Puzzle Cache Solution Checker - any feedback yet?

[+boisestate]

Just updated our puzzle cache and included use of the "in-house" solution checker to see how it goes.

Couple of things I noticed right away:

1) If you enter wrong coordinates into the solution checker...a message shows " Those coordinates are not correct. You have 9 tries left." So now I 'm just curious to what happens when someone enters too many wrong attempts. Are you timed out? For how long?

2) The solution checker does not show up in the app so is there a way for app users to check solutions out in the field?

Has anyone put this solution checker to use yet?  Any feedback on this? 

Just curious - thanks.

Edited March 6, 2018 by boisestate

[+The A-Team]

The release notes discussion from when the feature was rolled out would be the best place to post your feedback. Many issues have already been pointed out.

As for your specific points:

1. The checker is described in this Help Center article. Like many of the third-party checkers, it uses a moving 10-minute window in which you're limited to 10 attempts.
2. The checker is not compatible with the Official apps at this time. If you want finders to be able to easily check their solution in the field on their smartphones, you'll probably want to use one of the third-party checkers.

[+arisoft]

8 hours ago, boisestate said:

2) The solution checker does not show up in the app so is there a way for app users to check solutions out in the field?

You must add a link to the checker as you can do with any 3rd party checkers. Here is an example link for cache GC7HQNJ

<a href="https://coord.info/GC7HQNJ#ctl00_ContentBody_uxCacheChecker">Check your solution</a>

 

[+boisestate]

On 3/5/2018 at 2:14 PM, arisoft said:

You must add a link to the checker as you can do with any 3rd party checkers. Here is an example link for cache GC7HQNJ

<a href="https://coord.info/GC7HQNJ#ctl00_ContentBody_uxCacheChecker">Check your solution</a>

 

Airsoft...thanks for this.  I tried this code on our cache and it seems to work well in the app for what I want it to do. If you click on the link in the app, it takes you to the geocaching.com cache page then forwards the page straight to the in-house solution checker.  I think I'll give this a try, see if cachers end up using it or not. Of course I like the idea of using GeoCheck for the stats purposes but I like the idea of trying the "in-house" products too.  You can see the code put to use in our cache GC5Q2A0.  Thanks again.

[+Pond Bird]

Honestly, in SOME scenarios the solution checker on the cache page is useful because you can see the options in front of you and if you miss one number you can try again. Typically other coord checkers give you at least 10 tries per day so the solution checker gives 10 tries in a certain period of time.  In other scenerios where you have a puzzle that may include a keyword, you probably would use certitude for that. Or a puzzle involving multiple steps again another checker would do. I've noticed on a few newer puzzle caches in my area the solution checker is used for non-cipher puzzles and it is more convenient since once you get it right it will automatically insert the corrected coords for you.

I believe the solution checker is mostly compatible for caches where you are given variables such as "final is at N 43 00.xyz W 077 45.910" because you can look up and down on the screen to check (like you would when entering coords in a GPS) instead of going from one page to another.  I still would use other checkers for caches that use ciphers and note that the solution checker doesn't offer the keyword ability so you still would have to use another checker if the solution were a keyword, and/or if it included multiple steps. 

[+The A-Team]

18 hours ago, Pond Bird said:

Typically other coord checkers give you at least 10 tries per day so the solution checker gives 10 tries in a certain period of time.

I can't think of a third-party checker that only allows 10 attempts per day. The three most popular third-party checkers all have the same limit of 10 attempts per 10 minute period as the new solution checker.

Quote

...it is more convenient since once you get it right it will automatically insert the corrected coords for you.

Not everyone considers this to be convenient. In fact, some of us find it downright inconvenient and would like an option to disable this portion of the feature altogether. Having the corrected coordinates on the cache listing interferes with my typical workflow using GSAK. If I need to use a built-in solution checker and get a success, the first thing I do is scroll up to the top and restore the posted coordinates.

