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Release Notes (Website: New Search Map) - April 25, 2019


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Still no maps???   Yes I can delete the...  /play  ...and get a map centered on my home location.  Of course I own, or have done, all of those  so I have to scroll out to an area... 30 miles maybe to find some interesting targets.  But after I get the data on one of them I have to go back "home" and start all over again to get data on another one.  Planning a trip to Ohio soon. Scrolling over 300 miles of map is not very practical.   Caching has become impossible.  How about being able to enter a set of coordinates for the center of my map and be able to return to that location until I decide to change my target to another set of coordinates?

Edited by edscott
typo
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25 minutes ago, edscott said:

Still no maps???   Yes I can delete the...  /play  ...and get a map centered on my home location.  Of course I own, or have done, all of those  so I have to scroll out to an area... 30 miles maybe to find some interesting targets.  But after I get the data on one of them I have to go back "home" and start all over again to get data on another one.  Planning a trip to Ohio soon. Scrolling over 300 miles of map is not very practical.   Caching has become impossible.  How about being able to enter a set of coordinates for the center of my map and be able to return to that location until I decide to change my target to another set of coordinates?

Hi @edscott. The map you are going to, https://www.geocaching.com/map/ is the old map that you are used to. It's now called the "Browse Map." It still functions as it has in the past. No need to scroll every time, or even scroll over 300 miles. Enter your desired location (city or coordinates) in the location search bar on the browse map and the map will move to that location. Want to view a geocache? Clicking on it still brings up the little pop-up with basic information, clicking on the geocache's name still opens up the cache page in a separate tab, leaving the map intact. 

If this is not the behavior you are experiencing with the browse map, then we may want to have a look  at your settings to try and fix it.

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#1: Yes!

#2: If optional, at best, or throttled - IF their servers can handle the dramatic increase of complex searches with every adjustment of the map in any way; have to keep mentioning this because it's a technical limitation not everyone considers.

#3: Yes!

#4: Yes!

#5: Yes!

:)

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On 5/10/2019 at 1:35 PM, brendanjw said:

We have a fix for users that are running browsers that do not support WebGL.  For those that are affected by this issue, they’ll now get a modal window with a link to access the older Browse map.

 

Hi Brendan.

 

Sorry, I'm not seeing that; I still get the "snow" background with caches laid overtop.  I'm using Firefox 66.0.2 (64-bit), Linux 4.15, about:config webgl all at defaults, and either "Use recommended performance settings" checked or "Use hardware acceleration when available" unchecked; doesn't matter.

 

The key thing is I have old video hardware that flunks the test at get.webgl.org.  And it's so old Nvidia no longer provides Linux drivers, meaning the open-source nouveau driver that I'm stuck with may be the culprit.

 

I mention all this only in case it helps your devs, and indrectly, someone else.  I'm upgrading my hardware shortly, mostly for other reasons, so it doesn't matter for me.

 

EDIT:  If I change webgl:disabled to true (non-default), then I do see the new modal window you mentioned.  But that's obscure; I couldn't even find "webgl" in the preferences UI using their search feature.  Anyway, moot for me; let's see if this fixes things for other people.

 

EDIT: But that modal window redirects to the Browse Map (good) at my home coordinates (hardly useful).

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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This really isn't just an issue of "I don't like change" - this map simply does not work in too many scenarios...

 

Considering the drive that HQ has been demonstrating in trying to "appify" the website, I looked at if from my shiney, modern, up-to-date iPhone...

 

Starting from the cache page of a cache I found this weekend, as usual, I want to see it on a map. So I click on the "View Larger Map" link (because, frankly that little map usually doesn't show enough of the surrounding area to let me get my bearings)...

 

Do I see a "map"? No. I see another version of the page I was just on. (Now, I do know that I'm actually on the new "Search Map" page, but because of the size of the screen and Responsive Design I'm only seeing the side panel.) Not only do I not see the map, I don't see any button that looks like it'll take me to the map. I have to guess that the button that looks like a "back button" will take me to the map. Ok, I guessed and tapped the button, and look!  A Map!

 

 

... with no caches on it.

 

Yeah. This isn't helpful.

