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Deleting pages of visit logs on owned trackables


irisisleuk

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Just spend an hour (again) to delete hundreds of took-it-to-logs for one person on one of our trackables.

Although the trackable description clearly says it doesn't want any empty (no text, no photo) took-it-to logs, cachers simply don't care that I don't like to see pages and pages of empty logs.

 

Now I can only delete them one by one, so for each meaningless log I have to do the following actions: select log, delete log, "are you sure you want to delete". A lot more actions than the automatic took it to log functionality the smartphone cachers use!

 

Please make it possible for me to easily select took it to logs and delete them all at once (or for instance by the 10 on a page). Or make it possible to disable took it to logs for those trackables I don't want them.

 

Happy New Year!

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Wouldn't it be against the rules to delete these logs. I don't see it in the guideline or rules that a visit log is prohibited.

 

Definitely not. If the trackable says it does not want to 'visit' caches, then that is not a valid log, and should be deleted. A cacher who spends four months 'visiting' the trackable to hundreds of caches in Belgium is the one who is violating the guidelines. Do not 'visit' means 'do not visit this trackable to caches.'

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Better yet, create a filter that allows anyone (owner or not) to select whether they want to see no visited logs at all, only non-blank visited logs, or all visited logs.

 

That would be a great idea too! There are local cachers who 'visit' 30 or 40 trackables to every cache they find. I've stopped looking at the trackables page because of this.

But the problem is that Groundspeak needs to rectify the problem that it has created in allowing cachers to 'visit' trackables to caches when the trackable clearly states not to do that. As the OP noted, it is very time consuming to delete each invalid log one at a time. Mass delete is the answer. Click on all of the invalid logs that one wishes to delete, and delete them all at the same time! That would make the chore much simpler.

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But the problem is that Groundspeak needs to rectify the problem that it has created in allowing cachers to 'visit' trackables to caches when the trackable clearly states not to do that.
If "visit" logs are blocked, then people will just go back to the old way of dropping and then retrieving the trackable. So instead of 100 "visit" logs, you now have 200 "drop" and "retrieve" logs. I'm not sure that's an improvement over the status quo.

 

And as annoying as empty logs are (visit, drop, retrieve, grab, whatever), it seems to me that deleting hundreds of trackable logs is likely to result in missing trackables. To me, it seems more productive to filter the logs I'm not interested in, rather than potentially provoking someone whose goodwill my trackable depends upon.

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Better yet, create a filter that allows anyone (owner or not) to select whether they want to see no visited logs at all, only non-blank visited logs, or all visited logs.

 

To me that is no solution either. The effect of pages and pages of visit logs is that the next cacher doesn't see what happened before the hundreds of visit logs. If the previous 10 (real) logs contain photos it often stimulates the next cacher to place photos as well. Other people's logs can inspire the next cacher, but if they don't see them because they would have to go 20 pages back to find a real log (or have to take action to not view them by your suggested filter), they don't see what has been going on.

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But the problem is that Groundspeak needs to rectify the problem that it has created in allowing cachers to 'visit' trackables to caches when the trackable clearly states not to do that.
If "visit" logs are blocked, then people will just go back to the old way of dropping and then retrieving the trackable. So instead of 100 "visit" logs, you now have 200 "drop" and "retrieve" logs. I'm not sure that's an improvement over the status quo.

 

And as annoying as empty logs are (visit, drop, retrieve, grab, whatever), it seems to me that deleting hundreds of trackable logs is likely to result in missing trackables. To me, it seems more productive to filter the logs I'm not interested in, rather than potentially provoking someone whose goodwill my trackable depends upon.

 

I don't think that it would change from 100 visit logs to 200 drop/retrieve log, because the cacher has to do something to do a retrieve. With each retrieve he has to enter the tracking code, and he won't do that 100 times. The visit logs go automatically with the apps, no action needed.

 

And why would a trackable go missing if I would delete hundreds of visit logs? You think the cacher who already misused the trackable for months will throw it away when he finds out the visit logs are deleted?

Could be, since he didn't care about the wishes of the trackable owner in the first place.

But probably the trackable is gone already, because why would you travel around for months with someones trackable, no stories, no explanation instead of dropping it in one of the many suitable caches it has visited?

 

So a trackable owner should be careful what he does otherwise his coin might get lost/stolen? We have to adapt to the wishes of the hostage taker to try to keep our trackables alive?

I think that is absurd! Cachers should be glad there are still other cachers who share their trackables with them to move around the world.

