Release Notes 7/23/08

[+keithlemons]

How come my 'Last Visit:' on the profile page is stuck on Sunday July 27 and I've been on everyday since, and today's date is Saturday August 02 ?

[+Michael]

How come my 'Last Visit:' on the profile page is stuck on Sunday July 27 and I've been on everyday since, and today's date is Saturday August 02 ?

 

Try logging out and back in on the main site. See if that fixes it.

[+Sagefox]

Downloading Benchmark SD0402 results in a waypoint for Geocache GC402.

 

Can you provide me with exact steps perhaps? It would also be helpful if you could attach the .loc file to an email and send it to contact@geocaching.com (with "c/o Nate" in the body or something). Thanks.

 

More specific description is in the mail along with two loc example files. I will be camping and out of computer contact for a week.

 

Thanks for all your hard work.

 

P.S. We are NOT losing interest in geocaching one iota.

[+janandsteve]

Hi

 

Wonder if anyone can advise on what may be causing the following problem?.....

 

When I do a 'Search for nearest caches from your home coordinates', I get some missing info down the left-hand side of the page - esp the 'miles from home coordinates' - all I can see is the 'i'. This has only happened since the recent changes. The green border seems to be hiding the info.

 

I noticed this on a 800x600 screen resolution monitor. Should the coding be made to 'relative' and not 'absolute' ie Main box coded as % of screen resolution and not set to absolute??????

 

Had a search of other threads in this topic, and couldn't find a relevant answer, so appologies in advance if this has already been discussed.

 

Otherwise looks a good cosmetic 'upgrade'....

 

Thanks

[+ime]

Has the "List newest in..." dropdown list and button disappeared or am I just too blind?

 

If so, is there any substitute (main or "my" page)?

[+Corey]

Has the "List newest in..." dropdown list and button disappeared or am I just too blind?

 

If so, is there any substitute (main or "my" page)?

On the right-hand side of the "my account" page, I see a "List newest in California" link (under "Search Options"). Also, you can go to the "Hide and Seek" page and select "Local state page". This page includes a few newest caches among other things.

Actually, if you select "by state" on the hide and seek page, the results are sorted by date, so this is the same as the link on "my account" page.

[+NevadaWolf]

This may be a mobile issue:

 

Since the upgrade, I can no longer see the Log Type icons on the cache pages, nor the Cache Type icons on my Found Caches list under my account.

 

Makes it interesting trying to guess if the last log was actually successful!

 

Using Win Mobile 5 and Pocket IE

[+Star*Hopper]

I can't now find the section with the list & descriptions for the misc. geocaching software that was available. Where's that gone??

 

Also, reposting the below -- I filed this serious issue right after it surfaced, but the rash of complaints with the new release quickly ran it off the bottom of the page before it got any attention:

 

===

There's something wrong with the Search function(s) on the /seek/ webpage since the recent changes.

Yesterday I tried finding some local caches to verify.....entered a search based on zip 28501.

I got an error message saying no 28501 could be found. Refreshed page, ditto.

I then went to the 'by Address' pane & just entered my city,state (which has always worked before)....got same message, saying in effect there's no such city!

 

Closed browser, opened new browser page; re-tried Zip search, ditto error: 'Couldn't find'.

I figured the changes had brought some scripting errors, so just gave up.

 

Trying to complete the task I was attempting yesterday, I re-tried this morning.

The search on zip 28501 produces results....but immediately noticed the nearest waypoint was NOWHERE near the former nearest cache....in fact, was miles out of town, & out in the country.

 

Searching on 28501 apparently (according to the new page) establishes a center: "By Waypoint - From Origin: N 35° 15.862 W 077° 29.940" (from atop the search results page).

 

That coordinate is approx 4-2/3 miles due east of the geo-center of the city; over 5-1/2 miles away from the former GZ of 28501, & approx 2-3/4 miles outside the city limits!

 

The geocenter of searches based on zip 28501 was formerly a few yards from the cache named 'Let!' (GC193RX) at N 35° 16.295 W 077° 35.963.

