Maps

[+Sol seaker]

The maps are really important to me.

 

I noticed a while ago that the maps had changed. Now they seem to have gotten even worse.

 

I have been trying to look for new caches in new areas and the maps DON'T EVEN HAVE STREET NAMES ON THEM!

 

How the heck does one use maps without street names on it?

 

I've tried some of the other options available on the drop-down menu, and nothing comes close to the old maps.

 

Can we go back to the old map options? I'm struggling with being able to geocache. I'm sure the intention of changing maps wasn't to make it so much trouble.

 

I travel a lot and end up a lot of places where there is no cell signal for my phone. I need to load maps onto my GPS but need to be able to see what maps to load. I'm struggling at this point, in making these work.

 

I'd love this game to just be fun and not a struggle. That's kind of the point of it for me.

 

Thanks.

[+HHL]

You'll get streetnames with Google Maps:

 

 

Happy Hunting (caches - so far)

Hans

Edited November 24, 2016 by HHL

[+HHL]

[+hukilaulau]

The maps are really important to me.

 

I noticed a while ago that the maps had changed. Now they seem to have gotten even worse.

 

I have been trying to look for new caches in new areas and the maps DON'T EVEN HAVE STREET NAMES ON THEM!

 

How the heck does one use maps without street names on it?

 

I've tried some of the other options available on the drop-down menu, and nothing comes close to the old maps.

 

Can we go back to the old map options? I'm struggling with being able to geocache. I'm sure the intention of changing maps wasn't to make it so much trouble.

 

I travel a lot and end up a lot of places where there is no cell signal for my phone. I need to load maps onto my GPS but need to be able to see what maps to load. I'm struggling at this point, in making these work.

 

I'd love this game to just be fun and not a struggle. That's kind of the point of it for me.

 

Thanks.

Not sure what maps you're talking about. I just did a search on some bookmark lists around various parts of the country, and the maps are the same as they have been for years.

The maps on my GPS are not Groundspeak maps. I use an Explorist 500 and the maps are from magellan. The maps on my iphone are from the Groundspeak app and they work just fine too.

[+noncentric]

Not sure what maps you're talking about. I just did a search on some bookmark lists around various parts of the country, and the maps are the same as they have been for years.

The map options on the website did change in mid-September. See this Release Notes post for more details.

 

Google maps used to be available via Leaflet (see HHL's screenshot in post #3), but no longer is available via that map option.

 

The small map on each cache page used to use Google maps, but now those small maps are shown using Geocaching.com's proprietary map format. There is no way to change the map source for the maps on the cache page.

[+Mn-treker]

The maps are really important to me.

 

I noticed a while ago that the maps had changed. Now they seem to have gotten even worse.

 

I have been trying to look for new caches in new areas and the maps DON'T EVEN HAVE STREET NAMES ON THEM!

 

How the heck does one use maps without street names on it?

 

I've tried some of the other options available on the drop-down menu, and nothing comes close to the old maps.

 

Can we go back to the old map options? I'm struggling with being able to geocache. I'm sure the intention of changing maps wasn't to make it so much trouble.

 

I travel a lot and end up a lot of places where there is no cell signal for my phone. I need to load maps onto my GPS but need to be able to see what maps to load. I'm struggling at this point, in making these work.

 

I'd love this game to just be fun and not a struggle. That's kind of the point of it for me.

 

Thanks.

Try zooming in, the street names will show up.

[+Sol seaker]

Not sure what maps you're talking about. I just did a search on some bookmark lists around various parts of the country, and the maps are the same as they have been for years.

The map options on the website did change in mid-September. See this Release Notes post for more details.

 

Google maps used to be available via Leaflet (see HHL's screenshot in post #3), but no longer is available via that map option.

 

The small map on each cache page used to use Google maps, but now those small maps are shown using Geocaching.com's proprietary map format. There is no way to change the map source for the maps on the cache page.

 

thank you, thank you!!

 

I meant the maps that come up when you search for caches and hit the map option. The release notes explain the change and explain how to change them to Google maps. I hope that option will remain now, because...

 

NO the street names do NOT appear when you zoom in, no matter how much you zoom in.

 

I was trying to find geocaches with having no idea what streets they were on. Ugh. Not good.

 

It's funny, you don't realize how important something is to you until a wrench is thrown into the workings.

 

Now I can find the maps again. Phew.

 

The good side of this is that I also found bike maps on the pull-down menu. I wish it had a legend explaining the different trail colors. That would be helpful.

 

I'm back on Google now though. Now I have street names again.

 

Thanks

[+Sol seaker]

The maps are really important to me.

 

I noticed a while ago that the maps had changed. Now they seem to have gotten even worse.

