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Geocaching.com site update June 9th


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I like the new features on the Maps Beta, particularly the ability to show more than 500 caches at a time. Also like the pocket query layers. Thanks for all the hard work.

 

Would it be possible to make the query icon a little smaller and/or transparent? They tend to overwhelm and obscure the cache types beneath them, sort of like a big hot air balloon with a tiny gondola.

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Is it a flaw or a feature? I just pulled up the map for a PQ based on a bookmark list I made for a road trip I am taking and I have every cache across seven states on the map. If you look hard enough you can find the thought-ballon lightning-bolts for the caches that are actually in my bookmark list, but why are all the others there and how do I get rid of them?

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+1 on getting rid of the Mapquest maps. It doesn't show as much roads, and the roads it does show in the county doesn't show the hwy name.. What is the point of a map which only has lines and no labels? The other stuff on top of the map is really obtrusive and gets in the way. Can't even see the 50% of the map.

 

Get rid of it ASAP.

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Seriously, get rid of the mapquest map. That looks....awful.

 

I agree.

 

I had NO idea that anybody really cared about that little overview map up there!! I've always thought that it was just a waste of space. Yeah, it does give you a wider zoom than the "real" map, but I rarely need that, and the Mapquest map serves just as well for giving me a zoomed-out preview of the area.

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I love having the ability to overlay a pq, but i really want to be able to hide all caches that aren't in the PQ, and just show the caches themselves with the normal icons. Like the old maps PQ preview..

 

I agree that you need to be able to toggle between PQ hits only (lightning bolts only) and all caches in the area.

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Seriously, get rid of the mapquest map. That looks....awful.

 

I agree.

 

I had NO idea that anybody really cared about that little overview map up there!! I've always thought that it was just a waste of space. Yeah, it does give you a wider zoom than the "real" map, but I rarely need that, and the Mapquest map serves just as well for giving me a zoomed-out preview of the area.

 

same here, i always ignored it

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Add me to the "Mapquest sucks; bring back Google Maps!" crowd.

 

+1 get rid of Mapquest

 

Removed cache size option when reporting a new event cache

 

Thank you! So what size will all Events be now - "Not Chosen"?

 

CITO event caches, and Earthcaches still have the size option enabled!

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

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MapQuest vs Google aside, has anybody at Groundspeak actually asked themselves, why do we have two maps on the cache page? Two maps that both show the same location (differently), and that both give you bigger maps (differently) when you click on them?

 

I count two maps on the cache page, four more maps accessible from the first two, and a whole bunch more via the text links.

 

Too many maps!

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Second that question.

 

And another thing.... why do I have to log in to forums when I'm already logged in on the site and navigate here from the menu link? Seems odd.

 

Anyway, my main point: thanks for the continuing efforts to get map functionality to a semblance of its previous utility. Seems rather like the change from basic cable to digital HD—everything worked great before and you could find what you wanted, albeit in a plain wrapper; now everything's fancy and ten times the capability but you can't get a list of easily identifiable caches and see where the hell they are.

 

And is it just me (most likely) or does the generated PQ list of caches cover/hide/overwrite some of those very caches? I.E. my PQ totaled 72 caches, but with the list displayed I can only "see" 59. I.E. My PQ shows 72 caches total but with the list displayed I can only "see" 59. Turn off the list display and I count 72... uh, Houston?

(Safari 4.04. Mac OS 10.6.3) Maybe a refresh/restart will help.

 

All this is to say: when I'm hiking in the mountains, where I don't have cell reception, where I'm not carrying 5 devices to store all the electronic data possible, a simple printed map (flexible width, so I can size as needed) with a numbered list of caches corresponding to numbered cache icons, is really, really, did I mention REALLY? helpful.

 

Appreciate all the improvements!!

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

 

Same here - I used the sort to see if the caches I found have been logged (found) today, yesterday etc. The sort used to bring them up in chronological order (last found date, irrespective of my own find date) so that I didn't have to trawl through umpteen pages of finds to look for the most recent find. It was a useful facility to have and use.

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I really shouldn't analyse things after midnight when I'm already tired. Just had an extra tuppence laying around.

