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Release Notes for todays update


t4e

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so where the heck are they?

 

can't see anything in the forums and i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section, that place is a total mess

 

I share your sentiments. Ironically, it seems that the Release Notes topic is only one that I find and follow. The rest of the site is a total mess.

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thanks hydnsek :)

 

 

i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section

 

Too bad: that's where they are. :D

 

does it mean i will automatically be satisfied? :)

 

so where the heck are they?

 

can't see anything in the forums and i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section, that place is a total mess

 

I share your sentiments. Ironically, it seems that the Release Notes topic is only one that I find and follow. The rest of the site is a total mess.

 

would certainly be nice if they will at least post a link here, i had no idea where i am supposed to look

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Quoting Nate:

 

This month the developer Lackeys were allowed to pursue their own desires and build something cool. The only requirement was that it relate to Geocaching, and the result was pretty inspiring. We saw projects ranging from mapping enhancements to a mobile-friendly site design.

 

You may be wondering where to find these new goodies. Well, it's difficult to innovate *and* release a fully fleshed-out product in just a few weeks, so we'll have to deliver the goods in another update. Suffice to say the amazing effort put forth will ultimately bear fruit!

 

I, for one, am very much looking forward to that release, Nate. I hope I'm not expecting too much, but I don't think so.

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One thing I have learned on the internet is that if you do not adapt to changes you will be left behind.

 

How's that Netscape Navigator browser working for ya'? :D

 

Works great. You still programming in binary, or did you finally move up to C :) ?

He he. A lovely AOL product that was dropped two and a half years ago. AOL. Say no more. I used it... ages ago. I moved on to Firefox myself, but have fun with Navigator. I enjoy my Greasemonkey scripts too much.

 

I like the new movie trailer for the Wall Street sequel where they hand Gordon Gekko back his cell phone when he gets out of prison. You are not using this one are ya'? :):D

 

070927-old-cell-phone.jpg

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One thing I have learned on the internet is that if you do not adapt to changes you will be left behind.

 

How's that Netscape Navigator browser working for ya'? :)

 

Netscape Navigator !?! Wow, really new stuff. I'm still on Mosaic.

I actually remember using Viola. Ouch. I'm old. I played Wolfenstein 3D back then. Ack. Where is my cane.

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Do you have to release the info on Get Satisfaction though? I have no idea how to find anything on that site. its such a jumble of garbage on it.

 

see post #2

 

I saw post #2 and read it. But it would be nice to release the info on here also. Thank you.

 

I'm sure if you go over to Get Satisfaction and put in a request I'm sure someone will help you out. :)

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I saw post #2 and read it. But it would be nice to release the info on here also. Thank you.

I'm sure if you go over to Get Satisfaction and put in a request I'm sure someone will help you out. :)

That same thought crossed my mind. I even went over to see if anyone did it, but didn't come across any in the few pages I scanned.

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One thing I have learned on the internet is that if you do not adapt to changes you will be left behind.

 

 

That's what they said about video disk players (not DVDs) and I can't wait to see how well 3D televisions work out! (HAHAHA!)

 

Adapting to change is only smart when the changes are for the better and proven to work. Not just for the sake of change.

 

:)

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One thing I have learned on the internet is that if you do not adapt to changes you will be left behind.

 

How's that Netscape Navigator browser working for ya'? :D

 

Works great. You still programming in binary, or did you finally move up to C :) ?

He he. A lovely AOL product that was dropped two and a half years ago. AOL. Say no more. I used it... ages ago. I moved on to Firefox myself, but have fun with Navigator. I enjoy my Greasemonkey scripts too much.

 

I like the new movie trailer for the Wall Street sequel where they hand Gordon Gekko back his cell phone when he gets out of prison. You are not using this one are ya'? :):D

 

070927-old-cell-phone.jpg

 

Never used AOL. I run the latest FireFox right now. Checked out Google Chrome, and just didnt like it.

 

As for the cell phone, I dont think I have ever used one of those, or seen one out side of pictures, or movies. I will stick with with my windows 7 mobile pda phone. I think I might have an upgrade phone for you though. Its like 10 years, so you should be good. Might be a little to advanced for you though.

 

mtn-man did you ever play Duke Nukem? I loved that game when I was a teen.

 

PS: mtn-man please know this is all in fun.

Edited by ihorn
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Let me put it another way then...

