Beta Maps

[+Walts Hunting]

I was looking at the beta maps today and they are a great improvement. I was wondering if anybody who has looked at them sees a way to have them not show caches from my ignore list.

 

The standard map doesn't show them.

 

If no one has an answer I will probably post it in the feedback section but didn't want to ask for something that is already there.

[+SwineFlew]

Thats why its still a beta.

[+CanadianRockies]

From the Feedback forum:

 

Status: planned

 

This is planned for a later phase of the beta maps. We just completed phase 2 of 4.

 

Moun10Bike

[+Mister_Hyde]

I hate Beta maps.

I find it much more difficult to see the icons against the background; the new green squares for traditional caches simply blend into the background, and are especially hard to see in parks. By contrast, the current map's icons with the white square and internal icon always stand out well from the colored backgrounds. If one cannot use the maps to easily view undiscovered caches, what is the point? Additional features might be great, but it looks to me like the basic functionality, easy visibilty of caches, is absent from beta maps. It would be a great improvement if the same icons were used as in the current maps.

 

Further, beta maps simply do not show all caches. One example: the multi "Old Indian Trail Continues" does not show up on beta maps at all. There is no way to tell how many other caches are not displayed. Is this issue being addressed?

[+dfx]

Further, beta maps simply do not show all caches. One example: the multi "Old Indian Trail Continues" does not show up on beta maps at all. There is no way to tell how many other caches are not displayed. Is this issue being addressed?

 

The beta maps only get updated so often, at least in all but the closest zoom levels. New caches just don't show up unless you zoom in far enough OR enable personalization. Plus, PMO caches don't show up at all, no matter what you do.

 

So you have the choice: use the beta maps and get incomplete data, or use the regular maps and don't get personalization (smilies) at all on the weekends.

 

Edited April 23, 2011 by dfx

[jholly]

Further, beta maps simply do not show all caches. One example: the multi "Old Indian Trail Continues" does not show up on beta maps at all. There is no way to tell how many other caches are not displayed. Is this issue being addressed?

 

The beta maps only get updated so often, at least in all but the closest zoom levels. New caches just don't show up unless you zoom in far enough OR enable personalization. Plus, PMO caches don't show up at all, no matter what you do.

 

So you have the choice: use the beta maps and get incomplete data, or use the regular maps and don't get personalization (smilies) at all on the weekends.

 

I don't think you get personalization on the beta maps on the weekend either. I'm starting to suspect you don't get much but frustrated on the weekend. Didn't we just have a big infrastructure upgrade a couple months ago? Maybe they should have gone with gerbils instead of staying with hamsters.

[+GrateBear]

This weekend problem is getting to be a bit of a "pita". It didn't bother me at first, but now that the maps says it's "parsing geocaches", I'm starting to get a wee bit annoyed. I've got plenty of caches downloaded to search out, so that's not the issue. But, they really need to fix this--it can only get worse as summer approaches.

[+dfx]

I don't think you get personalization on the beta maps on the weekend either.

 

Sure you do. Odd isn't it?

[+CanDMan47]

One of my worst characteristic traits is that I don't like change. I almost always eventually come around, but I kick and scream for awhile. That being said, I don't like the Beta Map. I can't pinpoint the reasons yet, but I don't like 'em.

[+dneuwir]

Okay, add me to the list of folks that are being driven crazy by the new maps, and the lack of alternative for getting what I'm used to (i.e. "smileys") on the old maps.

 

New Map: doesn't show all caches. A cache I just found two days back (that's been around since 2009) doesn't even appear at all on the maps (yet it does on the "old" maps) and the old maps don't show my finds so I can't just look for blocks of different colors to plan where I want to go today. This is pretty annoying. It used to take me two minutes to zone in on an area I wanted to tackle, and now it's like looking up individual entries in a dictionary. What a pain.

[+Mother Wolf]

Why is it every time the system goes down for upgrades more things dont work? What a PITA this has become.

Smiley's, then no smiley's, refresh then smiley's plus numbers, uncheck numbers then we're god for a bit.

