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Release Notes - July 23, 2014


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Ah, that was a nice catch.Indeed, IF the reason for not implementing some changes is concern for 3rd party apps, then how did an update like this slip through, where - whether registered 3rd party apps or not - it's very clear that MANY more people, scripts, and apps have been unexpectedly affected by the changes? Unlike many, I can't support claims that somehow Groundspeak "doesn't care" about the community or the hobby... but I am starting to believe that there is some level of (this is unfortunately a strong word) incompetence in the development and roll-out process for improvements. It's not optimal. It can't be. If it is, then there's some hidden world that this active community isn't seeing where everything is sun and daisies with every new update rolled out. Of course I don't know what the actual process is except that many significant updates are pushed to production in one go with no easy fallback or public testing, but like others I'm skeptical and curious about this "design team" and where they get their data, if not from the very active forum community.I also realize that many on the "team" avoid the forums because there's always complaints with every update; it's an unavoidable side-effect of 'change'. And also that much of the criticism of any change is personal and emotionally inflamed to the point of insults and can be very discouraging.

However, there is guaranteed to be constructive criticism washing around in the pool of gunk in these forums. And I think there would be FAR less gunk if the criticisms were focused towards test rollouts and opt-in feature upgrades (while more development work) than from the public masses world-wide when a new update is either visibly undesired or practically flawed.

 

Woah.blink.gif

Edited by ADKer
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We can definitely re-assess the subject lines and content format based on feedback (only a fraction of which comes from the forums, by the way).

 

I am curious where that greater percentage of feedback comes from.

 

I repeat my question. May I see a show of hands of anyone who knows someone who is a contributor to this other more significant feedback process. I'd like to contact them to see how to join.

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We can definitely re-assess the subject lines and content format based on feedback (only a fraction of which comes from the forums, by the way).

 

I am curious where that greater percentage of feedback comes from.

 

I repeat my question. May I see a show of hands of anyone who knows someone who is a contributor to this other more significant feedback process. I'd like to contact them to see how to join.

 

Perhaps they are monitoring the dozens and dozens of FB caching groups? However, of the few that I read/monitor, the general consensus mimics what's being said here.

 

(EDIT: Typos)

Edited by BBWolf+3Pigs
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Perhaps they are monitoring the dozens and dozens of FB caching groups? However, of the few that I read/monitor, the general consensus mimics what's being said here.

 

Aye, facebook groups, twitter, other forums... other communities not necessarily in direct communication with GS, and more communication with each other. In ways that's a good demographic to monitor. But it's also a very different demographic.

I just dunno... :unsure:

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in short words - the new format is useless :/

 

It isn't useless, the New Cache Publication shows promise, more desired info, but wrapping everything in HTML and calling it the glorious future is polishing a certain organic substance.

 

The notifications are very bad in text as they are now garbled and harder to read. I won't change my email reading preferences for one source, I have the evil ad-blasting/spam/worm-spreading sources to worry about. HTML mail is vastly overrated.

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Just adding my voice to the chorus. As far as I'm concerned HTML emails are not a facelift. They've effectively stripped everything useful from the text of the email, and as I read my email using a plain-text reader, all the (helpfully concealed) links are no use at all.

 

Please can we at least have the option of plain-text emails.

 

Thanks.

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A good point was brought up earlier: For years it was said that implementing a new "nano" size would break too many third party apps, therefore groudspeak could never change how the GPX was done. Now all of a sudden they've broken numerous third party things.... hmmm....unsure.gif

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Oh snap! A new geocache was just published!

 

After I opened a New Publication email I received, the above quote is the first thing I see and it makes me curious as to what the average age of a cacher is nowadays. Perhaps it's getting younger and I'm just some out of date old coot, but my belief is that the average user is old enough to remember when "Oh snap!" was common lingo, and it seems to me that 2014 is about 30 years after that phrase's peak. I imagine that someone on The Design Team thinks that this is a fun and cute and cuddly phrase that can be turned into a swag button or trackable to sell in the store, but to me it just seems unprofessional. Is the new target demographic 12 year olds? Who on earth says "Oh snap!" anymore? It was annoying back then and hasn't gotten any less annoying now.