 

There's apparently still some problems with the Search system. Could TPTB look into this ASAP please?

===

 

Note: The issue of (sic) "No results found for zip 28501" & again on the city/state, occurred again this past Saturday.

 

Thanks!

~S*H

Edited August 4, 2008 by Star*Hopper

[+edscott]

Just did up a road trip folder and happy to report that, for me at least, (OSX & Safari) the maps are back to normal.. that is they are still slow to load but fully functional. The printing is fine and none of the maps were split up into separate chunks on different pages. I suppose lots of other glitches remain, but I'm going back to the woods.

[+Corey]

The new front page no longer shows links to the sample logsheets, stashnote, et al. I found this very useful, and have referred several others to it. The Resource page seems like a logical place to've moved it - but no; that's just a calendar & dozens of misc. Signal wallpapers (which I wonder how useful they really are??)

In fact, checking every link in the site index, I still can't find the sample stashnote! I'd like to see it returned to the Home Page - or at least some info &/or links that show it/they've been made a part of the Group Resources.

...

The only place I've seen the stash note is at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

...

I also can't now find the section with the list & descriptions for the misc. geocaching software that was available. Where's that gone??

...

http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/

[+Star*Hopper]

Got it, Corey -- thanx!!

~*

[+MaitreMind]

3. The prior version of the site was MUCH better on my mobile phone (IE browser on Windows Mobile 6.1). I don't want to say the current site is horrible on my mobile phone but it certainly appears mobile devices were apparently not considered or tested during development prior to promotion to your production servers.

 

FULLY AGREE!!

 

2. A mobile friendly version of the site would be helpful (i.e. mobile.geocaching.com)

 

http://wap.geocaching.com

 

That's the mobile version of the site, though it too has improvements that could be made.

 

Thanks for the WAP - "Text Only Site" link. For some the layout might be OK, alittle graphics and formatting would be nice. Why not http://wap.geocaching.com for "Text Only" and http://mobile.geocaching.com for those with highspeed mobile capable of better formatting and graphics.

 

MaitreMind

[+Cajun Canuck]

The distance radius will not accept a new entry in an excisting PQ!!!

The other settings accept new entries.

I've tried it on a different computer and it did not work there.

Running Windows XP, IE 7.0

[kablooey]

When I'm submitting a log, I can't even see what I'm typing half the time. That's kind of annoying.

 

Now that I've returned from two weeks of submitting logs on the road, I'd like to upgrade this to "really annoying". It's somewhat distressing to find that over half my logs now have typos because I couldn't see what I was typing.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Here are 2 pictures of the same web page. 1 is from IE7 and the other is from Firefox.

 

They only show that portion of the cache page just above the logs and just below the cache description.

 

Firefox

 

IE7

 

These picture were done tonight at about 11:00PM MST.

 

There appears to be a distinct difference in how the browsers render the cache page.

 

John

[+UncleJimbo]

Here are 2 pictures of the same web page. 1 is from IE7 and the other is from Firefox.

 

There appears to be a distinct difference in how the browsers render the cache page.

 

John

I am accessing cache pages on a Mac using Safari and Firefox and on a Windows XP laptop using IE and Firefox, and the pages look the same on all of them.

 

Do you have a firewall blocking images/maps?

[+LeGodFather]

Here are 2 pictures of the same web page. 1 is from IE7 and the other is from Firefox.

 

There appears to be a distinct difference in how the browsers render the cache page.

 

John

I am accessing cache pages on a Mac using Safari and Firefox and on a Windows XP laptop using IE and Firefox, and the pages look the same on all of them.

 

Do you have a firewall blocking images/maps?

Or any GreaseMonkey scripts that don't work anymore?

[+sojourners7]

It looks great and I like it! Thanks for all of the hard work.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Here are 2 pictures of the same web page. 1 is from IE7 and the other is from Firefox.

 

There appears to be a distinct difference in how the browsers render the cache page.

 

John

I am accessing cache pages on a Mac using Safari and Firefox and on a Windows XP laptop using IE and Firefox, and the pages look the same on all of them.

