Thanks for the New Google Map

[+tommiB]

Awesome! Really Awesome! This map rocks!

Thank you!

[+Triple Crown]

I love the new maps and functions, but I'm still hoping for the old reference marker to return! Any word on this?

Edited October 30, 2007 by Triple Crown

[Rhialto]

WOW, everything is there now and very functionnal, good works. That was pretty fast. I never looked at thebookmarks before so I don't know what I'm missing and if they comeback then I will take a look.

 

Do you know what is the load and impact on the server with the current map refresh? Usually the bandwith is what is the most costly...

 

Can we learn more about wonderful Raine? I mean is he a programmer in life who like to help here or hired from a company to help if recent change? Just curious...

[+Bluesman63]

Looking good. I like being able to toggle between Map, Sat, Hybrid and Topo . Makes it easier to plan my next hiking adventure!

[+snowbird2]

I''m using a Mac and the view map option shows the map for less than 1 second and then I get a blue screen without a map. Anyone else having this same problem?

[+Raine]

Can you tell me what browser you might be using?

 

Are you logged in when viewing the site?

 

-Raine

[+michigansnorkelers]

WOW!

 

I LOVE the way PQs now open in Google Maps! Even better than I could have imagined.

 

GOOD WORK!!!

[+JC_Geo]

Guys,

 

The maps look VERY nice! Thanks for all the hard work.

 

The one thing that I do miss is the bookmark display feature that was on the old map. This feature was very nice for planning routes. But, I am sure I will get over it.

 

Thanks!

[+supertbone]

Thanks for all the great comments everyone. I have even better news for you today. Raine worked hard over the weekend to improve the maps even further.

 

First, the bad news: Bookmarking in its previous incarnation will not return for some time. Development work for the maps has to be diverted elsewhere so unfortunately we'll have to wait for this feature.

 

And now the good news!

• Caches will now be removed from the sidebar if they are not in the "viewport"
  
• A blue bounding box is now in place to show you which area has been queried. Moving outside the box will requery the database
  
• Added a collapse/expand bar to hide the list of caches. The map will still refresh with this closed so when you open the sidebar again it will reflect the current view
  
• Added a refresh link in case the map gets wonky
  

Hope you all enjoy, and thanks again for your support and patience.

 

Thanks for the updates. They work well. I can't wait to see the bookmarks return.

Edited October 30, 2007 by supertbone

[+WingedStone]

Good job! I like it more than the previous map

 

As already proposed, updating the list when filters are modified would be great in many cases.

Additionally, I'd welcome a "hide disabled caches" filter option.

Edited October 31, 2007 by WingedStone&Tora

[Ranger Fox]

I like the tie-in with Waymarking.com. I think it will definitely spark interest in that alternate form of recreation. I have been playing around with this hidden feature ever since the AJAX call was complete and am very interested in what the public release will look like--especially what other information will end up in the call-outs.

 

Good business decision, Jeremy. I suppose someone is learning how to extract geocode information from the pictures you were taking at Geowoodstock V? I assume this to be a tie-in to Waymarking or even to gc.com at a later date.

[+The Dream Cachers]

The new maps are great!

 

I've just noticed that the maps on all the cache pages have Yahoo titles written on them, but they are actually Google maps....... ???

[+Shilo]

Small bug I think I found first. If its been mentioned already I'm sorry

 

I created a cache along a route file and made a PQ(but didn't run it) so I could preview it first.

 

I noticed when using the arrows above the zoom in and zoom out slider the caches on the list on the right don't update with the caches in the map. But if you drag the map with your mouse and let go the list will update with the caches in the map screen.

 

I'm using the latest update of Firefox( ) with MS windows XP Home edition.

 

Great job otherwise

[+MrFRjr]

I still don't know what caches are on my bookmark list unless I open each cache page. Is that feature going to return?

[+'yakinCacher]

Grr... I am totally frustrated with the new google map. I miss on the old map that I could look at my entire state and then click on the map to narrow in on a certain location. I am having a very hard time looking for caches away from my home coordinates. I've tried to zoom out and then back in, but it won't zoom back into a different location. I've tried panning, but once I've panned more than twice I get a message that says "parsing geocaches" (what does that mean?) and nothing happens. At this point I'm frustrated enough that I may stop using the map feature altogether, which sucks because that was how I did most of my cache searching.