 

Lots of cachers don't send out coins/TBs anymore or send out paper copies. But I refuse to let the hostage takers/thiefs win and will keep on sending out the real thing. Moving (real) trackables is fun and I take good care of every trackable found. But each trackable has an owner who determines what should or shouldn't be done with the trackable. You can either try to fulfill those wishes or move it quickly to the next cache. As a cacher you should thank those trackable owners for supplying this extra fun element to the game. Of course a trackable owner can be thankful in return if a cacher puts in some extra effort, but it should never turn into a game where a trackable owner has to worry and has to think "the goodwill my trackable depends upon...."

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Wouldn't it be against the rules to delete these logs. I don't see it in the guideline or rules that a visit log is prohibited.

 

Definitely not. If the trackable says it does not want to 'visit' caches, then that is not a valid log, and should be deleted. A cacher who spends four months 'visiting' the trackable to hundreds of caches in Belgium is the one who is violating the guidelines. Do not 'visit' means 'do not visit this trackable to caches.'

 

Maybe I'm missing something. I thought an owner couldn't dictate that kind of rule. I'll have to re-read the guidelines again when I get some time. I certainly get that one shouldn't keep the trackables, but I'm not sure I get why visiting a TB in a cache is so bad. I thought the point is for them to travel. But still new and haven't done one yet, my own or another person's TB.

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Wouldn't it be against the rules to delete these logs. I don't see it in the guideline or rules that a visit log is prohibited.

 

Definitely not. If the trackable says it does not want to 'visit' caches, then that is not a valid log, and should be deleted. A cacher who spends four months 'visiting' the trackable to hundreds of caches in Belgium is the one who is violating the guidelines. Do not 'visit' means 'do not visit this trackable to caches.'

 

Maybe I'm missing something. I thought an owner couldn't dictate that kind of rule. I'll have to re-read the guidelines again when I get some time. I certainly get that one shouldn't keep the trackables, but I'm not sure I get why visiting a TB in a cache is so bad. I thought the point is for them to travel. But still new and haven't done one yet, my own or another person's TB.

 

I think the point is that Trackables like to travel from cache to cache. And when they are "dropped"/"retrieved" they go into a cache and are picked up by a next cacher. This way the Trackable travels around the world, and a lot of Geocachers get to see the Trackable and help the Trackable make a move.

 

I have experienced it with one of my own Trackables that somebody had it and "took it too" (200+) caches for months. Without dropping the thing. Basicly they track there own journey. Also I feel that many "took it too" logs are made without the Trackable visiting the Cache in real life. Ofcourse some will realy be "visited". But to me it is much more fun to see 15 Geocachers who move my Trackable in 1 year. Then 1 Geocachers who keeps the Trackable for months, that way also other Geocachers can't see the Trackable in real life.

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I have experienced it with one of my own Trackables that somebody had it and "took it too" (200+) caches for months. Without dropping the thing. Basicly they track there own journey. Also I feel that many "took it too" logs are made without the Trackable visiting the Cache in real life. Ofcourse some will realy be "visited". But to me it is much more fun to see 15 Geocachers who move my Trackable in 1 year. Then 1 Geocachers who keeps the Trackable for months, that way also other Geocachers can't see the Trackable in real life.

 

Perhaps they were having trouble finding a cache they felt was secure enough to put YOUR property in?

Perhaps all those 200+ caches were nano caches incapable of holding your TB?

 

It's a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived.

Be grateful it is still moving.

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As in other versions of this topic, the question arises about who the log 'belongs' to... Depending on that, who should control deletion (actually hiding/ concealing, since nothing gets deleted apparently) of TB logs?

 

Is the log part of my history, or part of the TB history only. An owner of the TB should be able to delete it IF the log is his, or totally bogus. If it's my log then he should not be able to touch a legitimate logging of any sort, ever.

 

That unclear state of being is why I support the ability to see what you WANT to see via filters... don't kid yourself that the log has actually gone anywhere from the servers. Imagine if the log is determined to be the property of the logger/finder. I bet it would mean someone at GS having to fix the deletions, bulk or singly it would be a pain of immense scale. Especially since the visit logs were THEIR idea in the first place!

 

Filter control seems to be the least aggravation.

 

One exception would be if they could figure out how to detect those auto logging apps that always visit everything in the inventory to all caches, even when the TB was lost or whatever... Kunarion has it right in that instance. Manual visiting still takes some time to do. That could be helped a bit by restricting the visit all option a bit and requiring manual selection. Coin collectors might not like that option, but it's a thought in the interim... I also support separating Coins from TB tracking in the future if possible. Right now all trackables have a TB number... TC might work as a prefix for Geocoins. The number portion could maintain sequence or not.

