Waymark Search Issues

[+kJfishman]

Why would I search for waymarks near N 38° 42.087 W 090° 14.127 and get a list of waymarks in Germany? N 50° 30.710 E 007° 17.980 isn't even close! The Category Search has issues also. They need to do a little work on the web page.

Edited February 18, 2016 by kJfishman

[+T0SHEA]

Why would I search for waymarks near N 38° 42.087 W 090° 14.127 and get a list of waymarks in Germany? N 50° 30.710 E 007° 17.980 isn't even close! The Category Search has issues also. They need to do a little work on the web page.

 

I think I noticed quite a while ago that [N 38° 42.087 W 090° 14.127] simply doesn't work for me any more. I don't even get Germany with those coords, just nothing. BUT, the same coords in decimal degrees [38.701451, -90.235451] works, and always has. I've gotten so used to degrees and minutes not working that I ALWAYS use decimal degrees in a search. Can't even remember anymore how long it's been like that.

 

This is actually strange as, when posting a WM, decimal degrees almost NEVER works unless one is willing to go around twice, entering the degrees again, then they work. It's a strange, strange, strange, strange world...

[+elyob]

...and yet we keep playing this game, despite all the tricks we need to use.

[+Manville Possum]

...and yet we keep playing this game, despite all the tricks we need to use.

 

I think it's just the same old users that already learned to navigate this site and no new interests in Waymarking.

[+Tuena]

Until I read this had never used decimal degrees or any degrees in searches. It has solved a small problem for me. If I search for certain towns in Australia I get results for towns elsewhere in the world. As an example if I search for Forbes, Australia, NSW I get Forbes, USA, Minnesota so I had been searching from nearby towns. I selected a cache in Forbes (TP6529), converted the co-ords to decimal degrees using the provided tool, searched & got waymarks in & around Forbes NSW. Thank you.

[+The A-Team]

As an example if I search for Forbes, Australia, NSW I get Forbes, USA, Minnesota...

Strange. I just tried searching using the terms "forbes, australia", "forbes, nsw", "forbes, nsw, australia", and "forbes, australia, nsw". In all cases, I got results in Australia.

[+Tuena]

Well I have been enlightened again. I have never put anything more than the name of the town in the search field "Near" I put the town, distance, select Australia & the state & search. Why would I even think of adding the state to the Near field when there are such options built in? Silly me. Pays making observations in the forum. Thanks for that one.

 

 

 

[+T0SHEA]

...and yet we keep playing this game, despite all the tricks we need to use.

 

If it was easy everyone would be doing it

 

Tuena - You're welcome. It's kinda nice that we were able to help someone, however inadvertently.

[+T0SHEA]

 

I think it's just the same old users that already learned to navigate this site and no new interests in Waymarking.

 

Just recently we managed to get a couple of local Geocachers interested in Waymarking. Unfortunately, we've not left anything to waymark within a couple hundred miles of home, but they're happily visiting WMs of ours. As I write this they're on a trip to Alberta where there are a few WMs left unposted. With a little luck they'll find a few.

[+T0SHEA]

BTW, while we're here, Tuena mentioned that he used the converter at Geocaching to convert to decimal degrees. What I use to convert back and forth is an Excel sheet. But... a quick and dirty method is to just plug degrees and minutes into Google Maps (you always have that open anyway, right?), click on the target the map creates, click on the coords in the little window that opens below, then copy the coords to the WM search page. Don't worry about the comma between Lat & Long, the search engine ignores it.

Edited February 20, 2016 by BK-Hunters

[+Benchmark Blasterz]

BTW, while we're here, Tuena mentioned that he used the converter at Geocaching to convert to decimal degrees. What I use to convert back and forth is an Excel sheet. But... a quick and dirty method is to just plug degrees and minutes into Google Maps (you always have that open anyway, right?), click on the target the map creates, click on the coords in the little window that opens below, then copy the coords to the WM search page. Don't worry about the comma between Lat & Long, the search engine ignores it.

 

This may be the way we have to do it -- until (or unless) the search function gets fixed. I really hope the "search from Here" gets fixed -- that was so incredibly useful