WHAAAAAZUP!? A new geocache was just published!

Like ohmygod! Fershure! Gnarly! A new geocache was just published!

23 Skiddoo! A new geocache was just published!

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I dislike the new emails too.

 

on mobile devices I can't see WHO logged a cache. that was the reason to use watchlist and bookmarks. the subject is too long for an email client. and... I think.. on my computer too long too. When I am at home, I check, if it fits ro a resolution of 1280x1024.

also were the brackets [ ] with a short topic a good idea. you know what is following and you can set up an die mail filter easily on mozilla thunderbird to sort.. logs, owner, publish, enable/disable

 

html costs data volume on a smart phone. it could not be displayed in a good way.

 

please return to 7bit ASCII text email format.

please shorten the subject

please give us back the keyword within brackets

 

thank you.

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Oh snap! A new geocache was just published!

 

After I opened a New Publication email I received, the above quote is the first thing I see and it makes me curious as to what the average age of a cacher is nowadays. Perhaps it's getting younger and I'm just some out of date old coot, but my belief is that the average user is old enough to remember when "Oh snap!" was common lingo, and it seems to me that 2014 is about 30 years after that phrase's peak. I imagine that someone on The Design Team thinks that this is a fun and cute and cuddly phrase that can be turned into a swag button or trackable to sell in the store, but to me it just seems unprofessional. Is the new target demographic 12 year olds? Who on earth says "Oh snap!" anymore? It was annoying back then and hasn't gotten any less annoying now.

WHAAAAAZUP!? A new geocache was just published!

Like ohmygod! Fershure! Gnarly! A new geocache was just published!

23 Skiddoo! A new geocache was just published!

 

I thought Oh Snap was so 90s... :rolleyes:

 

Seriously though, for us old coots:

Howdy Pard! Thar's a new saddlebag o' nostrums, 'Way Out Yonder', 3 hoots and a hollar west of the ol' gallows

Ugh! You get notification rock! It say Og publish new cache 'Sabretooth Travel Bone Hotel', long way to morning bright thing.

 

or, the ever popular

 

Message for you, Sir

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Because plain text emails are the nightmare of Design Teams everywhere. They can't impose their precious corporate branding on plain text.

You are correct, although don't put too much emphasis on "corporate". While corporate branding to shove the image at people is almost certainly playing a role here, in my experience, the individual developer's desire to brand the output with what he thinks looks best is at least as much of a factor in the use and abuse of HTML in e-mail.

 

Just be thankful the developer isn't one of those people that think every message should have wallpaper behind it that actually looks like wallpaper...

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Now that I've had to look at a few of these, I realize that within the body of the message, the cache title is lost in the intro text. The cache title should have it's own tag line: "Cache: An Omelette With Your Choice of Sides (GC1D2Z9)" instead of working the cache name into the English sentence that starts the e-mail where it's harder to find. Personally, I'd prefer the intro sentence be eliminated entirely and any information it is trying to convey be presented in tagged lines where it will be easy to find at a glance. I find the intro sentence more distracting than helpful.

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Oh snap! A new geocache was just published!

 

After I opened a New Publication email I received, the above quote is the first thing I see and it makes me curious as to what the average age of a cacher is nowadays. Perhaps it's getting younger and I'm just some out of date old coot, but my belief is that the average user is old enough to remember when "Oh snap!" was common lingo, and it seems to me that 2014 is about 30 years after that phrase's peak. I imagine that someone on The Design Team thinks that this is a fun and cute and cuddly phrase that can be turned into a swag button or trackable to sell in the store, but to me it just seems unprofessional. Is the new target demographic 12 year olds? Who on earth says "Oh snap!" anymore? It was annoying back then and hasn't gotten any less annoying now.

WHAAAAAZUP!? A new geocache was just published!

Like ohmygod! Fershure! Gnarly! A new geocache was just published!

23 Skiddoo! A new geocache was just published!

OK. You win. That would be more annoying.

 

How about : "A new geocache was just published. Whatever."

 

I doubt if Groundspeak would see this post lost among the many, but please, get rid of "Oh snap!".