 

Doug 7rxc

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Wouldn't it be against the rules to delete these logs. I don't see it in the guideline or rules that a visit log is prohibited.

 

Definitely not. If the trackable says it does not want to 'visit' caches, then that is not a valid log, and should be deleted. A cacher who spends four months 'visiting' the trackable to hundreds of caches in Belgium is the one who is violating the guidelines. Do not 'visit' means 'do not visit this trackable to caches.'

 

Maybe I'm missing something. I thought an owner couldn't dictate that kind of rule. I'll have to re-read the guidelines again when I get some time. I certainly get that one shouldn't keep the trackables, but I'm not sure I get why visiting a TB in a cache is so bad. I thought the point is for them to travel. But still new and haven't done one yet, my own or another person's TB.

Trackables don't have the same rules as caches. And there is a reason for it.

 

To list a trackable you need to have a trackable tag or a trackable coin, either of which cost money, and a percentage of that money goes into Groundspeak's coffers. For the money they spend, trackable owners tend to think they should get all sorts of special privileges, one of which is to delete logs they don't like.

 

I find it silly. If you put out a trackable, you get a trackable page where you put your wishes for the trackable. People may or may not follow your wishes. The point is to see what happens and not go crazy when things don't proceed exactly as you want. But I know I won't convince someone who thinks that money bought some special rights that they shouldn't use these rights or shouldn't ask for more.

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But probably the trackable is gone already, because why would you travel around for months with someones trackable, no stories, no explanation instead of dropping it in one of the many suitable caches it has visited?

 

Probably to increase the mileage and to make clear that the trackable has not yet been forgotten.

Some trackable owners write annoying e-mails when one does not drop off a trackable very quickly.

 

 

Cachers should be glad there are still other cachers who share their trackables with them to move around the world.

 

Actually, whenever I take a trackable along I do it to do the owner a favour - most cachers in my area do not take along trackables any longer.

I have no personal interest in trackables - so I have no reason to be glad about shared trackables. I move them along to suitable caches and report if there is a problem with a trackable. There my engagement stops.

 

I use visited logs only very rarely (e.g. when a cache fits the target of the trackable but the cache is not safe for trackables), but most of my dropped logs are empty either. I typically write one or two sentences when I retrieve a trackable, but nothing when I drop it.

I hardly take photos at all and that does not change for trackables. I do not enjoy taking photos and typically have no camera with me when I'm out for caching.

 

It is quite hard to make every trackable owner happy. When taking along a trackable in the field I do not know what type of trackable owner I have to deal with. Of course I could leave trackables in caches which are visited only say five times per year but many trackable owners are not happy with that either.

 

I do not have internet access at the cache. I need to decide what to do right at the cache. If someone wants photos and stories, this should be part of the description that travels along with the trackable.

 

Cezanne

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Perhaps they were having trouble finding a cache they felt was secure enough to put YOUR property in?

Perhaps all those 200+ caches were nano caches incapable of holding your TB?

 

It's a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived.

Be grateful it is still moving.

 

To answer the questions, no and no. It weren't all unsafe caches and it weren't all nano's those hundreds of caches. But even if they were, I still don't need an automatic visit log for every cache they have visited. No story to tell, no photos made, why (supposedly) take it even along on a cache trail with only nano caches? Also no note that he wasn't able to drop the trackable because he couldn't find caches big enough or safe enough. At least one of the many visit logs could have had that information don't you think?

 

And I wish I can say it is a miracle the TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived, but when the TB doesn't really visit caches, it can't even risk getting destroyed/taken/archived at all. It could just have stayed on my table back at home, then it doesn't get shared with other cachers either, it won't collect stories and it won't show any nice photos.

 

No instead this particular trackable that resulted in me starting this topic (although it happened to other trackables as well) had a special story attached I like to share:

 

It was dropped in Iceland by a friend of mine and it was supposed to travel there. One day I was going to pick it up there and visit all the places it had visited.

Then a cacher from Canada took it back home. He send me an e-mail apologizing and offered to send it to a friend of his in Iceland.

A very nice e-mail, clearly someone who understands the game of moving trackables. I noticed he lived in Quebec and I asked him not to send it by regular mail to Iceland, but to drop it in/near Montreal.

A few months later I was going there for a week, so I would be able to pick it up myself. And so we did, just the adventure alone of picking up our own trackable was great.

Then we decided the trackable should go back to Iceland, so we went there a couple of months later and dropped it in a cache.