 

Do you have a firewall blocking images/maps?

 

Just noticed I was Not logged in on the IE7 browser. I logged in and both browsers look the same.

 

John

[OpinioNate]

When I'm submitting a log, I can't even see what I'm typing half the time. That's kind of annoying.

 

Now that I've returned from two weeks of submitting logs on the road, I'd like to upgrade this to "really annoying". It's somewhat distressing to find that over half my logs now have typos because I couldn't see what I was typing.

 

Sorry you're still having trouble. What's your browser? Cache URL (or is it all?), OS, screen resolution etc. This might be hard to repro.

[+Harry the furry squid]

Two issues that still seem to be in evidence:

(a) Searching on the full postcode "B91 3BB" returns a location somewhere in Germany - it should be on the outskirts of Birmingham. If it's possible for postcodes to be interpreted more than one way, maybe the postcode search needs to get the user to specify the country?

( If viewing a list of search results in less than full-screen (which is *very* desirable when you're at work and want to make it less obvious that what you're doing isn't work :), the left side of the page is missing. (I have a screen print of this but can't work out how to add it to the thread - maybe the help topic on this needs to be more obvious?)

 

PC is a pentium 4 running XP Pro SP2 and IE6.

[OpinioNate]

Two issues that still seem to be in evidence:

(a) Searching on the full postcode "B91 3BB" returns a location somewhere in Germany - it should be on the outskirts of Birmingham. If it's possible for postcodes to be interpreted more than one way, maybe the postcode search needs to get the user to specify the country?

( If viewing a list of search results in less than full-screen (which is *very* desirable when you're at work and want to make it less obvious that what you're doing isn't work :), the left side of the page is missing. (I have a screen print of this but can't work out how to add it to the thread - maybe the help topic on this needs to be more obvious?)

 

PC is a pentium 4 running XP Pro SP2 and IE6.

 

If you search on this page you will get the correct results. That is because this search pulls from our database copy and not from Google. The other two search methods use Google's Maps API, which is wrong. Try your search there and you'll see what I mean.

 

We sent a bug report to Google and have not heard anything back yet. In the meantime you can use the search in my first link above.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

' Here is a cropped screen shot with the red arrow pointing to the overlap problem. I was able to show this by highlighting the word advertisement.

 

 

This is in Firefox 2.0.0.9 with a screen resolution of 1280 X 960.

 

This overlap is preventing using any of the buttons on that side of the page.

 

John

 

Any update on the fix for this overlap? It still creates problems when trying to use any link in that overlap area.

 

Or have you given up on finding a fix?

 

John

[+Labrador Wild Man]

Hi all

 

This may have been answered, but i can not see it anywhere on the forums, if so i do not understand it!

 

My 52 T/b and geocoins most show the left side over lap onto the details can some one tell why is this?

 

Take a look at

 

The labrador wild man coin #3 TBIWNYN

 

is it my computer or how i made the web page?

 

do not no how to fix it HELP

 

can some one show me step by step on how to fixe it

 

thanks

 

Labrador Wild Man

[+Harry the furry squid]

Two issues that still seem to be in evidence:

(a) Searching on the full postcode "B91 3BB" returns a location somewhere in Germany - it should be on the outskirts of Birmingham. If it's possible for postcodes to be interpreted more than one way, maybe the postcode search needs to get the user to specify the country?

( If viewing a list of search results in less than full-screen (which is *very* desirable when you're at work and want to make it less obvious that what you're doing isn't work :), the left side of the page is missing. (I have a screen print of this but can't work out how to add it to the thread - maybe the help topic on this needs to be more obvious?)

 

PC is a pentium 4 running XP Pro SP2 and IE6.

 

If you search on this page you will get the correct results. That is because this search pulls from our database copy and not from Google. The other two search methods use Google's Maps API, which is wrong. Try your search there and you'll see what I mean.

 

We sent a bug report to Google and have not heard anything back yet. In the meantime you can use the search in my first link above.

