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Problems with new version of Google Maps


kfir

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The new version of Google Maps being used for the interactive cache map has the following problems in WinXP IE7

 

1. Several times, clicking on any icon in the map causes the map to be frozen. Other times it works fine. The only way to "fix" it is to reload the page which also resets the map.

2. What is the purpose of the checkboxes in the cache type legend? They don't do anything.

3. The caches in the Show Cache Listing list does not show if a cache is disabled.

 

I like that the new map gets past the 20 icon limit of the old map.

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Would it be possible to allow a user to click a button on the new maps page so it would go back to the old one? :D I've personally been dreading the day gc would convert to the new maps. :shocked: If I could get around them to the old ones I wouldn't have a problem. But right now I don't see a way to get back to the old map, so I do have a prolem with it. :o

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Jeremy posted in the announcements section that they are currently (this afternoon) testing newer versions of some website features, notably the maps. I wonder if this means that the bugs will be ironed out, or whether this thread will blossom into several pages.

 

I had a few issues with found webcam caches not showing the found smiley, and ignored caches not being hidden.

 

I like the new maps overall, but the 15 mile limit makes them useless in remote/sparse areas. Maybe the limit could be changed to X miles or Y caches, whichever is greater (or is that less?), to accommodate both dense and thin areas?

Edited by DavidMac
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At the moment, I have only 2 complaints about the new maps.

 

1. I really like the "Hide My Finds" feature but it is extremely irritating to have to unclick it and then click it again every single time I move the map around with the "hand" feature. If I click this feature, it should stay that way the entire time I am looking at maps. I would rather not have this feature if I have to keep clicking on it.

 

2. If I am zooming in on the maps (I was using hybrid mode), the icons get almost too small to see. The icons should increase in size relative to the zooming in feature.

 

Thanks for your efforts, though. Overall, it looks good.

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Hi!

 

Sorry about complaining but this new version is still kind of less useful again.

 

1. My screen has a resolution of 1920x1200 and right now the map only uses about 40% of the hight.

 

2. No icons for Earth Cache and Mega-Event Cache on the list

 

3. After clicking on this blue balloon I am not able to further move the map

 

Bye,

Christian

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At the moment, I have only 2 complaints about the new maps.

 

1. I really like the "Hide My Finds" feature but it is extremely irritating to have to unclick it and then click it again every single time I move the map around with the "hand" feature. If I click this feature, it should stay that way the entire time I am looking at maps. I would rather not have this feature if I have to keep clicking on it.

 

2. If I am zooming in on the maps (I was using hybrid mode), the icons get almost too small to see. The icons should increase in size relative to the zooming in feature.

 

Thanks for your efforts, though. Overall, it looks good.

I just tried both things you mentioned and neither were a problem. They must be actively working on it. The "hide" buttons stayed checked and when zooming the icons never changed size. I'm using Firefox if it makes a difference...

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Yes, icons too small.

Maybe it's just me, but it takes a lot longer to load the geocache markers. The "pins" loaded really fast as I scrolled around on the page. The new maps is wait...wait....wait....wait.....wait.....wait...wait. :o

I too would love the option to use the old "geocaching.com google maps". As it stands now, I probably won't use it much anymore. That was the only map I used, all the others pretty much sucked. Now they all suck. :shocked:

I could live with the small icons, if the thing loaded in a reasonable time.

I also don't recall having to be zoomed in to 15 miles or less. In some areas that's too close to see any geocaches.

Edited by roveron
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I too would love the option to use the old "geocaching.com google maps". As it stands now, I probably won't use it much anymore. That was the only map I used, all the others pretty much sucked. Now they all suck. :o

 

Exactly! We NEED the old maps as an available option!

 

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go back to the old maps these are almost(if not) unuseable. :shocked:

 

I probably won't use these new maps, which might prevent me from finding the amount of caches I want to.

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Hi!

 

Some more problems:

 

1. While using "Show Cache Listing" I've found out that it always shows all caches on the map. This includes "My Finds" even if I check the button to hide them.

 

2. Moving the map is impossible after clicking on a cache.

 

3. Clicking "Show Cache Listing" locks the map.

 

4. No more map preview for Pocket Queries.

 

By the way: The maximum size of the map is just annoying ;-)

 

Bye,

Christian

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The site was in a state of flux for a while but should be stable now. If you're still experiencing issues with the Google maps or have comments on how they're working, please send an email to contact at geocaching.com so we can document any issues and work on making them better.

