Nearest Cache Page

2.6k · June 29, 2003

Tried saving my search parameters as a bookmark. Doesn't work. It kicks me back to the New Search page. The feature is useless to me if I have to input the coordinates every time.

Pepper playing nice!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?origin_lat=42&origin_long=-88&submit3=Submit

4.1k · June 29, 2003

We like the new pages, but are experiencing a couple of minor problems and could use some help. When we log in it no longer remembers our password and it needs to be entered each time. We have clicked on "remember me" with no luck. The other problem is when we do a filtered search, the first page comes up just fine. When we click next page we get all caches again and not just the filtered ones. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Smile, make others wonder what you're up to!!!

June 29, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy:
We'll be adding icons to replace the [x] and [ ] text, and replacing it with an icon to indicate it is yours, so the hardly noticeable yellow won't be as important.

Please include a text-only version option or, better yet, reinstate the WAP version for those of us who are using cell phones or PDAs.

June 29, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:
Tried saving my search parameters as a bookmark. Doesn't work. It kicks me back to the New Search page. The feature is useless to me if I have to input the coordinates every time.

I very strongly agree! Many of the new changes are unfriendly to those people who don't come in through the front page on a desktop computer.

June 29, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by cachew nut:
I'm not sure if this is now permanent or still negotiable, but please consider going back to an actual date rather than X number of days ago. It's much easier to figure out how many days ago something was by the date, than it is to figure out the date by how many days ago.

I was having a discussion on Friday with a fellow geocacher when I asked him the greatest number of caches he'd found on any given day. We went to the site to look at his caches found, and quickly realized that the new date reckoning makes that calculation impossible. Sure, he can look at his "My Cache Page" and view all logs to get the answer, but I can't.

June 30, 2003

I have to agree with GeoROCKS! and cashew nut. After using the new search page for a while, I would rather see the actual dates found. Can we have a switch like the Miles/Km switch?

Thanks,

JetSkier

8.9k · June 30, 2003

New Cache Search by Location bookmarked:

From N 42° 00.000 W 088° 00.000

Still works.

Yea - there's a feature missing. If I look up caches found by a user, they are SORTED in date order of when they found them, but there is no indication of WHEN they found them. Couldn't this be added (IN DATE FORMAT) similar to the green text of when I found the cache? That to me is a whole lot more significant in searching the activity of another user than the fact that I found the cache 13 months ago.

Don't change the default search, just the search results when looking for caches found by a particular user.

2.5k · June 30, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Markwell:

Don't change the default search, just the search results when looking for caches found by a particular user.

I disagree. All the searches should include the date, not just particular searches.

8.9k · June 30, 2003

Fine, I liked it better the old way as well.

But it doesn't sound like we're getting anywhere with that. So I was hoping at least to sway TPTB with some logic that even if we only see ours as "22 months ago" or "3 days ago" (which is irksome, but not mission critical as I see it), when we're looking up someone ELSE, we DEFINITELY need to see the date to get an idea of when they found it. Right now, we're just seeing the cache in order of when the person found it.

And when reviewing someone else's finds, it just makes sense to see them by the date, so (as mentioned above) you can see if it was one of many found in one day's worth of caching.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?tx=9a79e6ce-3344-409c-bbe9-496530baf758

2.5k · June 30, 2003

Yes, we do need it for when we are checking someone else's finds. I suppose I could live with that since there is always My Cache page for my own finds. I thought maybe I was alone on this, but you make a good point...what was the date on the cache you found 22 months ago, quickly now?

June 30, 2003

the new icons for found and owned are purtty

Happy Halloween

June 30, 2003

Ok.....I am starting to get a little irratated. All I want is the Map Pages to show my finds. The new graphics on the cache pages are nice but WHAT ABOUT THE MAPS SHOWING FINDS?????????

Thats the only thing that would make me happy, I might even do a flip.... It was supposed to be the end of May, then the middle of June, and now its the END of June and when I open a state map page, it still doesn't show my finds.....

Rusty

RW Da Man!!!

CHS#1

2.6k · June 30, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Markwell:
New Cache Search by Location bookmarked:

From N 42° 00.000 W 088° 00.000

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?origin_lat=42&origin_long=-88&submit3=Submit

Still works.

The point was that I couldn't use the "Exclude hidden/found items from results" feature.

If I bookmark the url from an excluded search it shoots you back to the coordinate input screen.

If you create the search from the hide and seek a cache page you can't exclude anything.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat_ns=1&lat_h=47&lat_mmss=51.554&long_ew=-1&long_h=121&long_mmss=58.744&submita=Search

There should be an option to set the search results, with the exclusions, on your "my cache page".

Pepper playing nice!

July 1, 2003

A couple ideas...

A filter for micro vs regular sized traditional caches and perhaps a different icon for micro caches?

A filter for eliminating caches that are 'temporarily unavailable' from the nearest cache page. If their not available, don't show them.

A similiar filter for the pocket query generator as well. If the cache is not available, then let me filter it out so I can get more active cache results.

If I want to see a sunrise, I'll STAY up for it!