The next couple of cachers retrieved and dropped it in caches around Iceland, some made photos. I really enjoyed seeing some logs, since I had visited Iceland now and recognized a few places. Some discovered the trackable because they weren't sure they would be able to drop it in Iceland before they would leave, but did place a photo.

 

Then there was a log of someone who said the trackable joined him on his trip in Iceland for a couple of days and he had taken tons of pictures which he would upload after his vacation.

But this person never uploaded his photos unfortunately, probably because the next cacher grabbed the trackable instead of waiting for a drop log, because "he only stayed a few days in Iceland" he had to grab it.... This cacher didn't place any stories, no photos, just empty visit logs and 3 days later the trackable was in Austria...

Three months of empty visit logs followed, so hundreds a blank logs and then finally it got "dropped" in an event cache.

 

Some cachers at the event are discovering the trackable, but I think they haven't seen it. Even the guy who dropped it there himself posted a discover log! So probably only the TB number was dropped on a list. Together with the other TB numbers he and his friend had collected. My trackable wasn't the only victim of his endless took it to and not really visiting caches-activity, as I noticed after doing some research on the other trackables "in" the event.

 

So it isn't "a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived."

 

I rather had my trackable get lost in a cache in Iceland then the tons of meaningless logs I deleted.

I rather had my trackable in an archived cache in Iceland then (on a list) in Austria.

 

Just one log with a nice story and a photo on my trackable per year would have meant more to me than 5000 took it to logs in year without any story.

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........

 

Actually, whenever I take a trackable along I do it to do the owner a favour - most cachers in my area do not take along trackables any longer.

I have no personal interest in trackables - so I have no reason to be glad about shared trackables. I move them along to suitable caches and report if there is a problem with a trackable. There my engagement stops.

 

.......

 

I treat found trackables the way I hope my own trackables will be treated.

 

We often let the missions of trackables decide on what we are going to do and this is great fun. In some cases it has brought us to other countries, but also to special places in our own country. It has resulted in international friendships and unique experiences. We discovered our enthusiasm in moving trackables and placing logs and photos can stimulate others to do something extra as well.

 

And no, we don't do special things with all trackables (although with many). Those who have a mission "just to travel around" are harder to have fun with. Although the coin itself might give us some inspiration then. For instance the coin we found 2 days ago, it was a canadian benchmark coin but had no mission other than not getting lost. We then took it along to find the cache in the center of the Netherlands.

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Then there was a log of someone who said the trackable joined him on his trip in Iceland for a couple of days and he had taken tons of pictures which he would upload after his vacation.

But this person never uploaded his photos unfortunately, probably because the next cacher grabbed the trackable instead of waiting for a drop log, because "he only stayed a few days in Iceland" he had to grab it.... This cacher didn't place any stories, no photos, just empty visit logs and 3 days later the trackable was in Austria...

Three months of empty visit logs followed, so hundreds a blank logs and then finally it got "dropped" in an event cache.

 

Unfortunately, logging all trackables in the inventory into each cache visited is something which has become very common among cachers in Austria (and also some parts of Germany).

I do not like this and as I said I only use "visit log" rarely.

 

 

I rather had my trackable get lost in a cache in Iceland then the tons of meaningless logs I deleted.

I rather had my trackable in an archived cache in Iceland then (on a list) in Austria.

 

Just one log with a nice story and a photo on my trackable per year would have meant more to me than 5000 took it to logs in year without any story.

 

The issue is just that when I'm out a cache I do not know what the owner of the trackable prefers.

 

I have only one trackable travelling around (and I got it as a present). As I said, I take along trackables to do the owner a favour - I have no particular interest into trackables.

It is a bit much to expect stories and photos based on everyday caching. If you mainly take along trackables on vacation, fine. I take along most trackables on hikes and walks in my area. I'm not motivated to change my style (e.g. take a camera along etc) just because I could happen to encounter trackables. It then gets much easiert just to leave them where they are and wait until they get lost or stay there forever. During the last 2-3 weeks I moved more than 10 trackables. I would not have had the time and motivation to write stories. I was already more than busy with the cache logs which for me are the core of geocaching. Trackables do not really belong to the activity of geocaching for me. I do what I can do easily and then it's done from my side. If someone like you enjoys doing special things with trackables, that's fine with me, but do not expect everyone to do so.

 

Empty drop logs are the norm in my area. If you want to add text, you need to edit the log later on which is not very convenient. I often write a short comment in my cache log - like cache container was too small for a trackable etc - so if someone receives a visit log from me by checking out the cache log additional information is available.

