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Geocaching.com site update May 4th 2011


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There still seems to be an issue with the "Last Found" column on certain cache listings. When looking at a list of nearby caches or of my own finds, the column seems to be displayed and sorts as expected.

 

However, when I look at a list of caches found by another cacher, the date the other cacher found the cache isn't shown; only the date that I found it (if I found it) and the last date that ANY cacher found the cache. There is no way to see when the other cacher found the cache without going to the cache page and searching for their log. This was not the case previously and I can only assume that this recent "update" has caused this.

 

Are there any plans to correct this situation? Or did anybody else even know it existed?

 

Yep, I noticed that last night - haven't used that function for a while so I don't know when it started.

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I just noticed today that the "View the Image Gallery" on cache pages no longer shows the number of images in the gallery.

Looking at one of my cache pages, the link says "View the Image Gallery of 3 images"

 

Yes, this is a change because it used to say something like "View the Image Gallery (3 images)"

 

Edit to add link.

 

Thanks, I've taken another look and have found that if the gallery only has 1 image, it does not show the count. If there is more than 1 image, then the url is as you have described. I think they just need to make a minor change to their counter.

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Ok Groundspeak, please explain something to me. When I go to the new map, the first thing that pops up is the box that says Congratulations, you found it. I have seen this box more times than I care to. Each time that I see it, I check "do not show this box again". Guess what? I keep seeing the box. Why does the box give us a choice as to whether or not we want to see it or not, if our choice doesnt matter.

 

Now, about the maps, one feature that we had available to us on the old maps was a listing of the caches that are currently displayed on the screen. That came in very handy of you wanted to find one cache in particular while on the map page. Sure, if you are looking for one cache in particular, we know there are other ways to do that. But, lets say Im looking at the caches within 5 miles of my home, and I have filtered out my finds. But, I want to see that one cache that I was just emailed about, with the new map, I need to hover on each icon to see which one has the name Im looking for. On the old maps, all I had to do was scroll down the names of the caches and when I found the one I wanted, click and it shows me on the map where it is.

 

Groundspeak seems to be pushing us more and more into using GSAK or some other 3rd party programs for searching for items. The site, IMO took a major step backwards in the mapping department on this latest upgrade.

Edited by Berta, Nick and Zoey
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There still seems to be an issue with the "Last Found" column on certain cache listings. When looking at a list of nearby caches or of my own finds, the column seems to be displayed and sorts as expected.

 

However, when I look at a list of caches found by another cacher, the date the other cacher found the cache isn't shown; only the date that I found it (if I found it) and the last date that ANY cacher found the cache. There is no way to see when the other cacher found the cache without going to the cache page and searching for their log. This was not the case previously and I can only assume that this recent "update" has caused this.

 

Are there any plans to correct this situation? Or did anybody else even know it existed?

 

Yep, I noticed that last night - haven't used that function for a while so I don't know when it started.

It started at the time of the site "update". I can't imagine why anyone would want to look at a specific cacher's finds and see the date that some other cacher last found a cache, so it had to be an unintentional side effect of the new site layout. But then again, logic doesn't always play into the plans of some. :D

Edited by Aquacache
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... when I look at a list of caches found by another cacher, the date the other cacher found the cache isn't shown; only the date that I found it (if I found it) and the last date that ANY cacher found the cache. There is no way to see when the other cacher found the cache without going to the cache page and searching for their log. This was not the case previously and I can only assume that this recent "update" has caused this.

 

Are there any plans to correct this situation? Or did anybody else even know it existed?

 

Yes! Please support the bug I reported on this:

http://feedback.geocaching.com/forums/75863-report-a-problem/suggestions/1824037-found-date-is-missing-from-friend-page

 

This is useful to check when my friend last went caching, and which caches he found.

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Now, about the maps, one feature that we had available to us on the old maps was a listing of the caches that are currently displayed on the screen. That came in very handy...

I agree that was useful. I hope the 'old' maps aren't taken away entirely, because I used that feature a lot. It was very easy to map a general area and use Ctrl-F to zero in on caches you were trying to locate.