 

Many thanks for the clarification on (a) . . . any ideas on (?

[+trainlove]

Trying to complete the task I was attempting yesterday, I re-tried this morning.

The search on zip 28501 produces results....but immediately noticed the nearest waypoint was NOWHERE near the former nearest cache....in fact, was miles out of town, & out in the country.

 

Searching on 28501 apparently (according to the new page) establishes a center: "By Waypoint - From Origin: N 35° 15.862 W 077° 29.940" (from atop the search results page).

 

That coordinate is approx 4-2/3 miles due east of the geo-center of the city; over 5-1/2 miles away from the former GZ of 28501, & approx 2-3/4 miles outside the city limits!

 

The geocenter of searches based on zip 28501 was formerly a few yards from the cache named 'Let!' (GC193RX) at N 35° 16.295 W 077° 35.963.

 

Perhaps the inclusion of new Zone Improvement Codes has adjusted the coordinates that had existed for some of the many thousands of existing Zip codes. Too bad it's not possible to have all the old ones from the Tiger Census free database that existed when geocaching.com formed, remain forever in stone, and only add New ones to that existing database.

 

I imagine that some Ground Zero caches are now impossible to find.

[+alien88]

What is the status of the lack of e-mails coming for coins/travel bugs/caches people own?

[+UncleJimbo]

Trying to complete the task I was attempting yesterday, I re-tried this morning.

The search on zip 28501 produces results....but immediately noticed the nearest waypoint was NOWHERE near the former nearest cache....in fact, was miles out of town, & out in the country.

 

Searching on 28501 apparently (according to the new page) establishes a center: "By Waypoint - From Origin: N 35° 15.862 W 077° 29.940" (from atop the search results page).

 

That coordinate is approx 4-2/3 miles due east of the geo-center of the city; over 5-1/2 miles away from the former GZ of 28501, & approx 2-3/4 miles outside the city limits!

 

The geocenter of searches based on zip 28501 was formerly a few yards from the cache named 'Let!' (GC193RX) at N 35° 16.295 W 077° 35.963.

 

Perhaps the inclusion of new Zone Improvement Codes has adjusted the coordinates that had existed for some of the many thousands of existing Zip codes. Too bad it's not possible to have all the old ones from the Tiger Census free database that existed when geocaching.com formed, remain forever in stone, and only add New ones to that existing database.

 

I imagine that some Ground Zero caches are now impossible to find.

The owners of those Ground Zero caches only need add the old coordinates to their cache page, and then the caches are able to be found.

[+trainlove]

The owners of those Ground Zero caches only need add the old coordinates to their cache page, and then the caches are able to be found.

 

Then those caches would no longer be Puzzle Caches.

Of one might suggest that a Ground Zero cache owner move their cache to the new coordinates, and therefore have to get the reviewer to re-review it since the distances seem to be great. But then one might ask, if the ground zero coordinates changes on 7/23/08 due to the release, will it change tomorrow for no reason or for a database update or zip code update... and force us to have to move the cache yet again...

 

I like consistancy and am glad that so far none of the ground zeros related to any of my caches have been changed by anyone other than me.

[+UncleJimbo]

The owners of those Ground Zero caches only need add the old coordinates to their cache page, and then the caches are able to be found.

 

Then those caches would no longer be Puzzle Caches.

Of one might suggest that a Ground Zero cache owner move their cache to the new coordinates, and therefore have to get the reviewer to re-review it since the distances seem to be great. But then one might ask, if the ground zero coordinates changes on 7/23/08 due to the release, will it change tomorrow for no reason or for a database update or zip code update... and force us to have to move the cache yet again...

 

I like consistancy and am glad that so far none of the ground zeros related to any of my caches have been changed by anyone other than me.

They would certainly still be puzzle caches. The only part of the "puzzle" removed would be that the person would no longer have to figure out where to get zip code coordinates.

 

I just solved one yesterday after getting the "old" zip code coordinates from the cache owner. I still had to do the calculations (for the second time since I did them once with the wrong zip code numbers).

