using the message center

3.1k · July 16, 2015

One used to have skin in the game.

Before any of that skin, they had to know that geocaching existed, and which website they wanted to join.

Then the skin... A GPS unit ($-$$$) and an account with a valid email address. The former was needed for most people to play the game (some, yes, didn't use a GPS at all), and the latter to get online at Geocaching.com and to contact other users.

Now you can get an Application on your GPS-enabled smartphone and play. It can be free or paid, but still nowhere near the "skin" you needed to play up until the release of smartphone apps.

It's not about validated accounts, it's about being able to reach someone via a valid and active channel. Email is vastly better for many reasons (not least of which is that we all use it if we want to see logs, get notifications, get the newsletter, and/or communicate). The Message Center is good for many reasons, and answers the question of "how do I reach a new player who does not have a valid email address in their profile?". It doesn't answer much else, unfortunately.

And, as others can attest, using the MC doesn't always get a response from that user. (Neither did/does email...)

The MC is good. Email is good. If the two could be more strongly linked, it would be paramount. Take the good of both, combine them, and we'd have a stronger program. Sadly, as of this moment, it seems the MC is being favored over strengthening the email validation process and incorporating the strengths of an integrated email system.

19k · July 17, 2015

For those who are still bringing up the "Verified" thing, I'll point out yet again that someone just testing the App may not want to reveal a "Verified" email address to a company they haven't decided to use, and I don't blame them. "Verified" is to prove the web user is a human, which App users have in fact proven several ways ($60/mo data plan, anyone?). They've revealed plenty by just having a phone. People using the Intro App don't need email, we contact them via the MC. If one needs everyone "Verified", take that up with TPTB. Convince them about the periodic "re-verified" plan or whatever, because it's a much bigger issue on the web site than it ever was in the App, with many who cannot be contacted who never used the App, plus the web site has "Verified" non-human Spambots to this day. "Verified" is not about the App. I've stated this until I'm blue in the nose yet somehow it never sinks in.

That is a very good point. But perhaps they should not be allowed to LOG a cache until their email has been verified. Perhaps the coordinates should be obsuscated until they have verified it, as well. There are ways.

3.9k · July 17, 2015

I would like to be able to write a short personal message that would appear when someone is about to send me a Message Center message for the first time. That could say, for example, "Please don't contact me via the Message Center - use e-mail instead", or "Please don't ask for spoilers via Message Center - send me e-mail so I can reply with a photo". (Logically, there would be something equivalent when people try to send me an e-mail, e.g. "Please contact me through Message Center".)

3.6k · July 18, 2015

My messages are showing up in different places. I see a message I gave someone weeks ago along with a response that same person gave me just now to a different question at the top of the page. I responded and that showed up at the bottom of the page. So the messages seemed scrambled with old and new messages. Wish they had time stamps because I can't tell which messages goes with which.

19k · July 18, 2015

My messages are showing up in different places. I see a message I gave someone weeks ago along with a response that same person gave me just now to a different question at the top of the page. I responded and that showed up at the bottom of the page. So the messages seemed scrambled with old and new messages. Wish they had time stamps because I can't tell which messages goes with which.

Hey, what a great idea!! Kind of like email does!

3.6k · July 31, 2015

I know a lot of people don't like the message center and sometimes I do to. But I found a good reason to use it as long as the recipients read the messages.

The bay area is trying to get Mega event status. I am trying to send messages to cachers who may not have heard about it. I got throttled on the regular "send email" says I Over exceeded my quota. But the message center allows up to a certain amount and only holds you for 20 min.

Not everyone has facebook accounts or notifications for events and newbies or non PM members would have to wait for the newsletters. But they will see it as a regular event and not a hopeful Mega.

4.6k · July 31, 2015

I am trying to send messages to cachers who may not have heard about it. I got throttled on the regular "send email" says I Over exceeded my quota. But the message center allows up to a certain amount and only holds you for 20 min.

The reason for the e-mail throttle is to avoid spam, so you now give another reason for not using the MC, it makes spamming easier.

3.6k · July 31, 2015

Funny I've never seen spam on either one.

3.6k · July 31, 2015

I would understand if it throttled new cachers who may come in to spread spam. But not cachers who been around for a long time.

July 31, 2015

I like the message center, and I'm not one of those young whippersnappers who need to get off anyone's lawn. I used it the other day to contact a CO about finding his cache; the difficulty and size of the cache were off, and by chatting on the message center, I was able to find it and then he adjusted the webpage for it. If we'd had to do that over email, I would've just given up on the cache.