 

I also liked that the caches were sorted by waypoint number - I'm often looking for caches that were placed in or around certain dates, and the waypoint number sorting is a pretty good proxy for that (it's not perfect, but pretty correlated). So I could scroll through the list by date and keep my eyes out for anything interesting.

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...I can't imagine why anyone would want to look at a specific cacher's finds and see the date that some other cacher last found a cache, ... :D

You are right, this change is complete nonsense! And I would say it has nothing to do with the changes of html, the beta maps, or the fixed width.

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Is it a bug or a feature ... ??

 

In others cachers profile .... the list of found caches

 

before update you saw the date the other cacher found the cache

after the update you see the last date anybody found the cache

 

I think that´s stupid. In other cachers profile I´m interested when they found it, not anybody ...

 

Biggi_H

 

edit: sorry for double posting ... didn´t saw the post above....

Edited by Biggi_H
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Here is another seemingly very odd thing that has accompanied the changes of late. A local puzzle cache, Floating Flyers (GC2MHZ7), shows all text in the Found It logs (and Notes) in the font color used to write the cache text - a golden yellow color. I haven't found other puzzle caches (yet) similarly affected but ... how did this one happen? If it's a new feature, I'd like to use it to change the font color of certain entries in many of my cache pages!

 

... Never Mind ... it went away ... but was there the past two days.

Edited by fishiam
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Here is another seemingly very odd thing that has accompanied the changes of late. A local puzzle cache, Floating Flyers (GC2MHZ7), shows all text in the Found It logs (and Notes) in the font color used to write the cache text - a golden yellow color. I haven't found other puzzle caches (yet) similarly affected but ... how did this one happen? If it's a new feature, I'd like to use it to change the font color of certain entries in many of my cache pages!

I'm not seeing it - maybe it was a general net glitch? It's possible that when you loaded the page your browser didn't pick up the closing tag for the font color - try reloading it now?

 

In other news, the background image on that page combined with the new fixed width feature has successfully hypnotized me.

 

I must kill... the queen...

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When I go to the new map, the first thing that pops up is the box that says Congratulations, you found it. I have seen this box more times than I care to. Each time that I see it, I check "do not show this box again". Guess what? I keep seeing the box.

This would be a cookie problem. Either you're not accepting cookies from geocaching.com, or your cookies are corrupted. Set your browser to accept cookies, or clear your cookies to resolve this issue.

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A local puzzle cache, Floating Flyers (GC2MHZ7), shows all text in the Found It logs (and Notes) in the font color used to write the cache text - a golden yellow color.

 

... Never Mind ... it went away ... but was there the past two days.

I bet a reviewer saw your first post and corrected it.

 

This was a big problem up until a couple of releases ago. When a cache was first submitted, HTML Tidy was not run on the description, but it was run on all subsequent edits. So sometimes a cache with bad HTML would creep through. All that had to be done to fix it was click the "edit" link, then save, which would make it get cleaned up by HTML Tidy. A reviewer probably did this when s/he saw your post.

 

As of a couple of releases ago, all caches are run through HTML Tidy even upon first submission.

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As far as I've been able to tell, no changes have come about as a result of the survey thus far. I also haven't seen any reporting of the survey results. So, it becomes natural to ask: is the fixed-width layout here to stay? Will we be given an answer one way or the other? Is an internal debate raging and we'll be told when HQ is good and ready?
I don't know the inside story at Groundspeak, but based on my experience with other corporate sites:

 

The fixed-width layout isn't something that can be changed quickly and easily with a simple hotfix. Once they decided to assume a fixed width, that assumption was baked into other aspects of the new site design. They can't just turn off the fixed width without breaking other parts of the site design that depend on the fixed width.

 

Also, the new site layout was just part of a bigger update. Rolling back to the old layout isn't an option, unless they roll back everything. And from what I've read, there are a lot of important infrastructure changes and bugfixes in the update. They aren't going to roll back those changes just to roll back the layout.

 

So if they switch to a liquid layout, they're going to do it by moving forward with a new design, not by going backwards to the old design. Given the number of votes and supporters on the feedback site, I'm sure they're aware of the issue, and of the interest many of their users have in the issue:

http://feedback.geoc...-profile-layout

 

 

I really wish they would communicate these types of things.