Now we have these Beta maps with the retarded colored boxes. Smiley's but not all the caches show up. Great lets just flip between maps & hope you get what you need.

 

Why cant the things dont work be fixed before other things are tried? I don't get it. Now that its getting to summer just how much fun is this going to be??????? not able to find the things you want, not being able to log your finds etc because nothing moves & it takes some time minutes for a page to load & I dont mean just on my smaller pc. It does the same thing on faster systems as well.

 

Surely there is something that can be done. I know if this is how its going to be you can bet Im not renewing my premium membership. It isnt worth it.

[+dfx]

refresh then smiley's plus numbers

 

yeah that one is funny, that bug has been around for years

[+mtn-man]

One of my worst characteristic traits is that I don't like change. I almost always eventually come around, but I kick and scream for awhile. That being said, I don't like the Beta Map. I can't pinpoint the reasons yet, but I don't like 'em.

I know it is frustrating, but I quote this post in more of a general sense and not just directly at CanDMan47. I do like change. Without it, this site would be like Navicache. It looks the same and not much has changed since it first started (if anything has changed). I would really hate to be where we were seven or eight years ago still. There are no overall maps on that site. They rely on another site, which also still looks the same as it did years ago. Go check them out. Go to a cache page and check that baby out. Yeah. Impressed? My bet is probably not. The maps on the individual cache pages are, um... oh, there is no map. "Maps are queued for generation." Nice. That would go over really well here.

 

This is interesting though as those that like to bash Groundspeak come out to revel in these rough times. I have perspective I guess. I know what it was like early on and have seen this site grow. It is a bummer that these things being switched off, yes. It is a bummer that site traffic grows and sometimes the hamsters need new more teams to keep the wheels running. Somehow, I still think I will manage to find caches tomorrow.

 

Bash away, but I thank the people in Seattle for their work and for making this the best site. It has the most features and continues to give us more ways to see what is out there and tools to allow us to use so many devices to find caches. Android and iPhone apps. Pocket queries to load up to 1,000 caches into your GPS at one time. Field notes in several units and mobile apps so you can record important data right at the cache. Maps, buggy right now, but that you can scroll and zoom in and out and see those pockets of caches you want to go dive into. The ability to show thousands of simultaneous users over 1,350,000 caches world wide with the click of a mouse.

 

I like the changes over time and I hope they continue to improve the geocaching experience rather than just having a stagnant, dated, featureless web site. I accept that this will always be a work in progress. If you want a comparison, you have one live right now that you can look at. I would rather be where we are here at this point in time rather than still using the old, basic site, even with the hiccups associated with the continued exponential growth in the user base for this site.

[knowschad]

One of my worst characteristic traits is that I don't like change. I almost always eventually come around, but I kick and scream for awhile. That being said, I don't like the Beta Map. I can't pinpoint the reasons yet, but I don't like 'em.

I know it is frustrating, but I quote this post in more of a general sense and not just directly at CanDMan47. I do like change. Without it, this site would be like Navicache. It looks the same and not much has changed since it first started (if anything has changed). I would really hate to be where we were seven or eight years ago still. There are no overall maps on that site. They rely on another site, which also still looks the same as it did years ago. Go check them out. Go to a cache page and check that baby out. Yeah. Impressed? My bet is probably not. The maps on the individual cache pages are, um... oh, there is no map. "Maps are queued for generation." Nice. That would go over really well here.

 

This is interesting though as those that like to bash Groundspeak come out to revel in these rough times. I have perspective I guess. I know what it was like early on and have seen this site grow. It is a bummer that these things being switched off, yes. It is a bummer that site traffic grows and sometimes the hamsters need new more teams to keep the wheels running. Somehow, I still think I will manage to find caches tomorrow.

 

Bash away, but I thank the people in Seattle for their work and for making this the best site. It has the most features and continues to give us more ways to see what is out there and tools to allow us to use so many devices to find caches. Android and iPhone apps. Pocket queries to load up to 1,000 caches into your GPS at one time. Field notes in several units and mobile apps so you can record important data right at the cache. Maps, buggy right now, but that you can scroll and zoom in and out and see those pockets of caches you want to go dive into. The ability to show thousands of simultaneous users over 1,350,000 caches world wide with the click of a mouse.