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We are definitely listening to you and your opinions. Based on the feedback we are receiving here and elsewhere, we will be making some changes today to correct some of the issues that people have raised. Please hold off on updating your email filters until the dust settles, and thank you for your patience!

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I think there are a couple things to keep in mind:

 

- The people who are upset by things are the ones most likely to take to the forums and social media to vent frustration so seeing the vast majority of comments towards these changes being negative shouldn't be a surprise.

 

- The people who frequent these forums are a very limited subset of cachers and likely use email notifications in ways that the "typical" cacher doesn't.

 

Personally, my biggest objection is to "Oh snap". I cringed when I saw that. Otherwise? Doesn't change my caching habits one bit. Having a plain text option for those who want it would be a nice touch though.

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Hi,

 

I think the new-style mails suck. A lot.

I don't bother too much about HTML vs. plain-text but my main point is:

 

The "topic" line is way too long, so on smaller screens (mobile, table) you just see "Owner Notifiaction: CACHENAME (GCxxxxx) has a new "Found it" log..." and that's it.

The old line was way better: "[Log] Owner: A_CACHER found CACHENAME". Much shorter and at the same time much more verbose at a glance.

 

I seems like after the update style matters much more than usability...

 

And why was the direct link to the log entry taken off in the new notification?

 

Regards,

GC-Team DerSchnelleLinus

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WHAAAAAZUP!? A new geocache was just published!

Like ohmygod! Fershure! Gnarly! A new geocache was just published!

23 Skiddoo! A new geocache was just published!

 

I thought Oh Snap was so 90s... :rolleyes:

 

Seriously though, for us old coots:

Howdy Pard! Thar's a new saddlebag o' nostrums, 'Way Out Yonder', 3 hoots and a hollar west of the ol' gallows

Ugh! You get notification rock! It say Og publish new cache 'Sabretooth Travel Bone Hotel', long way to morning bright thing.

 

or, the ever popular

 

Message for you, Sir

 

Oh my gosh - these 2 posts are hilarious!

 

Mrs. Car54

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A few comments...

 

First, I personally don't mind the html email myself, since the content is nicely formatted

 

Second, the subject lines are a step down, to various degrees, that I've seen so far.

* the prepended tag was VERY useful ([GEO], [LOG], etc)

* the most important pieces of information should come first, and ideally the subject should not be very natural-language

* the subject line can quickly get far too long; as with others, my email program cuts off the subject line (or there's limited realestate to display it) so key bits of information are not visible

 

Old: [LOG] Owner: username found cachename (cachetype)

New: Owner Notification: cachename (gccode)

New is both less informational and less ordered. Including the GC code is good though. Big step down.

Suggestion: [LOG] Owner: username found cachename (gccode)

 

Old: [GEO] Notify: reviewername published cachename

New: New cachetype: cachename (gccode), distance/bearing

Not as bad. Less wordy, more information. No tag though and (as above) doesn't standard out as much.

(minor) Suggestion: [GEO] New cachetype: cachename (gccode) distance/bearing

 

Old: [LOG] Watchlist: username logtype phrase cachename (eg: Username couldn't find cachename)

New: Watchlist Notification: cachename (gccode) has a new logtype log from username

Old way was much more terse and readable. "Notification" again is extraneous and wordy.

Suggestion: [LOG] Watchlist: logtype posted to cachename (gccode) by username

 

Not sure if the contact email subject has changed, since I've received a couple with HTML formatting, but still with the old subject line...

 

Old: [GEO] username contacting myname from Geocaching.com

Please don't change this! :P

I haven't received other email types yet since the change.

I also parse the email contact with my own code, but in that case html can actually make things easier, so I don't mind more text, and more predictable structure to email contact templates. Helpful.

 

Thirdly, with regards to images, I don't believe there are any significant images embedded in the emails - the geocaching logo and a few social icons. But I haven't scoured the email source yet. So I don't really have any criticism about the visual design - it's light, simple, organized, flat imagery and solid colours. All good.

