cache maintenance on your home screen

[+Wintz50]

How about having a section at the tope of your home screen that lists caches that you own that need maintenance. It would be a much needed reminder. I'm guilty at forgetting about that needs maint email sometimes but this being on my home screen would help me remember.

[+stijnhommes]

Excellent idea! I think it would cut down a lot on caches that end up archived after more than 6 months because the owner forgot to do it.

[+NanCycle]

How about a flashing banner that comes up everytime a CO with NM caches goes to log a hide or find. It could say "How come you have time to go out and hide/find more caches when you don't seem to have time to maintain the caches you have hidden?"

[+Semper Questio]

How about a big, bright, ugly, obnoxious banner at the top and bottom of EVERYTHING the cacher looks at when they have a cache that needs maintenance until the caches are maintained, disabled, or archived? Put a slightly more gentle reminder up when there are caches that have been disabled more than a couple of months or so.

[+The_Incredibles_]

What I would like to see is a new breed of rubber-mallet-carrying volunteers that do house visits.

[AZcachemeister]

We are so sorry!

It appears that you have a cache that is in need of maintenance, but you haven't taken the time to do so.

Since you do not have time to maintain the caches you have already placed, you will not be permitted to place more caches until the maintenance is completed. As well, you won't need to go out and find any caches, either.

Furthermore, until such maintenance is completed your Pocket Queries are disabled, your Geocaching maps are disabled, the ability to download a .gpx of an individual cache has been suspended, and you are locked out of the forums.

Once the required maintenance has been performed and a happy cacher has found your now maintained cache, we will be happy to remove the above restrictions to your account.

Thank You, the Groundspeak Team.

[+BlueDeuce]

If you have done maintenance, here's how to remove the attribute.

 

Not even that much.

[+Semper Questio]

What I would like to see is a new breed of rubber-mallet-carrying volunteers that do house visits.

 

DING DING DING!!! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

 

(But does it have to be a RUBBER mallet? I'm sure some COs could benefit from something a bit more, um, sunstantial. )

[+The_Incredibles_]

What I would like to see is a new breed of rubber-mallet-carrying volunteers that do house visits.

 

DING DING DING!!! WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

 

(But does it have to be a RUBBER mallet? I'm sure some COs could benefit from something a bit more, um, sunstantial. )

 

What, like a straight-jacket?

[+The A-Team]

We are so sorry!

It appears that you have a cache that is in need of maintenance, but you haven't taken the time to do so.

Since you do not have time to maintain the caches you have already placed, you will not be permitted to place more caches until the maintenance is completed. As well, you won't need to go out and find any caches, either.

Furthermore, until such maintenance is completed your Pocket Queries are disabled, your Geocaching maps are disabled, the ability to download a .gpx of an individual cache has been suspended, and you are locked out of the forums.

Once the required maintenance has been performed and a happy cacher has found your now maintained cache, we will be happy to remove the above restrictions to your account.

Thank You, the Groundspeak Team.

Umm, a bit overboard, don't you think?

The OP's suggestion is for a reminder, not a punishment. I fully support such an idea. I envision something along these lines:

As a reminder, you have [X] caches that are flagged as needing maintenance, and [X] caches that are disabled. Don't forget to perform any necessary maintenance and then post the relevant logs, such as "Owner maintenance" or "Enable listing", once the cache has been fixed.

[+Don_J]

How about a big, bright, ugly, obnoxious banner at the top and bottom of EVERYTHING the cacher looks at when they have a cache that needs maintenance until the caches are maintained, disabled, or archived? Put a slightly more gentle reminder up when there are caches that have been disabled more than a couple of months or so.

 

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches. That way, I'll never see any of that annoying stuff that you propose.

 

What if I have a disabled cache in an area that might be off limits for an extended period of time, for example, one of the 450 caches that just burned up in PT Mugu State Park, CA? Do I suffer your obnoxious banner or subtle reminder on every page I visit until the state reopens the park and I can replace my cache?

[+The A-Team]

What if I have a disabled cache in an area that might be off limits for an extended period of time...

That sounds like a good case for archival to me. Temporarily disabling a cache is supposed to be for a shorter period of time, not an extended period of time.

[+Semper Questio]

How about a big, bright, ugly, obnoxious banner at the top and bottom of EVERYTHING the cacher looks at when they have a cache that needs maintenance until the caches are maintained, disabled, or archived? Put a slightly more gentle reminder up when there are caches that have been disabled more than a couple of months or so.

 

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches. That way, I'll never see any of that annoying stuff that you propose.

