Geocaching.com site update March 13th 2012

[OpinioNate 8]

Read the last update's Release Notes

 

Release Notes

 

• Fixed an issue preventing tablet computers from using the map to search for geocaches

• Added a scale indicator to the maps

• Added new partner a:Drake to geocaching.com/live

• Released new system status page at status.geocaching.com

• Removed the byte order mark (BOM) added to the GPX files which caused issues with some 3rd party apps

• Fixed bug where searching for a non-existent Challenge would cause a server error

• Fixed bug which caused GPS Reviews to issue a 500 error

 

 

Geocaching Live API Beta

 

The beta launch of the Geocaching Live API continues!

 

a:Drake

 

a:Drake is a freeware application for Android devices designed for paperless geocaching. The aim of the program is to provide in one place everything needed for geocaching as well as to allow simple data management through programs on the PC. It is recommended to use a:Drake in cooperation with GeoGet, since both applications share the same database.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs 1]

Two comments:

 

1) Why is the scale only displayed (at least for me) when the side panel is closed?

2) It appears that the imperial scale is truncated at the right edge, when it is displayed.

[+CanadianStock 0]

Where would i see/find this scale?

Edited March 13, 2012 by CanadianStock

[+BBWolf+3Pigs 1]

Where would i see/find this scale?

 

Try hiding the side panel.

[+The A-Team 1858]

Two comments:

 

1) Why is the scale only displayed (at least for me) when the side panel is closed?

2) It appears that the imperial scale is truncated at the right edge, when it is displayed.

For me, it shows just to the right side of the side panel, whether it's open or closed. When I collapse the side panel, the scale smoothly follows it to the left. Here's what it looks like with the side panel open:

I'm not seeing any truncation.

[+CanadianStock 0]

Where would i see/find this scale?

 

Try hiding the side panel.

 

Just showed up. was not there a few min ago

[+BBWolf+3Pigs 1]

Where would i see/find this scale?

 

Try hiding the side panel.

 

Just showed up. was not there a few min ago

 

I will try when I get home...could be my work PC (which wouldn't surprise me).

[+Team Monkeyboy 0]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

[+Lil Devil 12]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

[+Montana Dave 0]

Thanks for the tablet fix!

[+The A-Team 1858]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

Very strange. I'm still seeing exactly what I posted above, even after a hard-refresh. The scale is just to the right of and tied to the side bar, and shows both metric and imperial. FWIW, I'm using FF 10.0.2.

 

ETA: Just to cover all the bases, I tried clearing my cache. Still shows the same.

Edited March 13, 2012 by The A-Team

[jholly 1]

So where did they hide the system status page?

[+DanPan 0]

So where did they hide the system status page?

http://status.geocaching.com/

[+Raine 0]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

Very strange. I'm still seeing exactly what I posted above, even after a hard-refresh. The scale is just to the right of and tied to the side bar, and shows both metric and imperial. FWIW, I'm using FF 10.0.2.

 

ETA: Just to cover all the bases, I tried clearing my cache. Still shows the same.

 

What browser and version number are you using?

 

-Raine

[+Raine 0]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

 

It shows bother Metric and Imperial so your profile has no bearing on this. Are you saying it's not sitting to the right of the slider bar and if so, what browser and version number are you using?

 

-Raine

[+Berta Nick Zoey 2]

Ok, This a:drake app looks promising. I do have a question though. I have tried to filter out my finds and my caches that I own and I havent had any luck. I clicked on Filter then Have found? and then not found, yet everything in my area still shows up. I do not see any other options to get the app to hide my finds.

[+nittany dave 0]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

 

Were you using a Greasemonkey script to add the scale on the right? I was, now I have both the Imperial on the left and the metric on the right!

[+Lil Devil 12]

Interesting. The scale bar shows for me on the far right, completely unaffected by the left-side panel.

 

Although it is always in metric, even though my profile is set to imperial

 

It shows bother Metric and Imperial so your profile has no bearing on this. Are you saying it's not sitting to the right of the slider bar and if so, what browser and version number are you using?

Err, yeah. Never mind. A hard refresh made a 2nd bar, with both metric and imperial, show up on the left. That made me remember that I installed a GM script to add the other one. Disabled that and all is well. Sorry for the false alarm.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs 1]

The scales are working at home (including the GM add-on! WooHoo two scales!).