That said, forcing email on all users does seem odd. Most websites have the option for text-only and html, not because text-only is "old", but because there are many practical benefits to plaintext messages over markup that requires a formatting process to be intuitively understandable. =/

 

Lastly, with this new feature, a rather small one compared to some others, while it would have been a little bit more work, having HTML emails as an opt-in feature would have been much better, imo. I know the intent is that it would be a universal site update, but having it opt-in means that people who want HTML email can get them, critique it (without utter distaste for the change, as usual :P), and not have active processes break from the unexpected change to expected content... Then once the feature is honed to a satisfactory degree, and everyone is aware or made aware that it will be rolled out for everyone, roll it out for everyone. B)

 

I agree 101% - I couldn't have said it any better.

 

What I find really puzzling in why so much time and work is spent on 'new features' that nobody asked for and a lot of people don't like, while many popular requests that would be very useful are completely ignored. (An old example here.)

.

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I understand the changes, keep it for those, who wants them, but please for the rest of us, give us the option to have just plain text (no HTML) emails from Groundspeak (includes notifications, owner messages or PMs...)

 

Thanks :)

 

I would also like to continue seeing the name of the cacher who wrote the log, as in the old format. it did not seem to be broken to me, so please do not "fix" what we are used to seeing.

Couldn't agree more. The new style puzzled me because I didn't realise a "fix" was happening. I have received several e-mails (Watchlist/published/found it) in the new format and I really had to look twice to see what was being said - not a problem in the previous format.

 

The colour and layout below the title, e.g.:

 

Logged by: geoladie74

Log Type: Found it

Date: 7/19/2014

Location: Alaska, United States

Type: Traditional Cache

 

Is fine, but the rest is convoluted and looks rather pretentious to me (especially the "snap"). Keep it simple please!

 

:(

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We are definitely listening to you and your opinions. Based on the feedback we are receiving here and elsewhere, we will be making some changes today to correct some of the issues that people have raised. Please hold off on updating your email filters until the dust settles, and thank you for your patience!

 

Thanks, Moun10Bike! If the subject line tags come back, all the rest is nonessential!

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We are definitely listening to you and your opinions. Based on the feedback we are receiving here and elsewhere, we will be making some changes today to correct some of the issues that people have raised. Please hold off on updating your email filters until the dust settles, and thank you for your patience!

 

What?!? My existence is validated? This is an outrage!

 

Wait, wut? We're being listened too? :blink:

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I couldn't agree more with most of the users in this thread.

 

-> bring back plain text emails.

 

Some of the changes you made are good and have long been requested (owner name in publish emails) but no one asked for bloaty HTML mails filling up our inboxes and eating paid data volume for no additional value.

It's fine if you send out your newsletter in HTML using the corporate design, but all the mails changed with the latest update are essentiually there to inform cachers about important stuff which they should be able to grasp immediately and don't have to dig through a lot of useless clutter.

 

From my point of view the email system was working just fine except for three points which the users complained about quite a bit:

* No owner names in publish logs

* The date format doesn't stick to the preferences the user has set (the US format is _very hard_ to grasp at a glance for the rest of the world - you are aware of that?)

* Clumsy/impossible to set up notifications for multiple cache types

 

So you did an update to the mailing and notification system and addressed just one of them and that only just half heartedly. I read my mails in plain text format and the publish mails masically just include the GC-Code in their text.

 

So you missed quite some opportunity to finally fix some long lasting "bugs"/missing features but implemented something no one really asked for and really gets people annoyed because it breaks things and makes our well-learned e-mail routine much harder.

 

If the design team really wants to have HTML mails - then that's fine. But a lot of users want to have plain text (and no multipart messages which are even larger) so please give your users the option to switch to receiving plain text mails with concies subject lines including all the necessary information in the body too, but nothing more. No HTML, no greetings from HQ, no advertisement for the latest and greatest GC-app and no links to Facebook or Twitter. We simply don't need that.

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We are definitely listening to you and your opinions. Based on the feedback we are receiving here and elsewhere, we will be making some changes today to correct some of the issues that people have raised. Please hold off on updating your email filters until the dust settles, and thank you for your patience!