 

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On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 2:35 PM, brendanjw said:

 

Today’s deployment consists of the following:

 

  • We have a fix for users that are running browsers that do not support WebGL.  For those that are affected by this issue, they’ll now get a modal window with a link to access the older Browse map.  As a reminder here’s the URL to the older Browse map https://www.geocaching.com/map/

 

Best,

Brendan

Before this update I had access to the new search maps (even though I immediately changed it to the browse map) but as of this update I get the blank screen when clicking on any of the defaulted map links on the webpage.  I currently do not get any windows giving me the option to bring up the browse map.

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As I mentioned before, how much is google paying you to default to their useless map? You may say it is faster but it is not when you have to click again to get to where you want to be and it goes back to the useless default map if you view details of a cache then go back to the map. Perhaps it would be better if we had an option in settings where we could choose the map we want and not have to endure the seemingly endless clicks.

I noticed today on the mobile app that if you select "view in browser" it will take you there but if you then select "view larger map" it takes you back to the mobile app, to the map you may not want, and never actually allows you to continue as a "spinning arrow" icon appears and has not stopped for an hour. I exited the app, restarted it and the arrow is still spinning and nothing happens.

Oddly enough, I was checking out an area the other night for a future cache run. One hour or so later I was plagued with ads on facebook about businesses and activities in that same area. Was this a coincidence or is  google tracking our every move? What's next? Will we be inundated with ads like youtube? The changes you have made, starting with the elimination of challenge caches, are changing this from an an entertaining activity to just another invasion of our privacy.

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What I have noticed lately is that if I bring up a cache page and then click on the 'view larger map' to see other caches in the area it just comes up with a blank page. That is using IE for a browser, which I still like. If I go to Edge and click on the map page it comes up like it should. Is anybody else having this problem?

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When I asked Geocaching Support for help getting back to the old map, their response was to just click "browse." When I responded that I then lost all the filters I'd put in along with the ability to filter as before, they responded that it was by design, and to put any suggestions on this forum. 

 

1: Return to the old map system. It was better.

2: If not, at least give us the option to continue using the old system. By this, I don't mean the "browse" feature of the new system lacking decent     filters.

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3 hours ago, pwezzr2 said:

What I have noticed lately is that if I bring up a cache page and then click on the 'view larger map' to see other caches in the area it just comes up with a blank page. That is using IE for a browser, which I still like. If I go to Edge and click on the map page it comes up like it should. Is anybody else having this problem?

35 minutes ago, BigFinLey said:

I can't get the maps.  I'm using Windows 10 and internet explorer.

 

Looked at it for another here   (I don't use the maps often...) , and I had this too, just a blank screen.

Rather than stick with what works, I get that an update is good, and it's time to move on.

Yeah, thanks for the help...

 

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I can't remember if I mentioned this in any of the previous discussions, but I think it's worth posting again if I did.

 

When viewing the new Search map with a list of caches in the sidebar, I'd like to be able to directly open cache listings in a new tab by middle-clicking (or Ctrl-clicking). Currently, trying to do so behaves like a left-click and simply opens the mini-view of the listing, where I then have to middle-click the "More info" arrow to open the actual listing in a new tab. In addition to requiring more clicks to get where I want, I also lose where I was in the list when I'm done with that listing and go back to look at the next. If I had scrolled down in the list, finding where I left off can be tricky. At the very least, I should be brought back to the same point in the list as when I clicked on the cache.

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7 hours ago, BigFinLey said:

Hello,

I can't get the maps.  I'm using Windows 10 and internet explorer.

Regards,
BigFinLey

Try using FireFox, Chrome, or Edge (Microsoft's replacement to IE). These are superior browsers to Internet Explorer anyway, and should be used over IE for all of your browsing needs (popular opinion from tech nerds).

Edited by Mineral2
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8 hours ago, ecanderson said:

The old and very convenient way of producing a LIST of recently placed caches changed with the new 'search'.

 

Assuming you're in the USA or Canada, and you know your "state ID" or are willing to experiment to find it, the extra-old way still works:

https://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?state_id=63

 

Substitute 63 (Alberta) with a number that works for you.  This link (I guess it's a "search") goes back to when I started caching 14 years ago, and they've never "improved" it by removing it.

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When trying to view the map from cache page a blank white screen only appears. This has been happening since they introduced the new map. Please don't blame a second party like a browser. The map worked before Groundspeak added the new map so it was caused by something in the map design program. This is a common problem when computer programmers update existing programs and don't see the negative effects they may cause. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Please fix the  problem so a map appears instead of a white screen.

