Encrypted Hints

[+wy0v]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

I respectfuly ask the development team to consider making a simple change to make this great web site a little more user friendly . . . especially for Premium Members.

[OpinioNate]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

I respectfuly ask the development team to consider making a simple change to make this great web site a little more user friendly . . . especially for Premium Members.

 

*Emphasis mine

 

Apart from external map links and Send to GPS, no links open in a new window on the site. This sounds like a browser setting on your end. Can I guess you are also using IE6? Maybe time to upgrade.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

Not everyone reads the hints as a default. Many like to conduct the hunt and, only when truly stumped, will they resort to the hints. That's why the hints should truly be helpful. It's just part of the game.

[+Prime Suspect]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

I respectfuly ask the development team to consider making a simple change to make this great web site a little more user friendly . . . especially for Premium Members.

I don't read the hints unless I've looked a good long while.

 

As for the screen reload, here's your answer.

 

As for the "excessive number of windows", I'm baffled. What site are you using?

[+paleolith]

Apart from external map links and Send to GPS, no links open in a new window on the site.

Have to disagree, Nate. Yes, most of the web site is good about not opening new windows. But any link in a log or forum opens a new window, except for photos uploaded with a log. This may not account for much in terms of variety, but accounts for a lot of the links on the site. For me, it leaves the impression that gc.com opens a lot of new windows.

 

Read some logs by user 'flask', which are linked together. It's a nice way to let someone read an entire caching story. Except that every time you link from one to another, a new window opens.

 

I would be very pleased if you would correct this.

 

Edward

[+WRASTRO]

Apart from external map links and Send to GPS, no links open in a new window on the site.

Have to disagree, Nate. Yes, most of the web site is good about not opening new windows. But any link in a log or forum opens a new window, except for photos uploaded with a log. This may not account for much in terms of variety, but accounts for a lot of the links on the site. For me, it leaves the impression that gc.com opens a lot of new windows.

 

Read some logs by user 'flask', which are linked together. It's a nice way to let someone read an entire caching story. Except that every time you link from one to another, a new window opens.

 

I would be very pleased if you would correct this.

 

Edward

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

[+McBack]

I also tries to find the cache for a while, but if I don't find it, then I'll check the hint. Or maybe if the cache is in a place were many mugglers is disturbing.

[+niraD]

First off, you're wrong, wy0v. Not everyone "reads them anyway". I usually decrypt (and read) them only after I've found the cache. If I find a cache somewhere other than where the hint indicates, I like to let the owner know. (And occasionally, I've found a cache completely exposed, and have used the hint to figure out where to rehide it. And then I let the cache owner know.)

 

Except that every time you link from one to another, a new window opens.

 

I would be very pleased if you would correct this.

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

I often prefer to have new windows/tabs myself, but I want to be the one to choose to open a new window/tab. Shift-click opens a new window/tab in all my regular browsers. But if I want to open the link in the same window/tab, then I can just click.

 

Unless the web site is using the target attribute or JavaScript to force a new window/tab. Then I don't have a choice any longer.

 

So add me to the list of people who would rather the site not open new windows for me.

[OpinioNate]

Apart from external map links and Send to GPS, no links open in a new window on the site.

Have to disagree, Nate. Yes, most of the web site is good about not opening new windows. But any link in a log or forum opens a new window, except for photos uploaded with a log. This may not account for much in terms of variety, but accounts for a lot of the links on the site. For me, it leaves the impression that gc.com opens a lot of new windows.

 

Read some logs by user 'flask', which are linked together. It's a nice way to let someone read an entire caching story. Except that every time you link from one to another, a new window opens.

 

I would be very pleased if you would correct this.

 

Edward

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

 

WRASTRO has the correct reasoning. Any link in a log or forum was put there by a user, not Groundspeak. In my opinion it is best practice to have user-generated links open in a new window since typically they are linking off site (as far as the forum goes it is beyond our control, but the reasoning is the same I believe). This isn't likely to change.

Edited August 25, 2009 by OpinioNate

[+cosninocanines]

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

 

X2 I would much rather close a window than to search for it or hit the back button over and over

[knowschad]

IE7 & IE8 at least have the following options under Tools/Internet Options/Tabbed Browser Settings:

 

 

Open links from other programs in:

 

_ A new window

 

_ A new tab in the current window

 

_ The current tab or window

 

 

To the OP: You may want to try the last option

[+teamhillside]

For the hint decrypted / not decrypted debate - why not have a user selectable element of the profile - "always decrypt hints" or "always encrypt hints" so that those of us that have to resort to them on a regular basis (and even then find that they are cryptic!) can read them without a refresh. GSAK has that behaviour available, for example, presumably because users wanted that.

