Using JavaScript in a cache

[+SmithyPeaknuckle]

I am working on a new puzzle that incorporates JavaScript into the solution. I just realized that we can not include JavaScript in our cache web page. What are my options if I would like to make this cache available to other cachers here?

[+docsigma]

Host the page with the puzzle somewhere else, and place a link to it in the cache page. I've seen others do that, it's all good.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Host the page with the puzzle somewhere else, and place a link to it in the cache page. I've seen others do that, it's all good.

 

Yep. Just make sure that the hosting site is going to be highly available and doesn't inundate geocachers with commercial solicitations. One of the advantages of hosting the puzzle elsewhere is that it can add a level of complexity if you "hide" the link to the externally hosted puzzle. For example, you could do create a simple puzzle using the main cache page listing that reveals a link to the next stage in the puzzle. It's a nice way to draw someone into your puzzle instead of putting something up that geocachers are just going to stare at for hours before reading your mind and figuring out where the puzzle is and how to approach it.

[+cw1710]

I have done this on several puzzles. I use fileave.com because it is free and has no advertising or popups for the guests to the page but there are plenty of free sites out there. I have one puzzle that is an online riddle with 30 different levels where you have to find your way to the next page. Also, as stated above, you can hide the link to the puzzle which is exactly what I did on GC2BH5V where each word on the page is a link and only one link goes to the puzzle.

[+SmithyPeaknuckle]

Thanks for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the tip from cw1710 about the free hosting option as it seemed a bit excessive to purchase a monthly hosting contract for a site that only requires a couple hundred kilobytes to share.

[+pklong]

Thanks for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the tip from cw1710 about the free hosting option as it seemed a bit excessive to purchase a monthly hosting contract for a site that only requires a couple hundred kilobytes to share.

 

Do you not have some free web space included with your broadband connection from your ISP.

 

Philip

[+cw1710]

Thanks for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the tip from cw1710 about the free hosting option as it seemed a bit excessive to purchase a monthly hosting contract for a site that only requires a couple hundred kilobytes to share.

 

Do you not have some free web space included with your broadband connection from your ISP.

 

Philip

A lot of the free with ISP web spaces are limited in functionality and are a little more secure in what they allow. One of my puzzles consists of a .txt file embedded into an image and when I was hosting it on another website the website itself was stripping the .txt file upon uploading. Photobucket does this as well but randomly so it worked for a while there. So far with fileave I have had no filtering on any type scripts or images and the web address is much shorter and more attractive that way. 50 MB of space isnt bad either when it's free!

[+SmithyPeaknuckle]

I set up an account with fileave.com last night to post my puzzle for GC2KV35 (not published yet). It was extremely easy although I had to skip through several "free offer" type ads which made me question whether visitors will have a nice experience or not. As a backup, I mentioned on the cache page that users should email me if they have any problems with the offsite hosting. Also, while the host's splash page claims 50 MB, my profile shows only 30 MB, but that is more than enough for what I need. Thanks again for the tip.

[+cw1710]

I set up an account with fileave.com last night to post my puzzle for GC2KV35 (not published yet). It was extremely easy although I had to skip through several "free offer" type ads which made me question whether visitors will have a nice experience or not. As a backup, I mentioned on the cache page that users should email me if they have any problems with the offsite hosting. Also, while the host's splash page claims 50 MB, my profile shows only 30 MB, but that is more than enough for what I need. Thanks again for the tip.

Those ads were only for you during registration. You won't see them again and no one visiting your page will ever see an ad. I don't know how familiar you are with making web pages but make sure to include an index.html page (even if its blank) in each of the subfolders you make if you dont want people to access the root directory.

[+power69]

Thanks for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the tip from cw1710 about the free hosting option as it seemed a bit excessive to purchase a monthly hosting contract for a site that only requires a couple hundred kilobytes to share.

 

Do you not have some free web space included with your broadband connection from your ISP.