July 1, 2003

Hey, NICE icons! The graphics make it SO much easier to tell at a very quick glance just what caches you've done, placed, and not found.

Thanks for changing out the [X] and [O], although I hope, for people who are using graphicsless browsers like cell phones, that somehow the ALT or TITLE tags for each graphic does help explain what they're missing.

The new format is just so nice. One (filtered) click from my MyCache home page and I don't have to wade through a list caches I've already done, but I CAN do that if I want, by not clicking the filtered link. And now the new graphics are just so much better, especially since the light yellow completely fails to show on my laptop PC LCD screen.

This is great stuff!

Thanks!

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

2.6k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Chrissy_Skyking &
The new format is just so nice. One (filtered) click from my MyCache home page and I don't have to wade through a list caches I've already done, but I CAN do that if I want, by not clicking the filtered link.

I don't see the filtered link your talking about. Be a little more specific, please. This is the filter issue I was complaining about. In order to use the filtered feature I have to input the coordinates each time, as a new search.

Pepper playing nice!

July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:

quote:
Originally posted by Chrissy_Skyking &
The new format is just so nice. One (filtered) click from my MyCache home page and I don't have to wade through a list caches I've already done, but I CAN do that if I want, by not clicking the _filtered link_.

I don't see the _filtered link_ your talking about. Be a little more specific, please. This is the filter issue I was complaining about. In order to use the filtered feature I have to input the coordinates each time, as a new search.

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=39197

_Pepper playing nice!_

http://www.global-dialog.org/mvd/mvl.cgi?NextName=wAnti-Mokita.html

To filter a page on Internet Explorer, I just add &f=1 to the URL in the address window and then hit enter. It works in bookmarks too.

2.6k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by John E Cache:
To filter a page on Internet Explorer, I just add &f=1 to the URL in the address window and then hit enter. It works in bookmarks too.

That works great!

I would still like to know what single click link was being refereed to by Chrissy_Skyking & Blaze.

Pepper playing nice!

July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:

quote:
Originally posted by Chrissy_Skyking &
The new format is just so nice. One (filtered) click from my MyCache home page and I don't have to wade through a list caches I've already done, but I CAN do that if I want, by not clicking the _filtered link_.

I don't see the _filtered link_ your talking about. Be a little more specific, please. This is the filter issue I was complaining about. In order to use the filtered feature I have to input the coordinates each time, as a new search.

Ah, ok, I see your problem. I remember you posting something about this a few weeks ago too, just thought you'd solved it.

Ok, here's what I do: Go to your My Cache home page on the site by clicking the link in the NavBar on the left top of any page. Make sure you are logged in (you probably have to be to get to your My Cache home page).

Next, make sure in your profile (under Change your account information) you've set your home coordinates or at least your zip code.

Now, back on the My Cache home page, in the top right, just under the thing that says "you are logged in. logout". (Note: where I'm using Bold, it's really underlined) There is a link that says: "Search for nearest caches in CA or from your home coordiates (filter finds)." Clicking on the words "filter finds" gives you a different link than clicking on "from your home coordinates", and this is what brings me immediately to a page which ONLY has caches I haven't found and I haven't placed. Just new ones for me to do, and the closest 20 at that! Very fast... one click and I'm there. If you click "from your home coordinates" you'll see ALL caches in your area, including your own and ones you've already found.

Does your My Cache have any of this text above? Hope this helps.

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

2.6k · July 1, 2003

That works great. Thanks. Learn new things every day.

I suppose I should retract all the whining I've made. This feature works great.

Pepper playing nice!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=55.9422&lon=14.15433

July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:
That works great. Thanks. Learn new things every day.

_This feature works great._

Hope this also helps other people who may not have known about this new feature. It's certainly MUCH easier than adding &f=1 to the URL.

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

5.7k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Chrissy_Skyking & Blaze:

quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:
That works great. Thanks. Learn new things every day.

_This feature works great._

Hope this also helps other people who may not have known about this new feature. It's certainly MUCH easier than adding &f=1 to the URL.

Right! But it's good to know that you can add the &f=1 to any search page, such as if you did a zip code search for where you work (I work about 40 miles from home, so there are a lot of nearby caches close to work that are way down the list on my nearest caches list (but I still don't want to see the caches I've found).

--Marky

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

July 1, 2003

Maybe this has been asked already, but can we have an option to hide (not return) inactive caches in that list.

1.5k · July 1, 2003

I second that motion. There is one cache in particular placed by a teenager who seems to be going through a spurt of 'I am king, and nothing you say will be taken in any sort of mature manner'.

Responses from concerned cachers regarding private property issues and complaints from security get answered with smart-aleck responses, and instead of archiving the cache it gets temporarily disabled and has been for a good 4+ months. The cacher also hasn't logged on since sometime in May. I just posted a an archive log note, so hopefully an admin finally takes care of it.

Brian

Team A.I.

July 1, 2003

i think jeremy's response to this issue was along the lines of "disables caches won't be hidden so that they don't get forgoten." Out of sight - out of mind will lead to a bunch of geotrash.

Happy Halloween

[This message was edited by Woof! on July 01, 2003 at 08:14 PM.]

