Jump to content

Feature req: 'not actual location' flag


wwp

Recommended Posts

Could we please, pretty please, with sugar on top, have a flag that cache owners could add to their pages that indicates that the cache isn't actually at the coordinates on the cache page?

 

Right now, since we still have many caches to find, we tend to sit down in Streets&Trips and scope out areas with a number of caches in close proximity ... and it's really frustrating to spend a lot of time looking at interesting areas, only to find out that half the caches there aren't actually _there_.

 

If I could filter on "cache isn't there", it'd be much easier to see what caches are actually available...

Link to comment

Maybe I'm missing something but if you could see the flag you could read the descritpion that says "The cache isn't here"

 

I don't see how you could flag it on geocaching and have it come up on S&T. I use S&T on my PDA for the same reasons you have described. I've learned to read descriptions before I go to the next cache. The one that gets me thought is the reqired trade item.

 

Read your last line. If you could filter it it would work...

Link to comment

Ah, but see, if the page says "the cache isn't there", I can see it -- but my software can't, because everyone says that in slightly different ways. If there was an actual flag (presumably sent as part of the Pocket Queries gpx files), my software could filter based on whether or not a cache is actually there, rather than (essentially) guessing, based on finding certain keywords in the text.

 

This isn't a problem when I'm actually out caching (because I always read the cache descriptions first), but when planning my trips, it's a huge pain. When I plan my trips, I pull up maps (in mapsource or Streets&Trips) of all the caches I haven't found (which I can tell from the gpx files), and start looking for clusters of caches that I can go get -- drive up, pick up 4 or 5 caches, and head out. With the 'not really there' caches still present, finding these clusters is much harder... e.g. I have more than once run into clusters of half a dozen caches where all but one weren't actually there...

 

It's certainly not a life or death problem, but it is a pain, that I'm sure is going to get worse over time.

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Jay, Caine, and Becca:

Could we please, pretty please, with sugar on top, have a flag that cache owners could add to their pages that indicates that the cache isn't actually at the coordinates on the cache page?


 

I think people should flag these caches as puzzle caches as the category was originally intended. I agree that is is frustrating to stumble upon these when they are listed as traditional caches. I catch a few of them by filtering out caches from my GPX file that contain statements like "the posted coordinates", "the coordinates listed", "solving the puzzle", and a dozen others -- not something the average cacher can do or is willing to spend the effort doing. Reeducating the approvers to catch this kind of mistake seems a more appropriate solution.

Link to comment

If this is your goal,

quote:
Originally posted by Jay, Caine, and Becca:

...drive up, pick up 4 or 5 caches, and head out...


...try filtering your pocket queries to show only "traditional" caches where the difficulty is "less than or equal to 1.5". The clusters that appear will probably not contain any of the type you wish to avoid.

 

Worldtraveler

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by GeoROCKS!:

I think people should flag these caches as puzzle caches as the category was originally intended.


And which category is that? There is no cache type for "puzzle" caches. There is a "mystery" cache type, which is relevant for some puzzle caches, but some puzzle caches are also multicaches, and in my opinion the fact that it's a multi trumps the fact that it's a "mystery."

 

warm.gif

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies

And which category is that?


Sorry -- ''unknown'' caches. They've been called by many names. Yes, multis should be marked as ''multi'', but if a cache is not where it is posted, then ''unknown'' still seems more appropriate than ''traditional''.

Link to comment

If the cache isn't actually at the coordinates listed on the cache page, then it should be listed as a Multi Cache.

I have seen a multi incorrectly listed as a traditional once, but if they aren't going to correctly list their cache, they probably won't use the suggested flag anyway.

Link to comment

quote:
If the cache isn't actually at the coordinates listed on the cache page, then it should be listed as a Multi Cache.

 

Well, not all caches that are not located at the coords given are Multi-Caches. Take Calvin and Hobbs (GC9862) for example. The coords given are the parking lot, where the coords needed are found on two travel bugs in the area.

 

You should give this one a try Chuck - it's in Surgarloaf...

 

/cw

 

aka : Chris Williams

 

Caching in the North Bay and beyond...

sonomarin.net

Link to comment

According to the Cache Types page, An offset cache (where you go to a location and get hints to the actual cache) is considered a multi-cache.

 

Puzzle caches are just like regular caches, excpet you have to solve some puzzle to determine the actual coordinates. When I create one of these, I use the Multi-Cache category -- not because I consider it a multi-cache, but because that seems to be the best way to let people know it's not at the posted coordinates.

 

I think Puzzle Caches deserve their own category.

 

-BeachBuddies

Link to comment

Uh oh, someone got me thinking again. You've been warned.

 

Along the same lines of what has been already mentioned but expanding it a bit...

 

For those of us with a mapping GPSr, simply using a different waypoint symbol could help a lot here. We need more geocaching related symbols aside from the already available "Geocache" and "Geocache Found" offerings. I know this is nothing that this web site can control but, honestly, how often do symbols like "Glider Area" or "Live Theatre" get used?

 

Sometimes, when I'm driving about, I leave the GPSr on, in mapping mode, just to see what caches are around in the area that I'm driving. Maybe I need to be more prepared, but unless a person has a printout, PDA, or possibly laptop, they're not going to know what kind of cache it is. Being able to tell the cache type, by its symbol, would seem to be a useful thing.

 

Anyway, I'm rambling now. Just my $0.02.

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by Chuck & Kris:

If the cache isn't actually at the coordinates listed on the cache page, then it should be listed as a Multi Cache.

I have seen a multi incorrectly listed as a traditional once, but if they aren't going to correctly list their cache, they probably won't use the suggested flag anyway.


 

Exactly!

 

In fact, the mis-categorization of caches is so rampant around here we've learned to ignore it and rely solely on the cache discription. Forntunately, now that our unfound caches are so thinned out, we're sort of know each cache and what's involved.

 

quote:
Antonym said:

...they're not going to know what kind of cache it is.


 

You can use GPX Spinner to massage your files to show you what type of cache it is listed as. You still have to deal with caches that are categorized wrong though.

 

CR

 

72057_2000.gif

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by antonym:

For those of us with a mapping GPSr, simply using a different waypoint symbol could help a lot here. We need more geocaching related symbols aside from the already available "Geocache" and "Geocache Found" offerings. I know this is nothing that this web site can control but, honestly, how often do symbols like "Glider Area" or "Live Theatre" get used?

 

Sometimes, when I'm driving about, I leave the GPSr on, in mapping mode, just to see what caches are around in the area that I'm driving. Maybe I need to be more prepared, but unless a person has a printout, PDA, or possibly laptop, they're not going to know what kind of cache it is. Being able to tell the cache type, by its symbol, would seem to be a useful thing.


I use GPX Spinner on my pocket query GPX files to change the icon based on cache type. If you are a premium member, you owe it to yourself to check this program out. Not only do I change the icon, I also change the waypoint name to include the difficult and terrain. This way, when I'm driving around I can see what the cache's rating is, and what type it is, just from the GPS map.

 

Note: Magellan and Garmin (and I'm sure others) use a different set of names for the icons. GPX Spinner's default config is set up for Garmin, I believe (which you must use since you mentioned two Garmin icon names).

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

Link to comment

Thanks guys. I just tried out Spinner ealier today and was on my way to edit my post. Seems Sissy/CR, and Marky beat me to it.

 

I had downloaded Spinner a while ago but had never bothered to try it. It seems to do exactly what I was looking for. I've run my PQ's through it and voila, all symboled and happy.

 

I'm beginning to finally realize that in most situations here, if it seems like there ought to be a way to do something, there probably already is. Thanks again!

Link to comment
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...