 

:shocked: Elias

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The site was in a state of flux for a while but should be stable now. If you're still experiencing issues with the Google maps or have comments on how they're working, please send an email to contact at geocaching.com so we can document any issues and work on making them better.

 

:shocked: Elias

 

There's no specific problem with the new maps, I just want the option of viewing the old one.

And BTW these two threads were on completely different topics (one concerning map bugs, one an inquiry about getting the old maps back)

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At the moment, I have only 2 complaints about the new maps.

 

1. I really like the "Hide My Finds" feature but it is extremely irritating to have to unclick it and then click it again every single time I move the map around with the "hand" feature. If I click this feature, it should stay that way the entire time I am looking at maps. I would rather not have this feature if I have to keep clicking on it.

 

2. If I am zooming in on the maps (I was using hybrid mode), the icons get almost too small to see. The icons should increase in size relative to the zooming in feature.

 

Thanks for your efforts, though. Overall, it looks good.

I just tried both things you mentioned and neither were a problem. They must be actively working on it. The "hide" buttons stayed checked and when zooming the icons never changed size. I'm using Firefox if it makes a difference...

I use Firefox also. The box does stay checked, but if you pan around on the map, your "finds" still show up even if the box remains checked. You have to uncheck the box and then check it back again to hide your finds. What a waste of time! Either they are hidden or they aren't! And, I WANT the icons to change size when zooming in. If you keep zooming in and the icons stay as small as they are to begin with....they are almost impossible to see.

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There's no specific problem with the new maps, I just want the option of viewing the old one.

And BTW these two threads were on completely different topics (one concerning map bugs, one an inquiry about getting the old maps back)

From our perspective, these are the same topic. If you can let us know what it was that you liked about the old maps, we can try to make these better, or, if there's an bug with the new maps, we can work on fixing it. Either way, letting us know what works or doesn't work for you is helpful feedback so we can improve the feature.

 

:shocked: Elias

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PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go back to the old maps these are almost(if not) unuseable. :shocked:

 

I have to echo the comment. The new maps are no good for printing as there is no legend and there is no double height. They might be okay for online browsing but this is not what I want to use them for. Please bring the old maps back at least as an option.

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I think I could learn to like the new maps.

  • I like that more caches are shown. (They've been loading fast enough on my machine)
     
  • I like that I can hide my finds. (but it would be really nice if they stayed hidden when I panned the map.
     
  • What's the blue balloon for? When I click on it, I get a My Placemark balloon in the center of the map and the map locks up and I can't do anything.
     
  • What are the cache type check boxes on the right for? Checked or unchecked, doesn't seem to make any difference.
     
  • The icons are hard to see in the Sat or Hybrid mode.

Not really complaints, just comments. If it matters I'm using Win2K and I.E. 6.

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PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go back to the old maps these are almost(if not) unuseable. :shocked:

 

I have to echo the comment. The new maps are no good for printing as there is no legend and there is no double height. They might be okay for online browsing but this is not what I want to use them for. Please bring the old maps back at least as an option.

 

Good point about them not being good for printing. I agree that having the legend for the cache is extremely helpful if you are printing the map. I just used the feature to print a map for all of the caches around a lake I was heading to. It was a good visual for me to see the layout of the caches and to check them off as I found them.

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There's no specific problem with the new maps, I just want the option of viewing the old one.

And BTW these two threads were on completely different topics (one concerning map bugs, one an inquiry about getting the old maps back)

From our perspective, these are the same topic. If you can let us know what it was that you liked about the old maps, we can try to make these better, or, if there's an bug with the new maps, we can work on fixing it. Either way, letting us know what works or doesn't work for you is helpful feedback so we can improve the feature.

 

:shocked: Elias

 

...Alright, here we go. On the old maps it had the bar on the right side that showed you the names of caches in the map viewer, now you have to hover over each individual cache to see the info. With that sidebar you could also hover over a cache name on the sidebar and the icon on the map would be highlighted and viceversa. They were also better for printing. On the old maps you could zoom out as far as you wanted, and as long as you dont go past 20 caches it would show them all, now it doesn't matter how many caches it would come up with, instead it has a 15 mile range. I liked the little red placemarker on the old maps, but the new blue one doesn't work properly. I liked the bubble cache icons on the old maps better than the new small ones, these are much harder to see in the satellite view. The waymarks on the new map often overlap and there is no way to see the ones that are below the top one. On the new maps when you type in an address in the "goto" bar, it will take you to that location but it wont automatically put a placemarker there like the old maps did. I could go on, but I'm not going to right now. Don't think that I'm saying that NO good changes were made - I like the larger screen and that you can get rid of you hides and finds, but thats about it.