Unless one of the changes is to provide a plain text option of some sort, I wouldn't bother making any changes. Making changes to the current HTML emails is simply polishing a turd, as a previous poster so eloquently stated. It would probably be best at this point to roll back this feature, get the design team to evaluate the feedback that has now been provided by the membership (that they were working off of previously-received feedback seems extremely unlikely based on the near-unanimous negative feedback now being provided), and design new emails from scratch to meet those needs.

 

...if we're going to use anachronistic lingo, I'll use a term from a few years ago to describe this change:

 

This was an all-around epic fail. A fail on the design (not what the members want), a fail on the implementation (inconsistency and missing data), a fail on the communication (or complete and utter lack of)...

Edited by The A-Team
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It is a learning experience for them, A-Team, if they choose to let it be one.

 

I'm waiting with bated breath to see what changes. I have a stake in the result, you have a stake, everyone who posted here has a stake. And Groundspeak has a stake in keeping us happy. No purpose is served by making us all unhappy.

 

Ommmmm....

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I don't know if it matters but I would prefer plain text notifications as they were before.

Maybe there can be a selections for us users to choose either plain text or html.

 

The only positive point with the html notifications is the "owner" been mentioned for a "publish" notification.

 

Please give us back the plain text possibility because of lower size, less bandwith, less unnecessary coloured things, easier readable as they need less space on the screen, ...

 

By the way: Were html notifications requested by someone? Was there a discussion, how to set it up with the users? If it was, I missed it :(

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For one reason or another, I have another account with the watchlist sending emails to my works email. My work's email is the ONLY place I've seen where the whole subject is readable as it spans two lines. What email client is it? It's Lotus Notes and if Groundspeak are actually using lotus notes we should feel sorry for them...

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...the date isn't formatted according to the user's preference (I accept that the previous version of notifications had that problem but in redesigning the system I would have taken the opportunity to fix it).

That's a good catch and a very good point. If Groundspeak was going to completely redesign the email notification system, why not kill several birds with one stone? Some people use different date formats, and I personally couldn't care less how many miles away a cache is. There are already user settings for these, so why not use them?

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It is a learning experience for them, A-Team, if they choose to let it be one.

How many learning experiences do they need, though? This isn't the first time unwanted* and poorly-executed changes have been rolled out with no warning. Based on their apparent unwillingness to change (how ironic!), I expect this won't be the last time, either.

 

*Sure, they gave us the owner's name in the publish emails, which we've been asking for, but with the wrong heading ("Created by"). There were many more changes that weren't desired.

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It is a learning experience for them, A-Team, if they choose to let it be one.

How many learning experiences do they need, though? This isn't the first time unwanted* and poorly-executed changes have been rolled out with no warning. Based on their apparent unwillingness to change (how ironic!), I expect this won't be the last time, either.

 

*Sure, they gave us the owner's name in the publish emails, which we've been asking for, but with the wrong heading ("Created by"). There were many more changes that weren't desired.

 

Agreed. I'm still smarting over the change to the submission form, from one simple place where experienced cache owners can get 'er done in one spot without fuss or bother, to a multi-page process which I just cram garbage into so I can get to the final form and get my work done.

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I got this lig some time ago:

 

log.PNG

 

I had to click on the link to see taht it was an "enable listing"log. I own about 300 caches and monitor some log types in the area. Having to use 1-3 seconds to understand what the log is about is too much.

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Wow! 3 pages in the first day! This must be a hot topic.

 

I just got my first instant notification email since the update, and while I like some things about it, it definitely needs some work. My main issue is the way the subject line changed so drastically, and also that it doesn't tell me what the log type was.

 

Subject line:

Instant Notification: "CacheName" (GCXXXXX) has a new log from "CacherName"

 

"CacheName" (GCXXXXX) from your instant notification, Archived, disabled, has a new log!

 

Logged by: "CacherName"

Date: 7/24/2014

Location: Minnesota, United States

Type: Traditional Cache

 

Log:

I need to get a replacement container.

 

Happy geocaching,

Geocaching HQ

Only by clicking on the link to the log can I see what type of log it is (temp disabled in this case). Why can't they tell me that in the email?

 

This is what I'd rather see.