 

 

Cezanne

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Perhaps they were having trouble finding a cache they felt was secure enough to put YOUR property in?

Perhaps all those 200+ caches were nano caches incapable of holding your TB?

 

It's a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived.

Be grateful it is still moving.

 

To answer the questions, no and no. It weren't all unsafe caches and it weren't all nano's those hundreds of caches. But even if they were, I still don't need an automatic visit log for every cache they have visited. No story to tell, no photos made, why (supposedly) take it even along on a cache trail with only nano caches? Also no note that he wasn't able to drop the trackable because he couldn't find caches big enough or safe enough. At least one of the many visit logs could have had that information don't you think?

 

And I wish I can say it is a miracle the TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived, but when the TB doesn't really visit caches, it can't even risk getting destroyed/taken/archived at all. It could just have stayed on my table back at home, then it doesn't get shared with other cachers either, it won't collect stories and it won't show any nice photos.

 

No instead this particular trackable that resulted in me starting this topic (although it happened to other trackables as well) had a special story attached I like to share:

 

It was dropped in Iceland by a friend of mine and it was supposed to travel there. One day I was going to pick it up there and visit all the places it had visited.

Then a cacher from Canada took it back home. He send me an e-mail apologizing and offered to send it to a friend of his in Iceland.

A very nice e-mail, clearly someone who understands the game of moving trackables. I noticed he lived in Quebec and I asked him not to send it by regular mail to Iceland, but to drop it in/near Montreal.

A few months later I was going there for a week, so I would be able to pick it up myself. And so we did, just the adventure alone of picking up our own trackable was great.

Then we decided the trackable should go back to Iceland, so we went there a couple of months later and dropped it in a cache.

The next couple of cachers retrieved and dropped it in caches around Iceland, some made photos. I really enjoyed seeing some logs, since I had visited Iceland now and recognized a few places. Some discovered the trackable because they weren't sure they would be able to drop it in Iceland before they would leave, but did place a photo.

 

Then there was a log of someone who said the trackable joined him on his trip in Iceland for a couple of days and he had taken tons of pictures which he would upload after his vacation.

But this person never uploaded his photos unfortunately, probably because the next cacher grabbed the trackable instead of waiting for a drop log, because "he only stayed a few days in Iceland" he had to grab it.... This cacher didn't place any stories, no photos, just empty visit logs and 3 days later the trackable was in Austria...

Three months of empty visit logs followed, so hundreds a blank logs and then finally it got "dropped" in an event cache.

 

Some cachers at the event are discovering the trackable, but I think they haven't seen it. Even the guy who dropped it there himself posted a discover log! So probably only the TB number was dropped on a list. Together with the other TB numbers he and his friend had collected. My trackable wasn't the only victim of his endless took it to and not really visiting caches-activity, as I noticed after doing some research on the other trackables "in" the event.

 

So it isn't "a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived."

 

I rather had my trackable get lost in a cache in Iceland then the tons of meaningless logs I deleted.

I rather had my trackable in an archived cache in Iceland then (on a list) in Austria.

 

Just one log with a nice story and a photo on my trackable per year would have meant more to me than 5000 took it to logs in year without any story.

 

Well said. I feel the same about it.

 

The only thing I also would like to add is that the Trackable I spook about was a Coin Creation made by myself. I has the exact same size as a Geocoin. So it could be easely dropped somewhere.

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Unfortunately, logging all trackables in the inventory into each cache visited is something which has become very common among cachers in Austria (and also some parts of Germany).
Is there some statistics system that reports the number of Visited logs one has posted? Could there be some sort of meta-game that is encouraging people to post as many Visited logs as possible?

 

Or is it just a local interpretation of the "default" goal for trackables to travel from cache to cache?

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Unfortunately, logging all trackables in the inventory into each cache visited is something which has become very common among cachers in Austria (and also some parts of Germany).
Is there some statistics system that reports the number of Visited logs one has posted? Could there be some sort of meta-game that is encouraging people to post as many Visited logs as possible?

 

Or is it just a local interpretation of the "default" goal for trackables to travel from cache to cache?

 

The goal of some trackables is simply to rack up as many miles as they can. They rack up more miles by visiting every cache the holder visits. Personally, I own a single Geocoin which I log as "Visited" on every cache I find. This lets me track how many miles I have traveled caching.

 

If someone was holding a trackable I owned, I'd feel better seeing there was some regular activity being logged on it than having someone holding it and not seeing any logs for months.

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Unfortunately, logging all trackables in the inventory into each cache visited is something which has become very common among cachers in Austria (and also some parts of Germany).
Is there some statistics system that reports the number of Visited logs one has posted? Could there be some sort of meta-game that is encouraging people to post as many Visited logs as possible?

