Release Notes - August 2, 2013

[+Cathy]

Geocaching.com would like to introduce you to the newest rendition of our homepage. It’s the next

 

evolution of Geocaching.com that stretches back to this homepage forebearer from the year 2000.

 

Prepare yourself for the word “new” and the word “homepage” because they’re coming at you in a

 

beautiful symphony of rapid fire succession. Here’s another word that describes out new homepage,

 

“clean.”

 

• New header logo
  
• New header background image
  
• New header colors/styles
  
• New footer colors/styles
  
• Navigation GeoTours link added
  
• Homepage Instagram links added
  
• Homepage image updated
  
• Homepage colors/styles updated
  
• Homepage icons updated
  
• Homepage copy updated
  
• Homepage Recent Activity ticker removed
  

 

Whew… told you. Lots of “new” and “homepage” We hope you like this latest evolution of style and

 

function.

Edited August 2, 2013 by CathyH

[jholly]

Geocaching.com would like to introduce you to the newest rendition of our homepage. It’s the next

 

evolution of Geocaching.com that stretches back to this homepage forebearer from the year 2000.

 

Prepare yourself for the word “new” and the word “homepage” because they’re coming at you in a

 

beautiful symphony of rapid fire succession. Here’s another word that describes out new homepage,

 

“clean.”

 

• New header logo
  
• New header background image
  
• New header colors/styles
  
• New footer colors/styles
  
• Navigation GeoTours link added
  
• Homepage Instagram links added
  
• Homepage image updated
  
• Homepage colors/styles updated
  
• Homepage icons updated
  
• Homepage copy updated
  
• Homepage Recent Activity ticker removed
  

 

Whew… told you. Lots of “new” and “homepage” We hope you like this latest evolution of style and

 

function.

 

I do like the layout of the home page. It is very attractive, certainly much cleaner looking than the early homepage. The functionality that was added I would consider to be minimal to mostly useless. One thing that upset me is the change broke the waypoint finder grease monkey script. This script adds a couple links I find very useful, namely a link to my public profile page and a link to the edit page for my public profile page. The last change is not part of the production release but one I added myself. I've asked for those in the past and as is usual, the request was ignored without comment. It would have been nice to have those two small changes incorporated into the last update of the homepage. But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored. As I look at the changes made to the site I also think about all the other suggestions made for very useful features or extensions to existing features. When comments from the lackeys are made about the requested features words like "we have limited resources to implement changes" are used. Apparently changes users would like to see are resource constrained but cosmetic changes are not. Well, at least the changes are pleasing to the eye and generally I like the look, I'm just sad that user provided feedback and suggestions were not considered and perhaps ranked a bit higher than cosmetic changes.

[sabrefan7]

I like the squirrel

[+Rapaladude]

I'd like to see something about trackables on the homepage.

[+HoustonControl]

So I'm trying to post an Owner Maintenance note to one of my caches. In Firefox 22.0, the log options for the CO look like this:

 

 

There is no option for Owner Maintenance or Update Coordinates

 

While in IE10, it looks like this:

 

 

From which I can click "Log Your Visit" get to these options:

 

 

Google Chrome looks the same as IE10. Why is Firefox displaying the pages so differently? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this.

[jholly]

So I'm trying to post an Owner Maintenance note to one of my caches. In Firefox 22.0, the log options for the CO look like this:

 

 

There is no option for Owner Maintenance or Update Coordinates

 

While in IE10, it looks like this:

 

 

From which I can click "Log Your Visit" get to these options:

 

 

Google Chrome looks the same as IE10. Why is Firefox displaying the pages so differently? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this.

Looks like your a volunteer new listing page tester. My page is totally different.

[+Cardinal Red]

So I'm trying to post an Owner Maintenance note to one of my caches. In Firefox 22.0, the log options for the CO look like this:

 

 

There is no option for Owner Maintenance or Update Coordinates

 

While in IE10, it looks like this:

 

 

From which I can click "Log Your Visit" get to these options:

 

 

Google Chrome looks the same as IE10. Why is Firefox displaying the pages so differently? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this.

 

Just pick ANY of the limited choices we are given. You just need to get past this failed attempt at intelligent design to get to the good old standard text box. You will then have access to the unchanged drop down list of options. From there you can now choose the log type you really want. I would have thought a bare minimum of testing would have caught this bug. Guess not.