 

im·prove verb \im-ˈprüv\

 

transitive verb

1

archaic : employ, use

2

a : to enhance in value or quality : make better

b : to increase the value of (land or property) by making it more useful for humans (as by cultivation or the erection of buildings)

c : to grade and drain (a road) and apply surfacing material other than pavement

3

: to use to good purpose

intransitive verb

1

: to advance or make progress in what is desirable

2

: to make useful additions or amendments

 

Please clarify/explain/confirm or deny:

 

Old map: icons show all caches, assuming I zoom in far enough to show <500. Click check box to display numbers. Click on cache in list to highlight on map, or open cache page. Can see at a glance (by, you know, the numbers) what caches are in a certain area, next to each other, etc. Zooming in/out adjusts list of caches instantly. Two clicks. Very useful. Not that pretty.

 

New (beta) map: Wow, very fancy icons everywhere. Shows much larger area. Can see more than 500 caches if I want, 'cause you know, I'll be hoping to find a couple of thousand today. Click on link to generate PQ from visible area. Jump to PQ parameters page. Check settings for required information. Click to submit PQ. Go back to beta map. Reload/refresh /Open new beta map window (I'm guessing here, because I don't see the just generated PQ show otherwise). CLick on PQ to display those caches with list on right. Click on cache name in list and map centers on that cache and a target box appears around the icon. If you can see it depending on the zoom level and other icons adjacent. Change zoom level and list does not change. Clicking or hovering on cache icon does not highlight cache name in list. Can't tell where any of the listed caches are, except for the one I click on. Lost count of how many clicks needed thus far. Impressive technical achievement, no doubt. Prettier. Not really useful, sadly.

 

I'm smiling, really. Keep up the good work (not being facetious, I mean that sincerely).

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Please clarify/explain/confirm or deny:

 

Old map: ................... Two clicks. Very useful. Not that pretty.

 

New (beta) map: ............ Impressive technical achievement, no doubt. Prettier. Not really useful, sadly.

 

..............

 

Very well put - I'm 200% in agreement.

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That "Mapquest" thingy in the top right is actually a map? Wait, oh: yes, it does seem to contain the name of the city the cache is in, and some roads, but it's obscured by ... HUGE COPYRIGHT TEXT AND SCALE

 

318221021.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1307696113&Signature=%2Fj8YXzo23j4zQplje6jbYogQ38I%3D

 

Really, Google Maps are the best maps. Please use them.

 

A good map snippet (not this one!) in the top right corner does actually help me assess in what area a cache is located.

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Seriously, get rid of the mapquest map. That looks....awful.

 

I agree.

 

I had NO idea that anybody really cared about that little overview map up there!! I've always thought that it was just a waste of space. Yeah, it does give you a wider zoom than the "real" map, but I rarely need that, and the Mapquest map serves just as well for giving me a zoomed-out preview of the area.

 

I agree it is relatively useless information, but like an ugly wart it should be removed even if it is doing no real harm.

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

 

yes, that has always been the list of your finds chronologically based on the date you found it, and i wouldn't want it any other way...would be quite useless, after all its my own profile why do i care when someone else found it?

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

 

yes, that has always been the list of your finds chronologically based on the date you found it, and i wouldn't want it any other way...would be quite useless, after all its my own profile why do i care when someone else found it?

 

Again, the list of your finds comes up in chronological order by default, so if you don't care about when other cachers find the same cache you did, just don't click on the Last Found to sort the finds. Some of us really enjoyed being able to sort that column and see what caches had been found recently by other cachers. I don't see the reasoning that that needed to be changed back.

 

How about appeasing both parties and adding a second sorting option to the column? One sort would be for when YOU found the cache, the other would sort it by when the cache was last found by anyone.

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Noooo! The PQ preview links now go to the beta map. :( While I like the beta maps, the PQ preview is vastly inferior to the old maps.

 

And the "Back to original maps" link doesn't keep the PQ preview. Anyone have the URL to view a preview on the old maps?

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• Removed "add to collection" menu item for Trackables owned by you but not currently in your inventory

Lookes like this fix went too far. I just activated a trackable, it went into my Trackables Inventory and now I don't see any way to put it into my collection (there is no "add to collection" URL, drop down box, or button). All the trackables in my Trackable Invetory are mine and I see no way to move any of them into my Trackables Collection.