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:shocked: There seems to be additional problems at the website. When I open an individual cache page, and click on the bar to download an LOC waypoint file, the page goes to HTML code, and wont return. No file download happens.

 

Also read others posts regarding the new mapping. Have many of the same concerns. Previous maps allowed major adjustment of scale for moving across large distances quickly, then zooming in to find specific caches vs location. Not impressed with new mapping as it stands at the moment.

 

operating Dell Desktop with WinXP. Code referred to above when trying to get a LOC file is copied as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

- <loc version="1.0" src="Groundspeak">

- <waypoint>

- <name id="GC15JE2">

- <![CDATA[ Hamburger University by TheNOID

]]>

</name>

<coord lat="39.248817" lon="-81.5558" />

<type>Geocache</type>

<link text="Cache Details">http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC15JE2</link>

</waypoint>

</loc>

 

That is all that shows up - and there is now back button on the browser, you have to close that tab in IE and reopen it.

Edited by codge-wv
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A huge thank you for putting the old maps back.

Is there an outline somewhere of the planned benefits of the new maps?

 

I want folks to know I'm not opposed to change per se, I'm just not a fan of change for change sake, especially when it results in a loss of functionality and performance.

I'm sure the changes were made to address some requests, but I don't know what those are, and it would be interesting to read.

Really the only thing that would be nice is on the existing/old map to be able to display more than 20 caches, though even that I've not found to be a big deal because I just zoom in a bit, then drag the map around to see other cache groupings. Even in Atlanta, which has a fairly high cache density, I haven't found it to be a problem. But I can see how others might.

In any case, the "old" map is much much preferable to the new one.

Edited by roveron
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The one feature of the new maps that I would like to see applied to the old/existing maps is the "Hide My Finds." However, I would like for it to stay as "Hide My Finds" when I pan the map around. Having to keep unchecking and checking it everytime I move the map is irritating and redundant. I like seeing the list of caches on the right-hand side and having the "bubble" sure makes it nice if you want to print out a map.

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Who know this thread would grow so quickly when I started it.

 

(From a senior software engineer's perspective...)

 

Summarizing a few negative things about the experience so far. This is not meant to beat up anyone, but to help find a way to improve the process.

 

We appear to be the guinea pigs. The new map system was released to us with nothing to indicate the benefits you were hoping to accomplish. It appears we (the customers) were not asked about what features we use a lot and like, so you are asking after the fact (after they are gone). The new system was released to us a couple of times then removed. We are using this forum correctly in reporting problems with the website yet you want email instead.

 

Now looking for positive progress.

 

1. People are doing a good job with confining bug reports against the new mapping to this one thread. Keeping it public lets people chime in with their concerns and additional information.

 

2. The old limit of 20 caches in a page was way too small. Even a small town like Canby, Oregon has a high density of caches (29). For such a small town you cannot display the whole town AND all of the caches in the town. So the higher limit is a big improvement.

 

3. The new 15 mile limit is too small in sparse areas. For example, in the Portland, Oregon metro area there are hundreds of caches. But move 20 miles west and the caches are so sparse the 15 mile limit is too small. The old solution worked better in this case. I do not have a suggestion on a solution which might satisfy both requirements.

 

4. Creating test cases from reported bugs, like the map locking, is a useful test procedure. Then test these on more than one browser. From posts so far, it appears the locking bug exists in IE6, IE7, but not in Firefox (no versions reported). No one has chimed in about Linux or Mac versions. The new system went away so I cannot do any testing myself on my Linux box.

 

5. My very first gut reaction when seeing the new mapping a few weeks ago was the icons were too small. Some of this is perception since the old map used large balloons containing the icons. Some of it really is that when I zoom in, they are too small, or at least don't have the pointer the balloon uses.

 

6. Expanding on one of my original complaints, the old system used a strike through font for disabled caches in the list to the right. This makes it easy to see at a glance which caches to avoid. A possible solution in the new system is to have a checkbox for hiding disabled caches. I would use this all the time.

