How delete an Unpublished Cache

[+Chipper3]

Somehow I have two caches with same name as Unpublished Caches.  Two separate GC numbers.   I want to submit one of these but do not want any confusion and would just like to get rid of the cache that is all wrong.  I just do not like seeing it show up under Unpublished Caches.

 

How to delete?

 

Chipper3

[RuideAlmeida]

2 minutes ago, Chipper3 said:

How to delete?

 

Once the GCcode is created, you can't. But you can refurbish it with other coords, contents, etc. for any other cache of yours.

[+Max and 99]

I got one archived, no notice or explanation. I'm guessing that I didn't repurpose it fast enough. 

[+Chipper3]

@RuideAlmeida

 

Thank you for a great suggestion!  Yes, I do plan to add more caches so your advice to repurpose the GC number by deleting the info and adding back new information makes a lot of sense.  I was not thinking creatively enough.  =)

[+Isonzo Karst]

Alternately, on the face of the cache on the right side, is an Admin Tools pane.  In that box is an ARCHIVE log. That log will permanently retire the page.  It will always belong to you, but will effectively disappear.

 

If you decide to keep it, move the coords (including any stages/finals) out into the ocean.

[+Max and 99]

20 hours ago, Isonzo Karst said:

If you decide to keep it, move the coords (including any stages/finals) out into the ocean.

I do that now! 

[+Chipper3]

OK, so I am taking the suggestions and trying to repurpose a cache that was in conflict with an existing cache and put it in a different location.  I see how to edit everything in the supplementary waypoints like parking and trail head and even final location but I can't figure out how to change the main waypoint that is associated with the GC number.   

 

I have changed those waypoints after a cache was published to correct an error  by using the log method to make the correction but am not able to figure out how to change before submitting or resubmitting for review.   If I do not change before resubmitting then it will be in conflict again as it will not show the new location.

 

To be clear:

1. I have a draft cache with a GC number assigned that was rejected 
2. I want to  repurpose the cache site and modify the directions but keep most of the "boiler plate."
3. I can change all the waypoints and final location waypoint by editing
4. How do I change the main waypoint that shows in the cache heading?

[+barefootjeff]

2 hours ago, Chipper3 said:

OK, so I am taking the suggestions and trying to repurpose a cache that was in conflict with an existing cache and put it in a different location.  I see how to edit everything in the supplementary waypoints like parking and trail head and even final location but I can't figure out how to change the main waypoint that is associated with the GC number.   

 

I have changed those waypoints after a cache was published to correct an error  by using the log method to make the correction but am not able to figure out how to change before submitting or resubmitting for review.   If I do not change before resubmitting then it will be in conflict again as it will not show the new location.

 

To be clear:

1. I have a draft cache with a GC number assigned that was rejected 
2. I want to  repurpose the cache site and modify the directions but keep most of the "boiler plate."
3. I can change all the waypoints and final location waypoint by editing
4. How do I change the main waypoint that shows in the cache heading?

 

When you edit the cache page of an unpublished cache, there should be a box called Posted Coordinates just below the placement map (this may vary depending on the cache type).

 

 

You can edit the contents of that box.

[+Chipper3]

@barefootjeft-  Thank you for a concise and perfect answer. (I appreciate your straight forward answer without any snark factor !)

I found the edit spot and all is well!

 

Again my thanks!

 

Chipper3

[+barefootjeff]

10 hours ago, Chipper3 said:

@barefootjeft-  Thank you for a concise and perfect answer. (I appreciate your straight forward answer without any snark factor !)

I found the edit spot and all is well!

 

Again my thanks!

 

Chipper3

 

You're welcome. And just in case anyone thinks I've given away the location of an unpublished cache in my screenshot, that's actually from my unpublished Community Celebration event so you won't find any container with an empty log sitting there!

Edited January 16, 2020 by barefootjeff

[+Ragnemalm]

I frequently repurpose planned caches. I have a location, and an idea... and then I decide it wasn't good enough, or too much work, or too hard to get to, or I submit and it collides with a mystery. (Happens all the time.) If the idea felt good but has to wait, I print the whole page to a PDF to save the text and details, and then edit the page to what I want to do first.

 

I have got some unfinished caches archived (by HQ, I think) because I was too slow. That hurts, but the problem was that I showed no signs of progress or planning in too long time.

[+ecanderson]

Strange.  I wonder what the workflow issue is that would cause gc.com to archive an unpublished cache .. ever?

 

[+barefootjeff]

42 minutes ago, ecanderson said:

Strange.  I wonder what the workflow issue is that would cause gc.com to archive an unpublished cache .. ever?

 

 

I think an unpublished cache might reserve a location that a reviewer will see as a conflict if anyone else submits a new cache location within 161 metres of it.

[+Isonzo Karst]

@Ragnemalm

You can email a local reviewer with GC Code and get a listing unarchived - this assumes you are going to use it, and there's enough formatting to be worth saving.

[+ecanderson]

19 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

 

I think an unpublished cache might reserve a location that a reviewer will see as a conflict if anyone else submits a new cache location within 161 metres of it.

That's interesting.  I had never thought that an unreviewed cache reserved space for itself either automatically or with reviewer oversight, and that if another was approved sooner, it was 'first come, first served' for the location in question.  I know some folks who have started cache pages only to discover another snuck in before they got the job done and the review started.  Lots of variables for which we have no visibility, so it's all guesswork at this point.