 

Groundspeak has decided to give this a go. You can feel free to ignore it if you want. They may or may not continue to use it, but it is what they are using at this time. It is your choice to ignore it. With that choice comes the possibility that you may miss some things posted there.

 

Jeremy has said that they wanted to go to Community Server, but after testing it with the Waymarking discussions they found it did not work for them. The same might happen with this system as well. I will still at least give it a try and see how it works. If it fails, it fails. It is the active system at this point.

 

Your choice to ignore it is your choice. Their choice is to move to a new system and see if it works better for them. I see the bad points but I also see some good points. I have chosen to go there and participate and to stay informed. As an Android user, I think it is very helpful. The issues with today's release were posted in the GetSat topic that Nate started. Those issues were quickly addressed by the staff with the Geocaching.com Google Map issue being fixed in less than one hour. Groundspeak isn't batting 1,000 over there, no. But if they feel it helps them then I am all for it. I think they are still getting used to it too and hopefully it will improve over time. Now that the abuse issue seems to have backed off, maybe it will settle down and be useful. Time will tell, and I am willing to at least give them the time to flesh out it's viability.

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Let me put it another way then...

 

Groundspeak has decided to give this a go. You can feel free to ignore it if you want. They may or may not continue to use it, but it is what they are using at this time. It is your choice to ignore it. With that choice comes the possibility that you may miss some things posted there.

 

Jeremy has said that they wanted to go to Community Server, but after testing it with the Waymarking discussions they found it did not work for them. The same might happen with this system as well. I will still at least give it a try and see how it works. If it fails, it fails. It is the active system at this point.

 

Your choice to ignore it is your choice. Their choice is to move to a new system and see if it works better for them. I see the bad points but I also see some good points. I have chosen to go there and participate and to stay informed. As an Android user, I think it is very helpful. The issues with today's release were posted in the GetSat topic that Nate started. Those issues were quickly addressed by the staff with the Geocaching.com Google Map issue being fixed in less than one hour. Groundspeak isn't batting 1,000 over there, no. But if they feel it helps them then I am all for it. I think they are still getting used to it too and hopefully it will improve over time. Now that the abuse issue seems to have backed off, maybe it will settle down and be useful. Time will tell, and I am willing to at least give them the time to flesh out it's viability.

 

I understand that. When I have gone over there I just cant seem to find anything. It just seems like a huge jumble of stuff, and completely cluttered. There doesnt seem to be a rhyme or reason to it.

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Quoting Nate:

 

This month the developer Lackeys were allowed to pursue their own desires and build something cool. The only requirement was that it relate to Geocaching, and the result was pretty inspiring. We saw projects ranging from mapping enhancements to a mobile-friendly site design.

 

You may be wondering where to find these new goodies. Well, it's difficult to innovate *and* release a fully fleshed-out product in just a few weeks, so we'll have to deliver the goods in another update. Suffice to say the amazing effort put forth will ultimately bear fruit!

 

I, for one, am very much looking forward to that release, Nate. I hope I'm not expecting too much, but I don't think so.

 

Yesterday, following a link over in OT, I viewed this video, which appears to reference the above idea exactly...

 

 

It'll be interesting to see what develops.

 

MrsB

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I understand that. When I have gone over there I just cant seem to find anything. It just seems like a huge jumble of stuff, and completely cluttered. There doesnt seem to be a rhyme or reason to it.

Yes, yes, I understand. I felt the same way at first. But. I looked at it for what it was and figured out the methodology. To hopefully give someone an "aha" moment, here goes...

 

When you hit the main part of the site, everything is jumbled together. They are posted in order of the last reply, just as our forums are. It would be as if you hit the link at the top right of these forums that says "View New Posts". Everything streams together. On the right side of the main GetSat page, the four divisions are broken out -- "Geocaching Web Site", "Geocaching for iPhone", "Geocaching for Android" and "Geocaching Goodies". These are basically just four forums. When you click those links, you go to a page that breaks them out into individual topic lines. Basically, this is exactly how these forums worked anyway. If you bookmark that link on the right, you will go right to that subsection automatically. I've bookmarked the "Android" portion so I go there first. The order of that subsection is no different than the way the forums here organized the topics. No difference at all. The topics are presented in the order they have had replies posted. These forums here do exactly the same thing.