 

Or is it just a local interpretation of the "default" goal for trackables to travel from cache to cache?

 

There are some 'Challenges' where one must Discover/Move/Log at least certain number of Trackables. The one Challenge like this I was told about required 1000 as the number of Trackable logs in order to claim the find.

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I also would like to add something:

 

I find it strange that if we delete a "took it to.... log" that the Cacher who made those logs gets a e-mail notification about that.

That is not neccecery I think. :)

 

EDIT:

To make things clear. I don't delete every "took it to" logs anymore. Becassue I changed the goal for my TB recently, I gave them more specific goals the travel the world. :) Only thing is I have a Race TB that we agreed on can not "visit" caches. Becasue the race wouldn't allow it. :)

Edited by #Tenzin
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Only thing is I have a Race TB that we agreed on can not "visit" caches. Becasue the race wouldn't allow it. :)

The whole TB race thing reminds me of Where's George.

 

TB races don't count visit logs because if someone carries a TB around and dips it into a lot of caches, the mileage goes up much quicker than a TB that is is left in each cache till someone else moves it.

 

Where's George (a website that tracks the movements of United States currency - particularly $1 bills with George Washington's face) had a policy of not counting bills left in geocaches. That was because geocachers would almost always log these bills and then leave them in another cache. The mileage on these bills went up much quicker than bills which moved by what the Where's George site called "normal circulation".

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We are saying this is an issue for a travel bug or coin of from someone else. I was thinking about getting a vehicle travel bug to track my own mileage. That would require a visited or dipped, or whatever it is called, log. That wouldn't be an issue right?

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Where's George (a website that tracks the movements of United States currency - particularly $1 bills with George Washington's face) had a policy of not counting bills left in geocaches. That was because geocachers would almost always log these bills and then leave them in another cache. The mileage on these bills went up much quicker than bills which moved by what the Where's George site called "normal circulation".

 

That is cool. Never seen something like that.

Why don't we have that with European money...... :/

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Where's George (a website that tracks the movements of United States currency - particularly $1 bills with George Washington's face) had a policy of not counting bills left in geocaches. That was because geocachers would almost always log these bills and then leave them in another cache. The mileage on these bills went up much quicker than bills which moved by what the Where's George site called "normal circulation".

 

That is cool. Never seen something like that.

Why don't we have that with European money...... :/

http://en.eurobilltracker.com/

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Perhaps they were having trouble finding a cache they felt was secure enough to put YOUR property in?

Perhaps all those 200+ caches were nano caches incapable of holding your TB?

 

It's a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived.

Be grateful it is still moving.

 

To answer the questions, no and no. It weren't all unsafe caches and it weren't all nano's those hundreds of caches. But even if they were, I still don't need an automatic visit log for every cache they have visited. No story to tell, no photos made, why (supposedly) take it even along on a cache trail with only nano caches? Also no note that he wasn't able to drop the trackable because he couldn't find caches big enough or safe enough. At least one of the many visit logs could have had that information don't you think?

 

And I wish I can say it is a miracle the TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived, but when the TB doesn't really visit caches, it can't even risk getting destroyed/taken/archived at all. It could just have stayed on my table back at home, then it doesn't get shared with other cachers either, it won't collect stories and it won't show any nice photos.

 

No instead this particular trackable that resulted in me starting this topic (although it happened to other trackables as well) had a special story attached I like to share:

 

It was dropped in Iceland by a friend of mine and it was supposed to travel there. One day I was going to pick it up there and visit all the places it had visited.

Then a cacher from Canada took it back home. He send me an e-mail apologizing and offered to send it to a friend of his in Iceland.

A very nice e-mail, clearly someone who understands the game of moving trackables. I noticed he lived in Quebec and I asked him not to send it by regular mail to Iceland, but to drop it in/near Montreal.

A few months later I was going there for a week, so I would be able to pick it up myself. And so we did, just the adventure alone of picking up our own trackable was great.

Then we decided the trackable should go back to Iceland, so we went there a couple of months later and dropped it in a cache.

The next couple of cachers retrieved and dropped it in caches around Iceland, some made photos. I really enjoyed seeing some logs, since I had visited Iceland now and recognized a few places. Some discovered the trackable because they weren't sure they would be able to drop it in Iceland before they would leave, but did place a photo.

 

Then there was a log of someone who said the trackable joined him on his trip in Iceland for a couple of days and he had taken tons of pictures which he would upload after his vacation.