 

But why isn't the "background" of the scale transparent?

[+Paul n Susan 0]

The scale is a welcome addition, thanks! Can't seem to get the tablet fix to work with the BlackBerry Playbook browser, however it works perfectly on the Android Dolphin browser on the same tablet, so I come away happy.

[+JesandTodd 0]

Fantastic! Almost everything works on my iPhone-with the exception of the little button above the zoom that should take me to where I am now. It just turns white when I click it. Otherwise, the ability to use beta maps as real maps is a great thing!

 

Ooops! I *assumed* I had location services turned on for safari. So, everytng is working on both my iPad and iPhone! Yippee!

Edited March 14, 2012 by JesandTodd

[+jellis 70]

On my PC Windows 7 64bit

Chrome and Safari it works fine.

Firefox I refreshed like lil' devil did (no extra GM)and it showed up

But for some reason IE9 I still don't even see any map at all. Hardly even use this browser.

 

My iphone everything is working but the scale is cutting off at the bottom so I only see meter and not the mile.

Edited March 13, 2012 by jellis

[+Gerryu2 0]

Cache detals from map now works on my iPhone but still not on my iPad

[+Gerryu2 0]

Cache detals from map now works on my iPhone but still not on my iPad

 

Reboot of iPad sorted it. Thanks goodness. This was a most useful feature to have lost.

 

Thanks to all involved in sorting this.

[+ClydeE 0]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

 

That seems like a very "glass is half empty" view to me. Personally, I think it is a great addition.

[+Mickey4jes 0]

Yay! Thanks for the scale!

Edited March 14, 2012 by Mickey4jes

[+Berta Nick Zoey 2]

"It is recommended to use a:Drake in cooperation with GeoGet, since both applications share the same database".

 

If you google GeoGet, it will send you to a website that is not written in english. So, GS tells us a bout an app and no one can read the instructions.

[+edscott 14]

Not only do I have a scale, but there is a whole map underneath it. Tell me this is a permanent thing, not just a once in awhile event.

[+Prime Suspect 1]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

No.

[+Prime Suspect 1]

"It is recommended to use a:Drake in cooperation with GeoGet, since both applications share the same database".

 

If you google GeoGet, it will send you to a website that is not written in english. So, GS tells us a bout an app and no one can read the instructions.

Select "English" from the language list in the lower left.

[+Team Monkeyboy 0]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

No.

 

Well, thank goodness we have you to speak for the entire caching community.

[tozainamboku 5]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

 

That seems like a very "glass is half empty" view to me. Personally, I think it is a great addition.

The part that bothers me is that when the system status is good they tell us to go forth and geocache. I happen to have Clyde's excellent program that I keep updated with a relatively large database of reasonably up to date geocaches and which I can use to update my Garmin Oregon. The status of the Geocaching.com site has no bearing at all on my ability to go forth and geocache. It might effect when I log the results, but with field notes stored on my GPS, I can always do that tomorrow or the next day. I feel sorry for the generation that is tethered to their smartphones and 4G networks and are lost when any part of that system fails.

[+Cashleigh 0]

Cache detals from map now works on my iPhone but still not on my iPad

 

Reboot of iPad sorted it. Thanks goodness. This was a most useful feature to have lost.

 

Thanks to all involved in sorting this.

[+Cashleigh 0]

I too am having problems with it working on my ipad. Did the reboot and it worked for a couple of caches then quit again. Also when I did get the info bubble to show up and I clicked on the cache name, it would bounce over to some other place on the page or disappear altogether and I couldn't get it back. HELP!!!

[+p0cy 32]

The scale display is still far from perfect.

For me, it is still truncated when I hide the side panel and MIA when the side panel is displayed.

I'm using IE7.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs 1]

The scale display is still far from perfect.

For me, it is still truncated when I hide the side panel and MIA when the side panel is displayed.

I'm using IE7.

 

That's the browser we have at work, and I was seeing what you are seeing.

[+landsan 0]

Thanks for the scale display but those silly lables are back infront of the + - zoom buttons making them unusable with the side panel closed

[+-OZZ- 1]

I too am having problems with it working on my ipad. Did the reboot and it worked for a couple of caches then quit again. Also when I did get the info bubble to show up and I clicked on the cache name, it would bounce over to some other place on the page or disappear altogether and I couldn't get it back. HELP!!!

 

Getting this on Android tablet too.