 

Then I can click "Geocaching" at the top left next to the logo and I go to the whole stream put together sorted by time posted. I can then click "Geocaching Web Site" on the right side to split out all of those topics on their own. No difference in the way those topics are organized either. Both sites put the last topic with a post at the top.

 

The big difference that I see, the difference that I don't personally like, and what I would guess is hard for others to make the leap on, is that the GetSat site organizes replies within a topic in a way that looks more like other forum versions with what I call "threaded discussions". You can reply to an individual reply and it goes directly under that reply. That is good since it keeps all of the replies within one area and keeps these subset discussions together in "threads" for lack of a better word. The bad part is that you have to scroll up and down to find that last post at times. On a long discussion that can be difficult. We are all used to the forums here where we quote each other in a new reply and you simply read the last reply posted. Sometimes that quoting gets out of hand here though. These "threads" eliminate the need for that. It is something that I have seen before on internet discussion sites, it is also a setting that can be toggled here in these forums in fact, but it is different that what people in this forum are used to.

 

The other big difference, and a HUGE advantage in my eyes, is that readers of individual topics can see a reply and click to mark it as something you also agree with. If enough people mark that with the star, the answer is automatically moved to the top as the suggested answer. If you come into the topic and agree, you can simply star that answer and move on. When enough people do that, it shoots to the top directly under the question. You can then see the topic's question and see the best answer right there together. If the company answers the question, they can move their answer right to the top and again you see the question and the answer together. That is major league efficiency. How many times in a multiple page topic have we seen the answer get buried on page 3 or 4 or whatever? It happens all the time. With the new site, that does not happen at all. Multiple responses can even be voted to the top.

 

I hope that helps. For me, the advantages of marking answers as the best answer and having them automatically move directly under the question outweigh the issue regarding the "threaded" nature of the site.

Edited by mtn-man
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all fine with the option to agree to an idea or suggestion

 

the annoying part is there is no option to disagree with an idea or suggestion

 

i understand that its something that Get Satisfaction developers have to provide, but to me its a HUGE FAIL not to have such option, one way thinking is never good

or perhaps they don't care to hear from those that disagree, all they care for is positive reactions

 

so basically unless you agree with something you can't get satisfaction

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This is what I recive when trying to go to GetSat:

Whoops!

 

There’s been a server error, and it looks like something broke. Our apologies.

 

If you're up for it, please report this problem to Get Satisfaction. Or, in the event that we broke things so badly you can't use the site at all, email us at bugs@getsatisfaction.com. With your help, we'll patch everything up as quickly as we can.

 

Follow us on Twitter at @getsatisfaction.

 

This community is powered by Get Satisfaction

 

Only once have I been able to login on GetSat.

 

:)

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yep. i'm all for change, if it also means improvement. but change can also make things worse.

 

you would think pretty much anything would be an improvement over this forum's performance, but apparently not so :)

 

how ironic, just when trying to post this: PHP Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 45 seconds exceeded in E:\Inetpub\forums\GC\ips_kernel\class_db_mysql.php on line 457 PHP Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 45 seconds exceeded in E:\Inetpub\forums\GC\sources\ipsclass.php on line 1111

Edited by dfx
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The big difference that I see, the difference that I don't personally like, and what I would guess is hard for others to make the leap on, is that the GetSat site organizes replies within a topic in a way that looks more like other forum versions with what I call "threaded discussions". You can reply to an individual reply and it goes directly under that reply. That is good since it keeps all of the replies within one area and keeps these subset discussions together in "threads" for lack of a better word. The bad part is that you have to scroll up and down to find that last post at times. On a long discussion that can be difficult. We are all used to the forums here where we quote each other in a new reply and you simply read the last reply posted. Sometimes that quoting gets out of hand here though. These "threads" eliminate the need for that. It is something that I have seen before on internet discussion sites, it is also a setting that can be toggled here in these forums in fact, but it is different that what people in this forum are used to.

It not really a threaded discussion. The orginal post is an idea, question, problem report, or praise. You can responde to the original posts, and then post comments on each response. Once you get to the comments it is not longer threaded. People are trying to use the comments to discuss the original post. Sometimes people respond to a comment by responding to the original post and it gets all mucked up. It is impossible to have a conversation like we have in this forum (which is designed for having conversations). It lacks the PM feature that we have here which is good for continuing a conversation between two people if drifts off topic or if someone has something they don't want to post for all to see. It lacks moderator capablities which you are well aware of is critical to keeping conversations from turning in to flame throwing contests.