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54 minutes ago, rustynails. said:

Please don't blame a second party like a browser. The map worked before Groundspeak added the new map so it was caused by something in the map design program.

 

Okay, we won't blame it on the browser.

 

...but it is the browser.

 

The new map uses some completely different technologies which some older browsers and computers don't support. I think they've been making a few tweaks to try to handle the cases where someone can't view the map, but I guess they haven't quite gotten there yet.

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39 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

 

Okay, we won't blame it on the browser.

 

...but it is the browser.

 

The new map uses some completely different technologies which some older browsers and computers don't support.

 

The fact is many people use and are happy with the browser in question. Let's support them.

It's not the browser as it worked perfectly fine before the new maps. As you state it's the technology. It's bad technology if it's not compatible with existing browsers. Use the old map which works with all browsers. Most people I've spoken with prefer the old map.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

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13 hours ago, rustynails. said:

 

The fact is many people use and are happy with the browser in question. Let's support them.

It's not the browser as it worked perfectly fine before the new maps. As you state it's the technology. It's bad technology if it's not compatible with existing browsers. Use the old map which works with all browsers. Most people I've spoken with prefer the old map.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

While I understand that people get attached to a browser, sometimes the older browsers are just a bad design. Internet explore was retired in 2015 and is longer supported. It therefore will no longer take advantage of ongoing changes in internet standards. Groundspeak is not obligated to make a website for something that Microsoft themselves are trying to get people to stop using.

Edited by igator210
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Thank you to all the people who helped answer my many frustrations about the new maps.  We came home from a trip to find worthless maps that didn't show much or anything at all including caches I knew still exited.  I don't expect Groundspeak to return to the old system but at least you helped me find workarounds for now.  (Why do all programmers add in extra clicks when one used to work?)  "Browse" should definitely be the default page.

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I'm planning a cache trip with a friend. She sent me the link to a cache which I open up. Then click on show larger map to see what's nearby.

Nothing happens for a second or two.

Then the cache info and the cache marker load

Then eventually the map appears.

No other caches, in a big city.

 

Try again half an hour later.

Nothing happens for a second or two.

Then the cache info and the cache marker load

Then eventually the map appears.

Oh, there are other caches.

I zoom out.

Nothing happens

15 seconds later the map is still loading

i see the caches I saw originally, in a circle of about 1.5km and no other caches

I click settings: should be seeing 500 caches. Hmm

Click Search and get more caches. No way that's 500 though but again just the area shown after zooming out.

So I have to click Search again, and get a few more caches.

I want to filter for wherigos and click on the gear. Oops, wrong button. I click Filter, deselect all, slect Wherigo. I get not 500 results but just the two within the previous search circle.

I chose Worldwide, and get 500 Wherigos,. Map zooms out to image those 500 caches. I zoom in again.

Done

 

Browsemap:

Type in town, hit enter

Map and caches appear instantly.

zoom in a bit more

deselect cache types not interested in

find I zoomed in too much and zoom out again

Done

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On 4/27/2019 at 1:33 AM, noncentric said:

Except that doesn't work if clicking between Event icons on the map.  "Placed by" / "on" doesn't change when clicking from one Event icon to another.  Users have to click on a non-Event icon in between Event icons to see the correct event host and event date information.  I created a topic describing the issue HERE, would be great to know that it will be fixed.

......

Will the "Download GPX" option in the left sidebar be changed to be the same level of grey as the "Add to a list" and "Send to Garmin" options?  It looks like "Download GPX" is greyed out.  Most people interpret greyed out icons as unavailable.  It looks like "Download GPX" is not available.  Please make it the same font color as the icons on either side of it.

 

Looks like some work has recently been done on the Search Map.  The Events bug I noted above appears to be fixed now, and it looks like the "Download GPX" icon is no longer greyed out and now matches the font color of "Add to a list" and "Send to Garmin".

 

Thanks!  Here's hoping continued tweeks are made based on the feedback received in this forum thread, and others.