 

I like the changes over time and I hope they continue to improve the geocaching experience rather than just having a stagnant, dated, featureless web site. I accept that this will always be a work in progress. If you want a comparison, you have one live right now that you can look at. I would rather be where we are here at this point in time rather than still using the old, basic site, even with the hiccups associated with the continued exponential growth in the user base for this site.

 

I have to agree with you about the vast improvements we have seen here. Remember the old, pre-Google maps? Ugh!!! Click one button to switch from zoom mode to pan mode... and I'm sure with little thought I could come up with many more examples that I am very grateful for.

[+DragonsWest]

Beta maps and standard maps aren't showing my finds. Quite a lot of bother at the moment as I was in a cache rich area today, where I have lots of finds. Also it's not displaying some caches, though if I click on the location the balloon pops up, so it does know they're there, but isn't placing an icon. I sure wish I didn't have to go through this user acceptance testing.

[+Rainbow Spirit]

It may be OK to suggest how much better we are now as compared to the earlier days of Groundspeak, but at the moment what is happening is that we are going backwards. It takes longer for pages to load, we are now having to switch between beta maps and the original maps to try and get a list of caches to find. Excuse me, but I for one am not happy with the current retrograde site.`

[+JEEPSTAFF]

It only took me 5 minutes to decide that I do not like the "beta maps" format over the g.com maps. I see a lot of bugs in it.

 

Jeepstaff

[+critter431]

Remember the old addage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Someone here forgot that when they designed the Beta Maps. It takes me 3 times as long to load caches into my GPSr, if they will load at all. Is the person who designed this new system really a cacher? I have never cared much for "open caching', but is fast becoming an option better than beta.

[+mbtkz]

Okay, add me to the list of folks that are being driven crazy by the new maps, and the lack of alternative for getting what I'm used to (i.e. "smileys") on the old maps.

 

New Map: doesn't show all caches. A cache I just found two days back (that's been around since 2009) doesn't even appear at all on the maps (yet it does on the "old" maps) and the old maps don't show my finds so I can't just look for blocks of different colors to plan where I want to go today. This is pretty annoying. It used to take me two minutes to zone in on an area I wanted to tackle, and now it's like looking up individual entries in a dictionary. What a pain.

[+mbtkz]

I'm the same - I wouldn't mind trying to use Beta maps more, but it doesn't show any premium member caches - just trying to log the caches I did on a river route today was frustrating enough as many were thus 'missing', so I had to flip back to the old map after all. But to use Beta map to look for caches in an area to do in the future would produce a risk that I miss many if they are premium member ones. Presumably they know the premium member caches are missing, but if so do they yet have a timescale as to when they might show?

[+roziecakes]

One of my worst characteristic traits is that I don't like change. I almost always eventually come around, but I kick and scream for awhile. That being said, I don't like the Beta Map. I can't pinpoint the reasons yet, but I don't like 'em.

I know it is frustrating, but I quote this post in more of a general sense and not just directly at CanDMan47. I do like change. Without it, this site would be like Navicache. It looks the same and not much has changed since it first started (if anything has changed). I would really hate to be where we were seven or eight years ago still. There are no overall maps on that site. They rely on another site, which also still looks the same as it did years ago. Go check them out. Go to a cache page and check that baby out. Yeah. Impressed? My bet is probably not. The maps on the individual cache pages are, um... oh, there is no map. "Maps are queued for generation." Nice. That would go over really well here.

 

This is interesting though as those that like to bash Groundspeak come out to revel in these rough times. I have perspective I guess. I know what it was like early on and have seen this site grow. It is a bummer that these things being switched off, yes. It is a bummer that site traffic grows and sometimes the hamsters need new more teams to keep the wheels running. Somehow, I still think I will manage to find caches tomorrow.