 

What if I have a disabled cache in an area that might be off limits for an extended period of time, for example, one of the 450 caches that just burned up in PT Mugu State Park, CA? Do I suffer your obnoxious banner or subtle reminder on every page I visit until the state reopens the park and I can replace my cache?

 

In short? Yes.

[+The_Incredibles_]

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches.

 

Are you saying you do maintenance the next day? It would be a bit strange to post an OM if you haven't done any maintenance.

 

A per a cache that is going to be disabled a long time, it should be archived. This is what our local reviewer would do.

[+The_Incredibles_]

We are so sorry!

It appears that you have a cache that is in need of maintenance, but you haven't taken the time to do so.

Since you do not have time to maintain the caches you have already placed, you will not be permitted to place more caches until the maintenance is completed. As well, you won't need to go out and find any caches, either.

Furthermore, until such maintenance is completed your Pocket Queries are disabled, your Geocaching maps are disabled, the ability to download a .gpx of an individual cache has been suspended, and you are locked out of the forums.

Once the required maintenance has been performed and a happy cacher has found your now maintained cache, we will be happy to remove the above restrictions to your account.

Thank You, the Groundspeak Team.

Umm, a bit overboard, don't you think?

The OP's suggestion is for a reminder, not a punishment. I fully support such an idea. I envision something along these lines:

As a reminder, you have [X] caches that are flagged as needing maintenance, and [X] caches that are disabled. Don't forget to perform any necessary maintenance and then post the relevant logs, such as "Owner maintenance" or "Enable listing", once the cache has been fixed.

 

I think it was meant as a joke.

 

I'd like something like 'YOUR CACHES NEED MAINTENANCE, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY' at the top of the screen, but that's just me.

[team tisri]

How about a big, bright, ugly, obnoxious banner at the top and bottom of EVERYTHING the cacher looks at when they have a cache that needs maintenance until the caches are maintained, disabled, or archived? Put a slightly more gentle reminder up when there are caches that have been disabled more than a couple of months or so.

 

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches. That way, I'll never see any of that annoying stuff that you propose.

 

What if I have a disabled cache in an area that might be off limits for an extended period of time, for example, one of the 450 caches that just burned up in PT Mugu State Park, CA? Do I suffer your obnoxious banner or subtle reminder on every page I visit until the state reopens the park and I can replace my cache?

 

If you have a bright obnoxious banner that flashes at you until the caches are maintained, disabled or archived then disabling the cache will solve the problem.

 

It seems to me the idea is to encourage cachers to do something about their cache rather than just leave it needing maintenance forever. If you disable it and it doesn't come back for months chances are someone will log NA on it unless you've posted periodically to say why it has to stay disabled.

[AZcachemeister]

We are so sorry!

It appears that you have a cache that is in need of maintenance, but you haven't taken the time to do so.

Since you do not have time to maintain the caches you have already placed, you will not be permitted to place more caches until the maintenance is completed. As well, you won't need to go out and find any caches, either.

Furthermore, until such maintenance is completed your Pocket Queries are disabled, your Geocaching maps are disabled, the ability to download a .gpx of an individual cache has been suspended, and you are locked out of the forums.

Once the required maintenance has been performed and a happy cacher has found your now maintained cache, we will be happy to remove the above restrictions to your account.

Thank You, the Groundspeak Team.

Umm, a bit overboard, don't you think?

The OP's suggestion is for a reminder, not a punishment. I fully support such an idea. I envision something along these lines:

As a reminder, you have [X] caches that are flagged as needing maintenance, and [X] caches that are disabled. Don't forget to perform any necessary maintenance and then post the relevant logs, such as "Owner maintenance" or "Enable listing", once the cache has been fixed.

 

I think it was meant as a joke.

 

I'd like something like 'YOUR CACHES NEED MAINTENANCE, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY' at the top of the screen, but that's just me.

 

Yes, my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek.

 

OTOH, there ARE some COs that seem to need such 'encouragement' to do maintenance.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Thanks. I know which of my caches need to be looked into. I don't need blaring sirens. I'm a relatively conscentious CO. It was rather annoying to have the sirens when I hid a new cache. Yea. I'm waiing for the snow to melt. I do not hike a mile in a foot of snow! (The cacher who posted the NM must really be strange!) Yeah It needed replacement. If you put the rock in front of the cache, Felix Bear will NOT be able to chew on it. But it took me a month to go hiking in the snow for the replacement. Goodness gracious! It's only found two or three times a year!

