Geocaching Map Enhancements

[jri]

A while ago I wrote a userscript called Geocaching Map Enhancements so that I could use British Ordnance Survey maps with the Geocaching Maps site, but the script is user-configurable, and can also add in other maps from different sources. It also adds a load of other helpful features to the site. Someone recently suggested the free topo maps from Land Information New Zealand, and here's the result:

 

 

GME is tested with the Firefox, Opera, Chrome and the Android versions of Firefox Mobile and Opera Mobile. Here's how to get it working:

 

1. Install GME from userscripts.org (full installation instructions on that page).
2. Go to the LINZ Data Service and register for a free user account.
3. Logged-in to LINZ, go to the Dashboard, then 'API & Web Services', and create a key for 'OGC Web Services'.
4. Make a copy of your key (the 32-character string of numbers and letters).
5. Go to Geocaching Maps and click on the GME configuration icon (the gear).
6. Click on 'Add more maps' and paste one of the codes below into the 'Mapsource' box, replacing 'MY_PRIVATE_KEY' with the key you copied at step 4.
7. Click on 'Add mapsource'.
8. Repeat 6 and 7 if you want to add in the other maps, then hit 'OK'.
9. The LINZ maps should now show up in the pick list on the geocaching website.

You can use any of the following map sources:

 

• Topo50 1:50 000 scale map imagery

{"alt":"NZ Topo50", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/MY_PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x767", "maxZoom":18, "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Mapping by <a href=\"http://data.linz.govt.nz/\">LINZ</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/\">CC-BY</a>"}

• Topo250 1:250 000 scale map imagery

{"alt":"NZ Topo250", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/MY_PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x798", "maxZoom":16, "format":"image/png", "attribution":"Mapping by <a href=\"http://data.linz.govt.nz/\">LINZ</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/\">CC-BY</a>"}

• Aerial photos taken between 1994 and 2005. NB quality and coverage vary across the country.

{"alt":"NZ Aerial", "tileUrl":"http://wms.data.linz.govt.nz/MY_PRIVATE_KEY/r/wms", "layers":"x1022,x1048,x1024,x1021,x1033,x1032,x1034,x1031,x1013", "maxZoom":25, "format":"image/jpeg", "attribution":"Orthophotos by <a href=\"http://data.linz.govt.nz/\">LINZ</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz/\">CC-BY</a>"}

Hope someone finds this helpful!

[+Huntleigh]

Sounds fabulous — can't wait to get home to have a play.

 

I did look at your script earlier on and decided it wasn't to be that much use for me — the Ordanance Survey maps being the main selling point.

 

Well done jri

[+Hurricane Luke]

Hi Jri,

Thanks for that! Having the NZTopo50 maps is really neat - well, it was really neat! Geocaching has re-broken the map system by adding Google Maps back in... is there any chance you could recreate 'Google Maps Enhancements' to deal with the new mapping system?

 

Cheers,

Luke.

[jri]

Thanks for that! Having the NZTopo50 maps is really neat - well, it was really neat! Geocaching has re-broken the map system by adding Google Maps back in... is there any chance you could recreate 'Google Maps Enhancements' to deal with the new mapping system?

 

Hi Luke - glad you liked the script.

 

As far as I know, it should still work OK, but you need to select Leaflet Maps first. It doesn't work with Google Maps. There's a "Set Map Preference" button to do this at the bottom of the pop-out panel on the left of the map (click the thin grey bar at the left edge of the screen if it's not visible).

 

Thanks to the changes there's currently a slight glitch in GME (the script's configuration screen appears in the map selection popup...) but I will update the script to avoid that later this weekend.

 

Hope that helps!

[jri]

Thanks to the changes there's currently a slight glitch in GME (the script's configuration screen appears in the map selection popup...) but I will update the script to avoid that later this weekend.

 

Version 0.5.10 of GME should now fix the bugs introduced by the recent updates to Geocaching.com!