Subject line:

Instant Notification: "CacherName" temporarily disabled "CacheName" (GCXXXXX)

 

"CacheName" (GCXXXXX) has a new log!

 

Log Type: Temporarily Disable

Logged by: "CacherName"

Date: 7/24/2014

Location: Minnesota, United States

Type: Traditional Cache

Notification: Archived, disabled

 

Log:

I need to get a replacement container.

 

Happy geocaching,

Geocaching HQ

 

The red lines are my suggested additions.

 

Here's one I got a couple days ago.

[GEO] Notify: "CacherName" archived "CacheName" (Archived) (Traditional Cache)

 

For GCXXXXX: "CacheName" (Archived) (Traditional Cache)

Location: Minnesota, United States

44.7mi NE (72km NE)

"CacherName" archived "CacheName" (Archived) (Traditional Cache) at 7/23/2014

 

Log Date: 7/23/2014

Not a safe place anymore.

 

Visit this log entry at the below address:

"link"

 

Visit Traditional Cache

"CacheName":

"link"

 

Profile for "CacherName":

"link"

 

Notification for Archived, disabled:

"link"

 

I personally don't have a problem with the HTML (it looks cleaner to me), but for those who do, I would definitely support having it as an option.

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This is what I'd rather see.

Subject line:

Instant Notification: "CacherName" temporarily disabled "CacheName" (GCXXXXX)

 

"CacheName" (GCXXXXX) has a new log!

 

Log Type: Temporarily Disable

Logged by: "CacherName"

Date: 7/24/2014

Location: Minnesota, United States

Type: Traditional Cache

Notification: Archived, disabled

 

Log:

I need to get a replacement container.

 

Happy geocaching,

Geocaching HQ

 

You forgot to highlight your change to the subject line in red.

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NEW FORMAT is terrible.....

Let the USER PICK the format OR put it BACK the old ways......

 

Sounds like they are taking some advisement on this one.

 

Please stay tuned.

 

:ph34r:

 

Compare, contrast, with the reply I got from the Lilypad:-

 

Hi there, Thank you for your feedback regarding the updates to the email notification system. We are currently working through some of the small hiccups, but overall we are very excited about the changes we made to modernize the email system. All of our notification emails going forward will be sent in HTML format, which most email providers support (e.g. gmail, outlook, etc). If you have already created email filters for the old game-triggered emails, you will have to update them to the appropriate new text. Thanks again for your feedback. Have a wonderful day! Kindly,

 

The arrogance is mind-boggling. Sorry, Moun10bike, while I'd love to believe the Frog is listening to us, the actions and words from HQ tell a different story.

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Only by clicking on the link to the log can I see what type of log it is (temp disabled in this case). Why can't they tell me that in the email?

Somewhere farther back in this discussion, Moun10Bike said that this will be added next week (I believe) during the next site update. Apparently the new emails are dependent on another change that won't be released until the next site update. It all seems backwards to me...

 

Edit: Found Moun10Bike's post here and updated my post accordingly.

Edited by The A-Team
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This is what I'd rather see.

Subject line:

Instant Notification: "CacherName" temporarily disabled "CacheName" (GCXXXXX)

 

"CacheName" (GCXXXXX) has a new log!

 

Log Type: Temporarily Disable

Logged by: "CacherName"

Date: 7/24/2014

Location: Minnesota, United States

Type: Traditional Cache

Notification: Archived, disabled

 

Log:

I need to get a replacement container.

 

Happy geocaching,

Geocaching HQ

 

You forgot to highlight your change to the subject line in red.

Thanks.

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Only by clicking on the link to the log can I see what type of log it is (temp disabled in this case). Why can't they tell me that in the email?

Somewhere farther back in this discussion, Moun10Bike said that this will be added next week (I believe) during the next site update. Apparently the new emails are dependent on another change that won't be released until the next site update. It all seems backwards to me...

 

Edit: Found Moun10Bike's post here and updated my post accordingly.

Now you mention it, I do remember reading that. I hope it happens soon.

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Add me to the list of folks who is EXTREMELY ANNOYED by the COMPLETELY UNREADABLE HTML format.

 

I read my mail in a unix shell window, not with a GUI. No HTML rendering is available here.

