+Tongaloid Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Having used the site for a few months now, I have a few suggestions. Some, I believe, migh reduce the number of time a cache page is reloaded. * Allow user to specify sort order (e.g. by date, waypoint, etc.) At least allow sorting by waypoint. My "modus operandi" is to print cache pages and take them with me (as I believe most people do). But I can never remember which I have printed and which I have not and print out the same caches multiple times. I have started ordering my printed cache pages by waypoint ID, since the id is what I see on my GPS. If I could sort caches waypointt caches by waypoint, it would be much easier to manage. * Allow user option to always decrypt. Again, when printing, I decrypt the hint in case I might need it. (Who me? :-)) This feature would reduce my page refreshes by 1/2. * Allow user option to show printable cache page by default. Have link for normal format. While at it, have option of how many log entrys to display. Again. since I print the page, I almost always view the page 3 times: once to see the cache, once to decrypt, and once to get printable version. * Why does printable version link open it up in a new window. This is pretty annoying. Add link in printable version back to normal version (or people could just use their Back button.) * Put the waypoint ID in bold up with/near the title. When out geocaching the waypoint ID is how the waypoint is identified (duh!). When I have 20 pages of caches to look thorugh, am driving, and am trying to show my partner how to find cache 'GC1234', it is annoying that the waypoint id is small and down the page. Kudos, however, to making waypoint ID the first part of the web page title. If I use IE, then I do get the waypoint at the top of the page. (Just discovered this.) * Lastly, I agree with all who say found caches should be in a separate list or have an option for not displaying. Am I long-winded enough? Thanks, Tongaloid My GPS claim-to-fame: Work on the first GPS receiver, the "manpack", a backpack GPS with a book-sized keypad. :-) Link to comment
+Mopar Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Not to sound like a broken record, but have you tried using Watcher along with GPX formated pocket queries? It will most of what you want, with the added benefit of being able to do it all offline, with no load on the GC.com servers. I gotta admit, these days about the only thing I need the website for is to actually log my finds (when I get around to it, HA!) and these forums. Everything else, planning, mapping, printing (I've gone paperless myself, and keep about 1000 cache pages stored in a old Palm III in my backpack) is done offline using the great 3rd party programs the users here have donated to the cause. Now if only there was some way to log caches offline, and just upload them in bulk to the server I would be in heaven. Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Since you are a 'paper' cacher, may I suggest that you organize your printed pages in a notebook? This would allow you to easily ascertain whether you already have one printed. I'm not sure what you meen by sorting by waypoint. You can already sort by coordinates. You can also pull up a cache by waypoint and obtain a list of caches nearest to it. I'm not sure that it would be good for the site to allow print-friendly views by default. Certainly, some profit is derived from the ad links on the 'normal' cache pages. This revenue would be lost if people no longer visited these pages. Decrypt by default? Interesting suggestion. I suspect some cache owners might feel cheated and stop using hints all together. I don't know. It doesn't bother me that it opens a new window when I request a print-friendly copy. I often will request a print friendly copy, a zoomed map, and toss the cache on my watch list. Having it open new windows for the map and the print-friendly copy allows me to do all three tasks without waiting for one to finish. I wish that it wouldn't open multiple new windows. When I click the map link, it opens a new window. However, if I don't close that window and I hit the map link on a subsequent cache, the map opens in the same window as previously opened. If I choose print-friendly, however, it opens another new window. That can get a little irritating if you forget to close out the first 'print-friendly' window after printing. Somebody else mentioned that they would like the waypoint id in bold to allow quicker access for this very purpose. Sounds like a good idea to me. It would be good to be able to default to searching without my found or hidden caches. You are plenty long-winded. Do I use too many dashes when I type? Link to comment
+Mopar Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sbell111: I'm not sure what you meen by sorting by waypoint. You can already sort by coordinates. You can also pull up a cache by waypoint and obtain a list of caches nearest to it. I'm guessing like: GC1234 GC1235 GC1236 GC1238 etc, so they can put the cache pages in that order to make it easier to find the cache printout for a nearby waypoint in the gps. Watcher or just about any other waypoint management tool should be able to do that, and like I said, you can print a cache page pretty easily from within watcher without even being online. Of course, you COULD use GPX Spinner to rename the waypoints to the cache name, or add the cache name to the comments field, if your GPS has one. Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Thanks, I understand now. I think. I just determine my route and then order my pages in that order. That way, my pages lead me from cache to cache and I just need to choose my next target by waypoint id in my GPSr. Link to comment
+Mopar Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sbell111:Thanks, I understand now. I think. I just determine my route and then order my pages in that order. That way, my pages lead me from cache to cache and I just need to choose my next target by waypoint id in my GPSr. So did I, when I used to use printed paper. Now, Spinner adds 75% of the info I need to know about a cache right into my GPS. I find quite often I don't even need to see the cache description in the field, and when I do, the easiest way to find the page among the 1000 or so stored in my PDA is to sort them by GC#. Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I thought about downloading to my palm, but I would crush it for sure. I'm just going to stick with paper. We can grow more trees. Link to comment
+smithdw Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 If you are carrying your Palm, Handspring, IPaq, etc out geocaching, I'd recommend a RhinoSkin metal case to protect it. I have the aluminum case for my m515 and it has saved it several times from damage as evidenced by the dents in it. They made cases in leather, aluminum and titanium for many PDA's. I got mine at Staples, but I'm sure many office, electronics and other stores carry them. "The best way to accelerate a Macintosh is at 9.8m/sec/sec." -Marcus Dolengo Link to comment
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