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A local puzzle cache, Floating Flyers (GC2MHZ7), shows all text in the Found It logs (and Notes) in the font color used to write the cache text - a golden yellow color.

 

... Never Mind ... it went away ... but was there the past two days.

I bet a reviewer saw your first post and corrected it.

 

This was a big problem up until a couple of releases ago. When a cache was first submitted, HTML Tidy was not run on the description, but it was run on all subsequent edits. So sometimes a cache with bad HTML would creep through. All that had to be done to fix it was click the "edit" link, then save, which would make it get cleaned up by HTML Tidy. A reviewer probably did this when s/he saw your post.

 

As of a couple of releases ago, all caches are run through HTML Tidy even upon first submission.

 

 

And it turns out that a few other caches by this cacher I referenced earlier ALSO have this weird problem of font colors in the cache text extending to the Found It logs and Notes (meaning that ... I'm not crazy). Examples (check quickly before TPTB fix them!):

 

Heard a Bird (GC2GRHF)

PEACE SIGN SERIES #15 - Pullers For Hi-way Peace (GC24MG6)

PEACE SIGN SERIES #17 - MAKE PEACE, SPREAD LOVE (GC2484F)

1972 (GC220WJ)

 

Like I said earlier, I think this is a "nice" bug/feature and I'd love to know how to exploit it.

 

.. and now that I look for commonalities, all these caches use an animated .gif as the background ...

Edited by fishiam
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Like I said earlier, I think this is a "nice" bug/feature and I'd love to know how to exploit it.

Read my post above again, especially the middle paragraph. It's not possible anymore. These cache pages were created before the bug was fixed.

 

.. and now that I look for commonalities, all these caches use an animated .gif as the background ...

No, the commonality is that they have an opening <font color> tag, and no closing </font> tag at the end.

Edited by Lil Devil
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OK, I'll admit, I haven't read every post in this thread. OTOH, I'm only going to mention things that are still a problem. Like the huge font being used in this text box I'm typing in right now ...

 

I have a large HTML table in this description. Suddenly there's a lot of extra space between lines. It's already a very long description and it does not need any more white space. I have not looked at the output HTML to figure out what gc.com did.

 

More generally, the admonition that "white space is good" is usually misplaced. It applies to print media. Because of the horridly low resolution of computer monitors compared with print, and the small size (information capacity) of most monitors compared with a newspaper page, the rules change. Yes, some white space is still good, but gc.com has taken the currently fashionable route of using print guidelines. Until we have 300dpi monitors the size of a double newspaper sheet, these rules don't apply.

 

That same cache description is being rendered in a very small font. My HTML description does nothing to the font size. I don't see this on most descriptions, and I haven't tried to figure out what broke this one.

 

Still, I see a continuing move to the currently fashionable smaller fonts. Wake up, Groundspeak, and notice that a lot of your most loyal users are over 60! Our eyes don't handle that small stuff as well as they used to. Include a lot of people over 60 in your testing!

 

Speaking to other users who don't like the high contrast: many of us over 60 much prefer the higher contrast. It's normal for your eyes to have decreased contrast sensitivity as you age. So those who think it's too bright, turn down the brightness on your monitor. If GS makes the background less bright, it's a lot harder for those of us who need the contrast to compensate.

 

As for catering to the execrable IE: remember that we on the forums are a highly self-selected bunch and not in any way representative of the vast majority of gc.com users. I don't like the fact that a majority of computer users still use Internet Exploder, but it's a fact. Of course we are all upset when our own oxen are gored, but those of us with a better understanding of the issues should not say oh, cast the less techno-literate to the winds. This also applies to the width issue: those posting here mostly know how to adjust the browser tab/window width, but the majority of users leave it the way it comes. This means that a liquid layout yields unreadably long lines. Yeah, it's frustrating, but GS can't change IE or do very much to change IE users, so consider whether their actions may be best on average even though some are hurt.