[candyman0000]

I agree with 'yakinCacher. The new map has some great features like DOQ and topo maps, but my computer has errors associated with it. The map swivels around like 500 miles at a time whenever I move my mouse and it takes hours to load the caches. Can someone help me with this? Edited November 11, 2007 by candyman0000

[+MrFRjr]

I think having so many caches on the map at one time really bogs things down. Once you zoom out a couple clicks, the maps become unusable. I liked it better with just 20 at a time because the maps moved so much better. Plus it's not like you couldn't get the rest of the caches on the map. They were just a click away.

[RnK2000]

Grr... I am totally frustrated with the new google map. I miss on the old map that I could look at my entire state and then click on the map to narrow in on a certain location. I am having a very hard time looking for caches away from my home coordinates. I've tried to zoom out and then back in, but it won't zoom back into a different location. I've tried panning, but once I've panned more than twice I get a message that says "parsing geocaches" (what does that mean?) and nothing happens. At this point I'm frustrated enough that I may stop using the map feature altogether, which sucks because that was how I did most of my cache searching.

 

 

I agree I cant do any caching today because the map wont load up. All I get is the Parsing geocaches also.

I use XP I.E. 7 and cable

[Ranger Fox]

"Parsing Geocaches"

 

Layman's Terms: Your browser download the geocache list from the server and began placing the caches on the map. However, it may have had a problem when doing so, causing it to stop what it was doing without clearing the "Parsing Geocaches" message. So matter how long you wait, it's not going to do anything more.

 

Technical Explanation: The JavaScript received the JSON-formatted XML string from the server and has begun to index it and create the map pointers. I would surmise exceptions are not caught and the operation terminates abnormally.

 

-----------

 

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF SLOW MAPS

 

For people that say the maps are slow, I wonder if it is due to their computer's setup, including the amount of free RAM. I'm running a 3 1/2 year old laptop: 3.4GHz P4 HT (single core) and 2GB DDR RAM with 500-900MB in use. It's a Sager! My main browser is Firefox and operating environment is Win XP SP2. All tests were performed on a controlled network at work; no other traffic on the network.

 

To give this a fair shot, here is my analysis of the maps. I am running a PQ for my home area, showing a maximum of 500 caches, which span an estimated 50 mile radius. This testing is done in two phases. The first phase is the interval between the geocache list request (via AJAX) and when the list seems to have been received (mostly when the map recenters). The second phase begins after the first ends and concludes when the caches are displayed on the map regardless if the map graphics have loaded.

 

INTERNET EXPLORER 6.0.2900.2180:

First Phase: 60MB RAM required; 1 minute, 28 seconds to retrieve data; around 55% processor activity

Second Phase: 18MB RAM required (additional); 4 seconds; around 86% processor peak

 

FIREFOX 2.0.0.9 (browser only open to forum):

First Phase: 24MB RAM required; 20 seconds to retrieve data; around 53% processor activity

Second Phase: 1MB RAM required (additional); 1 second; around 85% processor peak

 

INTERNET EXPLORER 6 (after clearing session and closing browser):

First Phase: 48MB RAM; 1 minute, 21 seconds

Second Phase: 10 MB RAM; 7 seconds

 

FIREFOX (after clearing session and closing browser):

First Phase: 27MB RAM; 17 seconds

Second Phase: 0MB RAM; 2 seconds

 

Clearly, these tests show IE users might experience a less than optimal user experience. Considering how Microsoft's browser is not standards-compliant, it's no wonder it has to go through more processing.

 

Can someone post test results for IE 7, including system specs? Perhaps part of the map problem has to do with the system setup? True, the system will differ, the PQ will be different, so the results will not be very comparable, but at least we'll have an idea.

Edited November 14, 2007 by Ranger Fox

[+JLTx2]

My old geocaching.com maps worked a lot better than these google maps. When I drag the map, it forever is searching for caches then says parsing or something like that. I know there are caches in the area but google can't seem to load them.

 

What was wrong with the old map search?

[+MrFRjr]

No posts on this topic for almost a week??

I know it's not a dead subject, did this topic get moved to a different thread again?

[+3MudDogs]

Just got sent to this post from another. Moderator closed it and said the map issues were being discussed here. Comment also said "they're working on it" but I don't see any comment on that recently. Does anyone know if anything is really going on to fix this problem?