 

If I go to the trackable's page then the only options I have under Actions are: Move to Inventory (it's already there), Mark Item as Missing, or Recaculate Distance.

 

This brings up a question I have: Where is the proper place to report a bug? Is it on the Customer Feedback site?

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With all the sorting changes that have been made, something has gone wrong with trackable log sorting:

 

When log editing finally opened for modifying trackable actions, I back-logged my mileage tracker (TB24KRV), to include the ~100 caches that I found before I started using this coin. The trackable page appeared just fine.

 

However, after the last update, the log that I edited last displays FIRST on the trackable page. That log has the oldest date (first cache that I found), but the newest "last modified timestamp". The most recent finds start on page 14. The trackable MAP is numbered correct, though.

 

Recalculate distance doesn't solve the problem.

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

 

yes, that has always been the list of your finds chronologically based on the date you found it, and i wouldn't want it any other way...would be quite useless, after all its my own profile why do i care when someone else found it?

 

Again, the list of your finds comes up in chronological order by default, so if you don't care about when other cachers find the same cache you did, just don't click on the Last Found to sort the finds. Some of us really enjoyed being able to sort that column and see what caches had been found recently by other cachers. I don't see the reasoning that that needed to be changed back.

 

How about appeasing both parties and adding a second sorting option to the column? One sort would be for when YOU found the cache, the other would sort it by when the cache was last found by anyone.

 

+1

I like to know which of my founds have been found recently, which ones have not been found for a long time...

It used to be easy with the filter "by last found", it is now close to impossible...

Please bring the filter back !

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MapQuest vs Google aside, has anybody at Groundspeak actually asked themselves, why do we have two maps on the cache page? Two maps that both show the same location (differently), and that both give you bigger maps (differently) when you click on them?

 

I count two maps on the cache page, four more maps accessible from the first two, and a whole bunch more via the text links.

 

Too many maps!

 

While I agree that I find the smaller map to be a waste of space, the purpose, I believe, is to give you a slightly zoomed out overview of the cache area. I could live without it, but don't consider it to be exactly an "ugly wart", as it is called in another post here.

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Again, the list of your finds comes up in chronological order by default, so if you don't care about when other cachers find the same cache you did, just don't click on the Last Found to sort the finds.

If you look at the list and choose to sort it by something else, let's say "date hidden", then you need a way to switch the sorting back to what it was before. That's what sorting by "last found" does. It also lets you reverse that sorting.

The "last found" column has always shown the date when the user has found the cache when it was a search based on username (plus the date when you have found it, if you've found it). It makes no sense to have the sorting work on something other than what is shown. As it is now, the "last found" column is consistent and the sorting works correctly (except that the column heading might be confusing and should rather say "last found by user").

 

How about appeasing both parties and adding a second sorting option to the column? One sort would be for when YOU found the cache, the other would sort it by when the cache was last found by anyone.

No problem with that at all, but again, it makes no sense to have it sort on some value that's not shown. The only thing that would make sense is to treat looking at the list of your own finds as a special case, show different values there and show two different sort options. But all other user-based searches should remain unchanged.

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Again, the list of your finds comes up in chronological order by default, so if you don't care about when other cachers find the same cache you did, just don't click on the Last Found to sort the finds.

If you look at the list and choose to sort it by something else, let's say "date hidden", then you need a way to switch the sorting back to what it was before. That's what sorting by "last found" does. It also lets you reverse that sorting.

The "last found" column has always shown the date when the user has found the cache when it was a search based on username (plus the date when you have found it, if you've found it). It makes no sense to have the sorting work on something other than what is shown. As it is now, the "last found" column is consistent and the sorting works correctly (except that the column heading might be confusing and should rather say "last found by user").

 

How about appeasing both parties and adding a second sorting option to the column? One sort would be for when YOU found the cache, the other would sort it by when the cache was last found by anyone.

No problem with that at all, but again, it makes no sense to have it sort on some value that's not shown. The only thing that would make sense is to treat looking at the list of your own finds as a special case, show different values there and show two different sort options. But all other user-based searches should remain unchanged.