 

Bash away, but I thank the people in Seattle for their work and for making this the best site. It has the most features and continues to give us more ways to see what is out there and tools to allow us to use so many devices to find caches. Android and iPhone apps. Pocket queries to load up to 1,000 caches into your GPS at one time. Field notes in several units and mobile apps so you can record important data right at the cache. Maps, buggy right now, but that you can scroll and zoom in and out and see those pockets of caches you want to go dive into. The ability to show thousands of simultaneous users over 1,350,000 caches world wide with the click of a mouse.

 

I like the changes over time and I hope they continue to improve the geocaching experience rather than just having a stagnant, dated, featureless web site. I accept that this will always be a work in progress. If you want a comparison, you have one live right now that you can look at. I would rather be where we are here at this point in time rather than still using the old, basic site, even with the hiccups associated with the continued exponential growth in the user base for this site.

 

Thank you Mtn Man. I am SO glad that someone said this, especially a moderator. I feel quite similarly to the way you feel, and I'm frustrated at some of the ungrateful complaints I've been reading about lately.

[+Castle Mischief]

I'm the same - I wouldn't mind trying to use Beta maps more, but it doesn't show any premium member caches - just trying to log the caches I did on a river route today was frustrating enough as many were thus 'missing', so I had to flip back to the old map after all. But to use Beta map to look for caches in an area to do in the future would produce a risk that I miss many if they are premium member ones. Presumably they know the premium member caches are missing, but if so do they yet have a timescale as to when they might show?

 

Have you tried using Pocket Queries instead of using the maps to find caches?

[+roziecakes]

Yep! It's true. There are several ways to find caches until they fix the maps. Pocket Queries, the search pages, etc... I like to use the maps too, but they are not the only way to go.

[+DarkZen]

I love the new maps. They show a lot of trails that don't show up on the old ones. I'm confident that once it's out of beta mode, all the gliches will be fixed.

[Mr.Yuck]

I was looking at the beta maps today and they are a great improvement. I was wondering if anybody who has looked at them sees a way to have them not show caches from my ignore list.

 

The standard map doesn't show them.

 

If no one has an answer I will probably post it in the feedback section but didn't want to ask for something that is already there.

 

Am I the first one to actually answer the OP?

 

No, the Beta maps are showing ignored caches. The Google map did not. I'm not seeing a way to make it hide the ignored caches.

[+Socal ZukiCachers]

The beta maps are still really, really buggy! When moving around the map and zooming in and out the personalization stops working and when will we be able to see Premium Member Only Caches?

[+Zoe andDaddy]

I have been trying to find somewhere to ask about the maps and picked here.

What is currently going on with the maps, the beta maps do not show premium membership caches and the old maps you can't hide your finds on so I am not able to plan a route as I use the maps to pick the cache I need and the order to do them.

Will one of them be fixed soon?

When the beta maps are fixed are you removing the other maps?

[+R4Ltony]

Just a side note, the Google Earth plugin show the PMO caches,(but no smiley's)and I find it clunky too. I'm finding the beta maps frustrating as well. As stated above, sure I could use a PQ for caching. But during the week I use a 'Cherry Picker' type selection method, so that's not any help. I'm not really complaining, Just wanted to show my support for the unhappy crowd..

[jholly]

The beta maps are still really, really buggy! When moving around the map and zooming in and out the personalization stops working and when will we be able to see Premium Member Only Caches?

And what is really frustrating is that if your at the appropriate zoom level the personalization disappears after about 15 minutes and all caches are shown without any smileys or otherwise. You have to log out and relog in to get the personalization to work again. As a member here would say ... "MAGOR BUG"

[+Avernar]

And what is really frustrating is that if your at the appropriate zoom level the personalization disappears after about 15 minutes and all caches are shown without any smileys or otherwise. You have to log out and relog in to get the personalization to work again.

I've never had to log out and in to fix that. Reloading the map brought the personalization back.

 

Once they add PM caches to the beta maps I'll use them way more than I do now.