[+MRB3N]

I notice that the Forum hasn't followed suit?

 

The Forum still has the nice picture header (which I prefer).

 

I also thought having the ticker on the homepage was cool.

 

And the old image explaining Geocaching was easier to understand than the new one.

 

Basically I don't like the new design.

Edited August 3, 2013 by MRB3N

[+HoustonControl]

Just pick ANY of the limited choices we are given. You just need to get past this failed attempt at intelligent design to get to the good old standard text box. You will then have access to the unchanged drop down list of options. From there you can now choose the log type you really want. I would have thought a bare minimum of testing would have caught this bug. Guess not.

 

Gosh, that was simple. Not sure why I didn't see that in the first place (it was late and I was tired... yeah, that's it). Still, it's odd that the page displays that much differently in a different browser.

[+Don_J]

So I'm trying to post an Owner Maintenance note to one of my caches. In Firefox 22.0, the log options for the CO look like this:

 

 

There is no option for Owner Maintenance or Update Coordinates

 

While in IE10, it looks like this:

 

 

From which I can click "Log Your Visit" get to these options:

 

 

Google Chrome looks the same as IE10. Why is Firefox displaying the pages so differently? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this.

 

Just pick ANY of the limited choices we are given. You just need to get past this failed attempt at intelligent design to get to the good old standard text box. You will then have access to the unchanged drop down list of options. From there you can now choose the log type you really want. I would have thought a bare minimum of testing would have caught this bug. Guess not.

 

Don't you get it? They are testing it. They are testing it on people like HoustonControl. The problem is, no one told him that, and they gave him no real avenue to provide feedback. Unless he has monitored the forum for the last two months, he has no idea what is going on. It'd be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

[+Don_J]

But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored.

 

Can you direct me to this? I've searched and all I can find is the version from last year.

[+MRB3N]

Everyone needs to download a FREE program called CCleaner.

 

Wash your computer clean of all cookies and crap.

 

Not only will your PC be fast and refreshed, but everything on Geocaching.com will work again.

 

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Edited August 4, 2013 by MRB3N

[+tomtwogates]

But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored.

 

Can you direct me to this? I've searched and all I can find is the version from last year.

 

ditto me also please!

[jholly]

But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored.

 

Can you direct me to this? I've searched and all I can find is the version from last year.

 

ditto me also please!

script patch. In my case it was more like line 102 instead of 95.

[+Don_J]

But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored.

 

Can you direct me to this? I've searched and all I can find is the version from last year.

 

ditto me also please!

script patch. In my case it was more like line 102 instead of 95.

 

Thanks! I was watching that topic, but I guess the forum decided that I didn't need to any longer.

[+DanPan]

As I look at the changes made to the site I also think about all the other suggestions made for very useful features or extensions to existing features. When comments from the lackeys are made about the requested features words like "we have limited resources to implement changes" are used. Apparently changes users would like to see are resource constrained but cosmetic changes are not. Well, at least the changes are pleasing to the eye and generally I like the look, I'm just sad that user provided feedback and suggestions were not considered and perhaps ranked a bit higher than cosmetic changes.

 

+1 i totally agree...

Edited August 4, 2013 by DanPan

[+Kacher82]

Unfortunately, that chart illustrates it quite well.

[+GrateBear]

So, what is the delay with the new cache page? I had it, lost it, had it, lost it. How long is the test going to take?

[+K13]

Geocaching.com would like to introduce you to the newest rendition of our homepage. It’s the next

 

evolution of Geocaching.com that stretches back to this homepage forebearer from the year 2000.

 

Prepare yourself for the word “new” and the word “homepage” because they’re coming at you in a

 

beautiful symphony of rapid fire succession. Here’s another word that describes out new homepage,

 

“clean.”

• New header logo
• New header background image
• New header colors/styles
• New footer colors/styles
• Navigation GeoTours link added
• Homepage Instagram links added
• Homepage image updated
• Homepage colors/styles updated
• Homepage icons updated
• Homepage copy updated
• Homepage Recent Activity ticker removed

 

Whew… told you. Lots of “new” and “homepage” We hope you like this latest evolution of style and

 

function.

 

I agree...It is CLEAN!!! Here's a screenshot of my homepage

 

 

Is this how it is supposed to look?