[+Pond Bird]

18 hours ago, The A-Team said:

I can't think of a third-party checker that only allows 10 attempts per day. The three most popular third-party checkers all have the same limit of 10 attempts per 10 minute period as the new solution checker.

Not everyone considers this to be convenient. In fact, some of us find it downright inconvenient and would like an option to disable this portion of the feature altogether. Having the corrected coordinates on the cache listing interferes with my typical workflow using GSAK. If I need to use a built-in solution checker and get a success, the first thing I do is scroll up to the top and restore the posted coordinates.

Certitude allows 10 attempts in a 10 minute period is correct, I didn't know that the solution checker was the same. Also, I'm curious as to why you would want to restore the posted coordinates if you had the corrected coordinates. That way you wouldn't have to solve it again as long as the coordinates remained the same. 

[+thebruce0]

20 hours ago, The A-Team said:

Not everyone considers this to be convenient. In fact, some of us find it downright inconvenient and would like an option to disable this portion of the feature altogether. Having the corrected coordinates on the cache listing interferes with my typical workflow using GSAK. If I need to use a built-in solution checker and get a success, the first thing I do is scroll up to the top and restore the posted coordinates.

Ditto.  Haven't heard any response to the request to have the corrected coordinate update as an option. (well, let alone any real update to the checker widget itself )

[+arisoft]

3 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Ditto.  Haven't heard any response to the request to have the corrected coordinate update as an option. (well, let alone any real update to the checker widget itself )

I did not stay waiting for improvements, I did it myself (Single box input)

For me it is ok to update corrected coordinates. I just wish that they stays corrected on map. Now I have to use other services to see map correctly.

[+The A-Team]

6 hours ago, Pond Bird said:

Also, I'm curious as to why you would want to restore the posted coordinates if you had the corrected coordinates. That way you wouldn't have to solve it again as long as the coordinates remained the same. 

Some of us use third-party software like GSAK to keep track of things like corrected coordinates. Some of this may be inertia since GSAK allowed corrected coordinates long before that feature was added to the website, while some of it is personal preference for a variety of reasons. Regardless, having corrected coordinates on the website sometimes causes undesirable behaviour in GSAK, so I like to keep my corrected coordinates in only one spot. There's also the matter referenced by arisoft where the location of a cache with corrected coordinates on the online maps isn't consistent, which is another reason why some might not wish to use the feature.

[+dprovan]

On 3/20/2018 at 0:35 PM, The A-Team said:

Not everyone considers this to be convenient. In fact, some of us find it downright inconvenient and would like an option to disable this portion of the feature altogether. Having the corrected coordinates on the cache listing interferes with my typical workflow using GSAK. If I need to use a built-in solution checker and get a success, the first thing I do is scroll up to the top and restore the posted coordinates.

Speaking of certitude: certitude appears to have learned how to correct the coordinates, too, in the last week or so. When I tell certitude to update my private notes, the posted coordinates on the cache suddenly change to the solution. I've only solved a couple puzzles this week, so I'm still having a hard time believing I'm not seeing things. As it happens, my approach to corrected coordinates doesn't involve GSAK, so it probably won't hurt me, but I've been a little annoyed at the puzzle caches that provide only the builtin checker forcing the cache to move away from its posted coordinates, so I'm even less thrilled by certitude suddenly following suit.
 

7 hours ago, Pond Bird said:

Also, I'm curious as to why you would want to restore the posted coordinates if you had the corrected coordinates. That way you wouldn't have to solve it again as long as the coordinates remained the same. 

Like The A-Team, my basic answer is that I handle my solutions differently and do more to adjust a cache listing in my pocket queries than just update the coordinates. So, to me, all the automatic adjustment of the posted coordinates accomplishes is eliminate the information about the posted coordinates, which is bad because the CO posted those coordinates for a reason.

Having said that, I have to admit I'm not sure the posted coordinates are all that important, so, given time, I might get used to the coordinates being adjusted. So far, though, it's only led to confusion: a few times now, I thought a new puzzle cache had just popped up on the map, but it turned out to be a cache I solved that had moved from where I first saw it.