But this person never uploaded his photos unfortunately, probably because the next cacher grabbed the trackable instead of waiting for a drop log, because "he only stayed a few days in Iceland" he had to grab it.... This cacher didn't place any stories, no photos, just empty visit logs and 3 days later the trackable was in Austria...

Three months of empty visit logs followed, so hundreds a blank logs and then finally it got "dropped" in an event cache.

 

Some cachers at the event are discovering the trackable, but I think they haven't seen it. Even the guy who dropped it there himself posted a discover log! So probably only the TB number was dropped on a list. Together with the other TB numbers he and his friend had collected. My trackable wasn't the only victim of his endless took it to and not really visiting caches-activity, as I noticed after doing some research on the other trackables "in" the event.

 

So it isn't "a miracle your TB wasn't lost when a cache was destroyed/taken/archived."

 

I rather had my trackable get lost in a cache in Iceland then the tons of meaningless logs I deleted.

I rather had my trackable in an archived cache in Iceland then (on a list) in Austria.

 

Just one log with a nice story and a photo on my trackable per year would have meant more to me than 5000 took it to logs in year without any story.

 

I hope your trackables are clearly marked with your username, so I can leave them where I find them.

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I hope your trackables are clearly marked with your username, so I can leave them where I find them.

 

@nostra-dumass: No, I'm sorry. But thank you for that suggestion, I'll do that next time I send out a trackable!

I'm not sure though how it helps me in my feature request to be able to delete empty logs on my trackables by page, instead of having to go through a lot of steps to delete each single one.

But I also see you haven't sent out any trackables yet, so you might not have understood my request and haven't experienced my reasons why. So I would like to give you a trackable as a new years present so you can experience the fun (and its limitations) yourself. Please send me a message through my profile with your address so I can send you a trackable.

 

To some others who responded in this topic: my question is just to be able to delete empty visit logs by bulk, or to be able to choose (as a trackable owner) whether I want visit logs on (certain) trackables.

I can totally understand some are fine with visit-logs with some or all their trackables, so I do not request to remove the whole visit/took-it-to option, just that it should be up to the trackable owner to choose what he prefers.

 

Nor do I mind if someone doesn't place photos and stories, I definitely didn't mean to critize anybody who doesn't place stories or logs, although of course everybody loves them! If you don't have the time or interest in doing that, that's fine with me as well, I just have a problem with cachers who carry trackables (not their own) around for months and who just place empty automatic visit logs.

If you can't, or just don't want to, help with a goal (whether or not it is noted on the card attached) please just move it to another cache, don't assume the trackable suddenly wants something else like huge amount of empty logs or a lot of mileage.

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TBs are like many other flavours in the game of geocaching: Some love them, some hate them, some accept them, some ignore them.

I personally have 2 TBs 'on the track', and what happens to them, happens - dropping them in the first cache gives them out of my control, and each TB is basically a test, if the cacher holding it understands the TBs intention.

 

My first TB was meant to travel 'West' from my home in Germany to London, and seems to be stranded in the eastern parts of Germany - it's nothing to grumble about since I cannot change it, just hoping for the best.

 

The second was stuck a while in a single cache, and I already assumed it lost, then it suddenly traveled on, got around some events, visited some caches ... and finally was dropped again.

 

Long story short - as an 'owner' I give up control and am in the role of watching the game. Therefore, back to the topic, I don't really have control of the logs, which basically are in the hands and grace of the loggers who hold the TB as well. It's just in the game, whatever my expectations may be.

 

So in my opinion, the most flexible option would be to filter, instead of log-'fiddling' like deletion of (basically non-harmful) logs or definining per trackable which kinds of logs are accepted. The first can leave some bad taste for the one who in a certain way takes care of your TB, the second is problematic in view of the different tools used to log these days.

So having a filter on the log types _you_ want to see and of the email notifications _you_ want to get (as personal settings) would be the option I'd vote for. In that way you are in charge what kinds of log you see and receive, it's the most control you can expect.

 

Cheers,

Michael

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I think the point irisisleuk is trying to make is also:

 

# If somebody "retieved" a Trackable they mostly write down something about the Trackable themselves. What they think of it. Like "Pretty coin, we will help traveling it further." or "We will take this one to Finland with us." Those are nice things to read. Becasue people leave things on the Trackables page and those are fun to read. Many Geocachers leave a note, and if the Trackable has done a lot of traveling you have a whole logbook of comments.

 

If you have somebody that keeps the Trackable for months and visits 200+ caches you will have a diffecult time finding those logs of Geocachers that wrote something down somewhere on page x.