 

I have been trying to look for new caches in new areas and the maps DON'T EVEN HAVE STREET NAMES ON THEM!

 

How the heck does one use maps without street names on it?

 

I've tried some of the other options available on the drop-down menu, and nothing comes close to the old maps.

 

Can we go back to the old map options? I'm struggling with being able to geocache. I'm sure the intention of changing maps wasn't to make it so much trouble.

 

I travel a lot and end up a lot of places where there is no cell signal for my phone. I need to load maps onto my GPS but need to be able to see what maps to load. I'm struggling at this point, in making these work.

 

I'd love this game to just be fun and not a struggle. That's kind of the point of it for me.

 

Thanks.

Try zooming in, the street names will show up.

 

No not on that map.

 

I had zoomed in as far as I could and there were still no street names. I then moved around to see if I could find them somewhere while zoomed in. Nope.

[+The A-Team]

I had zoomed in as far as I could and there were still no street names. I then moved around to see if I could find them somewhere while zoomed in. Nope.

Can you give an example of an area where you aren't seeing any street names? Like others here, I can see street names on the default "Geocaching" map layer starting at zoom level 14 for major roads, and zoom level 15-16 for more minor roads. Here's an example in my area where the names are showing as expected. (Make sure you're set to the "Leaflet" family of maps and on the default "Geocaching" map layer when viewing the example)

 

Some background:

The new "Geocaching"-style map - like the MapQuest OSM one that used to be the default both on the big map and the cache page maps - is based on the OpenStreetMap data. If a road had a name on the old map, then it should still show up with a name, because the underlying OpenStreetMap data hasn't changed (unless the names were removed from roads in your area for some reason, which seems exceedingly unlikely).

 

Edit to add: I just noticed from your profile that you're in the Seattle area. I'm not sure if this is where you saw the missing names, but I just spot-checked all the way from Everett to Tacoma, and the street names are showing as expected for me.

Edited November 28, 2016 by The A-Team

[+Path Pacer]

I wasn't happy with the map changes either. You used to be able to zoom in on the default map and all sorts of info would pop up, but now you have to try the various map options in the corner to find what you want.

[+The A-Team]

I wasn't happy with the map changes either. You used to be able to zoom in on the default map and all sorts of info would pop up, but now you have to try the various map options in the corner to find what you want.

Some of us made some suggestions on ways to improve the map style in the relevant Release Notes discussion soon after the new map went live, but it seems like the promise of customizability may have been overstated. The style hasn't been changed in any way over the last 2.5 months, and the underlying OSM data hasn't been updated to account for changes made in the last ~6 months. I fear this may be another feature to add to the list of ones that get rolled out and then promptly abandoned.

[+Jayeffel]

Can the map funtion be turned off by a cache owner for a particular cache? I put my first one out , intended to be easy, but with the map it almost tells a looker where to go.

[+MartyBartfast]

Can the map funtion be turned off by a cache owner for a particular cache? I put my first one out , intended to be easy, but with the map it almost tells a looker where to go.

No.

[+Tassie_Boy]

Can the map funtion be turned off by a cache owner for a particular cache? I put my first one out , intended to be easy, but with the map it almost tells a looker where to go.

 

Isn't that the point of the game?

[+hzoi]

Can the map funtion be turned off by a cache owner for a particular cache? I put my first one out , intended to be easy, but with the map it almost tells a looker where to go.

Isn't that the point of the game?

Well, that and providing specific coordinates.

[+edexter]

I was a little dismayed by the latest map change: the cache logos are blah looking, they no longer distinguish between premium and non-premium and the grayed out look to the disbabled caches was actually helpful. On the other hand, the ability to filter by type is nice start. Now what would be really useful on the map is a way to filter P&Gs, power trails and geo-art. And USGS based topos would be welcomed by a few of us...Ah, well. There's alotof fleixibilty in viewing overall.

edexter

[+Sol seaker]

I was a little dismayed by the latest map change: the cache logos are blah looking, they no longer distinguish between premium and non-premium and the grayed out look to the disbabled caches was actually helpful. On the other hand, the ability to filter by type is nice start. Now what would be really useful on the map is a way to filter P&Gs, power trails and geo-art. And USGS based topos would be welcomed by a few of us...Ah, well. There's alotof fleixibilty in viewing overall.

edexter

 

Yes on the latest map change I'm no longer seeing Freeway names. (numbers)

 

I'm in a different state right now and don't know the freeways here. Makes it tough. At least the side streets are on this map.

[+edscott]

Can the map funtion be turned off by a cache owner for a particular cache? I put my first one out , intended to be easy, but with the map it almost tells a looker where to go.

 

Isn't that the point of the game?

 

Agree... anyone can use a GPS. Learning to read a map is a skill that will help you in many situations even after the batteries die.