 

The bubble appears as normal but when tapping on the cache name the bubble whizzes over to a different part of the screen. Tapping on the cache name again brings up the cache page.

 

This didn't happen on the Pocket Query selection pre 13th March update.

 

Thanks, Owen

[+thebruce0 2391]

The services have become so unreliable they felt it necessary to provide us with a status update page? Does anyone else find that disheartening?

No.

 

Well, thank goodness we have you to speak for the entire caching community.

 

It is Good Practice for any large scale public service to provide an independent website that indicates the current status of its services. As linked above, Google does this. Twitter does this. Livejournal does this. As do many other major services... It is better to have a status site that is always green, than to have unannounced/unexpected problems with zero information about why and what is happening. If you don't care for that information, that's fine. Don't rant about the company providing it for those who do.

 

Thank you Groundspeak!

[+mlpatton 0]

I too am having problems with it working on my ipad. Did the reboot and it worked for a couple of caches then quit again. Also when I did get the info bubble to show up and I clicked on the cache name, it would bounce over to some other place on the page or disappear altogether and I couldn't get it back. HELP!!!

I am also having trouble with the iPad not being able to view cache pages from the map. Help!

[+Bodi&Bifes 0]

Hi there!

 

 

We are from Portugal, and want to report that we are having problems on receiving notifications of new published caches on our e-mail account. The problem was noticed this morning. From that moment we do not receive any notification... Anyone else with this situation? Is this related to the site update?

Hope to ear from you. Thanks.

 

Bodi&Bifes

[+MartyBartfast 778]

The scale display is still far from perfect.

For me, it is still truncated when I hide the side panel and MIA when the side panel is displayed.

I'm using IE7.

 

That's the browser we have at work, and I was seeing what you are seeing.

 

Same for me. on IE7 it's in the bottom right, truncated when the side panel is hidden, but off the screen when the side panel is in view.

 

Looks fine in Firefox though, which is my preferred browser.

[+Richard E 0]

Where would i see/find this scale?

 

Try hiding the side panel.

 

Just showed up. was not there a few min ago

 

I will try when I get home...could be my work PC (which wouldn't surprise me).

[+Richard E 0]

I don't see the scale. Side bar open or closed.

[+JesandTodd 0]

I too am having problems with it working on my ipad. Did the reboot and it worked for a couple of caches then quit again. Also when I did get the info bubble to show up and I clicked on the cache name, it would bounce over to some other place on the page or disappear altogether and I couldn't get it back. HELP!!!

 

This happened to me a few times until I found I just had to be more careful with where I touched. If I carefully touch the link in the bubble it behaves as expected.

[+JJnTJ 0]

It seems like you also increased the font size in Personal Cache Notes as well as the text fields in the cache editing screens recently. Thanks for that. I like the HTML hints in the cache editing screen too.

 

Edit: Ah, looks like those changes were in January's update.

Edited March 14, 2012 by JJnTJ

[+The A-Team 1858]

It seems like you also increased the font size in Personal Cache Notes as well as the text fields in the cache editing screens recently. Thanks for that. I like the HTML hints in the cache editing screen too.

 

Edit: Ah, looks like those changes were in January's update.

The HTML hint change was in the earlier update, but the text size change was in yesterday's.

[+edscott 14]

Not only do I have a scale, but there is a whole map underneath it. Tell me this is a permanent thing, not just a once in awhile event.

 

Oops sorry for the false alarm. The whole map thing was a fluke, but it was my second complete map in as many weeks... progress????

[+thebruce0 2391]

I've just noticed this now, after a couple of 'mistakes'... Posting logs to caches no longer defaults today's date. I've inadvertently back-dated a couple of logs since the update.

Has that functionality changed at all?

 

If I go to post a log to a cache for the first time in a day, the date won't be today, as I'd expect (and, iirc, as it used to do). Perhaps I haven't noticed because I primarily use field notes for logging, but I don't recall the last time I clicked Log Visit and saw the wrong log date already entered...

[+stantastic 0]

Whoop-di-doo!! They added a scale!!

 

Now I have something to look at while I wait five minutes for the aerial image tiles to load -- agonizingly S-L-O-W!!! And don't scroll or zoom that map or you'll have to wait AGAIN!!

 

Once more back out of Safari and back into Firefox with the Greasemonkey fix.

 

Sigh :-(