Browsing waymarks on the map

[+TopShelfRob]

I've tried out Waymarking a few different times in the past, but another mention of it led me to try again. I feel stupid, but I can't figure out if there is a way to simply just browse waymarks on a map. All I can seem to look at at one time is one page's worth of search results on the small map up to the right of the results. Is there an easy way to just browse a larger map of all waymarks (or in particular categories, etc.) by scrolling from location to location? (Without doing a new search each time?)

[+BruceS]

There are no direct maps like you are looking for. However you can get kind of what you looking for using Google earth. On the right side of the Waymarking page there is section titled "Other services" below this there is a button labeled Google Earth. (if is not visible check your ad blocker, some will block that button for some reason). This will go to a network kml, it will either open Google Earth directly or it will download and if you double click the file it will open Google Earth (depends on settings on your computer). Then just zoom in to the area you are interested. The icons will start appearing.

Edited May 18, 2014 by BruceS

[+MountainWoods]

Wow! That's cool. I never knew about that. This is really useful.

 

Took me a bit to find it, 'cause I didn't realize that you shouldn't have already done a search. You need to be on the home page of Waymarking to get to the Other Services section.

 

This definitely goes into my bag of tricks. Thanks BruceS!

[+bluesnote]

This is just coming from what I do, but I go to geocaching.com and look up a cache that is close to the waymark location that I want to search. Then I click on the cache and scol down until I see "All Nearby Waymarks". I click it and shows me a map of about 25 nearest waymarks. You can click the waymark in the map if you do not want to look for it on the list. This has worked for me in the past as I use google earth for receiving my coordinates for Waymarking. If you can identify landmarks in your photos and on google maps, then you should be fine doing this method. If not, then just stick the method BruceS suggested.

[+Max and 99]

I like to go to category, use the search options to limit it to my state, and then the map shows all the waymarks in that category. I can zoom in to see the ones near me.

[+jhuoni]

There are no direct maps like you are looking for. However you can get kind of what you looking for using Google earth. On the right side of the Waymarking page there is section titled "Other services" below this there is a button labeled Google Earth. (if is not visible check your ad blocker, some will block that button for some reason). This will go to a network kml, it will either open Google Earth directly or it will download and if you double click the file it will open Google Earth (depends on settings on your computer). Then just zoom in to the area you are interested. The icons will start appearing.

 

When doing this, be careful because you are limited to 300 waymarks per day on Google Earth.

[+TopShelfRob]

I like to go to category, use the search options to limit it to my state, and then the map shows all the waymarks in that category. I can zoom in to see the ones near me.

I don't see all of them on my map, all I see are the 25 that are on the first page of search results. For example here I searched for McDonalds in South Carolina, and it shows 57 results, on three pages, but only the 25 on the first page show on the map. (although interestingly only 23 are in South Carolina - one of the SC McDonald's is in NC, the other in NJ.) If I go to the second map I see the next 25, but the first page results are gone.

 

But no matter, the small search window isn't really usable that much anyway for just browsing around on the map.

 

I guess I should the rephrase the question I originally asked. After reading the suggestions, I realized it isn't even so much the small search window or only seeing one page of search results on the map at the time that is the main problem for me. I'm not looking so much for a "sit at the computer and seek before hand solution" --- more like I guess what I'm looking for is something (like maybe a smartphone app) or something that would just let me see all the waymarks near me where I am at the time.

 

For instance I have the nearest 1,000 Geocaches already loaded by PQ in a GPS, and I use CacheSense app for my Android to view the cache descriptions as I'm out an about, and so I want to go Geocaching, this morning I went on a trip through a town about 25 miles from me, and now while I'm out in the field Geocaching, how do I quickly and easily see what Waymarks are near me?

 

Other than go on the website the night before and do a search ahead of time for one search page's worth of results for a particular area that I may or may not wind up later being in, or looking for a particular category not knowing what category of stuff I may come across, I don't see how I can easily see what Waymarks I may happen to be encountering while out Geocaching in a way that's not going to take up 10x energy that I am trying to focus on the next Geocache and not totally take over the whole Geocaching trip. I can do a search, if I know what zipcode I'm in, and if I can see the search-results and the map in the small window to the right in a browser on my phone, but that's hardly ideal. What I am wanting to do is best described as: "While on a predominantly Geocaching-focused trip, maybe happen to work in some Waymarks that I happen to come across."

 

For instance, I saw a civil war statue in a town square, so I took some pictures of it, but I had no idea I was going to be near it before-hand. But if I could see in an app while I'm driving around the waymarks that are near me, maybe there is something nearby I want to see? Or maybe I still don't exactly "get" the point of Waymarking..idk.

 

But I'm trying to give it a shot.

Edited May 18, 2014 by TopShelfRob

[+MountainWoods]

... Or maybe I still don't exactly "get" the point of Waymarking..idk.

 

But I'm trying to give it a shot.

From what I've seen in about 1.5 years of Waymarking, the hobby is being held together by a group of very dedicated contributors. If it had more support by Groundspeak, I believe that it has the potential to be a very fine hobby.

 

If it seems confusing or just "not worth it", it is because you're seeing the result of some first- and second-rate waymarkers balanced against a fourth- or fifth-rate web site*; thus the result is something less than first or second rate to the observer because of the inequity.

 

We can only imaging what could happen to the hobby if it had even second-rate support of the web site. In the meanwhile we keep muddling along hoping for it to improve, whether realistic or not.

 

Apart from this gap between effort and availability/stability, there is also one other thing to consider: Waymarking is not equal to Geocaching. Many of us came from geocaching to Waymarking and thought "How strange!" until we realized that they are not intended to be the same thing. Both use a GPSr. Both allow for posting new things for other folks to find/visit. Both allow visiting (or finding) those things. But don't extrapolate those similarities into arenas where they don't belong.

 

_______________________________

*The list of "chronically unsolved issues" found in various posts in the Waymarking.com Features & Functions forums is an indication of this. Furthermore, I've been a professional software developer for 34 years, and an application architect for 22 of those years; so I know what level of feature/function is possible with proper support.

Edited May 19, 2014 by MountainWoods

[+BruceS]

 

For instance, I saw a civil war statue in a town square, so I took some pictures of it, but I had no idea I was going to be near it before-hand. But if I could see in an app while I'm driving around the waymarks that are near me, maybe there is something nearby I want to see? Or maybe I still don't exactly "get" the point of Waymarking..idk.

 

But I'm trying to give it a shot.

 

You may find this interesting. Though not an app the following is a mobile version of the site that uses the gps on your phone and will show you nearby waymarks, just open it in your browser on your phone. http://chilehead.us/Waymarking/

Edited May 20, 2014 by BruceS

[STLbells]

That URL has been superseded by https://geotrailsw.com/Waymarking/

It still claims to be in beta mode.