 

Btw, the zip code numbers changed not because of the new release, but because Google changed them.

Edited August 7, 2008 by UncleJimbo

[+hodgesjl]

The new release seems to have a changed the printing of the description pages:

The left part is truncated so some text is missing. This is in IE and FF.

 

Until now I used to print the description pages. Before this, I decrypted the hint (very ugly that now the page is reloaded as noted before) and printed two or three pages. So I have some logs and were happy outside.

 

PDF formatting is ugly because it writes all the text in one line and does not print the decrypted hint - even if I decrypted it before.

 

"Print Simple (no logs)" is ugly because the missing logs and it does not print the decrypted hint - even if I decrypted it before.

 

Please bring back the old printing!

 

Rgds

Walter (walter1)

 

I agree with Walter. I use the PDF's to do paperless caching - I mail them to myself and retrieve them with my iPod Touch. Now, when I decrypt the hint before choosing print pdf, the pdf file is still encrypted. Please fix.

[+hodgesjl]

For those having the problem with PDF's saving with no hint decryption, I simply bring up the page, click on decrypt, then in my browser (Safari) I select file, print, click on the PDF option and save it to my desktop. You'll get 5 logs automatically. If you want more (which could result in MANY pages) you can click the "view them all on one page" option before the above procedure. A workaround until the fine folks fix the code.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I reported my bookmarked list ratings gone. I was wrong, they're now linked to the word ratings in the description field at the top.

 

Unfortunately, three of the four ratings on the list are for a different list ( a previous use of this list as a guide to caches near an event venue), as a function of how bookmarked lists work.

 

Because I had reached 20 list limit, when I started this list (all USA Wherigo caches), I deleted all previous bookmarks, and edited the name and description. But because there's no ARCHIVE option on a bookmarked list, it carried forward the original ratings.

(oops, turns out there is an archive function......my bad - ignore this post - thanks to AZcachemeister for pointing it out)

The current Wherigo bookmarked list has been rated once, but there are 4 ratings attached to the list, 3 from its previous use as a list of caches near an event venue.

 

If ratings are cumulative, there needs to be an option to ARCHIVE bookmarked lists, and start over. Otherwise, nonsensical ratings will attach to completely altered bookmarked lists, as here.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Isonzo Karst

[AZcachemeister]

I reported my bookmarked list ratings gone. I was wrong, they're now linked to the word ratings in the description field at the top.

 

Unfortunately, three of the four ratings on the list are for a different list ( a previous use of this list as a guide to caches near an event venue), as a function of how bookmarked lists work.

 

Because I had reached 20 list limit, when I started this list (all USA Wherigo caches), I deleted all previous bookmarks, and edited the name and description. But because there's no ARCHIVE option on a bookmarked list, it carried forward the original ratings.

 

The current Wherigo bookmarked list has been rated once, but there are 4 ratings attached to the list, 3 from its previous use as a list of caches near an event venue.

 

If ratings are cumulative, there needs to be an option to ARCHIVE bookmarked lists, and start over. Otherwise, nonsensical ratings will attach to completely altered bookmarked lists, as here.

 

When I select 'Edit List' for my Bookmark list, I see a grayed-out button that says 'Archive Listing' on it.

I believe the button is inactive while there are still items in/on the list, but once the list is empty, it can then be archived.

Have you tried this button?

I don't know if it works or not, but it's there!

[+Isonzo Karst]

Thanks AZcachemeister, I'll go try that on a list. Of course, I'm a tad concerned that if it works, I'll end up with one fewer bookmarked list, and never get it back...

 

__________________

 

Yes, it works. Bulk delete the bookmarks, then archive the list.

Of course, I archived a list without ratings, so I don't know what happens with them, but I'd assume that they would archive with the list. Problem solved.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Isonzo Karst

[+paleolith]

Yes, I've deleted bookmark lists -- I suppose I actually archived them -- and ISTR that I had to delete all the bookmarks first, which was a real pain with a large list. There are cases where this is a good idea, and I don't think this is one of them -- it would be better just to add a confirmation page when the list is not empty, saying "You are about to delete a list containing 478 bookmarks. You will not be able to retrieve the bookmarks after deleting the list. Nuke / Cancel".