 

7. Print Preview (at least in IE) shows that no icons are displayed on the map. I recently used a benchmarking website map which does print the icons and this kind of map is very useful out in the field.

 

8. From a testing perspective, is it possible to create a "beta" page containing the new mapping system? This would let us help you test the new system and give feedback without the all-or-nothing approach currently in use.

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Just to throw my hat into the ring, I liked the new maps when I first noticed them a few months ago and was eagerly awaiting their return the other day. When, however, I came to use them I found the zoom level that you had to have to be within the 15 mile limit totally unusable. We often print google maps of large areas if we're heading away so we can be more spontanious in our caching but the new maps wouldn't either show caches over the large areas or have a list of which cache was which down the side.

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I might as well bump this thread, some people are going to need it again... :)

 

LOL!! :laughing: Yeah, I just noticed that they're back, too. Still trying to figure out what's new and what's "old" about them. Having to hover over a waypoint and/or click the Show Cache Listing link isn't terribly intuitive, but I guess that like anything else, you get used to it over time.

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I'm not able to zoom in or out, Sattelite and Hybrid maps don't work, either.

Edit: Working for me now

 

No icons (broken link icon displayed) for Earch Caches and Mega-Event Caches.

 

I tried zooming to another address (my home address) and I get a map containing dozens of waypoints from the proper area, but no map is displayed. Still can't zoom in or out, either.

Edit: Working for me now

Edited by knowschad
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Hiding my own caches and my finds works on the maps, but they still display in the Cache Listings.

Eidt: It isn't working not, 15 minutes after I posted that they were.

 

What is the point of the check boxes next to the Cache Type Legend? Checking or unchecking them doesn't seem to do anything.

Edited by knowschad
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Hi!

 

Didn't want to write it again. New week, same old error :-( What are you doing all the time? ;-)

 

Bye,

Christian

 

Hi!

 

Some more problems:

 

1. While using "Show Cache Listing" I've found out that it always shows all caches on the map. This includes "My Finds" even if I check the button to hide them.

 

2. Moving the map is impossible after clicking on a cache. (Fixed, hey ;-)

 

3. Clicking "Show Cache Listing" locks the map.

 

4. No more map preview for Pocket Queries.

 

By the way: The maximum size of the map is just annoying ;-)

 

Bye,

Christian

Edited by monsterbox
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Hi!

 

New week, same old errors...

 

Bye,

Christian

 

Hi!

 

Sorry about complaining but this new version is still kind of less useful again.

 

1. My screen has a resolution of 1920x1200 and right now the map only uses about 40% of the hight.

 

2. No icons for Earth Cache and Mega-Event Cache on the list

 

3. After clicking on this blue balloon I am not able to further move the map

 

Bye,

Christian

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In addition to what knowschad said, here are a few other problems I noticed.

 

Attended events are not hidden with "hide my finds" (of course, there are attended not found)

When Waymarks are on the map, click on one, seems to lock up the map and hides all the waymarks.

It also locks up at other times, but I couldn't figure out why.

 

[opinions]

It's great to be able to hide my finds.

I believe in an earlier version of the new map, the checkmarks showed/hide different cache types. This would be a good feature.

As many have aleady said, it would be nice if the 15 mile limit was increased in a cache poor areas.

It would be nice if the cache listing only listed shown caches; not all caches

[/opinions]

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The map should be working fairly well now so if you're still having problems make sure you close out the site and reload, clear your browser cache etc.

 

We're aware that when you check the "hide my finds" box and move the map they reappear and also that they show up in the "show cache listing" list. Also the earthcache and mega event icon appears as a shadow on the map. We'll take care of these issues asap.

 

Edit: Thanks ODragon

Edited by OpinioNate
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Problems reported previously.

 

- Checkboxes on the right still don't do anything in IE7 on WinXP. They work fine in FF2.

 

- Disabled caches in the Show Cache Listing window still do not use the strikethrough font. Reasons why this is important were previously posted.

 

FIXED - Print Preview in IE7 was not showing the icons on the map.

 

- In the legend on the right, icons for Earch Cache and Mega Events Cache do not show up in IE6, IE7, or FF2. The only difference between the browsers is IE uses a placeholder for images not found.

 

- Map still locks up in IE7.