 

Just my twopenneth

 

Matt

[+5 Caching Campers]

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

 

WRASTRO has the correct reasoning. Any link in a log or forum was put there by a user, not Groundspeak. In my opinion it is best practice to have user-generated links open in a new window since typically they are linking off site (as far as the forum goes it is beyond our control, but the reasoning is the same I believe). This isn't likely to change.

I disagree with this reasoning. A person who clicks on a link should always expect that the page they are viewing will be replaced by the linked page. When I click the link to log my visit, the cache page is replaced by the log entry page. When I click on a search result in Google, the results are replaced by the new page. If I would like for something different to happen, then I can choose to make it so by either Ctrl+clicking or by right-clicking and choosing to "Open in new tab"... these are both instances where I use that option quite often, but would really dislike it if it were the default (and only) option.

[+5 Caching Campers]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

IMHO, the part I emphasized is the real problem.... and the best solution to that would be a little bit of JavaScript similar to what's found in the Quick Hint greasemonkey script. It's not hard to build that in such a way that in a JavaScript enabled browser the decryption is instantaneous while still doing the page re-load for non-JS browsers... at least in pure HTML/JS it's not... I can't speak for Microsoft's development environment used by Groundspeak.

Edited August 25, 2009 by HayleeBugg

[+Prime Suspect]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

IMHO, the part I emphasized is the real problem.... and the best solution to that would be a little bit of JavaScript similar to what's found in the Quick Hint greasemonkey script. It's not hard to build that in such a way that in a JavaScript enabled browser the decryption is instantaneous while still doing the page re-load for non-JS browsers... at least in pure HTML/JS it's not... I can't speak for Microsoft's development environment used by Groundspeak.

They've tried it before, but they used a non-DOM, shortcut method, and it didn't correctly handle HTML entities and line breaks.

[+Prime Suspect]

[system dup]

Edited August 25, 2009 by Prime Suspect

[+5 Caching Campers]

They've tried it before, but they used a non-DOM, shortcut method, and it didn't correctly handle HTML entities and line breaks.

 

I'd say that's more an issue of the implementation than the concept.... though it's possible that the .net framework is making it more difficult than it should be. One of many reasons I avoid it and stick with straight PHP (others being speed and cost).

[+WRASTRO]

By "correcting" if you mean you want the current page to be replaced by the page for the link, I will place a very firm NO vote. I dislike clicking on a link and having the page I am on vanish into the void. Yes I know I can use the back button or the page history. I prefer to have a new window or tab open so I can stay on the page where I started my little sidetrip.

 

WRASTRO has the correct reasoning. Any link in a log or forum was put there by a user, not Groundspeak. In my opinion it is best practice to have user-generated links open in a new window since typically they are linking off site (as far as the forum goes it is beyond our control, but the reasoning is the same I believe). This isn't likely to change.

I disagree with this reasoning. A person who clicks on a link should always expect that the page they are viewing will be replaced by the linked page. When I click the link to log my visit, the cache page is replaced by the log entry page. When I click on a search result in Google, the results are replaced by the new page. If I would like for something different to happen, then I can choose to make it so by either Ctrl+clicking or by right-clicking and choosing to "Open in new tab"... these are both instances where I use that option quite often, but would really dislike it if it were the default (and only) option.

We must agree to disagree. I agree the behavior you have described is common. I was commenting on the specific Groundspeak sites. I also strongly prefer that when I click on a link that may be on any web page that a new page or tab is opened. Because of this preference I almost always right-click on the link. I wish that a person who clicks on a link should always expect that the page they are viewing will stay in place and a new tab or window will be opened unless the natural flow of the site indicates the page should be replaced.

[+AstroDav]

Can someone expain to me the logic behind encrypted hints? I'm sure everyone reads them anyway. Everytime you click the "Additional Hints" link the page has to reload. This combined with the excessive number of windows that open in a new browser make the site cumbersome at best.

 

I respectfuly ask the development team to consider making a simple change to make this great web site a little more user friendly . . . especially for Premium Members.

I don't read the hints unless I've looked a good long while.

 

As for the screen reload, here's your answer.

 

As for the "excessive number of windows", I'm baffled. What site are you using?

 

Any other hints on how to install that stuff?? Some of it sounds interesting, but I have no type of "Install Script" command in the context menu or the Tools menu. I also tried to go through all of my settings to see if I had something like that turned off....no joy there either. FF version 3.0.4

 

Thanks.

[+5 Caching Campers]

Any other hints on how to install that stuff?? Some of it sounds interesting, but I have no type of "Install Script" command in the context menu or the Tools menu. I also tried to go through all of my settings to see if I had something like that turned off....no joy there either. FF version 3.0.4

 

You must install the Greasmonkey Plugin for Firefox before you can install that script. One you have greasemonkey, there are many other useful tweaks available at both the Locus Prime site and Lil Devil's site.