[+JLTx2]

I just tried the google maps again and they still don't work for me. I'm using Internet Explorer v7. I get the fast scroll when I try to drag a map. I also get the parsing garbage that never stops parsing......

 

I have email technical support and NEVER get a reply except for the auto reply with a ticket number. I click on the ticket link and get an error below

 

ERROR: You do not have enough permissions to access this page. Please login by entering your Email and Password.

 

Tell me where to login! I go to the forums and log in and try to click the link and I still get the same message.

[+:-)]

I think the Google Maps are great. The only complaint I have is that the underlying query seems to return all caches in an area regardless of the cache type(s) that is/are selected. I would assume that this is done this way to speed up changes in cache type selections, because otherwise it would require a new query each time a change is made, but the problem I run into is that I can't look at a very large area without getting the "Your search exceded 500 caches" message, even though I am hiding my finds, and have only one type selected. One thing that might work would be to cause the "Hide my Finds" and "Hide my Caches" options to force a requery without those items. Also it would be nice for those settings to be saved so that I don't always have to turn them off...

 

Thanks for the great work though

[+MrFRjr]

I think the Google Maps are great.

Really ??!!

Are you serious? They are so bad and in some ways useless or unuseable. The old maps worked fine. You could wizz around without waiting forever for the maps to refresh, it wouldn't lock up, you could access cache pages in a reasonable amount of time. You could easily build a bookmark list. The cache list on the side of the page didn't have the caches listed in a totally random order. It only listed 20(?) caches at a time but the others were just a click away. I think GC.com should be embarrassed of these maps. I thought updates were supposed to improve things, not...... well, you know.

[+Cryptid]

The new Google maps don't work for me. When I scroll to an area I want, (which is a chore since it flies all the way to Mexico when I want reno,) the little bar in the middle of the map says..Parsing geocaches(?)...for 15 minutes now, it never loads the caches.

 

When I refresh I have to start all over again from home.

 

I haven't got it to work right for weeks now.

 

I miss the old maps.

Edited November 26, 2007 by Cruiserdude

[+JLTx2]

It appears to me that the powers to be at GC.com don't read these forums. I have been complaining for almost 2 months now and nothing has been done. I have sent them emails and I only get an auto reply from. I get a ticket ID and then I'm not allowed to review the status.

[+kayo'n'modesty]

Is anyone else having trouble with the new maps? I cannot seem to move the map around without my computer freezing or I move the map and the search box is back where I started. I'm fairly frustrated because moving the maps along a route was one of my favorite ways to search for caches.

[+Shilo]

Is anyone else having trouble with the new maps? I cannot seem to move the map around without my computer freezing or I move the map and the search box is back where I started. I'm fairly frustrated because moving the maps along a route was one of my favorite ways to search for caches.

 

It's slower than s^$&$&^ but it does finally load if you wait several minutes.....well at least for me.

I'm headed to FL in the morning and its taking forever to look at PQ previews to make sure I have the area I want.

 

It seemed faster about a month ago. Wonder what happened since then?

[+jackrock]

Is anyone else having trouble with the new maps? I cannot seem to move the map around without my computer freezing or I move the map and the search box is back where I started. I'm fairly frustrated because moving the maps along a route was one of my favorite ways to search for caches.

 

Not me, they work great and are fast. None of the problems you mention. I really like these new maps. I find them easy to use and very beneficial when fine tuning my route for the day. Following my route on the map allowed me to recently discover some caches directly on the route that consistently failed to turn up in the PQ.

[+MrFRjr]

 

Not me, they work great and are fast. None of the problems you mention.

 

How can that be? They are absolutely terrible. How can they be so good for you and be so unusable for so many others?

[+PilotMike]

How can that be? They are absolutely terrible. How can they be so good for you and be so unusable for so many others?

I've been subscribed to this forum, just to see if any neat new features would get added after I commented and saw the original changes. I've been surprised to see all the complaints, as I haven't had any problems with them either.

 

Maybe I'm not pushing them to their limits or using what the full potential could be, but I travel all the time and use the map to get started, get my bearings, and usually create an associated pocket query. I almost wonder if we need to start posting operating system, hardware, software configurations...

 

I'm using XP, and switch between Firefox and IE7. I use different ISP's all the time, different airports, hotels, businesses, and my home.

Edited November 27, 2007 by PilotMike

[+geoduck.5]

How can that be? They are absolutely terrible. How can they be so good for you and be so unusable for so many others?