 

But as for carrying ratings forward, I don't see any other way. gc.com has no way of knowing that you are really making a new list rather than just doing a thorough cleaning. In fact, I can conceive of cases where the name and entire list might change from time to time, and yet because the list owner's purpose remained the same, the ratings would reasonable stick.

 

Edward

[+paleolith]

1) Sure would be helpful is Groundspeak would post a list of known problems, current status, and plans. Would save a lot of time asking and answering the same questions over and over in these release notes threads. Probably Fogbugz or a similar system could do this out of the box, though I haven't checked. Points 2 and 3, below, are ones I wish I could just look up on a status page instead of nagging about here. I have no desire to nag, but I would like to know that the issues have been heard, noted, and prioritized in at least preliminary fashion.

 

2) I have seen no response to the issues of massive validation errors on all cache pages. For example, this cache currently shows 422 validation errors on the W3 validator.

 

3) Probably closely related, the serious spacing issues in some browsers remain. For example, in the cache linked above, a typical log entry looks like this:

 

and the description looks like this:

 

 

Note that the first paragraph of logs is OK but remaining paragraphs have extra space. The entire description has extra space, even the "short" part.

 

Both of these locatoins were spaced normally before the latest release -- that is, the description was spaced like the "please note" above it, and the entire log was spaced like the first paragraph.

 

Yes, I'm using Opera rather than IE or FF. But this could show up in any browser at any time, since all the browsers are being forced into quirks mode by the errors in the HTML/CSS.

 

I haven't tried to track down the cause of the discrepancy; it appears to be in CSS rather than HTML. But due to the errors, there isn't much point. The proper and expedient way to correct this kind of thing is to fix the errors. Browsers operating in standards mode tend to be very consistent -- yes, to everyone's surprise, even IE renders standard-conforming pages very well according to the standards -- in fact, in reviews IE is one of the best in this respect.

 

Edward

[+Michael]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

 

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

 

Thank you for you concern we have heard you.

[+The Last Airbender]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

 

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

 

Thank you for you concern we have heard you.

Agree. But maybe a list of the reported bugs should be on the first page for people to view. Maybe with a quick status on them. Something like researching/fixed/Not addressed yet. Just thinking out loud here. It would give people some info which may prevent duplicate reports and customers who think you aren't doing anything. Just a thought

[+UncleJimbo]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

 

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

 

Thank you for you concern we have heard you.

Agree. But maybe a list of the reported bugs should be on the first page for people to view. Maybe with a quick status on them. Something like researching/fixed/Not addressed yet. Just thinking out loud here. It would give people some info which may prevent duplicate reports and customers who think you aren't doing anything. Just a thought

That would be nice.

 

I have read every post in this thread, and I have seen the same things mentioned over and over, probably because people don't have the time to read all the posts.

[+trainlove]

I know it's been reported, or something close has been reported. But I liked the option to search for nearby Benchmarks when on any cache page as in:

 

Find...

...other caches hidden or found by this user

...nearby caches of this type, that I haven't found

...all nearby caches, that I haven't found

...all nearby waymarks on Waymarking.com

 

It used to be there, perhaps it's still there (but only in the USA?). While at the Mega Event in Quebec, and during the 7.5 days I was away from home, I saw and took photos of at least 25 benchmarks while close to any of the 100+ finds and 20-30 caches that we gave up on, perhaps NONE of them are in any database?

 

Please bring back that link.

 

I have read every post in this thread, and I have seen the same things mentioned over and over, probably because people don't have the time to read all the posts.

 

I too have read all posts, back before my 7.5 day trip to the Mega Event in Quebec when there were only 13 pages of 50 posts. But even though I see many people asking the same things over and over again and again, I also see many things that were reported back within the first 20 posts that STILL have not been addressed or fixed.