[+AlohaBra and MaksMom]

I like the old maps. I am color blind and the icons on the new "beta maps" are hard to see. But usually, I only care about the traditionals. Still...there are no numbers and a legend on the betas...so I cannot make a printable map...the popup thingys [ballons] do not lend itself to a print format....

[+Cski]

Very frustrated with all of the maps at this point. I do like the new beta map but I have had nothing but problems since it's been implemented. I can't even upload caches to my garmin anymore. It loads and says it's successful but the caches aren't showing up on my GPS. You all know the issues with the maps so no reason to reiterate here. Geocaching has just become considerable more difficult and frustrating. Can't even get my app on my smart phone to work properly. YIKES!!!

[+Spraginator]

I find it puzzling that everyone is complaining about the beta maps. I suggest you look up "Beta" it means "not ready", "under development", not "new, ready to go". A beta version is almost guaranteed to have bugs!

[+dfx]

I find it puzzling that everyone is complaining about the beta maps. I suggest you look up "Beta" it means "not ready", "under development", not "new, ready to go". A beta version is almost guaranteed to have bugs!

Nobody would be complaining if the non-beta maps were working right. But they aren't, and the suggestion is to use the beta ones instead. So now you got the choice between two things that don't work right, yey!

[+dragon flyer]

Well, although I like some of the new features, I'm not a huge fan of the beta maps so far, for a number of reasons I haven't seen addressed here. I have some eye-brain co-ordination problems, and some things bother me more than most people. For one thing, the beta maps are smaller than the original maps, and on my laptop that's very noticeable. On the original maps I can use the slider to see more area; moving around on the small beta maps makes me dizzy. Also, the beta image doesn't seem to me to be as sharp and the background is darker, and the lower resolution and contrast makes it harder to read things. And what's with the boxes around the smileys? Totally unnecessary, and just make the already small screen more cluttered. But probably what bothers me most is the way the cache names seem to jump around, sometimes showing up blocks away from the actual cache location; you never know where the name's going to be, which really unnerves my brain. Not to mention my stomach - carsick before I even leave the house!

 

Do we know if the plan is that you'll have to enable personalization of the beta maps every time you sign on, or is this too just a beta hiccup?

[+Mister_Hyde]

The main thing I dislike about the beta maps is the lack of contrast between the cache icons and the background. The icons are very hard to see, at any zoom level, and with any choice of map type. The icons are light green and light yellow, against a map that is light yellow with light green areas.

 

I simply can't distinguish the caches well enough to make the beta maps worth using. And no amount of added features, or fixing current issues with the features, has so far addressed the fact that the beta maps are visually unpleasant, and harder to use because of basic issues with their grapics. Seems like any competent graphic designer could fix this issue.

[+cagiva]

Why did they change the maps. They were okay. Now with them beta maps I can't remove my finds and some caches are missing.

Using the old maps without personalization sucks. I want my money back.

[+vodkashots]

first time on here and thank you for answering my questions about the new maps. i like the fact that you can view a larger area of map and still have personalisation. however, the fact that loads of caches seem to be missing is sooooo frustrating - after reading above, i assume these are premium member ones. it makes it difficult to plan where you are going and when you have to flip between the beta maps and the old ones it's annoying, especially coz the old maps don't let you have personalisation on them. does anyone know when the issues are going to be ironed out?

[+papa-alpha]

I'm new around here, so I can't be too critical. But here I go anyway. In software development - beta software is usually a new version of working software with new features, bug fixes, etc. It is tested and when it is stable it is released as the new version. In this case the original maps is broken - and it isn't getting fixed and the beta is a beta - so it doesn't work like it should. I think the frustration is coming from having to go back and forth from the beta to the old maps to get the same functionality you used to get from just the old maps. With neither one working right; yes, it gets a little frustrating. I'm sure it will get sorted out eventually but the sooner the better.

 

P-A

Newbie having a good time

[+TerraViators]

I'm enjoying the novelty of the beta maps, but I hope that we will be able to zoom closer than the current tighest zoom. It's sumbersome for viewing icons that are very close together, such as unknown caches that can be set literally within feet of each other.