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I have a blank screen when I click on maps so whats the point in renewing my premium if I cant look at maps to find any caches. looks like tis is a common problem you would have thought Groundspeak would sort the problems quickly. not a happy customer

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You can still use the browse map. You have to go to it directly: https://www.geocaching.com/map

 

3 hours ago, Bull Family said:

whats the point in renewing my premium if I cant look at maps

You never needed a premium membership to look at maps. You need the premium membership to make pocket queries, to view and download more caches on the App and API applications. You need it to make bookmark lists. None of the advantages of your premium membership have been affected.

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I just wanted to look up the location of a cache that's been archived and find out if there's a new cache nearby. I click on the map in the cache description... and get the message that the cache could not be found, and as a result end up in my home zone. Is this something new with the new search map or has it always been this way?

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29 minutes ago, terratin said:

Is this something new with the new search map or has it always been this way?

That part is unclear because until recently, clicking on the map in the description brought you to the location on the browse map, even if it didn't show you the archived cache. Now that it defaults to the search map, it seems as though it is searching for the cache by GC code rather than by coordinates. The latter would fix this problem, sending the map to the location of the archived cache without having to display it.

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1 hour ago, Mineral2 said:

That part is unclear because until recently, clicking on the map in the description brought you to the location on the browse map, even if it didn't show you the archived cache. Now that it defaults to the search map, it seems as though it is searching for the cache by GC code rather than by coordinates. The latter would fix this problem, sending the map to the location of the archived cache without having to display it.

 

Yes, this indeed seems to be the case. It's rather annoying as I now need to copy the coordinates from the old cache page into the browse map. Oh, but the browse map is not easily accessible! D'oh! (yes, I know how to get there...)

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I just want to be able to look at a cache page and write the coordinates down on a piece of paper?

No, wait! Not really. By my count I am the one out of a million who likes the new maps. I don't even understand what most of you are talking about

I like that I can pan in and out on a map area WITHOUT it being cluttered with the green slime of oversaturation. Sometimes I couldn't even tell what town I was near because the names were obliterated with green dots. Now when I find the area I am looking for I click on "search this area" and there is everything I need. So I guess I'm not doing it right, but it's working...

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6 hours ago, hukilaulau said:

I just want to be able to look at a cache page and write the coordinates down on a piece of paper?

No, wait! Not really. By my count I am the one out of a million who likes the new maps. I don't even understand what most of you are talking about

I like that I can pan in and out on a map area WITHOUT it being cluttered with the green slime of oversaturation. Sometimes I couldn't even tell what town I was near because the names were obliterated with green dots. Now when I find the area I am looking for I click on "search this area" and there is everything I need. So I guess I'm not doing it right, but it's working...

I think the new Search Map serves a good function, but what I find problematic is:

(1)  Having the map window open in the web browser causes my computer to spin up a lot - it uses a lot of cpu memory, even when the window is just open.

(2)  It is a forced default map view.  I'd prefer to see the Browse Map when I select  Play -> View Map, so I think there should be an option (setting) that allows users to choose which map view is their default.

(3)  The map simply doesn't work for some users.  All they get is white or blank screen when opening the Search Map.  That is a fundamental problem.

 

Besides that, there are bugs in the new Search Map that need to be fixed. Pointing out bugs about a feature does not mean that someone doesn't "like" a feature. Features should function properly, regardless of whether it's 'old' or 'new'.

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"(1)  Having the map window open in the web browser causes my computer to spin up a lot - it uses a lot of cpu memory, even when the window is just open."

 

I have tested this in Firefox and Google Chrome. This was easily observed (more so in Firefox), i.e. I can also see a significant increase in constant cpu use on the search screen (and I too can't understand why this over the Browse Screen was chosen as the default). My Linux system was hardly overloaded, but it is a weird effect since nothing was actually happening.

 

My preference when visiting the Desktop web page is to use the Browse map <90% of the time. The simple reason is that moving the desktop around allows instant views of the caches in that place in view. I can't for the life of me understand what the benefit is to have a separate map and page just for search. The better use of the UI would be to have just the Browse map and the side panel to have tabs. One of which would be search. Everything currently seems just too clunky and a bit 1990's in feel. We even have different architecture for the 2 side panels with 2 types of "click to hide " methods. Who on earth in the design team thinks that's a good or desirable idea?