[+tomtwogates]

But at least a patch for the script was posted and I now have useful functionality restored.

 

Can you direct me to this? I've searched and all I can find is the version from last year.

 

ditto me also please!

script patch. In my case it was more like line 102 instead of 95.

 

again ditto - thank you for that!

[+Deer.Hunter]

Ok, the new site is really nice, however, I' missing new features or better: features that are already available but not everywhere!

 

When posting a new cache listing I get a very smart wizard that guides me through the whole process. Especially the editor for the listing's description is very smart.

 

However, when modifying a listing it could relly get a PITA. Not everyone is a HTML programmer and without some deeper knowledge of HTML it could get very annoying to get the listing online again. That said, it's not a problem to write bold or italic words, but inserting a table or an image can become difficult.

 

What's the real problem with that? I cannot image that today it's not possible to have the very same features when positing and modifying a listing.

 

Right now, I'm using Firefox and the XINHA editor to edit the listing after posting it to GC.com, however, using Chrome I did not find a similar add-on so far.

 

Nevertheless I think it's Groundspeak's part to give us an appropriate editor at the end.

 

Michael

[+MRB3N]

Geocaching.com would like to introduce you to the newest rendition of our homepage. It’s the next

 

evolution of Geocaching.com that stretches back to this homepage forebearer from the year 2000.

 

Prepare yourself for the word “new” and the word “homepage” because they’re coming at you in a

 

beautiful symphony of rapid fire succession. Here’s another word that describes out new homepage,

 

“clean.”

• New header logo
• New header background image
• New header colors/styles
• New footer colors/styles
• Navigation GeoTours link added
• Homepage Instagram links added
• Homepage image updated
• Homepage colors/styles updated
• Homepage icons updated
• Homepage copy updated
• Homepage Recent Activity ticker removed

 

Whew… told you. Lots of “new” and “homepage” We hope you like this latest evolution of style and

 

function.

 

I agree...It is CLEAN!!! Here's a screenshot of my homepage

 

 

Is this how it is supposed to look?

 

Like this...

 

I am using Windows 8 on PC, Tablet and Phone and all work perfect.

 

[+HoustonControl]

It seems that the Recently Viewed Caches function has stopped working.

[+nittany dave]

Can anyone remember that last time there was a release where something useful to geocachers was actually released, and worked?

[+DanPan]

Can anyone remember that last time there was a release where something useful to geocachers was actually released, and worked?

Yes.

 

Favorite Points introduced in December of 2010...

 

Corrected coordinates to Mystery and Multi-caches released in Nov 2011...

 

Edited August 5, 2013 by DanPan

[+beerslayer2000]

I'm fairly new here, so please be gentle...

 

I have a few concerns about the new site update:

 

1) Site seems *MUCH* slower than before when using dial-up (yeah, I know). It's prettier, yes, but not THAT much prettier...

2) I second HoustonControl's issue - Recently Viewed Caches listing is not updating on any browser I use either.

3) For the first day or two, there was a nice display right at the top on the right that had a big yellow smiley face if the cache listing had been found, or a big blue frowny face if it had been DNF'ed. I thought that was kinda cool, so of course it went away.

 

And of course the biggie, the one feature I'd love to see implemented that wasn't: the ability to store more than one "home" point for quick and easy retrieval of listings centering around different areas I repeatedly visit. Sure, I can type those in manually on the search page, if I happen to remember them, but would it really be so hard to allow a user to store more than one?

 

I must admit I do like the Favorite Points.

 

.

.

.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

Edited August 6, 2013 by beerslayer2000

[+DanPan]

2) I second HoustonControl's issue - Recently Viewed Caches listing is not updating on any browser I use either.

3) For the first day or two, there was a nice display right at the top on the right that had a big yellow smiley face if the cache listing had been found, or a big blue frowny face if it had been DNF'ed. I thought that was kinda cool, so of course it went away.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

 

A 2) This issue will be fixed in today's site update. link

 

A 3) The new "Log your visit" display is still in preview/test mode. link

 

The squirrel is sitting at the bottom of your screen...

[+MRB3N]

I'm fairly new here, so please be gentle...

 

I have a few concerns about the new site update:

 

1) Site seems *MUCH* slower than before when using dial-up (yeah, I know). It's prettier, yes, but not THAT much prettier...

