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Expanded Search Filters [Added Feature]


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Now that it's been out awhile, I've gotten to like the current set of Filters for the Search function. I've found my need to run Pocket Queries has decreased. However, there still two features that I still need PQs for: Date Range and Attributes. Adding these filters would greatly enhance the Search function.

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20 hours ago, Frau Potter said:

Thanks for providing this feedback. I will pass it along to the developers. If other geocachers have similar thoughts on how to improve Search (or agree with this user's ideas), please feel free to post here. 

If the search page included attributes and date range, it could pretty much replaced the PQ page for setting search criteria.  If we could download a List as a GPX file (and/or as a Zipped GPX file) we wouldn't need the Pocket Queries ready for download page.   The only thing missing would be the ability to save search criteria and schedule it to run automatically and the PQ system could be retired. 

I know it sounds like a radical thought to eliminate pocket queries, with the enhanced search page that can create a list of caches that can can be downloaded there's not much functionality that would need to be developed that would provide users with the same functionality without pocket queries.

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I agree these are good suggestions.  I would also like if you used the search criteria to just view "My finds" if it could map all of them.  Currently it can only do first 1,000 and when checking the box to add all of them to a list it only returns 1,000 to the list.  So still need the My Finds PQ to get ALL of your finds in one file.  The new search does know how many I've found, it just can't show them all to me or add them all to a list due to the 1,000 cache limit.

 

 

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Having a distinct method to retrieve your entire career of Finds in the current listings' status should be priority though; I wouldn't want to use the advanced search to "search" for my entire catalogue of found caches. A generated GPX of all finds as currently provided by the PQ engine should still be available in some manner.  Of course, that doesn't mean don't provide the ability to search Finds in the advanced search :) Just please don't remove the MyFinds GPX generation if/when PQs disappear. That table is its own independent "feature" of geocaching.com.

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Put me down for being able to search by cache name from the main search box.

Just tried it with a couple of different names and nope, it still doesn't work. One search came up empty, the other showed a bunch of caches that had nothing to do with the search words i entered. I know i can go into the filters and search for a cache but i shouldn't have to do extra clicking for something basic like this.

 

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1 hour ago, Mudfrog said:

Put me down for being able to search by cache name from the main search box.

Just tried it with a couple of different names and nope, it still doesn't work. One search came up empty, the other showed a bunch of caches that had nothing to do with the search words i entered. I know i can go into the filters and search for a cache but i shouldn't have to do extra clicking for something basic like this.

 

Open the search page:
https://www.geocaching.com/play/search#Content

Do NOT enter your keyword where GCCodes or locations should be entered.
Hit "Filters" first and yot down your desired keyword.

c2d146900d9a269a784617507f35f7f9.png

Result:

bab6de462e95088dcc46d04e3025c1cf.png

No rocket science at all.

Hans

Edited by HHL
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1 hour ago, HHL said:

Open the search page:

Yes, thanks, Hans, but...

2 hours ago, Mudfrog said:

I know i can go into the filters and search for a cache but i shouldn't have to do extra clicking for something basic like this.

...sometimes it helps to read the whole post you're quoting before you reply to it.

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33 minutes ago, HHL said:

I did.

Then that makes less sense.  To sum up:

Mudfrog: I know a system exists to do this, but it should be easier.

HHL: Here's how that system that you already know about works, step by step.

It's like going to a rental car agency and explaining that, while you know how to drive a manual transmission, you'd like an automatic transmission car because it's more convenient.  And then having someone in the line behind you explain how to drive a stick anyway.  Potentially helpful for someone else who was waiting in line, I suppose, but not pertinent to the comment.

Edited by hzoi
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Except that the OP is about expanded search filters, not what can be searched in the catch-all input box. So, I think the response was relevant - the search filters already support searching by cache title even though the input box doesn't, so it's not an expansion of the filters to allow searching by cache title.

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7 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Except that the OP is about expanded search filters, not what can be searched in the catch-all input box. So, I think the response was relevant - the search filters already support searching by cache title even though the input box doesn't, so it's not an expansion of the filters to allow searching by cache title.

Yeah, i was a bit off topic. Feel free to give me 10 lashes with a wet noodle. :P

Still, i've never encountered any other website with a search feature that hasn't allowed me to search for a specific product via the first/main search box. It's a basic feature that you'd think every search engine would incorporate.

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On 11/9/2017 at 0:01 PM, Mudfrog said:

Put me down for being able to search by cache name from the main search box.

Just tried it with a couple of different names and nope, it still doesn't work. One search came up empty, the other showed a bunch of caches that had nothing to do with the search words i entered. I know i can go into the filters and search for a cache but i shouldn't have to do extra clicking for something basic like this.

 

That one could be a bit tricky.  The search box is actually used for determining a center point or region to use for the filters (even if no filters are set).  If one types "Kansas" in the search box, it will suggest possible locations (as a radius or as a Region).  There would also have to be an option to search for caches with Kansas in the title.  Ideally, it could also search for cache listings with the search term in the short/long description but that would require a lot of re-indexing.

With the "new" Search page, the notion of an "Advanced Search" isn't really used anymore.  A lot of search engines allow the use of searching for a term in a specific field, or limiting the results based on a specific field.  For example,  a google search for Mingo will return lots of results that have nothing to do with geocaching.  Adding "site:geocaching.com" to the search criteria will return results with Mingo, but only when the site includes the geocaching.com domain.

Similarly, if one want to search for caches with Kansas in the title, doing something like "title:*Kansas*" would return hits with Kansas anywhere in the title as it uses the "*" characters to match any string before or after "Kansas".  A search for "title:Kansas" would only return results for which the title was, specifically, "Kansas".

Of course, one could combine field searches such as title:*Kansas* type:unknown difficulty:3.0 and it would return unknown caches with Kansas in the title with a difficulty of 3.0.

You don't have to be Google to implement field searching and boolean operators.  It's been the default search syntax for an open source search engine called Lucene (or Solr) for a very long time.  

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