7.4k · July 31, 2015

I like the message center, and I'm not one of those young whippersnappers who need to get off anyone's lawn. I used it the other day to contact a CO about finding his cache; the difficulty and size of the cache were off, and by chatting on the message center, I was able to find it and then he adjusted the webpage for it. If we'd had to do that over email, I would've just given up on the cache.

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

4.6k · July 31, 2015

Funny I've never seen spam on either one.

I have. Newly registered, send spam... account now locked (user= clarry5001, look it up)

African advance fee scam.

4.6k · July 31, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

Exactly, as I use a GPS and not "the app" I'm online only for mail, not the website (when away from home).

7.4k · July 31, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

Exactly, as I use a GPS and not "the app" I'm online only for mail, not the website (when away from home).

Same here. I visit the site to run PQs and to log my finds. The message centre generates an email when someone contacts me with it, but I'm not going to fire up the website on my phone so I can answer. A person contacting me that way would probably wait longer - I can answer email far more quickly. But I don't have push notifications on anything, ever, because it's a battery drain, so unless you have my actual phone number, chances are you won't get any kind of instant response from me either way if I'm not near a computer.

3.6k · July 31, 2015

Funny I've never seen spam on either one.

I have. Newly registered, send spam... account now locked (user= clarry5001, look it up)

African advance fee scam.

Guess I'm lucky. What I am doing is helping. Can you suggest another way?

Edited July 31, 2015 by jellis

4.6k · July 31, 2015

Can you suggest another way?

Email? :lol:

3.6k · July 31, 2015

Huh? Really?

August 1, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But if you don't think it's relevant, that's fine.

15.3k · August 1, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.
I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But if you don't think it's relevant, that's fine.

Personally, I think this is a good illustration of why Groundspeak should integrate the message center with email. Then you could use the MC, the cache owner could use email, and communication between geocachers would be facilitated.

As it is, the MC balkanizes communication, making it harder for those who prefer email to communicate with those who prefer the MC, and vice versa.

7.4k · August 2, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But if you don't think it's relevant, that's fine.

It is still contingent on the owner being available at that moment. The ability to send messages in the field means very little if nobody is available to answer them.

I certainly hope this message centre silliness doesn't perpetuate an expectation of constant availability.

6.8k · August 2, 2015

I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But even when the cache owner is online it might have easily happened that you did not get help in time given the way the system is configured right now. For example, in my case it takes me typically longer to react to messages from the message center than to e-mail requests and I will normally reply by e-mail even when the request was sent via the message center. So cachers like you will not receive it in the field. That's why an integration along the lines mentioned by NiraD would be so important.

It's however not true that you would need to go home to send an e-mail. You could send an e-mail message to the cache owner via the gc.com system (that works via a web interface). Of course you then would need to arrange for a method to receive the reply (for example you could provide your phone number).

Edited August 2, 2015 by cezanne

13.7k · August 2, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But if you don't think it's relevant, that's fine.

It is still contingent on the owner being available at that moment. The ability to send messages in the field means very little if nobody is available to answer them.

I certainly hope this message centre silliness doesn't perpetuate an expectation of constant availability.

+1

Before this silliness, folks would call (that paf thing).

Can't tell you how many times I looked at my phone end of the day at work, with voice mails of people saying they're at GZ (on ours or anothers) and can't find it, looking for help.

I can see it possibly becoming worse with something many, used to texting, might believe to be "instant".

3.6k · August 2, 2015

I don't see what the cache's owner's availability has to do with the message centre or email. If the cache owner happens to be online when you message him/her, you can get a quick response. If the cache owner isn't online, you'll have to wait. The mode of contact isn't really relevant to your example.

I don't use email on my phone, so I would've had to have gone home to send an email and I probably wouldn't have gone back to the cache as it took several attempts to figure out what the issue was. If the CO hadn't been online, it's true, I wouldn't have figured it out. I would've just logged a DNF and been done with it.

But if you don't think it's relevant, that's fine.

It is still contingent on the owner being available at that moment. The ability to send messages in the field means very little if nobody is available to answer them.

I certainly hope this message centre silliness doesn't perpetuate an expectation of constant availability.

+1

Before this silliness, folks would call (that paf thing).

Can't tell you how many times I looked at my phone end of the day at work, with voice mails of people saying they're at GZ (on ours or anothers) and can't find it, looking for help.

I can see it possibly becoming worse with something many, used to texting, might believe to be "instant".

Thats only if you have their phone numbers.

I have helped a few cachers (who don't have my phone number) while they were in the field. Some got to them in time some didn't either from delay in system or my delay for responding in time due either the ringer turned off or out of range.