I've been subscribed to this forum, just to see if any neat new features would get added after I commented and saw the original changes. I've been surprised to see all the complaints, as I haven't had any problems with them either.

 

Maybe I'm not pushing them to their limits or using what the full potential could be, but I travel all the time and use the map to get started, get my bearings, and usually create an associated pocket query. I almost wonder if we need to start posting operating system, hardware, software configurations...

 

I'm using XP, and switch between Firefox and IE7. I use different ISP's all the time, different airports, hotels, businesses, and my home.

 

I'm like you PilotMike, I've used the new maps on both Firefox, and IE7, XP and Vista platforms and at least 5 different computers and have not had one problem. Only thing I can figure out is that those that are having problems must have some sort of setting or add on that is creating problems for them. I'm on the other side of the spectrum with the google maps, I think they are absolutely great!

[+tozainamboku]

How can that be? They are absolutely terrible. How can they be so good for you and be so unusable for so many others?

I've been subscribed to this forum, just to see if any neat new features would get added after I commented and saw the original changes. I've been surprised to see all the complaints, as I haven't had any problems with them either.

 

Maybe I'm not pushing them to their limits or using what the full potential could be, but I travel all the time and use the map to get started, get my bearings, and usually create an associated pocket query. I almost wonder if we need to start posting operating system, hardware, software configurations...

 

I'm using XP, and switch between Firefox and IE7. I use different ISP's all the time, different airports, hotels, businesses, and my home.

One of the changes that was made was to remove the 15 mile limit and replace it with a 500 cache limit. I think people are zooming out to see more and then panning the maps to where they are getting 500 caches. It may be people with low bandwidth internet connection or people that have limited memory on their computers that having problems. Try panning while still zoomed in so you don't get as many caches returned each time you pan, or use the zoom to address box to move directly to a new area without getting all the intermediate refreshes as you pan.

[+DangerousDale]

I love the new features and haven't had any problems at all on the new maps. It does take a few seconds when you move or resize the map but that is to be expected. For those of you that have issues, you might want to look into adding more ram (memory) for your computer or a better video card or a newer computer.

 

While I am really happy with and use the "hide my finds and caches" I could use ONE more if possible. I need a "Hide my Ignore List" if you can do so. The reason being is I cache on my own name and with a Team Name as well. When I am out with the Team I log my finds under the team name and then place those caches on my "Ignore List" and it would be AWESOME if you could add those to the remove from the map listing so I can look at the maps without my finds, hides and ignores.

 

Thanks again for all the hard work and keep up the good job!

 

Take Care and Be Well!

 

Dale

Edited November 27, 2007 by DangerousDale

[+DangerousDale]

Come on, us free members got rights too!

 

Free members don't pay the bills or the programmer to make the changes! A premium membership costs less than dining out at a restaurant for one night, or one nights movie, popcorn and soda, or less than one tank of gas. Please help and support this great hobby, don't let them run out of money! I love Geocaching and recommend all to get a premium membership. Hopefully they can keep it free for most, and I think it's more than appropriate that the premium features go to the premium members. Keep up the good work, and thank you for all you do!

Edited November 27, 2007 by DangerousDale

[+JLTx2]

Come on, us free members got rights too!

 

Free members don't pay the bills or the programmer to make the changes! A premium membership costs less than dining out at a restaurant for one night, or one nights movie, popcorn and soda, or less than one tank of gas. Please help and support this great hobby, don't let them run out of money! I love Geocaching and recommend all to get a premium membership. Hopefully they can keep it free for most, and I think it's more than appropriate that the premium features go to the premium members. Keep up the good work, and thank you for all you do!

Okay, I'm a premium member and you take how many thousand people are premium members and that adds up to a lot of money.

We want answers and are not getting them. You can't email GC.com support and get answers anymore!!! You will get an auto reply with a ticket number on any email you send and you can't even click the link to check the progress of a submitted Ticket ID...

 

How much is google paying GC.com to use their CRAPPY maps!!!! That is a stretch to call them maps....especially when you drag starting in south georgia and you end up in hawaii or africa, depending on if you go left or right

[+DangerousDale]

Come on, us free members got rights too!

 

Free members don't pay the bills or the programmer to make the changes!

Okay, I'm a premium member and you take how many thousand people are premium members and that adds up to a lot of money.