 

Not sure what you mean sorting by a value thats not shown, the "Last Found" column shows two different dates in each entry, the date you found it and the date it was last found by anyone ?

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Not sure what you mean sorting by a value thats not shown, the "Last Found" column shows two different dates in each entry, the date you found it and the date it was last found by anyone ?

 

Not in a cache list that is generated from a "found by user" search, which is what you get when you go through somebody's profile. In that case it shows the date when that user has found the cache, plus the date when you have found it, if you've found it. It's always been like that. Maybe not if you look at your own list of finds (I don't know about that), but definitely for all other users.

Edited by dfx
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Ah right , see where your coming from,, I'm not to bothered about which way it sorts when viewing another users profile though, I guess in that case sorting by the date they found it makes more sense.

 

I'm only refering to when I view my own profile, in which case every cache listed will have the two dates, and then sorting by date it was last found allows (or did allow) me to see who has been following in my footsteps so to speak, which has always made interesting reading for me.

Edited by Raver Dave
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I will say this, that mapquest map is annoying. Whats the reason of changing to that map????? Coming from me, first time I am complaining about something since its easy for me to ignore alot of things. :ph34r: :ph34r:

 

If you want to ignore it, and if you use ABP, here's the element hiding rule:

 

geocaching.com#img(id=mapPreview)

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And another thing.... why do I have to log in to forums when I'm already logged in on the site and navigate here from the menu link? Seems odd.

I haven't had to do that for YEARS!

I have to log in every time I go to the forum, even when i'm obviously already logged into geocaching.com.

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Well thats a shame, I've alwasy known it to sort by the last time anyway found it (apart from a brief period after the may update and the hotfix) and have always liked it that way, ...

It depends on what view you're in. If you look at the list of caches some user has found, then the "last found" column reflects the date when this user has found the cache, and sorting is applied on that also. If you look at any other (?) list of caches, say from a certain location, then "last found" is last found by anyone, and sorting works accordingly too.

 

Serisouly, it's always been like that. Well at least the display, I don't know about the sorting. I'm also not sure if it also worked that way if you looked at your own list of finds, but I would think it did.

 

I'm talking about the My Public Profile > Geocaches > All Geocache Finds page (which is basicly just a a find caches by username search result using my username.

I don't get it. When I used to open a link to "My Friends" and then open their profile, I could click on the link to the caches they found and they all showed up IN THE ORDER THAT FRIEND FOUND THEM. So, I could view what caches they did yesterday, the day before, etc. Now they still come up in the order of WHEN THE CACHE WAS LAST FOUND BY ANYBODY. I don't care when it was last found. If i'm looking up my friend, i want to see their finds in order. And that's what it USED to do before the May update.

And please don't make any comments about why somebody would want to do that. Everybody caches in their own way and there is no right or wrong to any of it. I just preferred the way it used to work and don't understand the change.

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I don't get it. When I used to open a link to "My Friends" and then open their profile, I could click on the link to the caches they found and they all showed up IN THE ORDER THAT FRIEND FOUND THEM. So, I could view what caches they did yesterday, the day before, etc. Now they still come up in the order of WHEN THE CACHE WAS LAST FOUND BY ANYBODY. I don't care when it was last found. If i'm looking up my friend, i want to see their finds in order. And that's what it USED to do before the May update.

And please don't make any comments about why somebody would want to do that. Everybody caches in their own way and there is no right or wrong to any of it. I just preferred the way it used to work and don't understand the change.

 

That's precisely how it's working now (and the way it used to for many years) after yesterday's release.

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Could yesterday's upgrade have affected the Feedback forums? The avatars are overwriting the text. I see this with both Firefox and with IE8.

 

Take a look at this:

 

http://feedback.geoc...ache-is-clicked

 

899ca8cf-0c5a-41a4-91e5-71230cab2110.jpg

 

It has been reported, unfortunately... the subject and description aren't very descriptive of the issue. But the page itself sure demonstrates the problem better than my screenshot: http://feedback.geocaching.com/forums/75775-geocaching-com/suggestions/1922815-thumbnail-pictures?ref=title

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