July 1, 2003

I am having problems with the download to easygps, recently. I click on the download button, save cache site as a loc. file. Then try to open it with easygps. Nothing comes up. There aren't any coordiates, nothing. Just the title of the cache on the thumbnail. I have also tried just opening the file and I get the same....nothing. Does this have to do with the upgrades, because it used to work fine. Can someone help me? Thanks, Team Woodlmt

July 2, 2003

The new date format for 'last found' (eg. today, yesterday, etc) doesn't work well for those of us in significantly different timezones - I'm sure those in the UK have similar problems to us in Australia. A cache that shows up as found 'today' is often actually 'yesterday' for us, as eastern Australia is 17 hours ahead of the US west coast. Can we have the exact dates back?

July 2, 2003

All of the activity on the search pages has prompted me to report small bugs that I would earlier just tolerate. But since I get the distinct feeling that quirk reports are appreciated, here goes.

The query

results in a report where the cache Watermill III is reported without any direction. It says just "12.4 mi" instead of, say, "12.4 mi S".

This is definitely a minor problem that does really impair the use of the report, but it is weird.

9.4k · July 2, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Slider & Smurf:
A cache that shows up as found 'today' is often actually 'yesterday' for us, as eastern Australia is 17 hours ahead of the US west coast. Can we have the exact dates back?

The exact date would still be wrong. We're working on doing offsets for dates in the near future which will show the actual "today" instead of the past "today"

Jeremy Irish

Groundspeak - The Language of Location

8.9k · July 2, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy:
We're working on doing offsets for dates in the near future which will show the actual "today" instead of the past "today"

...which would become unecessary if you used the actual date instead of the relative phrase "today" or "2 months ago."

Also, what happens if someone logs a date incorrectly and says they found it on August 15, 2003. Does it show 1 month from now, or -1 month ago? So much easier with dates.

July 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy:
The exact date would still be wrong.

I don't see why the date would be wrong. When we are a day ahead here in Australia, we have to amend the default 'today' date when we log a find to show our actual date. That amended date is the one that used to show on the listings before. It worked fine then, and should still work now. It's much easier to read a complete date against a cache in a listing than having to open the cache page (or several cache pages) to find the actual date(s) when the listing only says x months ago.

[This message was edited by maccamob on July 03, 2003 at 07:36 AM.]

1.8k · July 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Markwell:

quote:
Originally posted by Jeremy:
We're working on doing offsets for dates in the near future which will show the actual "today" instead of the past "today"

...which would become unecessary if you used the actual date instead of the relative phrase "today" or "2 months ago."

Also, what happens if someone logs a date incorrectly and says they found it on August 15, 2003. Does it show 1 month from now, or -1 month ago? So much easier with dates.

http://www.markwell.us

http://www.chicagogeocaching.com

Even easier would be some sort of lameness filter that would catch obvious errors like that.

I agree with Jeremy. It would probably be more useful to have a preference stating my UTC offset, and storing dates based on UTC. Then the dates will be right no matter where I look and the math for figuring out differences becomes a lot easier.

- - - - -

I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.

9.2k · July 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jens:
All of the activity on the search pages has prompted me to report small bugs that I would earlier just tolerate. But since I get the distinct feeling that quirk reports are appreciated, here goes.

The query

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=55.9422&lon=14.15433

results in a report where the cache Watermill III is reported without any direction. It says just "12.4 mi" instead of, say, "12.4 mi S".

This is definitely a minor problem that does really impair the use of the report, but it is weird.

That's less than half a degree off from exactly due South. There may be a bug in resolving degrees into cardinal directions when it rounds off to 180°. I'm guessing there's a "less than" comparitor (or "greater than") that should have had an "or equals to" stuck to it.

"Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body."

July 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by cameltrekor:
I have a problem that hasn't been discussed (I think).

From several cache pages, when I go to view a picture that has been attached to a log, it is not shown.

If more than one pic was downloaded, the other(s) show as thumbnails at the bottom of the newly opened window, but not the selected pic.

I looked at several caches and they all responded the same.

Any ideas?!

to add to the problem, I also don't see the newly-acclaimed cache icons.

Any ideas, help?

9.2k · July 3, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Jens:

The query

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=55.9422&lon=14.15433

results in a report where the cache Watermill III is reported without any direction. It says just "12.4 mi" instead of, say, "12.4 mi S".

Another thought on this - the bearing calculation that I've used (adapted from an algorithm I found on noaa.gov) will fail if the both the longitudes are the same (i.e., it's either due north or due south). So a special comparison is done to detect this prior to performing the calculation. This prevents (if I remember right) a divide-by-zero error from happening.

Could be the same problem here. The routine that calculates the bearing is silently failing due to a divide-by-zero, and is returning a blank for the cardinal direction.

"Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body."

8.9k · July 3, 2003

I've actually encountered the problem myself in my own database which calculates distance and bearing using Great Circle Calculations. For some reason I get a mathematical error when the bearing is due south or due north 180.0000000° or 0.0000000° - especially if they have EXACTLY the same longitude. I think there's a division by zero.

Don't know if this is why it's happening here, but maybe a suggestion.