Edited February 8, 2020 by ecanderson

[+kunarion]

2 hours ago, ecanderson said:

That's interesting.  I had never thought that an unreviewed cache reserved space for itself either automatically or with reviewer oversight, and that if another was approved sooner, it was 'first come, first served' for the location in question.  I know some folks who have started cache pages only to discover another snuck in before they got the job done and the review started.  Lots of variables for which we have no visibility, so it's all guesswork at this point.

It probably depends on a lot of things.  But ever since I read that, I set my prototype caches to the coordinates of one of my active ones (and I keep track of where it might actually go).  I’m not reserving spots, I’m just tinkering. 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by kunarion

[+Goldenwattle]

2 hours ago, ecanderson said:

I know some folks who have started cache pages only to discover another snuck in before they got the job done and the review started.

If I have a special cache that NEEDS that spot, such as the TB Hotel in my Little Free Library, I check with the reviewer to check if that spot is available and then reserve it. Imagine if after all the extra carpentry to add a hidden cache to a LFL and the expense involved, and someone stuck a boring Nano cache to a light post nearby, blocking the use of the furnished, wallpapered,  carpeted and ready to launch TB Hotel, by an uninteresting nano, which could be stuck to any post. I have also reserved other spots, when work to set up the cache was involved.

I would not reserve a spot for the run of the mill cache, or a cache which could be put 'anywhere', as if another cache gets published fist, I can easily move that cache.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Goldenwattle

[+IceColdUK]

I always do a coordinate check for a new cache.  Here at least, that also has the effect of reserving the spot for a few months.

The cache has to be in place before you submit for publication, so why would you wait until then to find out that the spot is no good?  (And bear in mind, it might not just be proximity to existing caches that’s a problem, but proximity to spots reserved by those who have done a coordinate check!)

[+Harry Dolphin]

On 2/6/2020 at 11:58 PM, ecanderson said:

Strange.  I wonder what the workflow issue is that would cause gc.com to archive an unpublished cache .. ever?

 

I was told that they run occasional clean ups.  I put a cache is an interesting little 'park' set up by several groups.  The town, the county, an ecological group and a major corporation.  It has a picnic table, a bench, and a garbage can.  Garbage is picked up by the town parks department.  But, the land is owned by a railroad, so it could not be published.  After about a year, I was told to use the cache number somewhere else, or it would be deleted.  And it was deleted.  (Not archived, as that would still show on my records.)  No other caches within the proximity guidelines.

[+Isonzo Karst]

There's a Help Center article that explains the process some:

 

6.15. Unpublished geocaches may be archived

 

Harry Dolphin, your unpublished cache was archived - you can see it here

https://www.geocaching.com/my/geocaches.aspx?archived=y

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Isonzo Karst
link

[+Harry Dolphin]

Thanks for the clarification, Isonzo Karst.  I had never noticed that.

[Keystone]

 

Quote

 

On 2/6/2020 at 11:58 PM, ecanderson said:

Strange.  I wonder what the workflow issue is that would cause gc.com to archive an unpublished cache .. ever?

 

 

I think an unpublished cache might reserve a location that a reviewer will see as a conflict if anyone else submits a new cache location within 161 metres of it.

 

That's exactly right.  This happens a lot, but thankfully far less often than before Geocaching HQ began running its "cache page cleanup bot," which looks for unpublished cache pages that haven't been edited/worked on for many months.

 

It's happened to me twice within the past few weeks.  I have to tell the hider of a new cache, which is in place and ready to publish, that they will need to wait patiently while I check with the creator of the "draft" cache page that hasn't been submitted for review.  Then I need to write to the owner of the unpublished, disabled cache page.  It happens enough that I have a form letter for it:

 

Quote

What are your intentions regarding this cache?  Someone else has hidden a cache less than 528 feet away and it is ready for review.  But, your cache page was entered in our system first.  If your cache will be ready for review in the near future (within weeks), please let me know and it will be given priority over the later submission.  If it won't be ready for months then it is not fair to the other hider if the spot is "reserved" for you.

Please either reply as soon as possible with your plan, or archive your listing if you don't intend to pursue a cache here.  I need to provide an answer to the hider of the other cache.  If I do not hear anything for one week, I will consider this listing to be abandoned and I will publish the other cache.

 

So, the draft cache page creates extra work for reviewers, sometimes creates conflict between multiple geocachers interested in the same spot, and often creates delays of up to a week for hiders who thought they'd followed all the guidelines.

[+ecanderson]

Thanks to Karst and Keystone for the explanation.  Never knew that an unpublished cache could effectively block one too close from being published without manual intervention by the reviewer.  Reviewers must have some crazy pile of circles on their maps to deal with!

 

 

[+Ragnemalm]

On 2/7/2020 at 11:55 AM, Isonzo Karst said:

@Ragnemalm

You can email a local reviewer with GC Code and get a listing unarchived - this assumes you are going to use it, and there's enough formatting to be worth saving.

 

Really? AFAIK the reviewers are instructed to only unarchive archived listings for things like accidental archiving (due to hitting the wrong button on the smartphone) or other reasons that are mistakes or misunderstandings, but never for a listing archived because of inactivity from a CO. (This was possible in the past but not any more.) Does that not apply for unpublished caches? I have had a few unpublished listings archived because it took too much time and considered the listing dead.

 

The question of unarchiving published caches is a question in itself but not relevant here. But it has some interest.

[Keystone]

Reviewers are happy to unarchive unpublished cache pages, so long as the request is normal ("I did lots of formatting and was just waiting on land manager permission for the past three months").  Such a cache could NOT be used in order to gain the "lower GC Code" advantage when competing against others for a popular spot that becomes available.