspeak.Web.CustomWpt.TravelBug.set_ImageID(Int64 Value) +77 Geocaching.UI.BugEditControl.btnEdit_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) +386 System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e) +108 System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +57 System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) +18 System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) +33 System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +1330 Strange. :| Link to comment
+SUp3rFM & Cruella Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I see 2 things. Smiley faces and Boxes. Boxes are caches i assume. What is the difference between a green smiley and a grey smiley? green smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for less than 14 days grey smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for more than 14 days Same thing applies to the boxes green box = tb in the cache for less than 14 days grey box = tb in the cache for more than 14 days Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 green smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for less than 14 days grey smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for more than 14 days Same thing applies to the boxes green box = tb in the cache for less than 14 days grey box = tb in the cache for more than 14 days Cool. How did you know? Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 What should have been before that was, Thank you. My apologies for my lack of manners. Link to comment
+SUp3rFM & Cruella Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Cool. How did you know? Since we do follow some of our TB left in the wild, we figured that was it. Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Great feature. Thanks! [] Hmm... It seems to be working only on some TB. For example: Works on this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...de-a74ac6387d86 But not on this one: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...17-0c372de159b1 It's also working on some geocoins. Am I doing something wrong? I think that it only shows if there is a deafult image for the TB. Upload one to the gallery then select it to be the default image. It should then show up. I've got one thats not appearing and its the only one without an image so just putting 2 + 2 together. Link to comment
+Bambography Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Also just to add that these images are a great start!! In the future once all the main site is settled down maybe adding TB races / target caches etc would be a great extension to the system. I realise that geocaching.com is about hiding the caches, but TBs have become such a feature, and with so many cachers having races/competitions it would be a lovely addition. Link to comment
+markz68 Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Try this out: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.htm It works like this: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] for example: http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...5d-9e2a63df15a5 These don't work in this forum since images can't be dynamic. But you can include them on your own page. Thanks for your post! I was able to put something together! Now I just need to get pictures for my other TBs and coins! Here's what I have so far: My Travel Bugs Link to comment
+SUp3rFM & Cruella Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I think that it only shows if there is a deafult image for the TB. Upload one to the gallery then select it to be the default image. It should then show up. I've got one thats not appearing and its the only one without an image so just putting 2 + 2 together. I tried that, too. Still, there are some that work, and others, don't. Still waiting for help. Link to comment
BRTango Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I think that it only shows if there is a deafult image for the TB. Upload one to the gallery then select it to be the default image. It should then show up. I've got one thats not appearing and its the only one without an image so just putting 2 + 2 together. I tried that, too. Still, there are some that work, and others, don't. Still waiting for help. The first time I tried it, I had one that the picture would show up, and the disappear on the next refresh. It was very random. I dumped that page and tried again, and it works fine. Very odd. Link to comment
+Theseus Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I see 2 things. Smiley faces and Boxes. Boxes are caches i assume. What is the difference between a green smiley and a grey smiley? green smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for less than 14 days grey smiley = geocacher is holding the tb for more than 14 days Same thing applies to the boxes green box = tb in the cache for less than 14 days grey box = tb in the cache for more than 14 days I actually think the green threshold is 7 days. Link to comment
+jennielynn Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Contributing to the post: Scraping is using an automated program to pull information off of a website for use somewhere else. Not Contributing to the post: For days now I've been seeing the headlines about the guy with TB traveling to Greece and all the trouble that has caused. For days... everytime I saw a headline my first thought was Travel Bug. Now... when I just saw this post... my first thought was why someone would want their Teberculosis status on a website about geocaching. Really people... we need to get them to rename the disease... it's causing all kinds of problems here!! I about spit my water all over my keyboard when I read that one. Thanks! Link to comment
BRTango Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Contributing to the post: Scraping is using an automated program to pull information off of a website for use somewhere else. Not Contributing to the post: For days now I've been seeing the headlines about the guy with TB traveling to Greece and all the trouble that has caused. For days... everytime I saw a headline my first thought was Travel Bug. Now... when I just saw this post... my first thought was why someone would want their Teberculosis status on a website about geocaching. Really people... we need to get them to rename the disease... it's causing all kinds of problems here!! I about spit my water all over my keyboard when I read that one. Thanks! My pleasure Link to comment
+GSVNoFixedAbode Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] Now that's cool! I've found that it seems to work on all my TBs but none of the coins at this stage. Link to comment
+AtwellFamily Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 (edited) I was looking for something like this but with the icon of a TB or a coin. A box the shape of the profile box but with the icon in it. Is that a possibility? Like this shape, with coin icon or TB icon and the desription of the item, location and milage. Edited July 2, 2007 by Atwell Family Link to comment
+markz68 Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?guid=[travel bug guid] Now that's cool! I've found that it seems to work on all my TBs but none of the coins at this stage. I have it working for everything I have activated as long as the item has a picture attached. If there's no picture on the coin or TB's page, then it doesn't work. Do your coins have pictures? Link to comment
+AtwellFamily Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I have added a page to my site (trackables)and still fixing it but had a few questions: I have found this doesn't work if there is no picture but I have uploaded a number of pictures and some as still not working. All the released coins have pictures. All the TB's have pictures. Some load sometimes but not all the time and pthers are not loading at all. Can anyone help? Link to comment
+Paul & Ros Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 (edited) It is a long time since anyone posted to this thread but I came across it whilst releasing 5 Geocions simultaneously and wanting to include details of each coin on all the other coins pages. One of coins in question is http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=1959155 You can see the others via my proifile. If I go to edit the details I have put the following in the description field There are 5 coins in the series - each with the same mission, check out how they are doing below : <img src="http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...39-31125293e7ba"> <img src="http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...2f-99d8972f8d41"> <img src="http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...b1-125b83a08fb5"> <img src="http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...d87-7e881663b39"> <img src="http://img.geocaching.com/stats/tb.aspx?gu...62e-77791534d02"> Why does only one of these work, all 5 coins have been activated in exactly the same way, all have pictures etc. Very frustrating as I can see absolutely no difference between the 5 listings. Can anyone throw any light on this ? Edited September 13, 2008 by Paul & Ros Link to comment
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