 

Then you would have: 1 comment log, 200 "visits", 1 comment log, 10 "visits", 1 comment log, 47 "visits" etc.

It would be a lot harder to find the "comment logs". :)

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I think the point irisisleuk is trying to make is also:

 

# If somebody "retieved" a Trackable they mostly write down something about the Trackable themselves. What they think of it. Like "Pretty coin, we will help traveling it further." or "We will take this one to Finland with us." Those are nice things to read. Becasue people leave things on the Trackables page and those are fun to read. Many Geocachers leave a note, and if the Trackable has done a lot of traveling you have a whole logbook of comments.

 

When retrieving a trackable I always write something about the trackable. When dropping it off, I almost never write something. So drop off logs and visit logs do not differ from each from that perspective. Drop off logs are empty per default and contain text only if one chooses to visit them manually and edits them.

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I have experienced it with one of my own Trackables that somebody had it and "took it too" (200+) caches for months. Without dropping the thing.

 

This has happened to so many of my trackables (and trackables that I've picked up) that I no longer read through past logs to see what adventures the traveler had. It's just too hard to wade through page after page after dozens of pages of blah.

 

Please give us a way to filter those out!

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I have just been looking at the logs for one of my trackables that has returned home to Eastern UK after a 3 year journey from France. It had been on lots of adventures including a "day trip" to Mexico! I am only interested in logs referring to caches where it has been placed for another geocacher to find, and also geocaching events.

 

Surely there should be a settings option for trackable owners to use, so that we can filter any logs that we do not want recorded.

 

Garry

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It had been on lots of adventures including a "day trip" to Mexico! I am only interested in logs referring to caches where it has been placed for another geocacher to find, and also geocaching events.

 

You need to be aware however that often a trackable is only virtually put into a cache and retrieved by another team member immediately, often without the trackable actually having been at least at the location.

So filtering out visited logs will not provide you with what you'd like to see.

 

On the other hand, you could miss really interesting "visited logs" with a nice story and nice photos (not too common I know) when you filter out "visited logs". There are caches at nice locations where it turns out at the location that the trackable will not be safe in the respective cache. A trackable might have the target to travel to Italy and the only cache someone is able to find during his/her stay in Italy might turn out not be safe. Would you then prefer no log at all or a visited log with nice pictures showing that the trackable really has been at the cache site?

 

Cezanne

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There is a big difference between "Visited" and "Took it to" trackable logs. Someone has to manually select "Visited" when posting a log and, you're right, sometimes they result in interesting logs.

 

"Took it to" logs seem to be an automatic setting (on a smart phone?) that generates a log for all trackables in one's inventory for every cache visited. With many of my TBs, this has resulted in dozens and dozens of pages of nothing but "Took it to" entries when someone has gone on caching runs lasting weeks and months without leaving the TB in a cache.

 

Here's one recent example: $5000. Page through the first dozen pages. Try to keep from yawning. Try to find an interesting log. There are some in there, but they are so buried in those pages and pages and pages of "Took it to" logs that it's not worth the bother to find them.

 

Now look at the first few pages of logs for the TB, which started life long before the era of "Took it to". Much more fun and interesting. That's what I want to get back to.

 

Please let us filter out "Took it to" logs.

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There is a big difference between "Visited" and "Took it to" trackable logs. Someone has to manually select "Visited" when posting a log and, you're right, sometimes they result in interesting logs.

 

If you choose visited manually, then you create a "took it to" log on the page of the trackable.

The alternative of dropping the TB first and retrieving it afterwards is not appreciated by the majority (and that's why the visited log type was introduced).

 

"Took it to" logs seem to be an automatic setting (on a smart phone?) that generates a log for all trackables in one's inventory for every cache visited.

 

I do not think that it is a smartphone dependent issue. Many newer caches tend to track all trackables they have in their inventory in this manner while among the older cachers only very few are doing so.

 

I do not like the many "took to" logs either, but I think that deleting the took logs is not a perfect solution.

Filtering out took to logs is a better approach as it is reversible and one can switch between the modes infinitely many times.

 

Cezanne

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Just one log with a nice story and a photo on my trackable per year would have meant more to me than 5000 took it to logs in year without any story.

 

+1

I just want to see the story of the tb without having to wade through pages and pages of blank visited logs

+1

I have a few trackables and they have really only been in a very few caches, but they each have pages and pages of blank "visited" logs, it makes it nearly impossible to really see where by TB has really been.

 

It would be nice it there was a way to hide "visited" logs when viewing the log entries for my TBs

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