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Field Notes compose link

thebruce0

By thebruce0
in Website

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thebruce0

+thebruce0

Posted
Posted

Minor change to field notes I just noticed: Compose Log is no longer a direct link but a javascript form postback.

 

It was quite convenient to open numerous compose logs in separate tabs from the field notes page alongside their cache listing page in order to run through the field notes and post the logs quickly.

 

Now it's required to compose logs individually in the same window and then navigate back to the field notes page to get to the next one.

 

Can the Compose Log link be returned to its former glory so the links can be opened in new tabs, please?

 

(side note: Delete Log is still its own direct link, no javascript form postback - please don't make that a postback)

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niraD

+niraD

Posted
Posted

I'll third it.

 

Please let your web developers know that href="javascript:..." is evil. Put a real URL in the href attribute. Put the JavaScript in an event handler.

 

And while you're at it, the "Hey wait! You don't really want to leave Geocaching.com, do you?" nag popup on profile pages still breaks the normal operation of links that occur in someone's profile. To see this, just shift-click or ctrl-click or command-click or whatever to open a link in a new tab/window. You get the nag popup, and then the link opens in the current tab/window instead.

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linsrille

+linsrille

Posted
Posted

Just noticed this too. I've become quite accustomed to this way of logging through the years. I feel it is quite a big usability regression. Also why?!

 

* Use-case 1: Slow internet connection

 

Load a few compose tabs in the background while writing the current log.

 

* Use-case 2: Simple workflow

 

1. Ctrl-click compose link

2. Write log

3. Ctrl+w closes tab, the tab with the drafts list appears

4. Goto 1.

 

* Use-case 3: Getting the story straight

 

Sometimes when I've been out caching I've visited a cache here, a cache there and lost track of which was which. Then I write a few logs simultaneously, tabbing between them and their listing page.

 

These use-cases are no longer possible :(

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The A-Team

+The A-Team

Posted
Posted

I'd like to add my support for returning this to the previous configuration.

 

I always middle-click the "Compose Log" link to open a new tab so I have the Drafts page available for reference while composing the log. Sometimes I'll need to refer back to the timestamps of the pending drafts ("which one was the cache I found just before lunch time?" or "should the photo I took at 10:20 be attached to this log?"), or I may have forgotten to "field note" a find in the right order and need to check back to the list to make sure I'm logging in the right order.

 

This is a very unfortunate* change that will significantly impact the way I convert my drafts to logs. If this change was intended to help users who are using that page on a smartphone (which is a strong possibility based on the tone of recent changes), it should be noted that the inherent nature of this page is that users will almost always be using it on a computer. I don't see any way in which this change benefits computer users.

 

*and quiet; no release notes for a significant workflow change?

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niraD

+niraD

Posted
Posted

Another post about this:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=343546&view=findpost&p=5646577

Just discovered that you also changed the links of field notes (or drafs as you now call it) to postbacks. Making it impossible to open them in a new tab. This means I have to reload the field notes page each time I want to log another cache. Very annoying and time consuming (especially with a slow internet connection). Please revert this. (-1/2)

 

Tc

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niraD

+niraD

Posted
Posted
The latest version (v1.8.0) of Project-GC's Web browser extension has a fix for the Drafts-page. It's freshly released and not very tested, but it should work nicely. It does not require a paid membership with Project-GC.
You know, I've been trying to avoid making my use of geocaching.com dependent on Greasemonkey (or Tampermonkey) scripts. But the broken Compose Log links may just be the final straw that pushes me over to the dark side.
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The A-Team

+The A-Team

Posted
Posted
The latest version (v1.8.0) of Project-GC's Web browser extension has a fix for the Drafts-page. It's freshly released and not very tested, but it should work nicely. It does not require a paid membership with Project-GC.
You know, I've been trying to avoid making my use of geocaching.com dependent on Greasemonkey (or Tampermonkey) scripts. But the broken Compose Log links may just be the final straw that pushes me over to the dark side.

Same here. Rather than depend on third-party kludges to get things to work on this website, I've always been an advocate for making things work as they should by default. I'm always worried that if someone comes up with a third-party workaround, Groundspeak will have the mindset that they don't need to fix the problem because the complainers have a way to make things work. I don't think anyone needs an education in software development to realize this isn't the right way to develop software for end-users.

 

Unfortunately, since this recent change severely breaks my logging workflow and I have yet to think up a way to work around it using the website alone, I might have to break down and use a browser extension (for as long as that works). One would have hoped that lessons would have already been learned about "change for change's sake" based on past snafus, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

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technetium

+technetium

Posted
Posted

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on this. We are looking at options for addressing this and should have a fix soon - thanks for bringing it to our attention and for your patience while we work on it!

Thanks for responding to this thread. I hope the people at GS are able to revert this change. While you are at it, please also look into the previously mentioned nag message when clicking profile links. That broke my habit of shift clicking on them to get a new tab (i now have to right click and select the correct option from the menu. Also extra steps.

 

p.s. I know you are probably not to blame, but why keeps grouspeak breaking things on the site that are working fine? geocaching.com was the site that made me install greasmonkey in my browser. Is it your way of supporting independent developers? Because as long as I need third party scripts on your site, my money goes to third party developers and not to a premium membership.

 

Tc

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MartyBartfast

+MartyBartfast

Posted
Posted

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on this. We are looking at options for addressing this and should have a fix soon - thanks for bringing it to our attention and for your patience while we work on it!

 

Thanks for the response.

 

I just wanted to say that I just tried to post some logs using drafts, and I think the new javascript post method is is a real backward step.

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linsrille

+linsrille

Posted
Posted

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts on this. We are looking at options for addressing this and should have a fix soon - thanks for bringing it to our attention and for your patience while we work on it!

 

This has been resolved - players can now open drafts in a separate tab. Thank you!

Thank you for listening and restoring the functionality!

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