Edited August 9, 2008 by trainlove

[+Corey]

I know it's been reported, or something close has been reported. But I liked the option to search for nearby Benchmarks when on any cache page

...

Please bring back that link.

I think Groundspeak's database is a snapshot of the USGS database, which only includes US benchmarks.

From the benchmark page:

If the benchmark is in Canada, you can log it in the Canadian Benchmarks category in Waymarking.

[+trainlove]

I know it's been reported, or something close has been reported. But I liked the option to search for nearby Benchmarks when on any cache page

...

Please bring back that link.

I think Groundspeak's database is a snapshot of the USGS database, which only includes US benchmarks.

From the benchmark page:

If the benchmark is in Canada, you can log it in the Canadian Benchmarks category in Waymarking.

 

Thanks, My suspicion was unjustified, any cache page not in Canada has the link I mention remembering. I had read other concerns about benchmarks in this 15*50 page rant that I just thought it was the same.

 

I probably will not log any of the benchmarks as waymarks, since i dislike the whole idea of waymarks, or the personal/private ownership of categories...

[+paleolith]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

Michael,

 

With all respect, you are trying to solve a communications problem by telling people not to expect communication. Instead of inveighing against people for reposting problems which received no responses, you need to accept that your method of (non)response isn't working. Observe the results and draw the reasonable conclusion that it isn't working. I suggested a tried and true, very effective method which most development teams find saves time in both user communications and in programming.

 

Products like Fogbugz are easy to install and use. I don't know if the license for Fogbugz is suitable for this situation, but it's certainly not the only bug tracker in town. There are bad ones as well, some of them also very popular unfortunately.

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

As noted above, most development teams find that an organized list of issues actually improves their efficiency. Also, when you have public users, communication IS part of the service you provide. It's very poor user relations to say oh, trust us, we're working on it but we don't have time to talk about it. The less experienced users simply feel cut out. The more experienced users know that this attitude is usually a sign of disorganization.

 

Programmers like to just dive into solving problems. That is indeed part of the psychology that makes a good programmer. To stop and maintain a list of issues does require backing off for a while. Experienced developers, however, learn that the benefits are great.

 

Edward

[+UncleJimbo]

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

As noted above, most development teams find that an organized list of issues actually improves their efficiency. Also, when you have public users, communication IS part of the service you provide. It's very poor user relations to say oh, trust us, we're working on it but we don't have time to talk about it. The less experienced users simply feel cut out. The more experienced users know that this attitude is usually a sign of disorganization.

 

Programmers like to just dive into solving problems. That is indeed part of the psychology that makes a good programmer. To stop and maintain a list of issues does require backing off for a while. Experienced developers, however, learn that the benefits are great.

 

Edward

I agree. From my experience in the "real world" of industry, the responses here give the overwhelming impression of an amateur, unorganized operation. I don't don't know if this is true, but that is the impression.

[+woodman5898]

The "Remember This Date Link" on Event cache pages is not returning a valid vCal Document. I have tried open the files directly from the webpage and saving them to my computer and then opening then. I admit I'm only using Palm Desktop to try and open these files but it's always worked for me.

[Mushtang]

I also see many things that were reported back within the first 20 posts that STILL have not been addressed or fixed.

That's not true at all. Every issue brought up in this thread has been addressed multiple times, most recently here.

 

Patience young cacher. All issues have been seen, no need to stir the pot. They've seen all the issues mentioned in this thread, they've made note of them, they've got them on a list somewhere. Not every single issue gets a personal reply in this thread.

[+edscott]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

Michael,

 

With all respect, you are trying to solve a communications problem by telling people not to expect communication. Instead of inveighing against people for reposting problems which received no responses, you need to accept that your method of (non)response isn't working. Observe the results and draw the reasonable conclusion that it isn't working. I suggested a tried and true, very effective method which most development teams find saves time in both user communications and in programming.

 

Products like Fogbugz are easy to install and use. I don't know if the license for Fogbugz is suitable for this situation, but it's certainly not the only bug tracker in town. There are bad ones as well, some of them also very popular unfortunately.