 

Edward

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Really trying to work with the beta maps and have a little issue. Don't know if it's been addressed (I did try to find it on the forums, but didn't see it anywhere). When "hovering" over the caches on the beta map, the name of the cache comes up really briefly and then disappears. Often can't even get the name to come up at all or it disappears as soon as it comes up. Is there some trick to making this work? Thanks in advance.

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Ok Groundspeak, please explain something to me. When I go to the new map, the first thing that pops up is the box that says Congratulations, you found it. I have seen this box more times than I care to. Each time that I see it, I check "do not show this box again". Guess what? I keep seeing the box. Why does the box give us a choice as to whether or not we want to see it or not, if our choice doesnt matter.

 

I have this same problem. Every time I log back into the site and click on Beta Maps, the info box pops up. I check "don't show this box again" but if I log out and log back in, it still pops up again.

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My SCROLL BOX in my profile has been killed off. WHY?????? I checked the html code, all is good. WHY was the scroll box feature killed off???? I had it in my profile for the USEFUL purpose of showing some info, if people want more they can scroll, IT SAVES A WHOLE LOT of overall page space and people can skip over it more easily. NOW, they hace to scroll down the whole page to bypass this item to see the stuff below.

WHY OH WHY was scroll boxes KILLED off in my profile??? IT was USEFUL and BENEFICIAL to others!!!!!!!.

 

Or, is there some non-standard html code I now need to use to get it working????

 

Previously used

<div style="height:800px;width:500px;font:16px/26px Georgia, Garamond, Serif;overflow:scroll;">

 

</div>

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I think it would be a great idea if I could actually print the cache page with the satellite map on it like I could before the "improvement" to beta maps. Having to manipulate screen shots of every page is a bit awkward.

Edited by edscott
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When I view caches on the new Beta maps, none of the geocache icons show on the map. I can put my cursor where the cache is and the name will pop up, but no icons. I have tried turning off the personalization of the icons and nothing shows.

 

Not sure what is going on with the Beta maps.

 

I am using Firefox 4.0.1

 

Does anyone have any ideas?

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When I view caches on the new Beta maps, none of the geocache icons show on the map. I can put my cursor where the cache is and the name will pop up, but no icons. I have tried turning off the personalization of the icons and nothing shows.

 

Not sure what is going on with the Beta maps.

 

I am using Firefox 4.0.1

 

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Seems like the options differ based on the magnification level that is selected.

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I think it would be a great idea if I could actually print the cache page with the satellite map on it

Did you see the "Notes about Printing Maps" link just below the map?

 

Found it today and it was already selected. Must be another problem.

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Here is another problem with the fixed width.

When looking at my uploaded field notes, the image is scrunched together.

And if you miss clicking on "Compose Log" you can very easily click on "Delete Log"

Thus losing a found cache.

 

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_ipvXAnk8Swc/Tdkl4PBwE3I/AAAAAAAAADQ/YNi2tP1wZgA/s144/width%20problem.jpg

Edited by Spatial Distortion
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i really like to know what/who broke this now

 

for about 2 weeks now the order of the found caches is a total mess...used to be in the order they were logged, now they get all jumbled up

 

i tried in vain to figure out if there is any logic to the scrambling of the order but i had absolutely no luck

 

what is going on??????? its extremely annoying

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i really like to know what/who broke this now

 

for about 2 weeks now the order of the found caches is a total mess...used to be in the order they were logged, now they get all jumbled up

 

i tried in vain to figure out if there is any logic to the scrambling of the order but i had absolutely no luck

 

what is going on??????? its extremely annoying

 

 

anyone still monitoring this thread?

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i really like to know what/who broke this now

 

for about 2 weeks now the order of the found caches is a total mess...used to be in the order they were logged, now they get all jumbled up

 

i tried in vain to figure out if there is any logic to the scrambling of the order but i had absolutely no luck

 

what is going on??????? its extremely annoying

 

 

anyone still monitoring this thread?

 

We had made a fix to correct some sorting issues after the release that introduced this bug. We have another small update coming next week that should correct the problem. I'm sorry for the trouble, t4e.

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We had made a fix to correct some sorting issues after the release that introduced this bug. We have another small update coming next week that should correct the problem. I'm sorry for the trouble, t4e.

 

good to know it will be fixed, thank you

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