 

New problems noticed:

 

- Checkboxes on the right don't show up in IE6 on WinXP, just the text next to them.

 

- The pan and zoom controls on the left of the map are not displayed in IE6 even though clicking in those areas still works.

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The new maps are getting better, IMHO. BUT.......please make the freaking icons larger or a different color or something because when you use the hybird option and zoom in, they pretty much disappear against the green of a forest, etc. And, why do I have to keep checking, then unchecking and checking again for "Hide My Finds" whenever I pan a map? This is extremely redundant and completely irritating. If i check "Hide My Finds" then that is what i want and should stay that way the entire time I am currently on the site and looking at maps.

 

Acutally, how about making the "Hide My Finds" the default and if you want to "Show Your Finds", you have to click the box. That way, it will always hide your finds and you have to ask for your finds if you want to see them. That makes more sense.

Edited by GeoScooter1
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Hi!

 

What about the missing map preview for Pocket Queries, will it be implemented again or will this feature be dropped for good?

 

No, it will be back. It's all related to the google maps issues we're having.

 

I'm sorry, but what are you guys doing all the day long? I just wonder that all those errors still exist. They have been in the version you tried at first time. They still have been there in the version from last week. And they are still around in this version!

 

The errors I wrote about in my previous messages are still there and this is still just annoying! I'm using a standard Windows XP with about all actual fixes installed. And I still use IE6. Another still default browser for about most of the users worldwide. So I just wonder why you are not able to find those errors prior to switching to this map version :-(

 

And I also wonder why you guys just ignore the people that need to use the website. I am sure that I am not the only one who just doesn't like this kind of map. It has just about no feature that I missed before, it just has "features" that I don't want or need.

 

I don't want a pop up list of the caches. I was very happy with a list at the side of the map. I wasn't happy with the old version not being able to know found caches on the 2nd to last page of the caches but that's another story.

 

And I'm still very annoyed of not being able to get a HUGE map on my 24'' display. The older version at least had the ability of showing about 50% more in height. And I also hate this 15 miles limit that I can't really understand.

 

I hate not being able to see the names of the caches shown. I hate that I still don't know which cache is which even if I see the cache listing. I hate that some features just lock up the map. I hate having this much checkboxes that just don't work. I hate those small icons for the caches.

 

I hate being used as a "lab rabbit" instead of at least getting a working version on first try. One time this is acceptable but right now this is at least your 3rd try on the new maps and I was able to find those errors in just 5 minutes :-(

 

I hope that you can understand me in some way and that the site will be useable again in the next hours, preferably by switching back to the old maps ;-)

 

Bye,

Christian

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Hi,

 

We just thought that we would also voice our opinion with regards to the new maps. IMHO they are unusable and far inferior to the old google maps. The old maps were better since the cache listings were given on the right hand side and all of the caches were numbered accordingly. We don't understand the need for these "new and improved" maps.

 

Thanks,

 

broylers

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"The callback on abJax has failed due to a server side exception"

 

The first few times I tried to get information for a cache, I got this error and then the map locked up. After a few refreshes, it appears to be working again. Not sure how long it will last.

 

 

EDIT: Just noticed the new trackables tab. Cool!

Edited by alexrudd
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PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go back to the old maps these are almost(if not) unuseable. :laughing:

 

I HATE these new maps. They are much harder to view, useless in remote areas, you have to click so much more to get the info you want.

 

Ich. This makes me not want to be a premium member

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They went from maps that work great to these stupid things? I hate the new maps. Images are missing, locks up, PDF files don't work. Why are they changing something that worked great

 

Please put the old maps back on!!!!

 

The new version of Google Maps being used for the interactive cache map has the following problems in WinXP IE7

 

1. Several times, clicking on any icon in the map causes the map to be frozen. Other times it works fine. The only way to "fix" it is to reload the page which also resets the map.

2. What is the purpose of the checkboxes in the cache type legend? They don't do anything.

3. The caches in the Show Cache Listing list does not show if a cache is disabled.

 

I like that the new map gets past the 20 icon limit of the old map.

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I don't usually whine and I do appreciate all the effort to make the site better but....the new maps are useless. I prefer the old maps where the caches were listed on the right and numbered to the waypoints on the map. Makes for better printouts from screen shots.

 

I DO like the check box's for excluding cache types, found caches, and caches own. Can this feature be implemented with the old maps and located at the bottom of the page out of the way?

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