That being said, there is a major quality control issue on NM logs. "NA. The travel bug is missing!" Nope. That's not a reason for NM. Yes. That could be fixed easily by noting Cache Maintenance. But, we've all seen stupid, irrelevant NM logs. Yup. Waste our time because someone does not realize what "NM" means! As opposed to "Found it. Cache is missing so we threw down a pill bottle to replace the missing Lock and Lock. Misunderstood the hint, so we were only 70' off." That should be an 'NM', not a 'Found It'.

Do you really think the 'Disposable Cache Hiders' really care? Hide cache. Never do maintenance. Maybe someone will throw dows a ziplock bag with a log somewhere near my original lock and lock... If not, it will ge archived sometime. Like they care?

[+Don_J]

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches.

 

Are you saying you do maintenance the next day? It would be a bit strange to post an OM if you haven't done any maintenance.

 

A per a cache that is going to be disabled a long time, it should be archived. This is what our local reviewer would do.

 

I'm not talking about me personally. My point is that I believe that this would just increase bad behavior by irresponsible cache owners as they would simply do what is necessary to remove the annoying warnings. The people it will affect the most are the ones that are trying to do the right thing.

 

As to the other point, our reviewers seem to have a different attitude than yours. If an entire state park is going to be closed for a year because of a fire, they allow to keep our spots and our listings as they serve as a warning to other cachers, especially new ones, that the area is off limits. Doing so also allows them to get regular updates from us as to the status of the area.

 

The containment lines for last weeks fire encompasses 452 caches. Several of us immediately disabled our caches. According to some of the comments here we should suffer anything from annoying messages to suspension of our premium benefits or even the ability to place new caches, while those who ignore the fact that their cache may have been vaporized get to cache happily ever after.

 

I like the OP's suggestion of a list on our private profile as a reminder. I think that maybe a monthly email reminder would be kind of cool as well.

[+The A-Team]

What if I have a disabled cache in an area that might be off limits for an extended period of time...

As to the other point, our reviewers seem to have a different attitude than yours. If an entire state park is going to be closed for a year because of a fire...

Ahh, now that's different.

If an area is going to be closed for an indefinite but likely extended period of time, I still think the cache(s) should be archived.

However, if that period of time is known and isn't unreasonable, then I have no problem with the caches staying disabled.

[+hzoi]

I vote yes. We should have some emphasis on encouraging cache owners to fix the caches they've already got before hiding new ones. Maybe keep it to a reminder and not a block...at first, anyway.

 

Thanks. I know which of my caches need to be looked into. I don't need blaring sirens. I'm a relatively conscentious CO.

 

Which is why such a feature would not be designed with Harry Dolphin, conscientious CO, in mind, but which does not make this an unnecessary feature. I just ran a pocket query with GCKD6D (random cache of yours I picked) as the center point, asking for 1,000 caches that need maintenance within 50 miles. It didn't even get 36 miles away before it maxed out at 1,000. That's the target audience.

[+The_Incredibles_]

So, as a cache owner, I just post a OM log as soon as a NM comes in, and I never disable any of my caches.

 

Are you saying you do maintenance the next day? It would be a bit strange to post an OM if you haven't done any maintenance.

 

A per a cache that is going to be disabled a long time, it should be archived. This is what our local reviewer would do.

 

I'm not talking about me personally. My point is that I believe that this would just increase bad behavior by irresponsible cache owners as they would simply do what is necessary to remove the annoying warnings. The people it will affect the most are the ones that are trying to do the right thing.

 

As to the other point, our reviewers seem to have a different attitude than yours. If an entire state park is going to be closed for a year because of a fire, they allow to keep our spots and our listings as they serve as a warning to other cachers, especially new ones, that the area is off limits. Doing so also allows them to get regular updates from us as to the status of the area.

 

The containment lines for last weeks fire encompasses 452 caches. Several of us immediately disabled our caches. According to some of the comments here we should suffer anything from annoying messages to suspension of our premium benefits or even the ability to place new caches, while those who ignore the fact that their cache may have been vaporized get to cache happily ever after.

 

I like the OP's suggestion of a list on our private profile as a reminder. I think that maybe a monthly email reminder would be kind of cool as well.

 

I understand now. I do see the problem with people just posting an Owner Maintenance to get rid of the annoying message. Either that or they would just learn to ignore it over time.

 

If someone's motivated to keep their caches up, they will. If they're not, they won't.

 

As per the fires....we haven't had any situations like that here so I don't know what they would do. 452 caches is alot of caches! The situation's I've seen involve just 1 cache and an area that's closed off for an unspecified amount of time.

[+KKrew08]

I concure.

I would like to add a section for "temporarily disabled" and "Needs Maintenance" caches so I can easily see which caches I still must perform maintenance as I log on. That should probably come before Unpublished caches in importance to resolve.