We want answers and are not getting them. You can't email GC.com support and get answers anymore!!! You will get an auto reply with a ticket number on any email you send and you can't even click the link to check the progress of a submitted Ticket ID...

 

How much is google paying GC.com to use their CRAPPY maps!!!! That is a stretch to call them maps....especially when you drag starting in south georgia and you end up in hawaii or africa, depending on if you go left or right

I don't work for GC.com but I do work in the IT field and I know how much it costs for website hosting, programmers to keep the pages up to date and for maps to work for millions of users whom only a small portion are premium members. We as premium members pay to keep the site going for the free people, which I don't have a problem with. I was a free person when I first started and was thankful for the time it gave me to decide I wanted more.

 

But regardless, I don't know what your issue is that it's so pressing that you need an immediate response, but I do know a lot of issues get resolved here on the forum.

 

If the problem is the maps that everyone else seems to love and use, how would you resolve this issue? You have tens or hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers and a few that aren't, what would you do? I think we here in the USA go by majority rules, so I am sorry that you are having problems but most of us are not. Would it be a problem with your PC or something else?

 

I hope you get your issues resolved and you once again become a happy geocacher!

[+DangerousDale]

I know I already asked for a button to remove the caches on "my ignore list" but I just noticed that it also has the temporarily disabled caches. They are cleverly changed with a color background around the cache instead of the plain white. It took me a few minutes to figure this out. But could we also add a checkbox to remore the temp. disabled caches? So that would be 2 more checkboxes, one to remove "ignored caches" and one to remove "temp. disabled caches". Just a suggestion/request for a HAPPY geocacher that loves Geocaching and Google Maps too!

[+Team Cotati]

Come on, us free members got rights too!

 

Free members don't pay the bills or the programmer to make the changes!

Okay, I'm a premium member and you take how many thousand people are premium members and that adds up to a lot of money.

We want answers and are not getting them. You can't email GC.com support and get answers anymore!!! You will get an auto reply with a ticket number on any email you send and you can't even click the link to check the progress of a submitted Ticket ID...

 

How much is google paying GC.com to use their CRAPPY maps!!!! That is a stretch to call them maps....especially when you drag starting in south georgia and you end up in hawaii or africa, depending on if you go left or right

I don't work for GC.com but I do work in the IT field and I know how much it costs for website hosting, programmers to keep the pages up to date and for maps to work for millions of users whom only a small portion are premium members. We as premium members pay to keep the site going for the free people, which I don't have a problem with. I was a free person when I first started and was thankful for the time it gave me to decide I wanted more.

 

But regardless, I don't know what your issue is that it's so pressing that you need an immediate response, but I do know a lot of issues get resolved here on the forum.

 

If the problem is the maps that everyone else seems to love and use, how would you resolve this issue? You have tens or hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers and a few that aren't, what would you do? I think we here in the USA go by majority rules, so I am sorry that you are having problems but most of us are not. Would it be a problem with your PC or something else?

 

I hope you get your issues resolved and you once again become a happy geocacher!

 

I can tell you for certain dead sure that it is not the user, it is not the user's PC and it is not the user's network connection and it is not the user's operating system and it is not the user's choice of browser.

 

And the "everyone else" that you refer to, exactly who is that?

[OpinioNate]

I can tell you for certain dead sure that it is not the user, it is not the user's PC and it is not the user's network connection and it is not the user's operating system and it is not the user's choice of browser.

 

And the "everyone else" that you refer to, exactly who is that?

 

I know that to those of you who are affected you could not care less that 99% of geocachers are not having any problems with the Google Maps, but the fact is that you are in the minority, and your problem cannot be reproduced at the moment.

 

I would ask that any further posts with regard to scrolling the map or never ending parsing contain the operating system and version, as well as the browser and version and type of internet connection of the computer being used. Processor speed and firewall info may be helpful as well. My hope is that once several of you have done so we may see some correlation that will help us get to the bottom of this. Thanks.

 

I'll start:

 

No problems with

OSX Leopard running Opera

XP running IE 7, IE 6, Firefox 2, Mozilla 1.7, Opera, Safari

Edited November 28, 2007 by OpinioNate

[+The Tubbin's]

So, I am having trouble printing the maps. I see within this string the hint to print landscape (already doing that) and then the other hint that says "change scale to 80%". Can anyone tell me how to do that? I can't figure it out. I am using IE 6.0. Thanks.