 

I feel that is is highly disrespectful to change the format with no prior notification, especially with

removing the plaintext component.. Mixed-mode I can deal with, HTML-only email is simply unreadable.

 

As far as I am concerned, HTML-only email is spam, and is reported as such via normal abuse channels.

 

I would also advise you to dump the Barracuda anti-spam product, since they are the only ones who apparently

think that all email from stanford.edu is spam. My email to webmaster was bounced.

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NEW FORMAT is terrible.....

Let the USER PICK the format OR put it BACK the old ways......

 

Sounds like they are taking some advisement on this one.

 

Please stay tuned.

 

:ph34r:

 

Compare, contrast, with the reply I got from the Lilypad:-

 

Hi there, Thank you for your feedback regarding the updates to the email notification system. We are currently working through some of the small hiccups, but overall we are very excited about the changes we made to modernize the email system. All of our notification emails going forward will be sent in HTML format, which most email providers support (e.g. gmail, outlook, etc). If you have already created email filters for the old game-triggered emails, you will have to update them to the appropriate new text. Thanks again for your feedback. Have a wonderful day! Kindly,

 

The arrogance is mind-boggling. Sorry, Moun10bike, while I'd love to believe the Frog is listening to us, the actions and words from HQ tell a different story.

Groundspeak's PR is amazing, isn't it? :blink:

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We are definitely listening to you and your opinions. Based on the feedback we are receiving here and elsewhere, we will be making some changes today to correct some of the issues that people have raised. Please hold off on updating your email filters until the dust settles, and thank you for your patience!

So it will be possible to opt for text-only emails instead of HTML ones? (which is what everybody writing in this thread seems to want) Cool!

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Finally, I worthwhile new feature.

 

Oh snap! A new geocache was just published!

 

Here are the details:

Name: Dad's Cache (GC574VY)

Geocache Type: Traditional Cache

Location: California, United States

Distance: 9.4mi W (15.1km W)

Created by: Galileo the cat

Published by: Nomex

 

This is long over due.

 

LOOOONG overdue, and oft requested.

Edited by Mockingbird559
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I'd really like to see a change in the attitude of Groundspeak to the community.

 

We are here. Please ask for our input on planned changes. We're not unreasonable people (well, most of us aren't) We have a great deal at stake in changes, hence we applaud the good, but lament the not so good.

 

It's a far more efficient business process to get feedback on proposed and beta changes, rather than roll something like these notifications out and expect everyone to just gush their undying affection for change.

 

Personally, the old text format was extremely functional, to the point and clear. Who cares about pretty and verbose? I glance through email and delete it. I receive a great many each day and only use it to see if there's any content informing me something requires my attention.

 

"to serve you better" doesn't always serve me better.

 

Old format was useful, simple, easy to use and prioritize by the subject line. Now I have to READ pretty HTML.

 

There use to be a "forum" (forget exactly what it was called) where you could submit ideas, others could see, offer input and vote on the ideas. What happened to that?

 

At least give us the option to have it our way!

 

Change for the sake of change...not always good, often bad. Look at the responses to this change. Mostly unhappy campers. Where does gs get the ideas that something like this is desired?

 

Try to Cache Happy.

Edited by Mockingbird559
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Here's another problem. This is a standard email sent by UK reviewers:

As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.

 

If you wish to email me please send your email via my profile (click on my name) and quote the cache name and number.

 

Regards

 

Andy

Long Man

Volunteer UK Reviewer - geocaching.com

Geocaching.com Guidelines http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

Geocaching.com Help Centre http://support.Groundspeak.com//index.php

UK Geocaching Information https://wiki.Groundspeak.com/display/GEO/United+Kingdom

In the previous notifications the links are clickable links, as one would expect. In the new better HTML format, they aren't :blink:.

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Thanks, Moun10Bike! If the subject line tags come back, all the rest is nonessential!

I agree with this. The only thing really broken here is the subject line. I'm actually starting to like the mail format itself, although there's plenty of room for improvement. But on the other hand, I recognize that me liking it is a matter of how I read these and my tastes, not because it's inherently better.

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