 

I suspect that what has happened here is that the bandwidth loads on the existing servers was such that integrity and constancy of service was at risk, and one area which Groundspeak has identified as being "intensive" and a cause of the slow downs etc was the search. So the replacement page was rushed out (probably as a sticking plaster to the issue) to maintain a semblance of service - in the full knowledge that there would be a large number of disgruntled users. I doubt the current situation will last for ever, but how long is difficult to predict. I seriously hope that the Browse screen is never "harmonised" with the Search screen Style, that Press to refresh button seriously irritates.

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I'm seeing some improvements since last week.  I no longer need to alter the URL to get a map and it doesn't always return to my home location requiring me to scroll from my home location to the area I want to explore.   Still a few minor changes, but the maps are now useful again.

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I was looking at an archived event ( https://coord.info/GC7VEHV  ) from last year and wanted to see where it was held on the big map, and see if there might be another geocache on or near the top of this mountain. I clicked the view on bigger map link ( https://www.geocaching.com/play/map?gc=GC7VEHV ) and than get an "we are sorry, this geocache couldn't be found"-message (my own translation from dutch, the actual english message might be a bit different, but similar in meaning)
 

Is this intended behaviour (I really hope it is not...)

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1 hour ago, PnavE_81 said:

I clicked the view on bigger map link

Do not click "View Larger Map".
Click "For online maps > Geocaching.com Map" instead.

 

Hans

Screenshot (5).png

Edited by HHL
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The Cache Details preview provides a function "Download GPX" which does indeed download a .gpx file (version A) containing some XML describing the Cache. The full cache page can be displayed using "More info", and there is another "Download GPX" which also downloads a .gpx file (version B) containing XML. It is, however,

(a) the two versions of .gpx contain in a text format different from each other: version A omits CRLF at the end of XML elements.

(b) Version A appears to omit logs.

 

Providing different functionality under the same label is absolutely evil.

 

The described omissions are particularly bad for me, because I use grep to look at certain tags in a set of .gpx files. Also, I like to look at the logs as they are stored in the GPX on my GPS device, to check whether there were any recent DNFs.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, eoai said:

The Cache Details preview provides a function "Download GPX" which does indeed download a .gpx file (version A) containing some XML describing the Cache. The full cache page can be displayed using "More info", and there is another "Download GPX" which also downloads a .gpx file (version B) containing XML. It is, however,

(a) the two versions of .gpx contain in a text format different from each other: version A omits CRLF at the end of XML elements.

(b) Version A appears to omit logs.

 

Providing different functionality under the same label is absolutely evil.

 

The described omissions are particularly bad for me, because I use grep to look at certain tags in a set of .gpx files. Also, I like to look at the logs as they are stored in the GPX on my GPS device, to check whether there were any recent DNFs.

 

 

In this thread on the website forum last month, it was also reported that the .gpx file from the Cache Details preview doesn't comply with the gpx specification. I don't know whether this has been addressed yet.

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On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 5:19 AM, barefootjeff said:

In this thread on the website forum last month, it was also reported that the .gpx file from the Cache Details preview doesn't comply with the gpx specification. I don't know whether this has been addressed yet.

I just did another comparison. The biggest problem of not having the <?xml> tag has been fixed, but all of the other differences I listed in that other discussion remain.

 

I'm stunned that this issue hasn't been resolved yet. GPX files are critical for many members, so they need to get consistent data from the site. One would think that "the GPX generator is outputting the wrong things" or "the wrong GPX generator is being used" would rank near the top of the priority list, but I guess not. Honestly, there's no excuse for the GPX files coming from these two places to be different. The format should be identical, so any difference (including carriage returns and whitespace) should be considered an error and dealt with promptly.

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On 5/13/2019 at 3:50 PM, Scott&Brandi said:

We have a fix for users that are running browsers that do not support WebGL.  For those that are affected by this issue, they’ll now get a modal window with a link to access the older Browse map.

 

I hadn't tried this before, but I did come across it today when I clicked on the map option.  I am using my Chrome browser at work, which I know does not work with the new search map, but which I am unable to update due to my work's admin policies and settings.

 

So I got the first screen - ok, things are working as designed.

 

Capture.JPG.a967291ed9358a0f7ff8ef98d8249059.JPG

 

But when I clicked the green box, it first took me to https://geocaching.com/map (no www) and a 502 gateway error.

 

 Second try got me to the browse map at the proper link, so all is well.  Our connection is subject to throttling or interruption, so the hiccup could be on my end, but I'm passing it on in case it isn't.

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