 

The other big difference, and a HUGE advantage in my eyes, is that readers of individual topics can see a reply and click to mark it as something you also agree with. If enough people mark that with the star, the answer is automatically moved to the top as the suggested answer. If you come into the topic and agree, you can simply star that answer and move on. When enough people do that, it shoots to the top directly under the question. You can then see the topic's question and see the best answer right there together. If the company answers the question, they can move their answer right to the top and again you see the question and the answer together. That is major league efficiency. How many times in a multiple page topic have we seen the answer get buried on page 3 or 4 or whatever? It happens all the time. With the new site, that does not happen at all. Multiple responses can even be voted to the top.
The voting for "I like this idea" or "this is one of the best responses" is certainly helpful for Groundspeak in prioritorizing responses and evaluating them. But it has also led to frustration by some users reporting problems. Unless others with the same problem take time to note that the problem is reported and votes "I have the same problem", the problems tend to show up as "1 person has this problem" and there are few response given. The person with the problem feels abandoned. These forum worked well in that users often were able to solve problems for each other without Grounspeak involvement. We have plenty of "Markwells" who can point to an old thread about the same problem or same question. And the conversational setup of these forums allowed for users to get additional information to help diagnose and solve problems.

 

I understand the advantages of Get Satisfaction for Groundspeak. But I hope that a user-to-user section can be returned to this forum to let user users help each other by answering questions, solving problems, and even discussing ideas before they get submitted to Groundspeak on the other site (or even discuss ideas that were submitted there when the disscussion is hindered by the awful threading there).

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so where the heck are they?

 

can't see anything in the forums and i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section, that place is a total mess

 

I share your sentiments. Ironically, it seems that the Release Notes topic is only one that I find and follow. The rest of the site is a total mess.

 

Actually, I have to rescind that comment. Once new content is added, it becomes a mess as well. The nesting of "comments" within the individual "replies", makes it almost impossible to find new content. It's not at the top, it's not at the bottom. New content can be buried anywhere in the page. It's a terrible way to try to follow a discussion.

 

Except for reporting problems and reading the Release Notes, I won't be a part of it.

 

[edit spelling]

Edited by Don_J
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Let me put it another way then...

 

Groundspeak has decided to give this a go. You can feel free to ignore it if you want.

 

 

When active forums that we are participating in on a daily basis, are closed on this site, that choice has been taken away.

 

I felt perfectly free to ignore whatever was going on over there. It only became an issue for me when the forums were closed.

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so where the heck are they?

 

can't see anything in the forums and i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section, that place is a total mess

 

I share your sentiments. Ironically, it seems that the Release Notes topic is only one that I find and follow. The rest of the site is a total mess.

 

Actually, I have to rescind that comment. Once new content is added, it becomes a mess as well. The nesting of "comments" within the individual "replies", makes it almost impossible to find new content. It's not at the top, it's not at the bottom. New content can be buried anywhere in the page. It's a terrible way to try to follow a discussion.

 

Expect for reporting problem and reading the Release Notes, I won't be a part of it.

 

exactly my complaint from the very first time i tried using that site

all gets a mambo jumbo that can't be followed anymore

not to mention that any topic with a lot of activity becomes a PITA to get to the reply box, never mind following anything

 

this is one fine example where you can give your mouse/hand a good scrolling exercise to get to the bottom of the page

http://feedback.geocaching.com/geocaching/...trail_guideline

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Let me put it another way then...

 

Groundspeak has decided to give this a go. You can feel free to ignore it if you want.

 

 

When active forums that we are participating in on a daily basis, are closed on this site, that choice has been taken away.

 

I felt perfectly free to ignore whatever was going on over there. It only became an issue for me when the forums were closed.

 

perhaps that was the intention, that many will ignore it thus there will be less participants and complaints and opposition to all kinds of silly ideas brought forward and approved with little participation from the members

 

i have no doubt that we will see many new things implemented that we will never know they were even considered

 

bottom line to me is that the move to Get Satisfaction was a very poor decision

 

and its ironic that Get Satisfaction actually causes so much dissatisfaction

Edited by t4e
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so where the heck are they?

 

can't see anything in the forums and i'm certainly not going to waste my time in the feedback section, that place is a total mess

 

I share your sentiments. Ironically, it seems that the Release Notes topic is only one that I find and follow. The rest of the site is a total mess.