2) I second HoustonControl's issue - Recently Viewed Caches listing is not updating on any browser I use either.

3) For the first day or two, there was a nice display right at the top on the right that had a big yellow smiley face if the cache listing had been found, or a big blue frowny face if it had been DNF'ed. I thought that was kinda cool, so of course it went away.

 

And of course the biggie, the one feature I'd love to see implemented that wasn't: the ability to store more than one "home" point for quick and easy retrieval of listings centering around different areas I repeatedly visit. Sure, I can type those in manually on the search page, if I happen to remember them, but would it really be so hard to allow a user to store more than one?

 

I must admit I do like the Favorite Points.

 

.

.

.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

 

Did you say DIAL-UP?!

 

And the squirrel is at the bottom right of the page...

 

Edited August 6, 2013 by MRB3N

[+carpe_geocache]

I really like the new look. A few comments/observations:

 

- the site seems neither slower nor faster, and I am happy with performance

- if you hack the display/functionality of a site with browser add-ons, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN

- no matter what anybody does in this world, people will always complain more than they compliment

- cosmetics are often easier to change than functionality, and many sites need to stay fresh to keep the interest of some people, in this case to compete with the wannabe caching sites out there

- with the cost of infrastructure, hosting, development, personnel, etc., I am happy that this site can exist. You get decent functionality for free, and premium membership is reasonable.

[+Don_J]

I really like the new look. A few comments/observations:

 

- the site seems neither slower nor faster, and I am happy with performance

- if you hack the display/functionality of a site with browser add-ons, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN

- no matter what anybody does in this world, people will always complain more than they compliment

- cosmetics are often easier to change than functionality, and many sites need to stay fresh to keep the interest of some people, in this case to compete with the wannabe caching sites out there

- with the cost of infrastructure, hosting, development, personnel, etc., I am happy that this site can exist. You get decent functionality for free, and premium membership is reasonable.

 

So, the wannbe site has a chipmunk, or beaver or something, we have to counter with a squirrel, with the result being that some can't load the page at all while others can't find their recent cache list.

 

As far as hacking the site. The so called hack adds basic functionality that should have been added to the site years ago. This is something that everyone who uses the site would benefit from, basically the ability to enter a GC or TB number from any page on GC.com, not just the home page or the trackable page. It's 7K of code that no one seems to want to bother with.

[+Cacheosaurus Rex]

My only comment on the latest release is it seems painfully slow. Each time I click on something new I receive a millisecond brown screen then the listing loads. Using satellite view of the geocaching.com maps load painfully slow. I too noticed the recently viewed was not working yesterday, but that seems to be fixed.

 

Using Chrome get the brown screen on mobile and pc.

[+beerslayer2000]

1) Site seems *MUCH* slower than before when using dial-up (yeah, I know). It's prettier, yes, but not THAT much prettier...

Did you say DIAL-UP?!

Yes. Yes, I did. Due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control (and WAY outside the scope of this thread), I am stuck with dial-up access for the near future. There's no question that the new site design is a LOT slower to load, and doesn't provide significant enough new functionality (or, really, any new functionality at all) to justify the slower page opening. I wish there were a low-bandwidth option, but I'm sure they have no interest in producing one.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

And the squirrel is at the bottom right of the page...

That would explain it. I almost never use that page.

[+W8TTS]

So, what is the delay with the new cache page? I had it, lost it, had it, lost it. How long is the test going to take?

Me too. And, right now it's gone. And, I'd really like to see it go live for everyone!

[+nittany dave]

Can anyone remember that last time there was a release where something useful to geocachers was actually released, and worked?

Yes.

 

Favorite Points introduced in December of 2010...

 

Corrected coordinates to Mystery and Multi-caches released in Nov 2011...

 

 

Thanks, it's been so long I couldn't even remember. Favorite points are something I use a lot, especially when I travel. Too bad PQs STILL don't support that. Thank goodness for 3rd party tools like GSAK to pick up the slack that Groundspeak leaves. Corrected coordinates are useful too but I don't use them all that much.

Although the site works fine for me and I have no major complaints, it sure would be nice to get some of the enhancements that have been requested for so long instead of things that Groundspeak comes up with (like messing up the search).