August 15, 2015

My messages are showing up in different places. I see a message I gave someone weeks ago along with a response that same person gave me just now to a different question at the top of the page. I responded and that showed up at the bottom of the page. So the messages seemed scrambled with old and new messages. Wish they had time stamps because I can't tell which messages goes with which.

Hey, what a great idea!! Kind of like email does!

Is there a way to delete a message in the message center once you have read it and/or replied to it? When I log into Geocaching.com the message center icon keeps indicating I have messages but they are old messages. I would like to only see the yellow indicator of a message there is an unread message.

I received a message from somebody asking if one of my caches was still there By the time I saw that message they had already posted a 'found it' log, so I am not bothering to reply to their message. The only other message I have received so far was from somebody who asked me for an additional hint on a cache I did not own. When I sent a reply telling them I was not the CO of the cache, they said they had sent the message to several people. I would like to be able to delete such messages so I do not have to scroll through them every time the message center icon indicates I have messages.

kate2009

13.7k · August 15, 2015

Is there a way to delete a message in the message center once you have read it and/or replied to it?

Nope.

So far, you can only hide them.

7.5k · August 15, 2015

Is there a way to delete a message in the message center once you have read it and/or replied to it?

Nope.

So far, you can only hide them.

So far you can only hide all your conversations with the other player, you can't hide individual messages.

7.4k · August 24, 2015

Does anybody else find it totally insane that you can't block someone from sending a message? I don't want to hide messages, I want to block people so they understand that their messages are unwelcome and they need to go away.

7.4k · August 24, 2015

You can block a user by selecting their conversation and then hovering over their username in the "To" field. You will then see a red circle with a slash; clicking that will block them. Note that they will not be notified that they have been blocked, even if they try contacting you again.

5.7k · August 24, 2015

Does anybody else find it totally insane that you can't block someone from sending a message? I don't want to hide messages, I want to block people so they understand that their messages are unwelcome and they need to go away.

You can block other users in the message center.

7.4k · August 24, 2015

This is brutal. Now I can't see how to unhide the message so I can block this charlatan. I guess the messages from this dude are just hidden for all eternity? Is hiding different than blocking? Why don't the functions have words? Why do I have to hover over things with my mouse to see any sort of functionality? This is why my profile tells people to email me.

7.4k · August 24, 2015

You can unhide a conversation by calling up the user in the MC again.

3.6k · August 24, 2015

This is brutal. Now I can't see how to unhide the message so I can block this charlatan. I guess the messages from this dude are just hidden for all eternity? Is hiding different than blocking? Why don't the functions have words? Why do I have to hover over things with my mouse to see any sort of functionality? This is why my profile tells people to email me.

If you are having issues with a cacher why don't you just report them for abuse?

7.4k · August 24, 2015

This is brutal. Now I can't see how to unhide the message so I can block this charlatan. I guess the messages from this dude are just hidden for all eternity? Is hiding different than blocking? Why don't the functions have words? Why do I have to hover over things with my mouse to see any sort of functionality? This is why my profile tells people to email me.

If you are having issues with a cacher why don't you just report them for abuse?

Not all issues are abuse. As long as I don't ever need to see a message from people I don't want to talk to, that's good enough.

August 27, 2015

I have only been contacted through the MC perhaps two or three times. I've responded, but always ask the person to use email next time, and provide my email address. I don't have a big gripe about the design of the MC, I just don't like using a membership site of any kind forcing (or let's say, encouraging) members to contact each other through that site's messaging. I'm sure it makes sense from a business standpoint to try to get people to stay on your site as much as possible, so I don't blame Groundspeak or other sites for doing it. I just try not to use it. I don't want to ignore people or fail to help them, especially if they are saying something nice (like fan mail on my books) so I reply, but I want to be able to search for a conversation. It's common for me to remember having correspondence on an issue a long time ago, but I don't remember who it was or where it was. I can search my email and find it. If it's in a message center in any of a dozen or more sites I visit, I'll probably never find it. There are other advantages to email, but I think everyone here is well aware of them.

September 21, 2015

The Message Center should have the option to turn it off for at least Premium Members so that those of use that are tried of the endless request for help can turn it off.

2k · September 21, 2015

Setup a filter on the URL "https://geocaching.com/account/messagecenter/"

2.7k · September 21, 2015

The Message Center should have the option to turn it off for at least Premium Members so that those of use that are tried of the endless request for help can turn it off.

With a handful of caches, and one D5 mystery, where are all those requests coming from?

Would it be less annoying if they were all emails?

With about 70 active caches we'd be lucky to get maybe one message a week.

Just curious.

using the message center

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