 

Actually, I have to rescind that comment. Once new content is added, it becomes a mess as well. The nesting of "comments" within the individual "replies", makes it almost impossible to find new content. It's not at the top, it's not at the bottom. New content can be buried anywhere in the page. It's a terrible way to try to follow a discussion.

 

Expect for reporting problem and reading the Release Notes, I won't be a part of it.

 

exactly my complaint from the very first time i tried using that site

all gets a mambo jumbo that can't be followed anymore

not to mention that any topic with a lot of activity becomes a PITA to get to the reply box, never mind following anything

 

this is one fine example where you can give your mouse/hand a good scrolling exercise to get to the bottom of the page

http://feedback.geocaching.com/geocaching/...trail_guideline

 

Just push the "End" key on your keyboard. :)

 

I do agree with the complaint that there is no "Dislike". I'd have to use it on that topic.

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Quoting Nate:

 

This month the developer Lackeys were allowed to pursue their own desires and build something cool. The only requirement was that it relate to Geocaching, and the result was pretty inspiring. We saw projects ranging from mapping enhancements to a mobile-friendly site design.

 

You may be wondering where to find these new goodies. Well, it's difficult to innovate *and* release a fully fleshed-out product in just a few weeks, so we'll have to deliver the goods in another update. Suffice to say the amazing effort put forth will ultimately bear fruit!

 

I, for one, am very much looking forward to that release, Nate. I hope I'm not expecting too much, but I don't think so.

 

Yesterday, following a link over in OT, I viewed this video, which appears to reference the above idea exactly...

 

 

It'll be interesting to see what develops.

 

MrsB

 

Wow! That is SOOOOO very appropriate, Mrs B!! (not to mention, that guy can really draw, and quickly). I might have to show that to my manager (although I am lucky enough to have an awesome manager in a very good company)
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Yesterday, following a link over in OT, I viewed this video, which appears to reference the above idea exactly...

 

 

It'll be interesting to see what develops.

 

MrsB

 

An excellent example of the sort of project that is discussed near the end of the video if a program called POV-Ray It started out in 1986 as a program known at the time as DKBTrace. David Buck gave his program to a small group of developers that are still working on it, and from day 1, the program has been freeware, although it does things that is generally done by software costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. From the very beginning, it has been a work of love, not money, although a good deal of money was offered many times. But early on in the life of the POV-Ray Team, it was decided that this was to be a work for love and not for money. I have a Travel Bug dedicated to that original team.
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When there's people who say they think the Waymarking website is easy to use, but that the Get Satisfaction site is confusing, that should tell you something. The vocal majority don't like the setup of Waymarking because it isn't user friendly, how do you think they feel about Get Satisfaction?

 

The amount of traffic in the Get Sat "threads" seems to be the source of most of the frustration. My understanding is that the site isn't set up as a discussion board. Perhaps reopening the sections here that were shut down would help with this. It'd also give people a place to air their issues and get the grass roots support that has gone on for so long. If the forum regulars can't answer, they can say "That's a good question to post on the Get Satisfaction site!"

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Just push the "End" key on your keyboard. :ph34r:

 

 

no way, there is an "end" key on my keyboard? :D

 

you missed the point i was trying to make :)

 

No end key? How strange. I'd be lost without it.

 

And, I didn't miss your point at all. In a forum such as this, we have threads that go even longer than your example. The thing is, all post are chronological and I can ask it to bring me to the first post that I haven't read and it will jump right to that point. In your example, if I had read the entire thing this morning, then went back right now, there could be ten new "comments" scattered all over that page. I have no way to find those new comments without scrolling and examining the entire thing. That is totally stupid. My resistance is not to change, it's to stupidity and your example illustrates it beautifully.

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When there's people who say they think the Waymarking website is easy to use, but that the Get Satisfaction site is confusing, that should tell you something. The vocal majority don't like the setup of Waymarking because it isn't user friendly, how do you think they feel about Get Satisfaction?

 

The amount of traffic in the Get Sat "threads" seems to be the source of most of the frustration. My understanding is that the site isn't set up as a discussion board. Perhaps reopening the sections here that were shut down would help with this. It'd also give people a place to air their issues and get the grass roots support that has gone on for so long. If the forum regulars can't answer, they can say "That's a good question to post on the Get Satisfaction site!"

 

Please see and vote for just this at User to User Forum

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