[+Fish Below The Ice]

Corrected coordinates to Mystery and Multi-caches released in Nov 2011...

Corrected coordinates for Wherigo and Letterbox Hybrids in December 2016 if we're lucky...

[+JJnTJ]

Why not corrected coordinates for everything? When I see a traditional where a finder has posted alternate coordinates, why can't I manually force those to be used?

[+Semper Questio]

Why not corrected coordinates for everything? When I see a traditional where a finder has posted alternate coordinates, why can't I manually force those to be used?

 

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

[+Don_J]

Why not corrected coordinates for everything? When I see a traditional where a finder has posted alternate coordinates, why can't I manually force those to be used?

 

It's frequently requested, never commented on.

 

New cache by a new player, the coordinates are off and today someone posts good coordinates. I instinctively went to the cache page only to be reminded that I can't correct a traditional cache.

[+ratjam]

1) Site seems *MUCH* slower than before when using dial-up (yeah, I know). It's prettier, yes, but not THAT much prettier...

Did you say DIAL-UP?!

Yes. Yes, I did. Due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control (and WAY outside the scope of this thread), I am stuck with dial-up access for the near future. There's no question that the new site design is a LOT slower to load, and doesn't provide significant enough new functionality (or, really, any new functionality at all) to justify the slower page opening. I wish there were a low-bandwidth option, but I'm sure they have no interest in producing one.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

And the squirrel is at the bottom right of the page...

That would explain it. I almost never use that page.

 

For a really barebones (low bandwidth) version of the website try wap.geocaching.com

[+_SoP_]

Since the last update, I frequently get timout/connection errors when connecting to geocaching.com - it is the website, geocaching for Android (3G and WiFi) and the API via GSAK.

Retrying mostly solves, but sometimes needs two or three attempts until the page loads. This is also the case when submitting logs, where I have to pay attention to resend form information so that my log will not be lost.

 

On my computer, it does not matter which browser I use - I tried Firefox 23, Chrome 27, IE 10.

 

Anyone else with such experiences?

[+Ashallond]

.

.

.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

 

My question is....

 

Where moose?

 

 

I mean, you see squirrel, you see moose. They are inseparable.

 

Natasha...find moose for me.

[+DanPan]

Anyone else with such experiences?

 

You are not alone... link

[+MRB3N]

.

.

.

 

p.s. What squirrel?

 

My question is....

 

Where moose?

 

 

I mean, you see squirrel, you see moose. They are inseparable.

 

Natasha...find moose for me.

 

[+_SoP_]

Anyone else with such experiences?

 

You are not alone... link

 

Thank you!

[+The Waysiders]

As I look at the changes made to the site I also think about all the other suggestions made for very useful features or extensions to existing features. When comments from the lackeys are made about the requested features words like "we have limited resources to implement changes" are used. Apparently changes users would like to see are resource constrained but cosmetic changes are not. Well, at least the changes are pleasing to the eye and generally I like the look, I'm just sad that user provided feedback and suggestions were not considered and perhaps ranked a bit higher than cosmetic changes.

 

+1 i totally agree...

 

So, this lemon walks into a bar and says to an olive ....

[+MRB3N]

As I look at the changes made to the site I also think about all the other suggestions made for very useful features or extensions to existing features. When comments from the lackeys are made about the requested features words like "we have limited resources to implement changes" are used. Apparently changes users would like to see are resource constrained but cosmetic changes are not. Well, at least the changes are pleasing to the eye and generally I like the look, I'm just sad that user provided feedback and suggestions were not considered and perhaps ranked a bit higher than cosmetic changes.

 

+1 i totally agree...

 

So, this lemon walks into a bar and says to an olive ....

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

So what was changed/added in yesterday's update (8/13)? I don't see an update thread about it.

[+MRB3N]

So what was changed/added in yesterday's update (8/13)? I don't see an update thread about it.

 

I think they added a full stop somewhere...

[+Semper Questio]

So what was changed/added in yesterday's update (8/13)? I don't see an update thread about it.

 

I think they added a full stop somewhere...

 

They had to swap out some hamsters. Or maybe just change the cedar shavings.

[+DanPan]

So what was changed/added in yesterday's update (8/13)? I don't see an update thread about it.

 

Release of Geocaching Labs: Mega-Event Caches ??