 

Philip

A lot of the free with ISP web spaces are limited in functionality and are a little more secure in what they allow. One of my puzzles consists of a .txt file embedded into an image and when I was hosting it on another website the website itself was stripping the .txt file upon uploading. Photobucket does this as well but randomly so it worked for a while there. So far with fileave I have had no filtering on any type scripts or images and the web address is much shorter and more attractive that way. 50 MB of space isnt bad either when it's free!

silly question but how do you put a txt file inside an image?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thanks for the suggestions. I especially appreciate the tip from cw1710 about the free hosting option as it seemed a bit excessive to purchase a monthly hosting contract for a site that only requires a couple hundred kilobytes to share.

 

Do you not have some free web space included with your broadband connection from your ISP.

 

Philip

A lot of the free with ISP web spaces are limited in functionality and are a little more secure in what they allow. One of my puzzles consists of a .txt file embedded into an image and when I was hosting it on another website the website itself was stripping the .txt file upon uploading. Photobucket does this as well but randomly so it worked for a while there. So far with fileave I have had no filtering on any type scripts or images and the web address is much shorter and more attractive that way. 50 MB of space isnt bad either when it's free!

silly question but how do you put a txt file inside an image?

 

I think it may be more accurate to say that you can put text, which can be saved as a .txt file in an image but there are methods of putting a txt file in an image as well. Do a search on steganography and you can discover several ways to do it. Perhaps the simplest method would be to use an image editor which allows you to edit an images EXIF header. Here is another simple way to create an image that is actually a file archive (using the RAR format) but will appear to be an image. http://www.wikihow.com/Store-a-Rar-or-Zip-in-an-Image-File

[+cw1710]

 

I think it may be more accurate to say that you can put text, which can be saved as a .txt file in an image but there are methods of putting a txt file in an image as well. Do a search on steganography and you can discover several ways to do it. Perhaps the simplest method would be to use an image editor which allows you to edit an images EXIF header. Here is another simple way to create an image that is actually a file archive (using the RAR format) but will appear to be an image. http://www.wikihow.com/Store-a-Rar-or-Zip-in-an-Image-File

 

The bolded link is the way that I did on one of my puzzles.

[+addisonbr]

silly question but how do you put a txt file inside an image?

I think it may be more accurate to say that you can put text, which can be saved as a .txt file in an image but there are methods of putting a txt file in an image as well. Do a search on steganography and you can discover several ways to do it. Perhaps the simplest method would be to use an image editor which allows you to edit an images EXIF header. Here is another simple way to create an image that is actually a file archive (using the RAR format) but will appear to be an image. http://www.wikihow.com/Store-a-Rar-or-Zip-in-an-Image-File

A method I've used is similar to those instructions, but a bit simpler (doesn't require RAR or ZIP files or special viewers).

 

Suppose the picture you want to use is picture.jpg and the text you want to use is text.txt and the name of the combined file you'd like to use is geocache.jpg

 

Then use this command:

 

copy /B picture.jpg + text.txt geocache.jpg

 

And voila, you're done. geocache.jpg can be opened using any program that reads .jpg files and will look like your original picture, but if you open the file in a text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit) the hidden text will appear at the very bottom of the file (after all of the binary garbage).

[+cw1710]

A method I've used is similar to those instructions, but a bit simpler (doesn't require RAR or ZIP files or special viewers).

 

Suppose the picture you want to use is picture.jpg and the text you want to use is text.txt and the name of the combined file you'd like to use is geocache.jpg

 

Then use this command:

 

copy /B picture.jpg + text.txt geocache.jpg

 

And voila, you're done. geocache.jpg can be opened using any program that reads .jpg files and will look like your original picture, but if you open the file in a text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit) the hidden text will appear at the very bottom of the file (after all of the binary garbage).

I have done it this way as well but by just using a hex editor and adding the text at the end of the coding.

Edited January 4, 2011 by cw1710