Testers

[+littlegoldwoman]

Are you allowed to have testers?

 

Like before your cache gets published (or before you even put it in) can you email people in your area and ask them if they want to have a go at it first to see if its working and coords are right....?

 

:-D

 

Just a thought.

[+simpjkee]

Yes, that is completely acceptable. There are no 'rules' that you have to keep it secret till it is published on gc.com.

 

However, you should consider that just because it is placed and some people find it, it is not promised to be published on gc.com. For example, if you place it and people find it and then you submit it to gc.com, a reviewer could come back and report that it is too close to another cache and needs to be moved in order to get published.

[namiboy]

if your 'testers' log it as an ftf before it gets published.....look out.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Yes, in fact, I'd say it's a good idea, especially for your first hides.

You can ask someone to beta test the coords, and supply them with your intended write up and any hint as well. Let them see if they can find it from what you're planning to supply.

If you do that, you need to decide upfront if they're going to sign the log. And understand that once you submit the cache, it may not be published due to other issues; the commonest being that the cache is close to some other - a stage of a multicache that you may not know about, for instance.

 

I generally have my husband Beta Test my multi-caches. He does not sign the log. This is my own personal preference. The log remains unsigned, the cache is published, and whoever finds it first after publication gets to see that virgin log.

Your beta tester can log later, with or without returning to sign the log. That's your right as cache owner, to allow them to log without returning to sign the log. You know they were there. Or they can return later to sign it.

Or they can sign when they Beta test. This will likely hurt someone's feelings - the person who thought they were going to be FTF, and find the log signed days before publication.

[+briansnat]

Are you allowed to have testers?

 

Like before your cache gets published (or before you even put it in) can you email people in your area and ask them if they want to have a go at it first to see if its working and coords are right....?

 

:-D

 

Just a thought.

 

You sure can. I've beta tested cache coords for friends before. As far as whether or not your beta testers can sign the log is up to you. As far as I'm concerned, they found it so why not sign the log? That's what it is there for.

 

There is a small segment of geocachers who are into the FTF game and might be upset if there is already a signature in the logbook when the cache is published here. Too bad for them. It is your cache and you can give the coordinates to whomever you want, whenever you want and it is nobody's business but your own.

[GOF and Bacall]

if your 'testers' log it as an ftf before it gets published.....look out.

 

Yeah, look out. Because some whiny little snot is gonna cry that you and your testers are cheating.