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

As noted above, most development teams find that an organized list of issues actually improves their efficiency. Also, when you have public users, communication IS part of the service you provide. It's very poor user relations to say oh, trust us, we're working on it but we don't have time to talk about it. The less experienced users simply feel cut out. The more experienced users know that this attitude is usually a sign of disorganization.

 

Programmers like to just dive into solving problems. That is indeed part of the psychology that makes a good programmer. To stop and maintain a list of issues does require backing off for a while. Experienced developers, however, learn that the benefits are great.

 

Edward

 

Excellent advice.. hope you are heard.

[+tozainamboku]

Multiple times it has been stated that we are aware of the problems and that we are addressing them. It has also been stated that not all of you will get an individual comment but we are aware of the requests and the problems expressed in this thread.

 

Having said that please do not expect that all the problems will be noted with an individual comment to that specific problem. We are aware of them and they are being addressed in an order determined by the need and the development team.

Michael,

 

With all respect, you are trying to solve a communications problem by telling people not to expect communication. Instead of inveighing against people for reposting problems which received no responses, you need to accept that your method of (non)response isn't working. Observe the results and draw the reasonable conclusion that it isn't working. I suggested a tried and true, very effective method which most development teams find saves time in both user communications and in programming.

 

Products like Fogbugz are easy to install and use. I don't know if the license for Fogbugz is suitable for this situation, but it's certainly not the only bug tracker in town. There are bad ones as well, some of them also very popular unfortunately.

Do not expect an individual acknowledgment of every problem. We would rather the developers spend the time fixing them than saying they are going to fix each issue by name.

As noted above, most development teams find that an organized list of issues actually improves their efficiency. Also, when you have public users, communication IS part of the service you provide. It's very poor user relations to say oh, trust us, we're working on it but we don't have time to talk about it. The less experienced users simply feel cut out. The more experienced users know that this attitude is usually a sign of disorganization.

 

Programmers like to just dive into solving problems. That is indeed part of the psychology that makes a good programmer. To stop and maintain a list of issues does require backing off for a while. Experienced developers, however, learn that the benefits are great.

 

Edward

Of course Groundspeak does use a bug tracking system. It has been referred to several times by OpinioNate. For various reasons Groundspeak has decided not to make the bugs being tracked public. OpinioNate or someone else may comment that a particular report has been entered into the tracking system or that he will try to make sure a developer takes a look at a particular problem.

 

After a major release, there tend to be a lot of people reporting the same problem. Rather than responding to each person individually, Groundspeak prefers to monitor the threads and create a single problem report that can be tracked internally. There are also many reports of by people who are all of a sudden discover the system works a certain way and are convince this is because of the changes in the new release when in fact the system works as it always worked. Or there are places where the change was intentional - to fix another problem - and people claim there is new bug because something is different. In these cases, Groundspeak needs to analyze if the behavior is really a problem for users or they are just people reporting that observed that things are different than they were before.

 

It may be that Groundspeak could provide a better method to acknowledge the problem reports that people have posted and perhaps to indicate whether they are being taken under consideration or are being rejected because the site is working as intended. While common in the open source communities, most organizations do not make their bug tracking available to external customers. This allows the organization to prioritize and fix problems as they see best for the the organization.

 

There are some good reasons for Groundspeak to allow the problems to be discussed in the forums. First of all is that sometimes a geocacher may suggest a workaround to allow the person having the problem to manage it and be able to geocache unaffected. The second, is to get an idea as to how widespread or serious the problem is so that Groundspeak can prioritize the fixes. Finally, with all the programming skills among geocachers, there have been several times when a geocacher has figured out the cause of a bug and has helped the Groundspeak developers with the fix.

[+London Rain]

Bookmark rating rules: If, after receiving a minimum of 5 ratings, a bookmark has less than 50% favorable votes it will disappear from cache pages. This has always been the rule but it didn't work properly until now.

 

Unfortunately this still does not seem to work. Please see this bookmark list with 5 ratings (4 negative and 1 positive) and for example this cache, where it still is shown.